'After the first Kantara, when they announced the second one, I kind of knew he will call me. I had this instinct. Then he called me at midnight and I didn't pick up. I was like, I'm not talking to anybody at 12 at night. The following day, I called and we chatted. He said, I have to narrate you something. I said, I know, it's Kantara!'
Asrani may have never been a marquee name up in sparkling lights or on outsized posters but the sheer proficiency with which he realised his characters has unleashed gales of laughter over five decades and made a significant contribution to several landmark films. Dinesh Raheja salutes the iconic actor.
'Whenever we did any scenes together, whatever we did in the film, he never said, "Let's do another take or let's move on".' 'He always asked me, "Parmeet, is it okay?" Till I gave my best, he kept going on.'
Mari Selvaraj delivers his most rage-filled film in years, with a superbly cast Dhruv Vikram giving it his all, notices Arjun Menon.
Taming the animal called AI in its many avatars will clearly remain a work in progress.
Dinesh Raheja salutes Sandhya, the acclaimed dancer who passed into the ages on October 4.
Ghaati does not understand how to harness Anushka Shetty's electrifying screen presence, complains Arjun Menon.
Diane Keaton's wit and honesty taught us that ageing and uncertainty aren't weaknesses, they are part of what makes us human and graceful, observes Sreehari Nair.
He was a storyteller who made me feel the pulse of history, the stakes of human ambition, and the thrill of a well-told tale. Prem Panicker recalls his debt to Frederick Forsyth, who passed away on Monday.
'On the editing table, we would be salivating on how she maintains her continuity to perfection on each take.' 'I have seen this with Shah Rukh sir and I observed the same level of precision with Rasika.'
This weekend, we lost Diane Keaton, that piece of American heart, Hollywood's darling hummingbird. Thank God she is still alive in her films. Aseem Chhabra on the Hollywood star he was in love with.
'The film-literate public in Kerala are not happy watching run-of-the-mill movies.'
'I fell in love with Suraiya and that was my first real gafla. The more I couldn't get her, the more I wanted her. When I couldn't marry her because the world didn't want it, I cried for the first time.'
'Am I not happy he was born? Am I not happy he crossed my path when I was walking through a wasteland? Am I not happy that, like a haunting song, he still lingers in my heart?'
Zubeen Garg was not just Assam's voice, he was its heartbeat, its rebellion, and its song of unity in a land often torn apart.
'What is it about the institution of faith that makes somebody get a sense of impunity, that they believe they can get away with anything?'
'Ahaan Panday and Aneet Padda have captured the relevance to and imagination of Gen Z and millennial viewers.'
Some of the issues Vivek Agnihotri raises in The Bengal Files are valid, but today, the need of the hour is to find ways of negotiating peace not pouring oil over troubled waters, asserts Deepa Gahlot.
'So my question was, 'What is it that you are proud of? What have you achieved? What is your contribution?' 'He had no answer.'
The cheeky young man who once gave me one-word answers grew into a philosophical, detached star yet remained simple and humble, never letting stardom steal his heart, notes Rediff's Shobha Warrier who first interviewed the Dadasaheb Phalke Award winner in 1987.
Seventy years after Pather Panchali released on August 26, 1955, we finally get it. Shuttling between the village of Boral and a studio in Calcutta, caught between worrying about the next purse of funds and wondering which item to mortgage next, Satyajit Ray was explaining Indians to themselves, discovers Sreehari Nair.
Aditya Dhar's penchant for action and high-pitched dramatic moments hover over Dhurandhar's teaser. And there shouldn't be any doubt that the director will deliver the goods, expects Mayur Sanap.
Vijay Sethupathi and Nithya Menen's electrifying performances hold Thalaivan Thalaivii together, notes Arjun Menon.
'You need the drishti, the experience. I am beginning to see things differently.'
After all, she was working with three legends -- Kamal Haasan, Mani Ratnam and A R Rahman.
No author in the Malayalam literary canon has influenced and profoundly changed the way normal people interact with each other than the ever-relevant, eclectic yet elusive body of work left behind by MT Vasudevan Nair, notes Arjun Menon.
'After playing strong women like Kavita and Tulsi on television, it would be very difficult for audiences to accept me as a routine running-around-trees heroine.'
'I wouldn't change a single shot even if I could, the film is just perfect even with a supposedly flawed script!' Celebrating Sholay's 50th anniversary on August 15 with a special series, where contemporary film folk analyse the cult classic.
Sholay's Basanti is the face of women's empowerment and gender equality. That's why, half a century after the movie first released, we're still talking about her.
Sukanya Verma looks at their eclectic career of over two decades as their latest offering Citadel: Honey Bunny, the Indian leg of the Russo Brothers globetrotting spy universe series, drops on Amazon Prime Video on November 7.
With 17 films crossing the Rs 100 crore mark in the first six months, this year relied less on big-ticket blockbusters.
'I always considered him as a director, never an actor. Do you know he always considered other actors for his films first?' 'For Pyaasa, he wanted to cast Dilip saab; only when Dilip saab refused did Guru Duttji decide to do the role himself.'
The reasons are too private to be discussed at a round table, listed out during a seminar, or uncovered in an academic course. A proud but insomniac connoisseur murmuring in his sleep may do a better job of explaining the phenomenon than an expert on a podium. Sreehari Nair airs his thoughts.
'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.'
Apple's high-octane racing film "F1: The Movie" roared to the top of the U.S. and Canadian box office this weekend, fueled by star-power and a finely-tuned marketing campaign
'Even if I had the backing of a big corporate house, which I don't, in today's market, I wouldn't want the responsibility of making a Rs 300 crore-Rs 400 crore film.'
Rohit Sharma and his team faced a security scare, hotel lockdown, and overwhelming fan frenzy. And yet, what followed was one of India's most dramatic wins ever.
The 'newcomer' was praised by Pritam as an 'amazing singer'.
'It's a tremendous accomplishment to have a father like Amitabh Bachchan and still be so sorted, to not taste the kind of success that he should have and yet be so balanced.'
The two immensely watchable stars aside, War 2 looks like a banal amalgam of every action flick we have seen before.
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