As the year draws to a close, Rediff's Senior Contributor Roshmila Bhattacharya takes a look at the hits and misses, the highs and lows, the newsmakers and the dealbreakers in alphabetical order.
'I am very fortunate that I am getting films where I am finally doing romance on screen, if not in my real life.'
120 Bahadur is underwhelming, adding little fresh perspective and generally feeling like a standard war drama we have seen umpteen times before, notes Mayur Sanap.
Check out the winners at the Zee Cine Awards.
'I made a big fuss about playing Manoj Kumar's mother, but he had made up his mind. He said he would wait until I made up my mind. I was about 40 then. He was so large and I was so tiny!'
The venue for the Filmfare Awards shifted to Ahmedabad last weekend, and stars dazzled on the red carpet and on stage.
Lord Curzon Ki Haveli lacks the wit and the wickedness to go anywhere with the mildly intriguing setup, observes Deepa Gahlot.
Bijuria, the latest song from Sunny Sanskari Ki Tulsi Kumari's soundtrack, looks smashing.
'Panchamda created an exclusive theme music for Gabbar Singh, which is used throughout the film every time the dacoit makes an appearance, and in both concept and sound, is so eerie and evil.'
'It is a beautiful balance between traditional old-world sanskaars, and new generations opening up to new worlds without renouncing respect,' observes Sandeep Goyal.
It's 'not looking like a Diwali lineup, which is usually grand and has superstar movies.'
The two leads are looking confident in the trailer, but whether their chemistry will translate into a convincing love saga is something that remains to be seen, notes Mayur Sanap.
'When the show was releasing, I think all the actors were under the impression that this is a limited series.' 'After seeing the response, I feel we should have a season two.'
While Nishaanchi is not a homerun for Kashyap, there's enough joy in this audience pleaser, notes Mayur Sanap.
His latest film Saiyaara is a blockbuster and has propelled him way into the big league.
Sooraj R Barjatya was judged Best Director for the Hindi movie Uunchai at the National Film Awards.
The actress got emotional as she accepts the award for Best Actress for her Gujarati film, Kutch Express.
'The evening show is coming to an end, and everyone is on the phone and I want to take everyone's call.' 'I want to ask how they liked the film. How did they feel when they left the cinema while crying?'
With his killer smile, the sex symbol image, Robert Redford would go beyond just being an actor, remembers Aseem Chhabra.
Jugnuma has the unhurried pace of a stroll at dusk through the hills and the quiet delight in coming across jugnus (fireflies) twinkling in the trees, observes Deepa Gahlot.
The 'Indira Gandhi award for best debut film' and the 'Nargis Dutt award for best feature film on national integration' have been retitled with the names of the late prime minister and legendary actor being dropped as part of a raft of changes for the National Film Awards, according to a notification.
Though Zanjeer is credited as Amitabh's breakthrough film, it didn't immediately enthrone him. Rajesh Khanna countered with a huge hit in Daag that year. But Deewar upended audience's cinematic taste and filmland hierarchies at the very start of 1975. Bachchan emerged as a one man industry, the angry young man who could regulate the thermostat of the entire film industry, recalls Dinesh Raheja.
Aseem Chhabra picks his top 10 Indian films of 2024, which includes films that have had theatrical releases or are streaming on OTT.
'I'm totally focussed on finding the right energies around me. A lot of the treatment is psychosomatic, as my mother keeps reiterating, if you think positive, positive things will happen to you.'
These six male megastars have formed popular pairs with two starkly different leading ladies. Dinesh Raheja compares and contrasts the chemistry between the onscreen couples, and asks you, dear reader, to vote for your favourite jodi.
'I make films which I think have the possibility of being liked by a majority of people, and you present it with the right emotions.'
'His understanding of human nature and emotions can never be matched by me.'
'Bappi Lahiri was looking for a break so he and his father would meet me.' 'I told Director Bhisham Kohli about this promising young boy from Kolkata, and Bappi came over with his harmonium.' 'Bappi played this composition and Bhisham liked it immediately.' 'As we were discussing, I said I would give the words, and that's how I wrote this song.'
R Madhavan's Rocketry: The Nambi Effect has won the National Award for Best Feature Film while Alia Bhatt and Kriti Sanon shared the Best Actress award for their roles in Gangubai Kathiawadi and Mimi, respectively.
Melodies that stayed on in the mind and memory are too few and far between. Except the ones that do make an impression are definitely worth celebrating for their refreshing style and substance.
The veteran actor passed into the ages in the early hours of Friday, April 4, 2025. Sukanya Verma looks back at his most memorable performances.
'Naseer does not have the sense of humour that Om Puri has. 'Also Om has a great deal of compassion as a human being. Naseer was too focused on his own self.' A fascinating excerpt from Sangeeta Datta's book, Shyam Benegal.
'The way the anticipation is built up for Gabbar Singh's introduction scene with sound, image and details of his personality, like the combat boots he wears.' 'The camera comes so close -- not a tele lens shot, but a wide-angle close-up -- that you can almost smell Gabbar's breath.'
'Editor M S Shinde deserves full credit because, I'm told, Ramesh Sippy had shot 300,000 feet of footage, which was brought down to 18,000. 'He died in 2012, in a 126 square foot flat in Dharavi, penniless, a forgotten hero.'
'I don't know how long cinema will survive.'
Despite the mediocrity at large, these films had me in raptures for the emotions they evoked within as a cheering audience, critic and cinephile.
Aseem Chhabra lists his favorite 2023 films -- a healthy blend of Bollywood, Hindi indies and some of the best work that is being done in Tamil, Malayalam, Kannada and Bengali cinema.
The world is celebrating Raj Kapoor's birth centenary, but when was the last time you watched an RK film?
The fifth Filmfare OTT Awards 2024 was held on December 1 in Mumbai, and it saw a lot of glamour.
'The moment a movie was declared a hit, he would immediately start planning his next.'
