Rajinikanth may have made his last Hindi film two decades ago but he can still set the screen alight, blazing away with a gun that has dozens of barrels. As Thalaiva turns 75 on December 12, Dinesh Raheja looks back at his 17 year journey in Hindi cinema.
'I worked with Sriram Raghavan in Johnny Gaddar and now Ikkis. He is a very gifted director. He knows what he is doing.'
Mardaani 3 star Rani Mukerji celebrates 30 years in the film industry with a heartfelt conversation with Karan Johar.
'The culture of mankind has been spread by the travel gene which pushes one in five people to have the curiosity to move to unknown destinations.'
Sunny Deol hosted a special screening for Ikkis, his father Dharmendra's last film, on Monday.
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.
Britain's Prince Edward and former prime minister Rishi Sunak were also at the game.
While Amitabh Bachchan's chemistry with his heroines -- from Jaya Bhaduri to Rekha to Hema Malini -- brought sizzle to his films, many of his biggest blockbusters have been powered by his combustible combination with male co-stars.
'There are tall personalities who have utilised Mumbai and Maharashtra for their career growth, but they never thought it is their responsibility to learn Marathi.'
Writer and director Anusha Rizvi returns to cinema after 15 years with warmth, wit and many a laughs.
'A most sad moment, filled only now with condolence and prayer.'
Waheeda Rehman and Jaya Bachchan attended the prayer meet for Kamini Kaushal at the Nehru Centre in Mumbai.
'Once when he was on a flight, the plane hit an air-pocket.' 'The turbulence outside caused it to see-saw violently which caused a lot of panic inside. While his co-passengers were crying and praying for their lives, Salil kaku was writing a song in his head.'
The one role Dharmendra wanted to play in life was that of the septuagenarian lover from...
Dinesh Raheja charts the highs and lows of Hrishikesh Mukherjee's creative association with five megastars -- Amitabh Bachchan, Rajesh Khanna, Raj Kapoor, Dilip Kumar and Dharmendra.
After spinning into the spotlight with the hit song-and-dance number Mera Naam Chin Chin Chu in Howrah Bridge (1958), Helen signed scores of films as a dancer. But Helen was raring to step out of her dancing shoes, and play heroine instead.
We look at the longest Hindi movies through the years, and interestingly, most of them have done well.
The film industry bid an emotional farewell to Manoj Kumar, one of Bollywood's legendary actors.
'The army and all the people we did spend time with, they emphasised the kind of impact Arun Khetarpal has had on one, the Indian Army and two, just the country as a whole.'
'What a talent, what an actor! 'Cast him as anyone, anything, and he is ready for the challenge. I get restless when I don't have him in my film.'
Music director duos are a unique Bollywood feature, and many have become iconic. In this special series, Dinesh Raheja explores prominent music duos, and their dynamics.
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.
Film folk said their last goodbyes to Dharmendra, who passed into the ages on November 24.
After being unwell for several days, Dharmendra breathed his last on November 24.
Rajesh Khanna: 'When I saw Namak Haram at a trial at Liberty cinema, I knew my time was up.' I told Hrishida, "Here is the superstar of tomorrow".'
Kant, a retired 1980-batch Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer of Kerala cadre, was appointed as India's G20 Sherpa in July 2022, months before India assumed the G20 Presidency.
Bappi Lahiri realised disco was a winning ticket and escalated his game with several more dancefloor perennials. Soon, every film producer and music director in town was down with disco fever. On what would have been Bappi Lahiri's 73rd birthday this November 27, Dinesh Raheja rewinds to the late music composer's halcyon days.
Amitabh Bachchan felicitated Chiranjeevi with the ANR National Award in Hyderabad, celebrating the 100th birth anniversary of Akkineni Nageswara Rao.
'I owe what Shakti became as much to Mr Bachchan as Salim-Javed.'
Dharmendra got his He Man image with Phool Aur Patthar, which was so strong that he never managed to fully shrug it off.
Dharmendra's oeuvre was so phenomenal that there was never a phase in his professional life when he was in danger of falling into a rut, in terms of either the kind of films he starred in or the sort of co-actors he worked with.
Dharmendra remained one of the most loved stars of all time, even when his movies tapered off, and age caught up with him.
Govinda and Chunky Panday are an absolute delight in the fourth episode of Too Much With Kajol and Twinkle.
Speaking at the ceremony, Deepti said it was a matter of great pride to address the gathering at the Police Headquarters.
'We expect inbound numbers in 2025 to come close to pre-pandemic levels -- if not fully match them -- by early 2026.'
'There is no substantive basis for Bangladesh-Pakistan relations. The only real link they can have is mischief, with Pakistan's intelligence agency using Bangladesh to create trouble along our eastern borders.'
From emotional showdowns to the ultimate happily-ever-afters, we recap 10 times Bollywood showed us couples fighting their gharwale for their love.
The cricketing fraternity on Monday paid glowing tributes to veteran actor Dharmendra, who passed away in Mumbai at the age of 89.
'Every film had its challenges, but Mr India, Sadak and Gandhi were the toughest.' 'Mr India needed imagination, Sadak needed sensitivity and Gandhi demanded historical authenticity.'
'One of the dignified aspects of their relationship is that Hema reportedly told Dharamji that she would never disturb his first family.'
