'It was Kishoreda who suggested to Sulakshanadidi that she should become an actress and sing her own songs in her films. This transformed her life and career.'
The song that best encapsulates Geeta Dutt's unfairly abbreviated life would probably be: Yaad Karoge, Yaad Karoge, Ek Din Humko Yaad Karoge. On her 95th birth anniversary on November 23, Dinesh Raheja pieces together the life of this talented singer.
With 17 films crossing the Rs 100 crore mark in the first six months, this year relied less on big-ticket blockbusters.
The gangster saga Nayakan not only earned Mani Ratnam's reputation as a great director, the dubbed version of the film also did well in Mumbai, so much so that Feroz Khan's Hindi remake, Dayavan, starring Vinod Khanna, could not compare, recalls Deepa Gahlot.
Dharmendra remained one of the most loved stars of all time, even when his movies tapered off, and age caught up with him.
'For him what's important is relationships, his role, and, of course, the script.' Rediff celebrates Shah Rukh Khan's 60th birthday on November 2 with a special series that introduces us to the man behind the superstar.
'Whenever we did any scenes together, whatever we did in the film, he never said, "Let's do another take or let's move on".' 'He always asked me, "Parmeet, is it okay?" Till I gave my best, he kept going on.'
Christmas Karma narrowly misses being a highway pile up, mainly because its heart is in the right place, believes Deepa Gahlot.
Vampires, murders, superheroes and romantic reunions galore, it's quite a package of emotions on OTT this week.
In 1973, several major leading ladies like Mumtaz, Raakhee, Jaya Bhaduri, Dimple Kapadia, Tanuja, had married and retired from films. Producers wanted a new heroine as a replacement. Many thought Sulakshana was a Mumtaz lookalike and was soon persuaded to sign on multiple films as a leading lady.
On Alia's 31st birthday on March 15, Subhash K Jha looks at her best films.
Whether it was in the company of superstars Rajinikanth and Kamal Haasan -- or, on rare occasions with both together, among others -- Saravanan's demeanour would stand out, observes N Sathiya Moorthy.
'They are as layered and complicated as life itself.' 'There is love, but there is also pain and fire.'
Nothing about TMMTMTTM feels fresh. That includes the painfully uninspired romance between the leads, who lack both genuine chemistry as well as individual charm to make a romantic drama like this work, sighs Mayur Sanap.
Divya Nair celebrates the actor's birthday by presenting the path-breaking films and performances that define his career.
While Nishaanchi is not a homerun for Kashyap, there's enough joy in this audience pleaser, notes Mayur Sanap.
2025 started with a blockbuster in Chhaava and ended with an even bigger one in Dhurandhar. There have been other Hindi hits too, and we take a look at the Top 10.
'I wouldn't change a single shot even if I could, the film is just perfect even with a supposedly flawed script!' Celebrating Sholay's 50th anniversary on August 15 with a special series, where contemporary film folk analyse the cult classic.
Dharmendra got his He Man image with Phool Aur Patthar, which was so strong that he never managed to fully shrug it off.
Singer-actress Sulakshana Pandit, 71, passed into the ages on November 6 after a prolonged illness. Besides her acting roles, she leaves behind some beautiful songs to remember her by.
Dinesh Raheja salutes Sandhya, the acclaimed dancer who passed into the ages on October 4.
'More than the shooting dabbas which we take with us, it's about what's going in their school dabbas.'
Dinesh Raheja charts the highs and lows of Hrishikesh Mukherjee's creative association with five megastars -- Amitabh Bachchan, Rajesh Khanna, Raj Kapoor, Dilip Kumar and Dharmendra.
'If you look around the world at people of colour, religion, caste, sexuality or any of the marginalised communities, we are always talking in numbers.' 'We are always assigning them a statistic.' 'That is an easy way to assuage your urban guilt. Because you hide your apathy with hollow sympathy.' 'We are, in a way, making them invisible.'
Aseem Chhabra lists his favorite 2023 films -- a healthy blend of Bollywood, Hindi indies and some of the best work that is being done in Tamil, Malayalam, Kannada and Bengali cinema.
Rediff's film critic Sukanya Verma lists her top Hindi movies of 2015.
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.
Aseem Chhabra picks his top 10 Indian films of 2024, which includes films that have had theatrical releases or are streaming on OTT.
Kamini Kaushal, who began her career with the 1946 classic Neecha Nagar and went on to act in a host of films right till 2022, passed away in her Mumbai home on Thursday night.
Veteran filmmaker Chandra Barot, best known for directing the 1978 Amitabh Bachchan-starrer 'Don', passed away on Sunday due to cardiac arrest at a hospital in Mumbai. He was 86.
'Even if I had the backing of a big corporate house, which I don't, in today's market, I wouldn't want the responsibility of making a Rs 300 crore-Rs 400 crore film.'
'I wanted to go for the heart, and at the same time, open the audience's mind.'
'I start filming Call Me Bae Season 2 really soon and we're filled with lots of love from the audience from season 1 so I hope they enjoy this one too.'
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.
Here's what caught our eye at the movies this year.
Shah Rukh Khan and Hrithik Roshan bring action back in the mainstream with much success.
Sooraj R Barjatya was judged Best Director for the Hindi movie Uunchai at the National Film Awards.
Director Priyadarshan's Malayalam film Marakkar: Arabikadalinte Simham was declared the Best Feature Film.
Kareena has been a leading lady now for 25 years, Deepika for almost two decades and Alia for over a decade. Dinesh Raheja chronicles the changing ways Bollywood has treated actor-moms.
