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{{Short description|Biography of Dhirubhai Ambani written by Hamish McDonald}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2025}}
{{Use Australian English|date=July 2025}}
{{Infobox book
| name = ''The Polyester Prince''
| title_orig =
| translator =
| image = The Polyester Prince.jpg
| image_size =
| alt = The first edition
| author = [[Hamish McDonald]]
| illustrator =
| cover_artist =
| country = Australia
| language = English
| series =
| genre = [[Non-Fiction]];[[Biography]]
| published = 1998 ([[Allen & Unwin]])
| media_type = Print (paperback)
| pages = 297 pp
| isbn = 1-86448-468-3
| isbn_note = <br>{{ISBNT|978-1864484687}}
| dewey =
| congress =
| oclc =
| preceded_by =
| followed_by = Ambani and Sons
}}

'''''The Polyester Prince: The Rise of Dhirubhai Ambani''''' is a biography of the Indian business tycoon and founder of [[Reliance Industries|Reliance Industries Limited]] (RIL) [[Dhirubhai Ambani]] by [[Hamish McDonald]], an Australian journalist and author. This book was published in 1998 in [[Australia]] by [[Allen & Unwin]] but never published in India.

[[HarperCollins|HarperCollins India]], the publisher who owned the rights to the Indian edition, halted all publication attempts after RIL applied for and secured temporary [[injunction]]s on the grounds of anticipatory [[defamation]].<ref name=":10" /> This injunction was made with the argument that the material of the book contained allegations, unethical and corrupt business dealings with politicians and more that would leave Ambani defenceless for the damage it would cause harm to both his and his companies' reputation. The injunction application was passed by the [[Delhi High Court]].<ref name=":7">{{Cite web|date=28 January 2008 |title=Pirates bring Ambani book out of closet|url=https://www.hindustantimes.com/india/pirates-bring-ambani-book-out-of-closet/story-o3dTvwbevo8EkRRGHov0AN.html|access-date=23 May 2021 |work=Hindustan Times|language=en}}</ref> HarperCollins pulped the printed yet unbound pages of the book after receiving further warnings that RIL would apply for further injunctions in all of [[High courts of India|India's twenty-two high courts]] and deciding it was not worth the cost to defend the book's [[publication right]]s.<ref name=":11" /> While the book was never made available to the public due to the injunction and warnings there are pirated photocopied versions available on the streets of Mumbai and New Delhi as well as online stores that now sell for prices above its original price sold in Australia.<ref name=":13">{{Cite web|last=Gopalan|first=Krishna|date=5 December 2010|title=A pirate's exploits|url=https://www.fortuneindia.com/ideas/a-pirates-exploits/101140|access-date=30 April 2021|website=Fortune; India}}</ref>

McDonald published ''Ambani & Sons'' by [[Roli Books]] in [[India]] 12 years after ''The Polyester Prince'' with no legal issues. This sequel contained a sanitised version of the original's content as well as six new chapters pertaining to the events surrounding Ambani's sons and RIL after he died in 2002.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Kumar|first=Ashutosh|date=1 March 2013|title=Book Review: Ambani & Sons|url=http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/2319510X13483519|journal=Asia-Pacific Journal of Management Research and Innovation |language=en |volume=9|issue=1 |pages=125–126 |doi=10.1177/2319510X13483519 |s2cid=184544098 |issn=2319-510X|url-access=subscription}}</ref>

