'My mom had told me a great deal about Meena Kumari and how she could make a tear drop at the right moment. A legend who was in total control. But when I finally met her, I saw a frail, shrivelled and petite woman -- just a bag of bones. Very tiny. She was dying.'
'At the age of 68, I am in the best phase of my life.' 'What I have left of my life, I want to live with dignity.'
'I saw Bimal Roy's Devdas again a few years ago, almost 50 years after it had been made.' 'I found it very intelligently made; the scenes flowed so beautifully.' 'There is just one scene with both Suchitra Sen and me in the film, and it's beautiful.'
'My trajectory right now is five steps forward, two steps backwards.'
'Even today, though my hair looks different, people recognise me wherever I go. They come up and say 'Aap Maine Pyar Kiya mein thi, na?' I think it's going to follow me to the grave.'
Today's Hindi film mothers are younger, trendier, more mischievous. But, truth be told, says Dinesh Raheja, I still do miss sometimes the comforting presence of the trad mother.
The Bachchan family have this knack of going out of their way to make you feel extremely comfortable.
Dinesh Raheja looks back at Manoj Kumar's brilliant 1964 thriller Woh Kaun Thi, and explains just what made it an audio-visual treat.
'K Asifsaab was very definite that 'woh Hindustan ka honewala Badshah hai -- woh gana nahin gayega.'
'I didn't like doing jhatak-mataks. I would subconsciously start feeling, 'Oh my God, my makeup man and my driver will be watching this.''
'I stood in the line for potty. So there was no extraordinary feeling that I had become a hero.'
Somehow no producer found the right project that would justify casting these two selective stars with each other.
'Dharmendra, Shashi Kapoor and I were inseparable while we struggled together.' 'When a disillusioned Dharmendra was packing his bags to return home, I prevailed upon him to give himself two months.' 'Five days later, he was signed for Shola Aur Shabnam and I signed Picnic.'
The tide has turned for Sunny. He has another actioner in the upcoming Jatt and has reteamed with Rajkumar Santoshi after almost three decades for the Aamir Khan produced Lahore 1947.
'Reena stayed in the next building. We fell in love but had to meet secretly because her parents didn't approve of me.' 'I would always be afraid that her parents would get her married off to somebody else.'
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.
Zeenat Aman had scored more hit songs than any of her contemporaries. This can be attributed partly to happenstance and partly to the fact that her forte for high glamour could be showcased most winningly in a crowd-pleasing number, observes Dinesh Raheja.
'Everything in life is about timing.' 'I came to films when the disco craze had started.' Everything just fell into place: The shorts, the slimness, the songs, and my combination with Usha Uthup and Bappi Lahiri.'
'There was a kind of disagreement with Subhashji after Meri Jung and unfortunately for me, I did not get to work with him again after that.'
'Earlier, the comedy track used to run parallel to the main story with songs et al.' 'Nowadays, it's just once one scene here and there.'
At many stages, it has appeared as though Sunny Deol's career was running out of steam, but each time he has risen Phoenix-like from the ashes. Dinesh Raheja gives us a closer look at the man on his 67th birthday on October 19.
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.
'At one time, I felt being a mother was the ultimate experience, a woman was not complete without it.' 'Now I feel it's not the be all and end all. Motherhood is a part of a jigsaw puzzle; life is the real big picture.'
'If I got more work, I would do even more! Recently, I did the Tanishq ad.' 'I keep working because I am fit. I love acting, that is my relaxation.'
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".'
Amitabh Bachchan: 'Success didn't affect me at all.' Rajesh Khanna: 'I felt next to God!'
When you are in love, you are preoccupied just with that.' 'Nothing else registers. It's like being drugged.'
The ethereal Hema Malini turns 75 on October 16, and gives us yet another reason to celebrate her.
Dinesh Raheja views Raj Kapoor's cinema through his women, while celebrating his birth centenary on December 14.
Dinesh Raheja tips his hat to his favourite Raj Kapoor movie, as we continue celebrating the legend's birth centenary.
'He treated stars and assistants with the same unfailing courtesy.'
Shailendra's songs were attuned to Raj Kapoor's explorations of the themes and dreams of the Everyman.
Within his short lifespan of 63 years, Raj Kapoor left behind an incredible cinematic legacy. Dinesh Raheja continues celebrating Raj Kapoor's birth centenary by looking at seven sequences from his films that have defined Hindi cinema.
None of Amjad Khan's subsequent roles could outshine Sholay. He had begun his career at the top and had no higher peaks left to conquer. Dinesh Raheja salutes the iconic actor on his 80th birth anniversary.
Mehmood and R D Burman shiver, wail and flail when they encounter a stuffed tiger that wags its tail, furniture that moves on its own volition and dancing skeletons and mummies. Dinesh Raheja revisits a must-watch.
Mithun Chakraborty started from scratch in bit roles and had no Godfather backing him. Yet, remarkably, his career now straddles six decades and he continues to win acclaim, observes Dinesh Raheja.
Rehana Sultan was all set to be a path-breaker. The time was right. Hindi cinema had emerged from the 1960s musicals era. But somehow, leading film-makers of the time did not believe Rehana had that cachet. It was Zeenat Aman who ended up being the definitive taboo-trasher of the era. Dinesh Raheja salutes the trendsetter of the 1970s, Rehana Sultan.
Salim-Javed became the first Hindi film writers who could be considered brands, and they are still boldface names, celebrities in their own right, chronicles Dinesh Raheja.
As a uniquely multi-hyphenated writer-director-lyricist-author, Gulzar has built a reputation across multiple spheres of film-making and literary creative endeavours. Dinesh Raheja salutes the Master who turns 90 on Sunday.
If there's one thing the full-of-beans star knows, it's how to stay happy, observes Dinesh Raheja.
