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.
'One of the most significant factors contributing to the optimism for 2025 is the lineup of films featuring Bollywood's three superstar Khans.'
Bappi Lahiri realised disco was a winning ticket and escalated his game with several more dancefloor perennials. Soon, every film producer and music director in town was down with disco fever. On what would have been Bappi Lahiri's 73rd birthday this November 27, Dinesh Raheja rewinds to the late music composer's halcyon days.
The re-release of The Lion King is doing very well at the box office.
It's the season of star kids, and it continues with Chunky Pandey's nephew Ahaan Pandey getting ready for his Bollywood debut with this Friday's release, Saiyaara.
The year had a variety of films to choose from. Not all of them were successful at the box office, but had merit.
All of 2024, most movies have struggled to have these kinds of numbers even in their entire lifetime.
The Learjet 45 (LJ45), a mid-size business jet aircraft produced by the Learjet Division of Bombardier Aerospace, went off the runway while attempting to land at Baramati airport and burst into flames.
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.
'For the first time in a hundred years, the army has been taken out of the political equation. And for the first time ever, there is only one man who calls the shots. Not even Mao had this kind of power.'
Shahid losing his memory, Nicole losing her mind, Mufasa holding on to both, only on OTT this week.
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.
'The combination of star power, compelling storytelling, and action-packed drama promises to set the box office ablaze and kickstart the new quarter on a spectacular high note.'
Joginder Tuteja looks at Shah Rukh's 10 biggest recent hits.
Rishabh Pant's IPL 2025 campaign hit a new low -both statistically and symbolically - on Sunday, at the HPCA Stadium in Dharamshala.
'If you watch songs like Acha Ji Main Haari Chalo Maan Jao Na, Lag Ja Gale or Jhumka Gira Re, you'll notice they're not just a distraction. There's a story unfolding within them.'
Chhaava deserves 2 stars for the historically half-baked film that it is, but 4 stars just for its attempt on making a film on Sambhaji, observes Prasanna D Zore.
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 India opened its doors to the world, moving away from an agrarian to a market economy, everything, whether life or love, was commodified.'
Joginder Tuteja looks at the big December hits in the past decade.
Siddharth Roy Kapur's RKF aims to raise around $50 million by offering up to a 50 per cent stake in the company.
And possibly in all of Asia, going by his reported fee of Rs 275 crore for Thalapathy 69, his coming movie.
Even though Mahendra Singh Dhoni has retired, a large number of young fans could be seen wearing his iconic No. 7 jersey.
If there is a morality tale here, it is that debt and death spare no king.
Bollywood doesn't need fire-breathing dragons when it has Bhai.
Royal Challengers Bangalore began their pre-tournament camp without their numero uno Virat Kohli, who might take a few more days to join before the team starts its IPL campaign against reigning champions Chennai Super Kings on March 22.
Joginder Tuteja checks back to see how films around children work at the box office.
The German and British sides, along with the Indian soldiers, met at halfway points, on no man's land and gave the Indian soldiers sweets and Christmas trees and they offered biscuits and cognac in return.
Sukanya Verma gives you some interesting options.
Seven of Bollywood's big stars (Akshay Kumar, Ranveer Singh, Ajay Devgn, Varun Dhawan, Saif Ali Khan, John Abraham and Shahid Kapoor), who had 10 movies released with a collective budget of Rs 1,100 crore since December, could rustle up only around a third of that money at the box office.
Shah Rukh Khan seems to have lost the battle for the box office to Salman Khan, for now.
The hits and flops of the week.
Novak Djokovic reached the Wimbledon quarter-finals for the 16th time but it proved a hard day's work at his Centre Court office.
An Air India aircraft with 242 passengers on board heading to London crashed in the Meghaninagar area near Ahmedabad airport on Thursday afternoon, the police said.
After repeatedly essaying the role of doomed lover, Dilip Kumar, a thinking actor, found it diffcult to break out of in real life. Heeding his psychoanalyst, he flirted with some frothy roles and played the swashbuckling hero with elan, recalls Dinesh Raheja.
Rajbaris are a link to Bengal's rich past, of grand mansions, classical fine dining, and allow guests to be pretend zamindars for those few hours or days that they stay.