== Background ==
=== Dhirubhai Ambani and RIL ===
Dhirubhai Ambani (born 28 December 1932) was the child of school teachers in a small village in Gir Somnath, now known as [[Gujarat]], India.<ref>{{Cite encyclopedia |title=Dhirubhai Ambani {{!}} Biography, Accomplishments, & Facts |url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Dhirubhai-Ambani|access-date=24 May 2021 |encyclopedia=Encyclopedia Britannica}}</ref> Around the age of 17, Ambani travelled to [[Aden]], [[Yemen]], a former British colony on the [[Arabian Peninsula]], to work at a trading firm called [[Antonin Besse]] and Company (Besse & Co.).<ref>{{Cite news|last=Grover|first=Priyamvada |date=28 December 2018|title=Remembering Dhirubhai Ambani, the polyester prince who made himself king of India Inc.|work=The Print|url=https://theprint.in/features/remembering-dhirubhai-ambani-the-polyester-prince-who-made-himself-king-of-india-inc/169949/|access-date=15 May 2021}}</ref> Due to the [[Partition of India|1947 partition of India and Pakistan]], many Indian textile companies migrated to [[Bangladesh]] hindering the industry as the cotton mills were in [[Mumbai|Bombay]].<ref>{{Cite web|last1=University|first1=© Stanford|last2=Stanford|last3=California 94305|title=1947 Partition of India & Pakistan|url=https://exhibits.stanford.edu/1947-partition/about/1947-partition-of-india-pakistan|access-date=23 May 2021 |website=The 1947 Partition Archive - Spotlight at Stanford|date=12 June 2017 |language=en}}</ref> In 1957, Ambani founded Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) targeting the polyester industry due to the decrease in competitors after the 1947 partition and the [[Licence Raj]].<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Mazumdar|first=Surajit|date=16 January 2017 |title=From "Outsider" to Insider: The Case of Reliance|url=http://journals.openedition.org/samaj/4278|journal=South Asia Multidisciplinary Academic Journal|issue=15|doi=10.4000/samaj.4278|s2cid=157468157 |issn=1960-6060|doi-access=free}}</ref> RIL since has expanded to undertake business deals and products consisting of energy, petrochemicals, natural resources and communications.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Valk|first=Reimara|date=June 2017|title=Interview with Dr Sunil Kumar Singh, Vice President-HR Reliance Industries Ltd, India|url=http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/2322093717705184|journal=South Asian Journal of Human Resources Management|language=en|volume=4|issue=1|pages=96–105|doi=10.1177/2322093717705184|s2cid=164512307 |issn=2322-0937|url-access=subscription}}</ref> Ambani died from a stroke in July 2002, passing the chairmanship of RIL to his sons [[Mukesh Ambani]] and [[Anil Ambani]].<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Ninan|first=T.N |year=2012 |title=Dhirubhai Ambani and Reliance Industries.|journal=The New Oxford Companion to Economics in India|edition=3|publisher=Oxford University Press}}</ref>

=== Hamish McDonald's coverage of Ambani ===
Hamish McDonald is an Australian journalist and author of many books about Indonesia and India.<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal|date=1 November 2010|title=A New Perspective|url=https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A241239663/STND?u=usyd&sid=STND&xid=eec037f9|journal=India Business Journal|publisher=Athena Information Solutions Pvt. Ltd|via=Gale OneFile: News}}</ref> He lived in India from 1990 to 1996 working as the [[New Delhi]] bureau chief of the [[Far Eastern Economic Review]] (FEER) and now works as the [[Asia-Pacific]] editor for [[The Sydney Morning Herald]] newspaper.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Fernández Pérez|first=Paloma|date=1 December 2012|title=Mahabharata in polyester: the making of the world's richest brothers and their feud|url=https://doi.org/10.1080/00076791.2012.687529|journal=Business History|volume=54|issue=7|pages=1194–1196|doi=10.1080/00076791.2012.687529|s2cid=218590787 |issn=0007-6791|via=ResearchGate|url-access=subscription}}</ref> During his work for FEER, McDonald was invited to the wedding of Anil Ambani and [[Tina Ambani|Tina Munim]] in 1991. The initial relationship between McDonald, RIL and Ambani centred on documenting the company's expansion into international markets. In 1992 McDonald decided that he wanted to write a book on Ambani and the interconnections with business and politics.<ref name=":1">{{Cite book|last1=Ghosh|first1=Subir|title=Sue the Messenger: How Legal Arm-Twisting by Corporates Is Shackling Reportage and Undermining Democracy in India|last2=Guha Thakurta|first2=Paranjoy|publisher=Guha Thakurta|year=2016|isbn=9789384439811|location=India}}</ref> Ambani and Reliance approved of the idea, with the understanding that for this project to go forward Ambani would have the final say.<ref name=":2">{{Cite book|last=McDonald|first=Hamish|title=The Polyester Prince: The Rise of Dhirubhai Ambani|publisher=Allen & Unwin|year=1998|isbn=1-86448-468-3|location=Australia}}</ref>

The following year, rumours began to circulate that the government was rigged in favour of RIL to obtain [[oil exploration]] contracts.<ref name=":2" /> McDonald wrote articles about the [[Panna-Mukta oilfield|Panna-Mukta oil fields]], damaging his relationship with Ambani who described them as "defamatory" without taking any legal action at the time.<ref name=":0" /> As a result, Ambani and RIL distanced themselves from McDonald and cut off networking connections.<ref name=":1" />

== Synopsis ==
[[File:Dhirubhai Ambani 2002 stamp of India.jpg|thumb|249x249px|A stamp of India dedicated to Dhirubhai Ambani by the [[Ministry of Communications (India)|Ministry of Communications]], [[Government of India]] in 2002. ]]
''The Polyester Prince'' chronicles Dhirubhai Ambani's life from childhood to founder of RIL following India's independence in 1947, and highlights how India's [[Independent India|post-independence]] industry development was achieved by both fair and foul means.

