'It would have been easy to play Danny like a bad guy, but then, at the end, the audience might well have said, "Why is Latika still stuck with this ass**** when he is giving her so much grief?"'
An effortless artist at all times, Surekha Sikri's emotional eloquence and authoritative presence showed a knack for turning moments into meaning.
Here's the second part of guide to a year that will soon become history.
'Dibakar Banerjee isn't simply giving a particular fascistic regime the finger.' 'Here, he wants to offer us a preview of the invisible forces and human tendencies that drive fascism, blind conformity, and mass hysteria,' says Sreehari Nair.
We are all blessed that Irrfan Khan has left us a treasure trove of his remarkable films. The characters he played were real, believable. We recognised them and they have stayed with us. And so a fan I like to believe Irrfan Khan did not die, says Aseem Chhabra, the actor's biographer on Irrfan's first death anniversary.
Actor Kushal Punjabi, who appeared in films such as Kaal and Lakshya as well as the reality show Fear Factor, was found dead in his Bandra apartment, in north west Mumbai, in the early hours of Friday, police said.
Sukanya Verma on The Zoya Factor in Indian cinema.
Tim Pigott-Smith hated the natives in The Jewel in the Crown, but went back a lover of India at the end of the four-month shoot. India not only gave him a career-defining role but touched him in many different ways. Documentary filmmaker Siddharth Kak -- who acted with the classy actor in the beloved television series -- shares his memories with Rediff.com's Archana Masih.
'Like General Patton, possibly the greatest exponent of the art of war, Vajpayee had the ability to be always on the offensive,' assesses Colonel Anil A Athale (retd).
Bhumi Pednekar, Radhika Apte, Manisha Koirala, Kiara Advani luminate Netflix's Lust Stories, notes Sukanya Verma.
Aseem Chhabra watched some great films and some huge disappointments in 2020.
Sreehari Nair could not put up with turgid and self-serious ones like Super Deluxe and Gully Boy. His list of favourite Indian movies of 2019 contains just five names.
Sukanya Verma's nostalgic filmi week!
Veteran actor Sadashiv Amrapurkar, who breathed his last this morning at Kokilaben hospital in Mumbai, will be remembered for his remarkable ability to make us both adore and abhor him with his on screen antics. Here's a look at his best performances.
'This colliding of worlds is a feature of chawl life in Mumbai, where the clashes in one household often become prime-time television for the neighbours; where the boundaries of good sex, lechery, and incest are frequently blurred,' says Sreehari Nair.
'Not allowing people to speak or listen is the biggest act of anti-nationalism,' says Arvind Krishna Mehrotra, one of India's finest poets.
'It's an experience of a lifetime. It's the first time I acted in a South Indian film where I was treated as an equal by an actor.'
'Over one million people served in various battlefronts during World War I. And yet, even today, we know so very little about them.' 'It is absolutely essential to acknowledge this part of India's colonial history,' Santanu Das tells Vaihayasi Pande Daniel/Rediff.com
'The real test will be in defence-related deals, for instance the Javelin anti-tank missile: Is the US willing to co-develop something with India, on terms that will support the 'Make in India' initiative? Is there defence technology transfer? Or will it dump old junk on India?' asks Rajeev Srinivasan.
