Prashant Tamang's wife Martha Aley shut down all speculation about his sudden death on January 11 by confirming that his death was 'natural' and occurred while he was asleep.
The West Bengal Urdu Academy has postponed a 'mushaira' featuring Javed Akhtar following protests by some Muslim groups who claim his comments hurt religious sentiments. Left student organizations condemn the postponement.
Shah Rukh Khan won his first National Film Award for best actor for Jawan, sharing the honour with Vikrant Massey for 12th Fail. Rani Mukerji was named best actress for Mrs. Chatterjee vs Norway. 12th Fail was adjudged best feature film.
Big films like Dhurandhar, Chhava and Kantara: Chapter 1 hit box office gold in 2025, and its directors, Aditya Dhar, Laxman Utekar and Rishab Shetty, have proved their worth. But many other directors made an impact with their 2025 releases, in various languages.
'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.'
This is also the time when South Indian films started doing well, commercially and critically, on a Pan-India scale.
'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 often give myself a pat on the shoulder, reminding myself that I've done a good job considering where I started and the mindset I grew up with.'
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.
'I feel as proud as a father when I see Aditya Dhar being celebrated for his work.'
Arundhati Roy's 1989 film, In Which Annie Gives It Those Ones, which won two National Awards for Best Screenplay for Roy and Best Feature Film in English, is among the line-up of 10 films for the Berlinale Classics segment.
Priyanka Chopra becomes the highest paid Indian actress of all time.
'Gujarati films are crossing the Rs 100 crore mark, Lokah Chapter 1: Chandra has surged past Rs 300 crore, Marathi film Dashaavtar has already topped Rs 50 crore and Tamil blockbuster Coolie has raked in over Rs 250 crore.' 'These successes show that regional cinema is no longer niche.'
'When my character died in Border, I felt a strange sense of pride. But today, I sometimes feel that if my character had survived, perhaps I would have been a part of Border 2.'
'We met Gulzar sahab at his residence to honour him with the Jnanpith Award. Gulzar sahab's son-in-law Govind Sandhu, filmmaker Vishal Bhardwaj, his wife Rekha, and a few writers were present on this occasion.'
While Nishaanchi is not a homerun for Kashyap, there's enough joy in this audience pleaser, notes Mayur Sanap.
Dinesh Raheja salutes Sandhya, the acclaimed dancer who passed into the ages on October 4.
'He will eternally be remembered as Mr Bharat for always reminding us about roti, kapada aur kisaan.' 'Our integrity and patriotism. Our culture and our roots.'
'On the set, he was this big personality, the great Om Puri. But at home, he was like a fluffy teddy bear.'
Asrani may have never been a marquee name up in sparkling lights or on outsized posters but the sheer proficiency with which he realised his characters has unleashed gales of laughter over five decades and made a significant contribution to several landmark films. Dinesh Raheja salutes the iconic actor.
'Mr & Mrs 55 was breezy, romantic and so Hollywood.'
They Call Him OG topped the gross domestic box office collection with Rs 224 crore (Rs 2.24 billion).
Kareena Kapoor Khan and Prithviraj Sukumaran have signed up a new film to be directed by Meghna Gulzar.
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.
The actor, affectionately known as 'Bharat Kumar' for his portrayal of patriotic roles in numerous films, breathed his last at 4:03 am at the Kokilaben Dhirubhai Ambani Hospital in Mumbai.
'I always think I'm going to do maybe two films a year. But then I get these really good scripts and I get greedy.'
'One is not allowed to smoke on the sets of a Hollywood film even during a break.' 'When I asked an assistant to suggest some place where I could light a cigarette, he recommended the bad boys' corner -- where Jack Nicholson smoked.' 'However, I hesitated.' 'But when I was heading back to my chair after the shot, Jack Nicholson asked me if I wanted to join him for a smoke. We had a long conversation over cups of cappuccino.'
'There are tall personalities who have utilised Mumbai and Maharashtra for their career growth, but they never thought it is their responsibility to learn Marathi.'
Gandhi will now be seen in two upcoming OTT series -- Hansal Mehta's Gandhi, starring Pratik Gandhi in the title role, and Freedom at Midnight by Nikkhil Advani.
From facing Dennis Lillee to filming with Dharmendra, Mohsin Khan goes back in time in a freewheeling interview.
'After the first Kantara, when they announced the second one, I kind of knew he will call me. I had this instinct. Then he called me at midnight and I didn't pick up. I was like, I'm not talking to anybody at 12 at night. The following day, I called and we chatted. He said, I have to narrate you something. I said, I know, it's Kantara!'
'What do you think... those working in the film industry are illiterate people? Why don't you go and work with Bimal Roy?'
'At times when the pressure, glitz and glam felt horribly garish, there he was with no pretences or guile. A sweet reminder that life is about the real things not the fluff.'
'When you are a pioneer and someone who's put on a pedestal, but then the pedestal gets dusty, people don't look at the statue anymore.' 'They would say, 'Yes, yes, of course I know Bimal Roy. He made Do Bigha Zamin.'.'
Declaring the Telangana government's support to the Telugu film industry, Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy on Thursday said the former would take steps to make Hyderabad a destination for international film shootings.
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.
Yash Raj Films has launched the YRF Script Cell, a platform discovering and nurturing screenwriting talent from across the world.
At 8,700 screens, India, the world's largest film producing country, has just six screens for every million of its people, compared to 125 in the US and 30 in China. With Sitaare Zameen Par, Aamir Khan hopes to expand the market for Indian cinema.
Kantara Chapter 1 is scheduled for a worldwide release on October 2, in Kannada, Hindi, Telugu, Malayalam, Tamil, Bengali and English.
