'His understanding of human nature and emotions can never be matched by me.'
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.
'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.'
'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.
'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.'
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 veteran actor passed into the ages in the early hours of Friday, April 4, 2025. Sukanya Verma looks back at his most memorable performances.
'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.'
Despite the mediocrity at large, these films had me in raptures for the emotions they evoked within as a cheering audience, critic and cinephile.
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 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.'
Deepa Gahlot picks the top 10 Karan Johar films -- some that he directed and others that he produced or co-produced -- that you can watch on steaming platforms.
'The moment a movie was declared a hit, he would immediately start planning his next.'
'If you watch songs like Acha Ji Main Haari Chalo Maan Jao Na, Lag Ja Gale or Jhumka Gira Re, you'll notice they're not just a distraction. There's a story unfolding within them.'
'Everyone wants me to do Naatu Naatu again.'
It was an emotional evening for many film folk, as they won the top awards at the 25th IIFA ceremony in Jaipur.
Veteran filmmaker Chandra Barot, best known for directing the 1978 Amitabh Bachchan-starrer 'Don', passed away on Sunday due to cardiac arrest at a hospital in Mumbai. He was 86.
'Expect an emotional dramatic film with action. Expect a world within the crime world.'
Film folk have been very busy this year, attending trailer launches and promotional events. Hitesh Harisinghani/ Rediff.com vouches for that, as he recaps 2024 with his insightful clicks.
'Everybody goes through tumultuous times. I've been lucky and my journey has been excellent.' 'I can't complain because I've had everything and God has been kind.'
'Star didn't think Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi was good enough to come immediately after KBC.' 'Except for Ekta, no one imagined it would become such a hit.'
'Whenever people say to me that all my work looks unique, I say to them originality is the art of concealing your source.' 'You can't see the sources that I take from because usually, they are Indian.' 'But then Indians don't find my work Indian.'
As we celebrate the actor's much deserved award, Divya Nair presents 10 landmark films in Suriya's career, ranked in order of performance.
'Everyone at Guru Dutt Productions would get monthly salaries. Waheeda didi would get Rs 2,500 per month. And that was the reason why she left.'
'When India opened its doors to the world, moving away from an agrarian to a market economy, everything, whether life or love, was commodified.'
'While shooting the Don song, Chandra Barot ordered 30-40 paans and insisted Amitabh Bachchan eat them all.'
'Thank you to the Cannes Film Festival for having our film here. Please don't wait 30 years to have another Indian film.'
While Hollywood attended the Oscars on Sunday night, film folk back home were busy getting glam for the Zee Cine Awards in Mumbai.
Kareena has been a leading lady now for 25 years, Deepika for almost two decades and Alia for over a decade. Dinesh Raheja chronicles the changing ways Bollywood has treated actor-moms.
Metro... In Dino is about modern day relationships that feel 'relatable'.
Yuan has a pleasant surprise up his sleeve for the Tamil film music fans; his father Ilayaraja has rendered one of Yuvan's compositions in this album and incidentally it is the pick of this five-track album.
'The largest listenership for Vividh Bharati outside the country is in Spain.' 'The labourers who go there for the tomato-picking season feel cut off from their country and listen to Vividh Bharati to overcome their loneliness.'
'Casting the Bachchans NOT as father and son was the toughest and the easiest part.'
Picking 10 excellent performances has been difficult but the attempt is to acknowledge the work of actors, who are often overlooked in favour of stars.
'This maha-parivarik is because of Mallika Sherawat.'
Through Bob Dylan's music, lyrics, and Timothe Chalamet's superb acting, we feel we have rubbed shoulders with greatness, even when it is full of flaws, self-doubts, warts and all, observes Aseem Chhabra.
This isn't just a home for the elderly. It's a place where life stories, generations, and cultures weave themselves into something quietly extraordinary, discovers Nitin Sathe.
