Raised in the slums, Ankita Singh's breakthrough came when she was crowned Miss Kolkata in 2018.
As Indians scrambled to exchange the banned notes for new currency, Paytm, Sharma's digital payments startup, went on a promotional spree, inviting Indians to start using Paytm's digital wallet to pay for everyday goods and services.
Kartik Aryan and Kriti Sanon get ready to play Luka Chuppi with us.
'Irrfan was known in his friend circles as a Sufi-esque man who was never detached from any incident, person or situation,' remembers Rajesh Abhay, a friend of the actor since their days at NSD.
Sukanya Verma lists some of Bollywood's delightful reel-life husband and wife jodis in the last few years.
Irrfan was hoping he would get a role as one of the kids in Salaam Bombay!, and when that didn't happen, heartbreak and tears followed.
'He's got such incredible resilience, such an incredible spirit that we were feeding off his strength rather than him feeding off ours.' 'Sometimes I look back and cannot figure out how the f*** we made this movie.'
2019 seems totally ready for new directors, with superstars queuing up to work with fresh talent.
'When it comes to work, he forgets his sleep, his food, everything.' 'He is too involved in the process and that gives him strength.'
Unlike other SM sensations, 'Khan Sir' became a star with well-researched news-related videos, not 30-second inanities. Syed Firdaus Ashraf tracks down the elusive coach to IAS aspirants.
'The Chinese mindset and approach to India is far different from that in Pakistan.' 'This reality makes it possible for us to follow an engagement policy with one, while militating against engagement with the other.'
The hits and misses of the week.
Not satisfied with the changes announced by the government in the Union Public Service Commission exam, scores of civil services aspirants on Monday vowed to continue their fight for "complete scrapping" of the Civil Services Aptitude Test paper and decided to shift their agitation to Jantar Mantar in central Delhi.
Captain Shikha Surabhi is the first woman to lead a formation of 36 men and 9 Royal Enfields of the Indian Army's motorcycle display team on Republic Day.
Shuai Jiao Baba (Let's Wrestle, Dad) in China seems to have made twice its combined earnings in India and the rest of the world.
Noted historians Romila Thapar, Irfan Habib and Amar Farooqi believe that banning the sale of a book by DU because it refers to Bhagat Singh as a "revolutionary terrorist".
'He was capable, concise, calm, sublime, and profound, and perhaps that's also why Irrfan's passing felt 'personal' to many.'
Swadesh Kumar Kesarwani, 67, from Hyderabad, shares his life lesson.
'The idea is to celebrate your imperfections because God has made us all the same, right?'
'When the trailer of Angrezi Medium came out, and when the credits were rolling in the end, with names like Irrfan Khan, Kareena Kapoor Khan, Deepak Dobriyal, Dimple Kapadia... that's when it hit me and I couldn't control my tears. That was the first time I realised that I was living my dream.'
We saw Judwaa 2, Golmaal Again and Secret Superstar drive box office collections. Now, watch out for Padmavati and Tiger Zinda Hai in December.
Over the last decade the Indian film industry has reinvented itself. Do film critics need to do that too?
'Since Piku, Irrfan seemed content in delighting us with his finesse than striking a nerve.' 'Now, why was this so?' 'Why did our No 1 soul-searching actor suddenly decide that he'd rather be a heart-warmer?' 'Did those journeys take too much out of him?' asks Sreehari Nair.
The apex court order comes as a relief for 12 lakh medical aspirants who had given the exam.
'Assault, abuse and exploitation in the name of gender happens everywhere in any industry. This is the state of affairs. I do not believe in jumping the gun and naming people. Then, everyone will have a field day and the point would be lost. You have to go by the law. You need to evidence to name a person. We are living in a country where domestic rape is not illegal.' Intelligent words from Qarib Qarib Singlle actress Parvathy.
Varun Gautam, Irrfan's friend from his Jaipur days, learned about Irrfan's illness when he received a phone call from Sutapa. This was sometime before Irrfan officially announced his illness. He assured her, 'Even if the doctors are concerned, he will still stay alive.'
The failure of big-budget Bollywood movies show that mega stars such as Salman Khan, Shah Rukh Khan, Hrithik Roshan, Ranbir Kapoor, Katrina Kaif and Anushka Sharma are struggling to impress the audience.
On planes, on Netflix, Amazon Prime, Hotstar, Zee5, Hulu, MUBI, Kanopy, film festivals... Aseem Chhabra tell us how he watched 309 films in 365 days.
'We need more universal films like Dangal, Sultan or Padmavat that work across single screens and multiplexes.'
'Munna Michael was not planned at all.' 'On the last day of the shooting for Heropanti, I gave Tiger a small narration.' 'He loved it.' 'Last year, Tiger reminded me of that narration, and asked, "Why don't you make it?"' 'Because of his excitement, this film has happened.'
In an online chat with readers, Amit Jaiswal, head of academics, MockBank.com offered advice on how to crack the examination.
There's a lot happening in Bollywood, Hollywood and world cinema this year.
'My acting idol Robert De Niro is also my friend. There are many brilliant actors but it's a huge deal for me to have Robert De Niro in my mail contacts.' Anupam Kher revisits the prominent Kuch Bhi Ho Sakta Hai moments in his life.
If you happen to like this film, I have to assume there's something seriously wrong with your idea of a journey, Sreehari Nair says.
'I have played 54 characters till now, and there was always some reference point, but in Raabta, there was none.'
'The first time we actually got to meet a Bollywood star, it was Salman Khan.' 'We met him at his farm house.' 'For Pia, an actor is just an actor. There is no such thing as a star in her world, and that may or may not go down well with some people.'
'Buddy knows more about Raju's films because he sits in the editing room.' 'He has seen Sanju a number of times already!'
