In a three-part series commencing today, Arthur J Pais profiles some of the winners of the Paul and Daisy Soros Fellowships for New Americans. First up is Amar Bakshi, who fought and won a legal battle to uphold the freedom of the press in Zimbabwe and has studied at Harvard, John Hopkins and now Yale.
'It was a very disorganised industry back then and people were very disrespectful towards actors.'
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.
Referring to Amar Singh's claim that the Income Tax department was 'harassing' superstar Amitabh Bachchan by issuing him notices, the Congress spokesman said he should stop acting like 'a spokesperson for the actor.'
From melodrama to mockery (remember Amar and Prem's phony separated-at-Kumbh Mela reunion in a gag of Andaz Apna Apna?), there are numerous instances of its presence.
Notwithstanding calls against any rapprochement with him, Samajwadi Party supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav on Sunday ruled out accepting the resignation of Amar Singh from key party posts and said differences will be sorted out soon.
In a relief for Amar Singh, the Uttar Pradesh police has submitted a closure report in a district court in Kanpur in the three-year-old fraud and embezzlement case against the Rajya Sabha MP, citing lack of evidence.
'Here are 25 stories special to me for one reason too many,' says Sukanya Verma who scored 25 years writing about the movies last week.
Two days after Amar Singh resigned, actor Sanjay Dutt followed suit, resigning as Samajwadi Party's general secretary late Saturday night.
IMAGES from the Champions League matches played on Tuesday.
Terming his one-time blue-eyed party general secretary Amar Singh as a part of history, Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav on Monday made it clear that the disgruntled leader's exit will have no bearing on his party.Reacting to a barrage of queries related to Amar's resignation at a press conference in Lucknow, a visibly relaxed Mulayam said, "Why do you talk about the past; I don't believe in looking back. Think about what is lying ahead and not history."
The actors star in the biopic, Amar Singh Chamkila, which has music by A R Rahman.
Dubbing Samajwadi Party supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav a 'don,' expelled party leader Amar Singh on Friday questioned why Jaya Bachchan was renominated for Rajya Sabha elections when he was removed from the party for bringing the Bollywood star in the organisation.
Trying to warm up to Mayawati, rebel Samajwadi Party leader Amar Singh said on Saturday that the Bahujan Samaj Party supremo has proved herself against all odds and he can understand her "pain" when she was "humiliated" by Mulayam Singh Yadav.
In an apparent rebuff to Amar Singh, Congress on Monday dismissed the sulking Samajwadi Party leader's claim suggesting that his 'DNA was Congress.'
Original's goodwill, natural bonhomie amongst the actors and wild card entries, Stree 2's spirited return sure has its high points, notes Sukanya Verma.
Samajwadi Party leader Amar Singh has sent feelers to expelled Bharatiya Janata Party leader Jaswant Singh to join his party. "I have spoken with him and I have very candidly told him that he is not alone. I am too small a fry to invite him to my party, but it will be my fortune to enable him to do something to be active in politics through the platform of SP," Amar Singh told television channels.
The 900-page chargesheet, submitted on Thursday in a sessions court, has excluded the 17-year-old boy, whose case is being handled separately by the Juvenile Justice Board.
Rediff.com's Sahim Salim speaks to Tihar jail authorities who say Amar Singh constantly keeps complaining about his healh problems and acts bossy with prison guards and some inmates.
Lawyer Prashant Bhushan on Friday said he will file a contempt of court case against Amar Singh and police officials in connection with the controversial CD purportedly featuring his father and prominent jurist Shanti Bhushan.
"I appeal to the party members to stand with Netaji Mulayam Singh. Whatever is happening is very unfortunate," he said.
The BJP said that since the payment made by Amar Singh was in US dollars and was a substantial amount, RBI clearance should have been sought as per the legal guidelines.
Sitting Bahujan Samaj Party member of Parliament Dhananjay Singh was on Wednesday suspended from the party by Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati for reportedly rendering support and meeting expelled Samajwadi Party leader Amar Singh in jail.
Rajya Sabha member of Parliament Amar Singh has "admitted" that he facilitated the purported conversation between Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav and noted lawyer Shanti Bhushan, which is contained in the controversial CD, the Delhi police has told a court in New Delhi.
Eighteen Jharkhand Bharatiya Janata Party MLAs were suspended from the assembly till 2 pm of August 2 and were removed by marshals after they refused to leave the House on Thursday.
Rajya Sabha member Amar Singh's interim bail in the cash-for-vote case was extended by another eight days by a Delhi court before whom his counsel backtracked from his earlier statement that the Bharatiya Janata Party may have been the source of scam money named a Congress member of Parliament.
The Samajwadi Party leader was questioned in connection with the alleged bribery scandal involving Flex Industries and a senior excise official.
Some factories in Ghaziabad, from where Amar Singh had resigned six years ago, were also raided, he said.\n\n\n\n
Terming the defection of four Samajwadi Party Members of Legislative Assembly as 'betrayal' on the part of the Congress, party general secretary Amar Singh has said that the party has broken his heart."Congress party has betrayed us by engineering the defection of four MLAs of our party. They have not only broken my party, but also my heart," Singh said while addressing a tribal convention ahead of assembly polls in Madhya Pradesh.
A Delhi court sought from Tihar jail authorities a report by Friday on Rajya Sabha member of Parliament Amar Singh's health as his counsel pleaded for interim bail to him on the grounds of his "deteriorating" health saying unless released urgently, he might not be "here for trial".
Expelled Samajwadi Party leader Amar Singh and Lok Sabha Member of Parliament from Rampur Jaya Prada on Tuesday met Maharashtra Governor K Sankaranarayanan to seek pardon for actor Sanjay Dutt. Dutt, who has already spent 18 months behind bars, was on Thursday sentenced to five years imprisonment in the 1993 Mumbai serial blasts case.
Samajwadi Party General Secretary Amar Singh has expressed confidence that the India-United States civil nuclear agreement will get the crucial nod from American Congress this month, even as he lashed out at political rivals in India for opposing the landmark agreement.Following discussions with Democratic Senator Hillary Clinton in New York, Singh said the former first lady had assured him that Democrats would not hinder the passage of the deal through the US Congress.
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.
'Jitendra Pratap Singh (his character in Vedaa) believes in the divisive politics of society and that is more dangerous than the regular goons.'
"Amar Singh will be chairing the closing session of the Saifai festival," Mulayam told reporters on Monday, shortly after inaugurating the 14-day cultural event at Saifai in Etawah district of Uttar Pradesh.
In a special series, we will put YOU to the test everyday!
Asked about other SP leaders' "unhappiness" with Amar Singh, Shivpal said, "Taking everyone along makes an organisation stronger. There are all kinds of people in a party. One has to apply his mind also."
Be it Dhoom, Singham or the Munnabhai franchise, there are certain stories that have tons more to say or solid cash cow potential and Bollywood is all for it.
'People worship Krishna. People don't worship Ved Vyas, who wrote the Mahabharata.' 'It's a cultural thing because we don't see the heroes behind the screen, we see the heroes who are in front of the screen.'
