Indian actors from different generations and worlds, Roshan Seth and Sendhil Ramamurthy, star in a remarkable film, co-starring Oscar winner Mary Steenburgen and Oscar nominee Michael Lerner. Brahmin Bulls director Mahesh Pailoor, in a fascinating conversation with Arthur J Pais/Rediff.com
As the Bollywood star makes headlines for her debut as a L'Oreal Ambassador at Cannes, Anita Aikara turns the spotlight on the woman behind her stunning red carpet looks.
'We cannot be the country that created the Kamasutra and then we show flowers kiss and a child is born.'
'Dev Patel and I hung out together to get to know one another. It's very important to understand your co-star before you begin a project.' Devika Bhise gets ready for The Man Who Knew Infinity.
'You can't take your eyes off him.'
'... and committed.' 'Priyanka had so much happening in her personal life...' 'Once we started, Priyanka rose to it.'
'I may sound snobbish but I am genuinely tired of responding and saying thank you on Facebook, on Twitter, on phone calls. People are calling from everywhere. There is all this excitement and different groups are throwing parties. I have to attend them or else they will think I am snooty.' Meet Masaan director Neeraj Ghaywan.
The journey of the digitally restored version of The Apu Trilogy is packed with dark stories and years of near detective work by those determined to preserve some of Satyajit Ray's finest works.
'We went around with the story, but no one came forward to finance it. They would say 'Who would want to watch this?' Or they would say 'Ek to ladka dal do is me.' We said no, we didn't want to compromise.'
'I don't care about how people are used to seeing me -- that is their problem. They make little compartments in their heads and they want to fit everybody into that, but I don't really abide by it.' Richa Chadha, in a candid chat.
'One of the director's primary jobs is to make sure that all the actors perform as if they are in the same movie, playing in the same band -- one is not acting in a different band than the other.'
Actor Kumar Pallana, 94, who passed away on October 10, has acted in films like in Bottle Rocket, Rushmore, The Royal Tenenbaums and The Darjeeling Limited. Aseem Chhabra pays tribute.
'The new Indian cinema has still not found its voice and identity. It's trapped under the deadwood weight of Bollywood and popular Indian cinema.'
Mumbai dancers fuse lyrical hip hop and b-boying with elements of American cheerleading and trapeze-esque bits from the circus.
'It's very tough for someone, who doesn't have a filmi background, to get work in Bollywood. It's not a smooth ride unless you are really lucky. But I think one has to be prepared for that. I must have given 30 auditions for films alone.' Rajkummar Rao survived the struggle to give us some brilliant films.
Donald Trump, Hardik Patel, Kangana Ranuat... The year 2017 wouldn't have been the same if it weren't for these personalities and many more. As we herald in 2018, here's a look at the faces and stories which left an indelible mark on us.
'To be complimented for a fantastic performance after just viewing the trailer! This never happened to me before.' 'If you have given a party a mandate for five years, stop blaming it for everything under the sun.' 'My kind of films do not make stars. Now we, the actors, after years of struggle, have created a parallel industry where we have made a name for ourselves. But stars we are not nor can we be.' 'For a boy coming from a remote village of Bihar at the Indo-Nepal border where no transport was available to commute to the nearest town, even coming to Delhi and then Mumbai and finally watching himself on the silver screen was a huge thing!'
