In Sukanya Verma's special series re-visiting great Hindi film classics, we look back at 1960's Parakh, starring Sadhana, Motilal, Nazir Hussain and Durga Khote.
'It was a mission undertaken in darkness in every sense -- literally, because Afghanistan had no electricity at that time; and, metaphorically because Delhi historically dealt only with the Pashtuns of Afghanistan and the foreign ministry's vast archives had nothing to offer on the culture and politics of the northern tribes in the Hindu Kush.'
Dr Manmohan Singh's role in the sordid saga of the Coal Allocation Scam was always Delhi's worst-kept secret; calls for his interrogation will mushroom after he was named by P C Parakh, says T V R Shenoy.
'If fame, money and comfort are the only factors that drive us, then we are playing cricket for entirely the wrong reasons.'
Shanoo Sharma -- the woman responsible for launching the careers of Ranveer Singh, Arjun Kapoor, Vaani Kapoor, Bhumi Pednekar and Alia Bhatt among others -- tells Ronjita Kulkarni/Rediff.com what casting is all about.
Pavan Malhotra, one of our finest actors, shows us another side of Bollywood.
'What if Modi becomes the fascist the leftists paints him as? What if he does suspend the Constitution and declares himself the ruler, with support from the army? What exactly will you do, Mr Leftie?' asks Rajeev Srinivasan.
'My father became a very popular villain and in some films, was paid more than the hero. He was a very simple person. All he needed was six pairs of white shirts and trousers for the whole year, one or two packets of Dunhill cigarettes a day and books.' Shehzaad Khan on his famous father Ajit.
The second part of our exclusive interview with Farhan and Javed Akhtar.
Giving up cricket isn't easy for a cricketer especially when you are the son of a cricket legend.
Some stellar performances by seasoned veterans and promising youngsters continued to raise the bar in Olympic sports but there was heartbreak in equal measure when corruption scandals blighted India's favourite obsession, cricket, in a see-saw year for the country's sportspersons.
'The fragility of this case is that taking a side could be a fallacy to do. Because you don't have all the answers. So how do you take one particular side?' Meghna Gulzar asks Vaihayasi Pande Daniel/Rediff.com