The first section of the book explores the events of Ambani's young adult life that influenced his understanding of business and developed his skillset that later went on to help him found RIL. This section explores how the mixture of Ambani's working experience as a young adult at trading companies along with post-independence India's changing business landscape lead to Ambani's debut in the wealthy social circles of India and rise in his power.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Bowring|first=Philip|date=16 January 1999|title=THE POLYESTER PRINCE: The Rise of Dhirubhai Ambani; BOOKS|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1999/01/16/style/IHT-books-the-polyester-princethe-rise-of-dhirubhai-ambani.html|journal=International Herald Tribune|pages=7|via=Gale OneFile: News}}</ref>

The latter part of the book centers on Ambani's different business dealings, both successful and criticised as he founds and expands RIL. Throughout the book, McDonald describes the ethical costs associated with Ambani's [[management]] of the political environment using his status in wealthy social circles that included [[politician]]s, stock market speculators and more to path the way for RIL to become India's largest [[Private sector|private-sector]] [[Conglomerate (company)|conglomerate]].<ref>{{Cite news|title=RIL becomes India's biggest company in revenue terms|work=The Economic Times|url=https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/markets/stocks/news/reliance-becomes-indias-biggest-company-in-revenue-terms/articleshow/69427335.cms?from=mdr|access-date=23 May 2021}}</ref>

== Release ==

=== Composition and publication ===
In July 1995 McDonald quit his job working at FEER to devote full time to the development of his book.<ref name=":3">{{Cite web|last1=Ghosh|first1=Subir|last2=Guha Thakurta|first2=Paranjoy|date=30 April 2016|title=The Unhappy Prince: How Reliance Buried a Book|url=https://thewire.in/books/the-unhappy-prince-how-dhirubhai-ambani-buried-a-book|access-date=16 May 2021 |website=The Wire}}</ref> McDonald and his unfavourable relationship with Ambani was made evident in 1996 when he went to interview Ratibhai Muchhala who worked as the export manager for Ambani. However, upon reaching Muchhala's office, McDonald was met with Dinesh Sheth, Dhirubhai's personal assistant at the time who explained that Ambani would prefer this project to cease development.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Bw Online Bureau|date=4 November 2004|title='Times have changed'|work=Business World|url=http://www.businessworld.in/article/-Times-Have-Changed-/08-11-2014-68626/|access-date=17 May 2021}}</ref> McDonald continued to investigate Ambani through talking to individuals such as Ambani's main competitors like [[Nusli Wadia]], the owner of [[Bombay Dyeing]] in an attempt to understand Ambani's actions during the polyester wars.<ref>{{Cite web|date=5 November 2012 |title=Nusli Wadia explains his loss to Ambani in polyester war|url=https://www.firstpost.com/business/nusli-wadia-explains-his-loss-to-ambani-in-polyester-war-514427.html|access-date=24 May 2021 |website=Firstpost}}</ref><ref name=":4">{{Cite journal|last=Guha Thakurta|first=Paranjoy|date=11 September 2014|title=Polyester Prince Revisited|url=https://www.epw.in/journal/2014/37/insight/polyester-prince-revisited.html|journal=Economic and Political Weekly|edition=37|publisher=Sameeksha Trust|volume=49|pages=50–53|via=Gale Academic OneFile}}</ref> McDonald continued to connect the life events of Ambani through Ambani's colleagues, rivals and even the former [[Prime minister|Prime Minister]] [[Vishwanath Pratap Singh]] after realising that McDonald's book was not a hagiography of Dhirubhai Ambani.<ref name=":3" /><ref name=":5">{{Cite news|last=Debroy|first=Bibek|date=2 October 2010 |title=The return of The Polyester Prince|work=Business Standard India|url=https://www.business-standard.com/article/beyond-business/the-return-of-the-polyester-prince-110100200093_1.html|access-date=24 May 2021}}</ref> The original book received criticism on the sources behind McDonalds writing as it sourced media reports and interviewing Ambani's competitors which may have skewed the writing to negatively portray Ambani.<ref name=":14" />

