Here's what went down in the curtain raiser episode.
Aseem Chhabra salutes the late Italian Master and his cinema.
...But a comedy about Class Wars. Sreehari Nair tells us why.
'Delhi's river has once more been thrown under the bus, by a happy godman backed by a godman-happy government,' says Mitali Saran.
Surely even cleavage-obsessed filmmakers ought to, at first, be filmmakers, yes, asks Raja Sen.
There's some amazing stuff beneath the water. For proof, look no further than the annual Ocean Art Underwater Photo Competition.
'What would a composite of Dawood, Rajan, and Arun Gawli be like?' 'What if an absconding mafia boss were to land in Mumbai tomorrow, tired from all the running, and tender his final apology to the city by narrating his story and narrating it with brutal honesty?' Sreehari Nair watches Sacred Games.
'Sanjay Leela Bhansali's historical characters behave as though they are already aware of the chapters that will be dedicated to them and the sonnets that will be written in their memory.' 'And yet, they talk relentlessly about making and remaking history.' 'Can anything be more superficial?' asks Sreehari Nair.
Kanu Behl's Titli is one of the best films from India in recent years, says Aseem Chhabra from the Zurich film festival.
Putting together a play about the Father of the Nation is no easy task. But when that play is a musical, the challenges increase.
'It's an experience of a lifetime. It's the first time I acted in a South Indian film where I was treated as an equal by an actor.'
While political observers are unable to make head or tail of the US President, those moving in high business and industry circles tell B S Raghavan that Trump's style is exactly that of an aggressive and successful businessman.
'If Nutella is missing anywhere in the world, you'll probably find it in Ranveer's house!' 'He loves food!'
'Nowadays, every week there is a comparison.' 'This week someone is on top, next week someone else.' 'For me, the love that I got made my legs strong, not my head.'
'If Ruttie had been alive, Jinnah would never have turned communal.'
Kamal Haasan's unrivalled make up skills, Jack Nicholson's haunting imagery, Asha Parekh's life as a Hit Girl and the surprise package of Beauty and the Beast, it's all there in Sukanya Verma's super filmi week.
Here's your weekly digest of the craziest stories from around the world.
Indian soldiers in Kashmir are not on a joy ride scouting for people to kill, says Vivek Gumate.
.jpg)
PK is no satire -- it's a bit too toothless for that -- but it is a rollicking mainstream entertainer with ambition to evoke some introspection, says Raja Sen.
'This is a movie, which if you allow it to, will wash itself all over you, so that you emerge from it a little drenched but wide awake,' says Sreehari Nair.
'We are blessed, that in this age of crass, commercial filmmaking, there is a special corner reserved for Wes Anderson to inhabit this wonderful, magical life. And we thank him from the bottom of our hearts for letting us experience his dreams in full colour and grandeur,' says Aseem Chhabra after watching The Grand Budapest Hotel.
We revisit some iconic moments of the the much-loved television series as it celebrates its 20th anniversary.
'There is a lot of insecurity in this job. That is why we are paid so much money.' Parineeti Chopra comes clean.
Satyajit Ray. Films from Italy, Iceland and Albania feature on Aseem Chhabra's list.
'Janhvi came into our lives thanks to Manish Malhotra.' 'He knew Janhvi for a long time and asked Karan to meet her.' 'He said, she has been doing natak from the age of four!' 'I made her do scenes from Badri just to see what she can do.' 'When I saw the scenes and how she responds to directions, I was convinced that I had found Parathvi.'
'Sudhir Mishra takes us into the dreams and fears of our politicians, into their self-deceiving pitches, and he shows us their demons and angels,' says Sreehari Nair.
Nutan was the kind of woman Shammi got drawn to -- sensitive, aware and erudite, yet seductively feminine.
'Love yourselves. Embrace all that this life has in store for you, let your heart be as deep as the deepest ocean and as wide as the farthest horizon.' Beautiful words from Shah Rukh Khan.
Guardians Of The Galaxy takes place in a remarkable world drawn lovingly and beautifully by imaginative folks low on skin-coloured crayons.
Sreenivasan Jain explains how the Aam Aadmi Party excelled in the Delhi assembly polls
'I went away from the industry because all the people I enjoyed working with, like Manmohan Desai and Prakash Mehra, are no more.' 'They left this world and went away, so I lost interest in my work.'
'I felt Meri Pyaari Bindu was my life story.' 'I have songs for everything -- I have songs attached to people, relationships, family, friends or some song that I have sung at a picnic...' 'If you think of your life, there's always a song attached somewhere.'
From a shy bride to a passionate campaigner, the story of Diana, 'the People's Princess', was more often than not told through photographs.
At 62 kg, Miss Indore Mannat Singh, who recently walked at the LFW is struggling to gain acceptance on the catwalk.
'This slender yet joyous film introduces so many fresh insanities and has such an endless stream of wisecracking that it takes on shades of a running ballad,' notes Sreehari Nair.
How do you even define a movie that primarily exists as an invitation to its audience -- an invitation to come and merely laze around with a set of interesting characters, asks Sreehari Nair.
Lalit Sathyarthi, an aspiring actor, left his home in Agra to follow his lifelong dream of becoming a Bollywood hero. He is still struggling to succeed but he's not giving up yet.
'Every Ali obituary I read made the point that he 'transcended his sport' -- a reference to the many battles he fought with America even as he fought in America.' 'What the obituaries leave out is that Ali equally transcended the boundaries of geography and of information -- as witness the Chennai teen who assimilated that most mobile of fighters through still images shorn of context.'
