'...that it takes fantasy seriously as a part of real life'... A fascinating excerpt from Jonathan Gil Harris's book, Masala Shakespeare: How A Firangi Writer Became Indian.
On a visit to India in 2013, writer Ved Mehta -- who passed into the ages on Sunday January 10, 2021 - gave Rediff.com's Vaihayasi Pande Daniel a rare glimpse into his state of mind and what he thinks of the changes he encounters in his motherland.
Bollywood's half-yearly report: The BAD STUFF!
'I toh don't even understand making crores because I have never done such a commercially hit film in my life.' 'It's unbelievable for me.'
'I don't know where the viciousness in the reviews is coming from.' 'To me, it feels more of a personal attack.'
'The majority of transmission will be via people who are within two metres of one another.' 'The closer you are, the more likely that you'll be infected.'
'I am not human... :)' SS Rajamouli has some fun on Rediff Chat.
What did Sukanya Verma's Super filmi week look like? Read on...
This week's digest of stories that are weird, true and funny.
'For a working actor in Bollywood, it is nearly impossible to criticise its reigning deities.' 'Besides, due care ought to be taken when speaking of the dead too.'
The juvenile accused in the December 16 gang rape and murder of 23-year-old paramedic on Wednesday denied all the charges against him, claiming that he was not a participant in the horrendous crime.
It's time to move on from fights and dances and clich, says Kshmaya Daniel.
'The only way to judge the success of a film in its entirety is through box office collections.' Hrithik Roshan talks about the success of Bang Bang.
If you do not overspend, we advise you to get yourself a credit card. It will open up a whole new world of benefits.
The Shiv Sena has spurned Congress' request to participate in the bandh.
Shakespeare Wallah had been out of circulation for a long time, but a restored version of the film opened in New York on November 10. It will travel after that to other cities in the US and hopefully, soon to India as well, says Aseem Chhabra, author of the bestseller Shashi Kapoor: The Householder, The Star.
'A big reason for its low recall value is that Rangbaaz's colourful characters are all essentially punks,' feels Sreehari Nair.
The chief minister skipped meals and remained awake the entire night on a makeshift dais along with some senior ministers and party members.
Former Censor Board chief and Julie 2 producer Pahlaj Nihalani takes on the film industry.
The Central Bureau of Investigation has questioned Deputy National Security Advisor and former Intelligence Bureau chief Nehchal Sandhu in connection with Sadiq Jamal encounter in 2003 by the Gujarat crime branch.
The SC sought response of Maharashtra Police on objections raised against its various conditions put in place for granting licences to dance bars across the state.
Majaz, based on the life of Asraul Haq Majaz, the John Keats of Urdu poetry, marks Talat Aziz's debut as a composer in Hindi cinema. The film could have been an excellent biopic had it stuck to the poet's poetic self rather than his unfulfilled love, says Mohammad Asim Siddiqui.
Writing on parties and gossip as "Miss Malini", former dancer and radio jockey Malini Agarwal soon became an authority on matters of style.
The 91-year-old went beyond her role as a writer to help tribals in organising themselves in groups so that they could take up development activities in their own areas.
RCap had proprietary investment book of Rs 2,000 crore (Rs 20 billion) as on end-March and owns stake in a host of companies.
Here are our top 10 moments from this year's Oscars.
'Don't resort to violence.' 'This is a civilised and democratic country.' 'You should have faith in the judiciary.' 'Otherwise, some person will have an objection for everything and not let you do anything.'
'He was the first creative person to recognise and fully realise the power of film in an era when press ads were the only competence of Indian creatives.'
Here's your weekly digest of the craziest and funniest stories from around the world.
Rustom, Toilet: Ek Prem Katha, PadMan... ...Vishal Bhardwaj's next with Deepika Padukone and Irrfan, John Abraham's Parmanu, Anushka Sharma's Pari, Abhishek Kapoor's Kedarnath, Anil Kapoor and Aishwarya Rai Bachchan's Fanney Khan, Shahid Kapoor's Batti Gul Meter Chalu... Meet Prernaa Arora, the young lady above the title...
Shashwata Chatterjee on watching the football World Cup, spending days in the MP's Delhi home and the day his Dadu came to visit him in his college in Los Angeles.
'Bajrangi Bhaijaan is a positive film. I want the heads of both countries to watch the film. India and Pakistan are dealing with the problem shown in the film and after watching the film, their hearts might melt. Till the time I don't get a response from them, I will keep tweeting about it.' Salman Khan discusses his superhit film.
A look at the current lot of Pakistani beauties on the Indian horizon!
Rudrani Chettri wants to help transgender models gain acceptance in mainstream fashion...will she succeed?
With the arrest of the film censor board's CEO on charges of demanding bribes to clear films, the regulatory role of the panel is in focus once again
'The answer is no, the entire country's is.' 'So why such obsession with Delhi?' 'But the most powerful people in India live here: The prime minister, civil servants, Supreme Court judges, MPs, diplomats, dadas of the media...' 'If they can't deal with their own problem, what chance does the rest of the country have, with its foul air, dying rivers, frothing lakes, and crumbling mountains?' says Shekhar Gupta.
Taking exception to Health Minister Harsh Vardhan not mentioning the death of healthcare workers due to Covid-19 in his statement in Parliament, the Indian Medical Association has published a list of 382 doctors who died due to the viral disease and demanded that they be treated as "martyrs".
We present an excerpt from Kishore Kumar: Method In Madness by Derek Bose.
True misogyny is when you stop being curious about women, and Milind Dhaimade directs his actresses with a sense of wonder. Tu Hai Mera Sunday has delightful women characters, sketchy men, and individual threads that work better than the whole package, feels Sreehari Nair.
'If every actor does commercial films, where is the space for the Amol Palekars and Farooq Sheikhs of today? I am happy being in that space and want to own that space.'
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