In 1997, before McDonald finished his final [[manuscript]] of ''The Polyester Prince: The Rise of Dhirubhai Ambani'' he was met with a letter from Kanga & Co, the lawyers of Ambani and Reliance Industries. This letter detailed that their client believes the information in the proposed [[publication]] would generate unwelcome media which would not only negatively impact their client and his families name but also potentially harm RIL.<ref name=":1" /> Ambani described the upcoming book to contain defamatory information due to the current unfavourable relationship between the author and Ambani after the release of McDonalds articles in 1993 on the Panna-Mukta oil fields.<ref name=":2" /> Finally, this letter served as a warning that if the book would attempt to be published will be met with legal actions in the form of injunctions.<ref name=":1" /> McDonald ignored these warnings and continued to work on his manuscript. RIL, however, continued to fight the upcoming publication of the book by sending further letters from [[Ashurst Australia|Ashurt Australia]], their lawyers based in [[Sydney]], Australia, to Allen & Unwin, McDonald Australian publishers repeating that the information contained in the proposed publishment would induce injuries to Ambani and RIL that they could not defend.<ref name=":6">{{Cite book|last=Chandran|first=Mini|title=The Writer, the Reader and the State: Literary Censorship in India|publisher=SAGE Publications Pvt Ltd.|year=2017|isbn=9789386446077|edition=1|location=India}}</ref> Patrick Gallagher, the founder and chairman of Allen & Unwin proceeded with the publication of ''The Polyester Prince: The Rise of Dhirubhai Ambani'', beginning the initial print of 3,000 copies in 1997 and finally publishing the book in early 1998 in Australia.<ref name=":10">{{Cite web|last=John|first=Varun Sood & Satish|date=25 August 2010 |title=McDonald set to roll out his Ambani sequel|url=https://www.livemint.com/Home-Page/D6RQ0IehSXNbJNISctrEoI/McDonald-set-to-roll-out-his-Ambani-sequel.html|access-date=23 May 2021 |website=mint|language=en}}</ref> HarperCollins India, the Indian editors of the book and the holder of the Indian rights had finished editing the manuscript and had printing pages that were yet to be bound into a book was met with legal trouble from RIL which halted its publication in India.<ref>{{Cite web |last=McDonald|first=Hamish|date=3 March 2014|title=The Polyester Prince|url=https://magazine.outlookindia.com/story/the-polyester-prince/289578?_cscSuccessPayload=%7B|work=Outlook}}</ref>

=== Legal injunction on publication in India ===
RIL and Ambani applied for a legal injunction from the [[Ahmedabad]] and Delhi High Courts towards the publishment of the book in India on the anticipatory grounds that the publication contained defamatory material towards both RIL and Dhirubhai Ambani.<ref name=":5" /> The Delhi High Court passed a [[verdict]] in favour with RIL and Ambani's, allowing them to procure a temporary injunction against publication.<ref>{{Cite web|title=The polyester prince: Insights from a banned biography – Ashoka Business Review|url=http://ashokabusinessreview.org/lit-art/the-polyester-prince-insights-from-a-banned-biography/|access-date=23 May 2021 |language=en}}</ref> This temporary injunction restricted the publishment of the book for a while however upon the approval of the temporary injunction HarperCollins removed printed pages of the book and halted all publication attempts.<ref name=":3" /> Allen & Unwin would not stop the publishment of the book in Australia however would not attempt to publish the book within Indian jurisdictions.<ref name=":14">{{Cite news|last=Bobb|first=Dilip|date=11 October 2010|title=Book: Old Yarn Retailed: The Dhirubhai Ambani sequel has too much Reliance on Indian media reports.|work=India Today; New Delhi|publisher=Living Media India, Limited|publication-place=New Delhi|url=https://www.indiatoday.in/magazine/leisure/story/20101011-old-yarn-retailed-744296-2010-10-01|access-date=20 April 2021|issn=0254-8399}}</ref>

Upon a meeting with Renuka Chatterjee, who was heading HarperCollins India at the time told McDonald that they received further legal threats along with pre-publication injunction notices on the grounds of anticipated defamation that threatened that RIL would apply for these injunctions in all twenty-two Indian high courts.<ref name=":7" /> Saying that<blockquote><nowiki>''</nowiki>As of now the book is not happening. The matter is sub judice. The Ambanis’ have secured an injunction in the Delhi High Court against the publication."<ref name=":11">{{Cite web|last=Malik|first=Ashok|date=21 December 1998|title=Book review: Hamish Mcdonald's 'Polyester Prince'|url=https://www.indiatoday.in/magazine/society-the-arts/books/story/19981221-book-review-hamish-mcdonalds-polyester-prince-827570-1998-12-21|access-date=20 May 2021 |website=India Today|language=en}}</ref></blockquote>HarperCollins India was not prepared to defend the book as the publishment case could continue over several years and become costly. As a result, they withdrew the book and halted its publication which resulted in the book never being released to Indian markets.<ref name=":7" />

