India's World Cup winning captains -- Harmanpreet Kaur, Deepika T C and Rohit Sharma -- were honoured by the Reliance Foundation in Mumbai on Monday.
'I make films which I think have the possibility of being liked by a majority of people, and you present it with the right emotions.'
In half a century, actors have aged or passed away, the shape of the city has altered, the film industry has changed beyond recognition, most single screens have made way for multiplexes, audiences tastes have changed, rural life is very different now, and inflation has devalued the rupee. But a great film is forever. Deepa Gahlot salutes Sholay, as it re-releases in theatres.
MNS chief Raj Thackeray pens tribute to his uncle, Bal Thackeray, recalling their bond and the pain of leaving the family home after quitting Shiv Sena.
Film folk have been rewinding time and posting memories from 2016 on social media. That was certainly an interesting year, going by the many milestones these celebs are posting.
Sunny Deol hosted a special screening for Ikkis, his father Dharmendra's last film, on Monday.
Alia Bhatt to Kareena Kapoor, Ananya Panday to Malaika Arora, have jumped on the viral Instagram trend, sharing nostalgic throwback pictures from 2016.
'A most sad moment, filled only now with condolence and prayer.'
'This leading filmmaker told me: "Don't let the industry cake you up with makeup and wigs. You are a breath of fresh air".'
Rajinikanth may have made his last Hindi film two decades ago but he can still set the screen alight, blazing away with a gun that has dozens of barrels. As Thalaiva turns 75 on December 12, Dinesh Raheja looks back at his 17 year journey in Hindi cinema.
'The culture of mankind has been spread by the travel gene which pushes one in five people to have the curiosity to move to unknown destinations.'
The special cancellation highlights the national pride and sporting excellence displayed by the Indian cricket team in securing the Champions Trophy.
Dharmendra got his He Man image with Phool Aur Patthar, which was so strong that he never managed to fully shrug it off.
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.
Film folk said their last goodbyes to Dharmendra, who passed into the ages on November 24.
The film industry bid an emotional farewell to Manoj Kumar, one of Bollywood's legendary actors.
Dharmendra remained one of the most loved stars of all time, even when his movies tapered off, and age caught up with him.
After spinning into the spotlight with the hit song-and-dance number Mera Naam Chin Chin Chu in Howrah Bridge (1958), Helen signed scores of films as a dancer. But Helen was raring to step out of her dancing shoes, and play heroine instead.
From emotional showdowns to the ultimate happily-ever-afters, we recap 10 times Bollywood showed us couples fighting their gharwale for their love.
As the year draws to a close, Rediff's Senior Contributor Roshmila Bhattacharya takes a look at the hits and misses, the highs and lows, the newsmakers and the dealbreakers in alphabetical order.
Dharmendra's oeuvre was so phenomenal that there was never a phase in his professional life when he was in danger of falling into a rut, in terms of either the kind of films he starred in or the sort of co-actors he worked with.
Speaking at the ceremony, Deepti said it was a matter of great pride to address the gathering at the Police Headquarters.
The cricketing fraternity on Monday paid glowing tributes to veteran actor Dharmendra, who passed away in Mumbai at the age of 89.
It's been a while since Hindi cinema had a zany, well-written comedy, applauds Deepa Gahlot.
'I don't think it is right to remove him over one lapse. The focus should be on restoring operations, not on removing a key management personnel.'
'Every film had its challenges, but Mr India, Sadak and Gandhi were the toughest.' 'Mr India needed imagination, Sadak needed sensitivity and Gandhi demanded historical authenticity.'
'I have always broken my image every time I went on screen. I don't know what it means to be a Greek God but people used to call me one.'
'I wanted to do something different, so I turned Dharamji into Hardy, making him waddle with Naseer's stick-like Laurel.' 'People enjoyed seeing him in these avatars. When you work with an evergreen superstar like Dharamji, you can make such 'items'.'
120 Bahadur is underwhelming, adding little fresh perspective and generally feeling like a standard war drama we have seen umpteen times before, notes Mayur Sanap.
'Why don't I organise an auction of cinematic memorabilia?' recalls Dinesh Raheja. 'There are sure to be legions of film buffs who will cherish the chance to own souvenirs intimately associated with their favourite stars onscreen.'
'I made a big fuss about playing Manoj Kumar's mother, but he had made up his mind. He said he would wait until I made up my mind. I was about 40 then. He was so large and I was so tiny!'
'The possibility of Nitish Babu continuing at least for some time is very much there, but don't rule out the artistic possibility of a leadership change executed very elegantly.'
Not just hard core action, War 2 has some groovy romance between Hrithik Roshan and Kiara Advani too, and the world got a glance at that in the film's newly-released song, Aavan Jaavan.
After the incident, actor and Bharatiyha Janata Party MP from Mandi, Kangana Ranaut, has reacted to it and called Jaya the "most spoilt and privileged woman"
Even after 50 years, Sholay remains a lasting reminder of unity, shared memories and the joy of cinema, notes Mohammad Asim Siddiqui.
If you liked Kiara Advani's chemistry with Hrithik Roshan in the Aavan Jaavan song in War 2, she shares some BTS selfies of the song on social media.
'Sholay had a sargam of human emotions.'
In seniority in the BJP leadership team, V K Malhotra, who passed into the ages this week, was next only to Atal Bihari Vajpayee, L K Advani and Nanaji Deshmukh, notes Sudhir Bisht.
'The way the anticipation is built up for Gabbar Singh's introduction scene with sound, image and details of his personality, like the combat boots he wears.' 'The camera comes so close -- not a tele lens shot, but a wide-angle close-up -- that you can almost smell Gabbar's breath.'
