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It’s been 15 years but one still remembers him from Rakyesh Omprakash Mehra’s 2006 film, Rang De Basanti, in which he played Ashfaqulla Khan martyred in India’s freedom struggle, and Aslam, an unlikely revolutionary in the present day who stands up against corruption and, once again, dies young. More recently, one saw him as Zahir-ud-Din Muhammad […]
Would you believe that it was not Jai but Veeru who was the original choice to play the cop in Zanjeer? Yes, Dharmendra had taken Salim-Javed’s script to Prakash Mehra and was really keen on playing Vijay, but had to drop out just before the film was to kick-off because of a family commitment. Unwilling […]
October 11, 1969. Producer-director Mohan Segal launched Sawan Bhadon with his friend’s son and protégé, Navin Nischol, as the hero. Navin had just graduated from the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII) after completing a two-year acting course with the coveted gold medal and a delighted Segal rewarded him with a double role. He […]
Your upcoming film, Rashmi Rocket, is the journey of a girl from a tourist guide to a top track and field athlete, and the sex test or gender discrimination test that Rashmi Veera is forced to take. What’s your personal take on these tests? The yardsticks set over years and applied are horrific! What gives anyone […]
Bollywood Superstar Shahrukh Khan’s son Aryan Khan has been placed under arrest by the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) along with two others on Sunday. However, this arrest has us reeling back other arrests like: Armaan Kohli: On August 28, 2021, actor Armaan Kohli was arrested after 1.2 gm of cocaine was said to be found in […]
In your upcoming film Shiddat, you stumble across the love of your life in Paris. If you were to go there alone today, who would you want to bump into? The charm of being in Paris would be to connect with a stranger, someone I don’t know even remotely. And what if you discovered, like your […]
I can imagine Hrishikesh Mukherjee, or Hrishida as he was affectionately and respectfully called in the film fraternity, at 99. That’s what he would have turned today, And even though my interviews always took me to his bedside because by then he was already ailing, I would want to see him on a film set. […]
“I couldn’t believe I was seated between Lata Mangeshkar and Asha Bhosle, the two pillars of the music industry, at the premiere of my first Hindi film, Bees Saal Baad,” reminisces Biswajit Chatterjee on Lata Mangeshkar’s 92nd birthday, September 28, adding that the evening became even more magical when after the screening, she invited the […]
Today, September 27, is Yash Chopra’s 89th birth anniversary and the film that is playing in my mind is Deewar. Its iconic dialogue, ‘Mere paas maa hai’ still resonates, 46 years after its release, on January 24, 1975. In fact, even the ‘Mozart of Madras’, AR Rahman, had referenced this line in his Oscar acceptance […]
Would you believe that Dev Anand’s romantic drama, Guide, which ranked No. 4 in Time magazine’s 2012 list of ‘Best Bollywood classics’, opened at Mumbai’s Maratha Mandir to a lukewarm response? Even in Gujarat, the film did not take a flying start. A drought saved it from oblivion. In the film, Raju, a discredited small […]
1943… It was an uncomfortably hot day in Kolhapur. The 10-year-old young girl who was skipping down the road looked happily playful on camera, but actually, she couldn’t wait for the director to call “Cut.” Her father, Pandit Deenanath Mangeshkar, had passed away the previous year, and she had accepted the Marathi film, Majha Bal. The song […]
JAGRITI (1954) This path-breaking film won a Certificate of Merit at the National Film Awards. It also bagged the Filmfare Award for Best Film, with Abhi Bhattacharya as the new school superintendent Shekhar, taking home the trophy for Best Supporting Actor. Shekhar, unlike the other teachers, doesn’t believe in punishment. Through songs like “De di […]
After Hostages 2 and Tandav, Dino Morea returns to play Shaibani Khan, the evil bad man, in the series, The Empire, which starts streaming on Disney+Hotstar from August 27. The film is based on Alex Rutherford’s historical fiction Empire of the Moghul: Raiders From the North. Ask the actor what we can look forward to, having read a lot about […]
Ajit Bhairavkar, the director of the web series Sabka Sai, explains why he thinks actor Raj Arjun is the perfect choice to play Baba. We have had many films and TV shows on Sai, including Shirdi Ke Sai Baba (1977), Sai Baba—Tere Hazaron Haath (TV, 2005), Malik Ek (2008). What can we expect from your mini-series Sabka Sai, which starts streaming on MX […]
HUMA QURESHI-SAQIB SALEM There’s food for thought here On April 8, 2020, Huma Qureshi baked a birthday cake for baby brother Saqib Saleem as he turned 33. She described it as the world’s ugliest cheesecake but consoled herself with the thought that it’s the thought that counts. Her dishes gave Saqib plenty of thought too. […]
Tisca Chopra, who asserts that she’s always looking to do something exciting alongside acting, be it scripting, producing and directing short films or writing a book. Now, she’s ready to go one step up and make her directorial debut on the big screen. So, you are all set to direct a feature film now? Will […]
Saroj Khan had a nickname for him when he was a participant on the 2010 reality show, Dance Sangram. The late choreographer was appreciative of Avinash Dwivedi’s “Robotics Steps” and gave him her signature blessings—Rs 101—three times during the competition. “She called me ‘Akshay Jackson’ because I would integrate the dance styles of Akshay Kumar […]
On a regular day, these couples will shy away from the public eye, but once in a while, on their Instagram handles they open their hearts to the world That Alia Bhatt is missing RK is no secret. On July 14, she posted a picture of her silhouette against a gorgeous sunset. She was quick […]
The social drama Mimi, which delivered prematurely on Netflix and Jio Cinemas on July 26, four days before its scheduled release, after pirated prints were released, on Telegram and torrent sites, has raised a lot of interest in surrogacy. The film is about a young dancer from Rajasthan who aspires to be a Bollywood heroine and is […]
August 4 is a red-letter day for music aficionados across the world because it was on this day, 92 years ago in 1929, that on a Sunday evening in Khandwa, Gauri Devi went into labour. Abhas was the youngest son of lawyer Kunjilal Ganguly and his wife Gauri, born after Kumudlal, Sati Devi and Kalyan. Today, the […]
