'Look after your own mother before looking after your neighbour's mother.' 'I don't believe in starving my own mother and feeding sweets to the neighbours.'
Sex workers in Kamathipura, central Mumbai, tie a rakhi on the postman who brings them mail -- and this week, a gift of the Tiranga.
After years of living with his family in a poky 110 sq. ft. 'house', textile worker Sambhaji Surve dreams of moving into a home four times the size once the Maharashtra government starts its ambitious redevelopment of the 39-acre Kamathipura shanty town in south-central Mumbai. Sharing his dream are about 8,000 other families hoping for a better life when the redevelopment project, part of the government's effort to redevelop old settlements and make life more livable for some residents, gets underway. The Shiv Sena-Nationalist Congress Party aims to redevelop BDD Chawl and Dharavi but for Surve all the matters is Kamathipura where he arrived in the 1970s from Nasik to work in a textile mill. Kamathipura was originally built 150 years ago following construction of a causeway to connect the seven islands of Mumbai. From the British Raj to post-independence, it became infamous for slums and brothels.
If Sanjay Leela Bhansali could make Mumbai's Kamathipura sparkle in Gangubai Kathiawadi, Heera Mandi is bound to be drowned in glitter, observes Deepa Gahlot.
'The primary set took over three months to build with 14,000-15,000 workers employed at a time.'
'We ensured that Mallikajaan's Shahi Mahal lived up to its name.' 'One zardosi panel cost around Rs 4 lakh; the one with the kalpavriksh was around Rs 5 lakh.'
'Everyone was talking about migrants, frontline workers and cops...' 'Nobody was talking about sex workers during the pandemic.'
'I've spoken to Gangubai's soul.' 'I've had long conversations with her in my mind.' 'I understood her suffering, anger, joys and sorrow.' 'I had to connect to the soul of this amazing woman.' 'I think I did.'
Alia Bhatt has given a whistle-worthy performance in Gangubai Kathiawadi.
'I could not adjust to the way they treat you.' 'They expect certain things from you, which I was not comfortable with.' 'Like, they expect you to wear a certain kind of clothes, even if you don't want to wear that.' 'They'll be like, just wear it, because it's such a male-dominated industry.'
'There's no point making grand plans all our lives when life itself is so fragile.'
Joginder Tuteja looks at the Bollywood debutantes on streaming platforms.
Something in Alia has surely changed after Gangubai. Her entire performance is about proving to herself and not to the world what she can do, feels Sukanya Verma.
'Sanjayji is so spontaneous that you come to know immediately whether the dialogue or the script has touched him or not.'
Some exciting news shows, some gripping sequels coming up.
There's a lot of action on the OTT platform this March, thanks to some interesting film and Web series coming up.
The Tattoo Murders doesn't make for relaxed viewing but you can give it a dekko if you dig the genre, says Joginder Tuteja.
The best films are not necessarily the most successful -- that would be another list altogether -- although sometimes quality and commerce do converge.
'My film will not only be a reminder for all of us who have gone through these hellish two years, but also a reference point for future generations and for the four-five year olds who would have forgotten everything by the time they grow up.'
Joginder Tuteja introduces us to the men who have made an impression in the OTT universe.
'I told the lady I was two months pregnant, but that did not seem to bother her.' A Ganesh Nadar/Rediff.com visits the infamous cages of Mumbai's oldest red light district, Kamathipura, to find out how human trafficking has given India the awful reputation of the nation with the highest slavery rates in the world.
The Pakistani starlet is busy promoting her upcoming film Zindagi 50-50, where she plays a sex worker.
'It will be very tough to create an audience for such films after the lockdown ends.'
'I knew that since I would be designing for Sanjay Leela Bhansali's film, the aesthetics would have to be correct.' 'He doesn't show poverty in his films.' 'He won't show someone standing on the streets in phate hue kapde.'
Five people, including a woman, were killed and three others were injured after a three-storey building in Kamathipura area in south Mumbai collapsed on Saturday.
Gentle, fiery, magnanimous or disadvantaged, there are many faces of the Bhansali heroine. Sukanya Verma looks at every single one.
There are several women-centric movies set to release post lockdown, and most of them are quite quirky.
Sri Lanka's World Cup team members took time out on Tuesday from their practice session at the Brabourne Stadium to show their support for the Think Wise campaign -- a partnership between the International Cricket Council, UNAIDS and UNICEF.
'Police officers should be selected on merit and not on the basis of who is close to the political party in power.'
The book The Silver Screen & Beyond, Up Close and Personal with the Bombay Film Industry is an interesting collection of pictures of the goings-on of the Hindi film industry.
Twenty-year-old Sheetal Jain is the daughter of a bar dancer and grew up in Mumbai's red light district. She is now in the US pursuing a course in drumming
A look at the top tweets from your favourite Bollywood celebrities.
Even as parties continue to battle it out, here's a list of some interesting candidates who have thrown their hat into the ring. Even as parties continue to battle it out, here's a list of some interesting candidates who have thrown their hat into the ring.
Moothon's script won the Sundance Institute's Global Filmmaking Award. Geethu Mohandas's movie is now coming to a theatre near you.
'When we talk about social distancing, it almost impossible to maintain this in slums.' 'So we had to talk to the people about cleanliness.' 'It was a task because everybody uses public toilets. So our volunteers targeted those spots to spread awareness.'
Social worker Rouble Nagi through her initiative 'Misaal Mumbai', has given a coat of lively colours to around 24,000 hutments across these slums.
'My journey as an actor started to evolve when Web series started blowing out in a big way.' 'I lucked out because Inside Edge was one of the first big shows so that gave me a good platform, and led to more opportunities.' 'Web series have an ensemble star cast, and the characters are well written.' 'It's not only about a hero or a villain.'
A simple look at the prices of 10 media stocks during the tenure of the current government tells an interesting tale, says N Sundaresha Subramanian.
All through Moothon, you can sense Mohandas trying hard to empathise with her characters; I just wish she was interested in them, declares Sreehari Nair.
A former US military lieutenant travels to India to fight a battle of another kind. Archana Masih/Rediff.com met Robin Chaurasiya and the girls whose lives she is changing -- one day at a time.
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