=== Pirated versions found In India ===
Due to the injunctions on the Indian version of the book it was never made available on public markets for purchase however the injunction has seemed to increase its value. In recent years [[pirated]] photocopied versions have appeared on Mumbai and Delhi's streets for prices ranging from Rs 50 to Rs 1,600 (approximately US$0.69 to US$22).<ref>{{Cite web|title=A pirate's exploits|url=https://www.fortuneindia.com/ideas/a-pirates-exploits/101140|access-date=24 May 2021 |website=www.fortuneindia.com|date=5 November 2017 |language=en}}</ref><ref name=":13" /> Moreover, the available copies on internet sites such as [[Amazon (company)|Amazon]] were selling for up to US$500 due to the unauthorised content it contained.<ref>{{Cite web |date=3 October 2010 |title=Ambani & Sons – revived from the Polyester Prince they pulped |url=https://ridingtheelephant.wordpress.com/2010/10/03/ambani-sons-revived-from-the-polyester-prince-they-pulped/|access-date=24 May 2021 |website=Riding the Elephant|language=en}}</ref> ''Ambani & Sons'', the sequel to the book was published in 2010 and contained similar content to its predecessor however had certain [[allegation]]s, [[scandal]]s and more that were found in the original removed.<ref name=":15">{{Cite web|last1=Doctor|first1=Vikram|last2=Sabarinath|first2=M|date=29 September 2010|title=Ambani split paved way for book 'Ambani & Sons'|url=https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/ambani-split-paved-way-for-book-ambani-sons/articleshow/6639496.cms?from=mdr|access-date=5 May 2021|website=Economic Times|publisher=Bennett, Coleman & Co. Ltd.}}</ref>

== Sequel ==
''Ambani & Sons'' was published by Roli Books in India in 2010<ref name=":4" /> and published by [[University of New South Wales|NewSouth Publishing]] as ''Mahabharata in Polyester: The Making of the World’s Richest Brothers and Their Feud'' in Australia. This book was widely considered to be the [[sequel]] to ''The Polyester Prince: The Rise of Dhirubhai Ambani'' as it includes the original 17 chapters with an additional six chapters pertaining to the events following Dhirubhai Ambani's death in 2002, Ambani's sons, Mukesh and Anil Ambani.<ref>{{Cite news|date=6 November 2010|title=A durable yarn; The Ambani brothers|newspaper=The Economist|edition=8707|volume=397|pages=105|via=Gale OneFile: News}}</ref><ref name=":12">{{Cite news|last=Crabtree|first=James|date=20 March 2012|title=Anil Ambani and Sons: Volume Two|work=Financial Times}}</ref>

''Ambani & Sons'' consists of 23 chapters split into two sections. The first 17 chapters [[chronicle]] the rise of Dhirubhai Ambani from childhood to a business tycoon with large commercial success.<ref name=":6" /> The first section of the book explores how the [[stock market]]s were manipulated, competitors [[Harassment|harassed]] and other unethical business partners and [[corruption]] that occurred and resulted in RIL obtaining a large [[market share]] in the Indian marketplace. The new six chapters follow Anil and Mukesh Ambanis’ feud over the Reliance group.'''<ref name=":12" />'''

There are a few differences between the Indian and Australian publications of the sequel due to Pramod Kapur, the founder and publisher of Roli Books,<ref>{{Cite web|title=Gandhi: An Illustrated Biography – Roli Books – Home|url=https://rolibooks.com/gandhi-an-illustrated-biography/|access-date=23 May 2021 |language=en-GB}}</ref> asking McDonald to remove some [[Controversy|controversial]] passages that were found in ''The Polyester Prince'' such as the attempted murder allegation of Nusli Wadia. Such controversial passages still appear in the Australian publication of the book. As a result of the sanitation of ''Ambani & Sons'' along with [[Reliance Industries|fight]] between Mukesh Ambani and Anil Ambani that has gained large attention from the media, this book was not met with the same [[legal threat]]s as ''The Polyester Prince''.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Elliott|first=John|date=4 October 2010|title=Ambani & Sons - Polyester dynasty|work=Financial Times}}</ref><ref name=":15" />

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{Subject bar|book=The Polyester Prince|portal1=Biography|portal2=Books|portal3=Literature|portal4=India |portal5=Business}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Polyester Prince, The}}
[[Category:Biographies about businesspeople]]
[[Category:Indian biographies]]
[[Category:Unauthorized biographies]]
[[Category:Allen & Unwin books]]
[[Category:Book censorship in India]]
[[Category:Ambani family]]
[[Category:Books about businesspeople]]
[[Category:Reliance Industries]]
[[Category:Censored books]]
[[Category:Works subject to a lawsuit]]

The Polyester Prince - Revision history

AnnieSneed66: started some post more to come