'Our modern icons have assumed infallibility and think course correction or admission of a mistake as taboo.' 'Much will depend on the sagacity of the national leadership to show humility that our Gods showed.' 'Else, we are doomed in the coming year to divert our attention to firefighting rather than the task of nation building,' warns Colonel Anil A Athale (retd).
'In an era defined by vengeful anger, he was a star who sang and danced while most others hollered and hectored on the big screen,' remembers Saibal Chatterjee.
Vanraj Bhatia, the creator of unforgettable music, hated the fact that the 'New Wave' directors did not respect Hindi cinema's multi-song format.
'It will take me a while to process the meaning of the loss of a man who meant so much to me through my entire life,' says Aseem Chhabra.
'I have done so much work after the Mahabharat, but people still remember me as Duryodhan.'
'This is a fascinating side to Sonia Gandhi, the way she disarms her opponents.'
'We will do it either by removing all the Constitutional hurdles or by mutual consent.'
At the peak of his popularity and charisma, filmmakers considered him a bigger draw than the leading man and often remunerated him with a higher fee than the hero.
'Some months before his death, when I had inquired about his health, he was annoyed that people assumed the worst.' '"I am not going anywhere," Rishi snapped as only he could.'
Every single one of Parinda's magnificent frames is a masterclass in slick. Sukanya Verma tells us why.
We bring you glimpses of the Raksha Bandhan moments in Bollywood.
'It's not easy to perform in front of 5,000 people, who are standing right behind the camera. You have to remember the dialogue even when the crowd is shouting and saying things to you.'
'...changed my image, changed everything.' 'Now I make calls with great confidence.' 'Day before yesterday, I sent a message to a director that I heard you are making a film, is there any role for me?' 'I have confidence now. Earlier, I could never do.'
'Initially, I was worried how the Calendar Girls would gel. But we bonded on screen and off.' On the sets, we were very mischievous. We were called the Calendar Girls School Girls! Madhur sir was like principal. He would actually tell us to calm down and maintain discipline!' Meet Calendar Girls' Akansha Puri.
Banning beef (and not cow) slaughter, not renewing education quota for Muslims. What next from the Devendra Fadnavis government in Maharashtra, a ban on azaan, asks Syed Firdaus Ashraf.
Read about Rishi Kapoor's page-turning debut, SRK's super-charged turn in Raees, Sridevi as potential Dhoom vamp, Sanjay Dutt's contribution to Andaz Apna Apna and more in Sukanya Verma's super-film week.
'In our textbooks, we never had chapters where a woman does something. We had one Rani Laxmibai chapter, the rest only the men did. We have been trained like that but, now, things have to change.'
'Laxmikant-Pyarelal called upon Abba to ask him to sing this ghazal. "Please sing this ghazal for us. The producer is keen that only you should sing this ghazal, so that it will have the desired effect. But he doesn't have money enough to pay you".' Abba's heart was bound to melt on hearing this. He consented immediately. His daughter-in-law Yasmin K Rafi remembers the legendary Mohammed Rafi who would have been 91 today.
'People say my father was scared of Kishore Kumar. That is untrue. There are so many songs that my father told the composers to let some other singer sing because they too are good.'
'Hrishi-da often voiced his disenchantment with Bachchan's Angry Young Man persona -- the 'maara-maari', the growth of sidelocks; he even said directors were killing Amitabh the actor and turning him into a stuntman. Yet, as Jaya Bhaduri jovially pointed out, the seeds of that seething persona can be found in Anand and Namak Haraam.'
The gorgeous Karan Kapoor will be back in India soon. Very soon!
An A-Z of Bachchanalia, the letters expanding into unforgettable bits of his filmography.
Rafisaab's memory is as alive as ever in his devoted fans' minds.
Annabel Mehta, Sachin Tendulkar's mother-in-law, has dedicated her life to working with the Beautiful People of the other half of Mumbai without whom the city would neither exist nor thrive. Vaihayasi Pande Daniel met the amazing lady who was awarded the Member of the Order of the British Empire for her service to underprivileged communities.
'In 2015 I watched films in so many places. I attended several film festivals around the world -- Berlin, Tribeca (New York), Telluride, Toronto, Zurich, Mumbai, Dharamsala and Goa,' says Aseem Chhabra, author of a forthcoming book on Shashi Kapoor.
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