Here's what caught our eye at the movies this year.
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.
Shah Rukh Khan and Hrithik Roshan bring action back in the mainstream with much success.
'It's a tremendous accomplishment to have a father like Amitabh Bachchan and still be so sorted, to not taste the kind of success that he should have and yet be so balanced.'
'Badlapur,' says Sreehari Nair, 'proves that sometimes there are more personal truths to be discovered in our trash cans than in our neatly arranged book-shelves.'
'Bappi Lahiri was looking for a break so he and his father would meet me.' 'I told Director Bhisham Kohli about this promising young boy from Kolkata, and Bappi came over with his harmonium.' 'Bappi played this composition and Bhisham liked it immediately.' 'As we were discussing, I said I would give the words, and that's how I wrote this song.'
One needs courage to sit through the film which is a remake of hit Hindi film A Wednesday.
'Your family doesn't want you to come to this field because there's no direction, no formula.' 'It's not as if your career is settled and you will get work consistently.'
The world is celebrating Raj Kapoor's birth centenary, but when was the last time you watched an RK film?
'Out of sight, out of mind happens.'
How wonderful it would be for all of us to watch the Oscar ceremony on March 2, 2025 and watch AWIAL win an Oscar, notes Aseem Chhabra.
From moments that felt long time in the coming to swashbuckling statements that could be interpreted in more ways than one, there are some that fanned our nostalgia, some made our jaws drop (or stomachs churn), some hit too close home, still others left us with a lingering sense of guilt. Sukanya Verma picks cinematic imagery that stood out in 2023.
The maestro has scored music for an impressive number of Hindi films, each one of them a gem in itself.
The International Children's Film Festival will be held in Hyderabad in November.
'Mr & Mrs 55 was breezy, romantic and so Hollywood.'
What keeps the momentum going is Kajol's fully committed performance that elevates this generic material to a surprising degree of watchability, feels Mayur Sanap.
As we celebrate the actor's much deserved award, Divya Nair presents 10 landmark films in Suriya's career, ranked in order of performance.
"I think F1's best watched on TV," says Gul Panag speaking from a train on her way to Ambala to spend time with her parents. A little over twenty four hours ago, on Thursday evening, she compered the official opening ceremony for the Indian Grand Prix.
'What is fascinating about Aamir sir is that the audience in him is still alive and throbbing.' 'He still cries. He still laughs.'
This isn't just a home for the elderly. It's a place where life stories, generations, and cultures weave themselves into something quietly extraordinary, discovers Nitin Sathe.
There is no guarantee that if we speak in only Indian languages, all our faults will be washed away and India will shine. Why then do they bully and belittle the English-speaking? asks Shyam G Menon.
What grabs your attention is the end credit which has a montage of BTS pictures of Sangeeth Sivan from the sets. He is smiling, chatting, laughing with his team
'Dharmendra was paying a little extra attention to me and she didn't like it.'
It's been a rough year for Hindi cinema, crippled by a producers-versus-multiplex strike that took out a major chunk of Fridays, leaving us all with lesser to watch.
'My worst performances are in those movies in which the directors showed me how to act,' Emraan Hashmi tells Arthur J Pais/ Rediff.com in Toronto.
'In Mumbai, isolation is a very different isolation.' 'It's not about actual physical loneliness.' 'It's the loneliness in the company of others, and I felt that that is a very Mumbai thing.' 'You can be travelling in the ladies compartment squashed against everybody's armpits and still be really, really sad and alone.'
Kahaani director Sujoy Ghosh lists film stories that he absoloutely loves.
'Very rarely does a film give you the opportunity to do this, I was constantly improvising and adding scenes on the set.'
Analysts estimate that Pushpa 2 (in all languages) will become the fastest film to cross the Rs 1,000 crore (Rs 10 billion) mark.
The year 2012 has offered up several shards of cinematic joy.
'Thank you to the Cannes Film Festival for having our film here. Please don't wait 30 years to have another Indian film.'
A look at Tamil films which earned critical acclaim and also commercial success!
Shaheed was Manoj Kumar's first patriotic success. This small-budget black-and-white film had enormous impact, besides laying the foundation for Manoj's famous flag-waving Mr Bharat image that was strengthened by a string of subsequent films like Upkar, Purab Aur Paschim and Kranti.
Sukanya Verma salutes the late actor's spectacular cinematic legacy.
'Parvin Dabas, Bollywood actor and co-founder of the Pro Panja League, has been hospitalised and is in the ICU at Holy Family Hospital Bandra following an unfortunate car accident in the early hours of Saturday morning.'
'I am a spontaneous actor. I follow what works for the character.'
Deadly brides, daredevil officers, bloodthirsty royals, killer toys, celebrity chefs, comic book heroes, angry goddesses, senior citizen dreams, poisonous snowfall, the OTT offerings this week will make you wish for days twice the size of its menu.
'When Shahid, Ishaan and I are together, it is a madhouse because we are all performers.'
© 2026 Rediff.com - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances