'It was one of the greatest learnings in my life to see someone like the great Amitabh Bachchan go through such a tough phase.' 'He had been there, done it all and really didn't need to prove himself.' 'Yet, he channelised it all and came out with one of his best performances,' Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra tells Savera R Someshwar/Rediff.com in a fascinating conversation about the films he has made and the actors he has worked with.
Ajit Mishra, vice president, research, Religare Broking, answers your queries.
I believe this is what really happened at the Congress Working Committee on Wednesday.
'People think about his final 48 hours and how did he become a martyr... but the life I came to know from uncle and aunty was of someone who was so full of joy and laughter.'
Senior India off-spinner Harbhajan Singh said he is seeking legal advise on the way ahead after BCCI Ombudsman Justice (Retd) AP Shah observed that the bowler should dissociate himself from sports apparel company 'Bhajji Sports', which supplies kits to domestic teams. Shah had investigated the 'Conflict of Interest' issues raised by activist Neeraj Gundey, who had filed a number of such complaints with the 'Office of Ombudsman'. "I have received an e-mail communication from the Board. All I can say at this moment is that I am discussing the issue with my legal advisor. I will act according to his advice," Harbhajan told PTI on Thursday. The company 'Bhajji Sports' is owned by Mrs Avtar Kaur, who is the cricketer's mother. When a senior BCCI official was asked, he said that if Harbhajan is not the owner, anyone else can run the company, he said: "As long as Harbhajan's name does not feature among the owners of the company in any of the deeds, he will not be under the Conflict of Interest purview."
If Irrfan could have been our finest professor of empirical philosophy, and Nawaz is our foremost poet of that space halfway between the gutter and the stars, then Jaideep Ahlawat has to be our greatest artist-scientist, asserts Sreehari Nair.
Congress leaders on Tuesday threw a protective shield around party Vice President Rahul Gandhi against the predicted rout in the elections and went on to say that he will remain their leader for the future.
What do you have to say about their style?
'I have changed and matured.' 'There is still a certain kind of detachment but I have far more appreciation and gratitude.'
'This Chinese behaviour we have not seen for a very long time.' 'This sort of build up on the border, this pattern in Chinese behaviour, and especially the aggression and brutality with which our people were attacked on the 15th of June, this is not something we have seen before.'
'The BJP has no presence where the regional parties are strong.' 'And we should think of the Congress and support the Congress in those places where it is the dominant regional party.' 'The leaders of the other parties (have to) get together on this simple principle of one candidate against the BJP candidate.'
'He always avoided eating non-vegetarian food in presence of his deputies if they were fasting for the month of Shravan.' 'There were no Hindu, Jain, Parsi and Swaminarayan festivals he would forget.' 'He was a conservative Muslim and therefore could get along well with conservative Hindus.'
'We are a plural society that for centuries, not for 70 years, has lived in a certain ambience of acceptance.' 'It is under threat,' outgoing Vice President Hamid Ansari tells Karan Thapar.
Bajatey Raho had a whole lot of potential but failed to realise it, writes Paloma Sharma.
Bajaatey Raho had a whole lot of potential but failed to realise it, writes Paloma Sharma.
We saw a *lot* of glamour and style this year.
Madhuri Dixit and Sanjay Dutt Dutt will act in a movie again after 21 years.
'Actually, the RSS is deeply ambivalent and uncomfortable with Gandhi as well as also Ambedkar, but it is not politically wise to oppose these two.' 'So Nehru is the main and only target.'
Bollywood's trendiest stars get it right!
A look at the top tweets from favourite Bollywood celebrities.
Balbinder Singh Dhami, who has played an inspector, for over a year, in The Zee Horror Show, took on the role of a witness on Monday. It was a part he had no experience of.
The Amritsar Lok Sabha battle is getting more and more personal. Congress candidate and former Chief Minister Amarinder Singh says merely being a Punjabi does not give his Bharatiya Janata Party rival Arun Jaitley the right to contest from Amritsar and he does not know anything about the place.
Four decades of federal evolution made India more secure, but coronavirus is reversing that. Modi's central government has tasted power again and is unlikely to give it up, notes Shekhar Gupta.
'The Aam Aadmi's prophet is out of touch with both the city and his own flock.'
Vinita Bisht and Vinita Kamte lost their husbands -- one an NSG commando, the other an IPS officer -- in the 26/11 terror attack. Six years later, Archana Masih/Rediff.com meets them to discover that closure is one of the hardest things to find.
20 years ago this day, May 11, 1998, India conducted its second nuclear test at Pokharan in Rajasthan. In a fascinating interview on Rediff.com, K Subrahmanyam revealed how Indian PMs reacted to nuclear ambitions.
'George was a politician with a difference. He had the ability to stand alone, take a position, however extreme, and sustain that position,' remembers Arun Jaitley.
The top posts on social media from your favourite Bollywood celebrities.
'The government made a mess.' 'When there is a director, how can you have an in-charge director?' 'Then, they shifted all the 14 officers who were working on the Asthana case which has never happened in the history of the CBI.'
'It has even been suggested that Modi and Amit Shah, however grudgingly, harbour admiration for her controlling streak and steely resilience,' says Sunil Sethi.
'This term -- "Nehru-Gandhi" family -- is a misnomer. Nehru was not a dynast; he did not even name his successor... The big mistake she made was to push forward Rahul Gandhi who is a dead loss as a leader,' says Nayantara Sahgal, whom Sonia Gandhi calls 'Tara Masi.'
A look at the top posts on social media from your favourite Bollywood celebrities.
Senior Congress leader and Pro-tem Speaker Kamal Nath has defended Sonia and Rahul Gandhi's decision not to lead the opposition in Lok Sabha. Speaking in an exclusive interview with CNN-IBN, Nath also said the Congress will provide an effective opposition.
Prasad alleged there was pressure for extraneous considerations and 'bribe' for not finalising the Rafale deal during the UPA rule.
Pooja Bhatt's irrepressible cuteness, Rekha's amusing cartoon, Asha Bhosle's super songstress power, Akshay Kumar's sparkling white sneakers and shaved chest find a mention in Sukanya Verma's weekly column.
'What hurts people most is dynastic impulses and corruption under a family-ruled Congress party -- and Nehru has borne the brunt of it... I cannot be blinded by how the Nehru family has functioned but just as Gandhi can't be judged by his descendents, why should Nehru?' asks political scientist Ashutosh Varshney.
'I don't get involved in my movie characters. That's fake. Let's be practical. We get a nice air-conditioned vanity van to sit in, which has lovely fruits and dry fruits. We get to work with lovely ladies. So it is not taxing at all!' Akshay Kumar gets candid.
Taking a strict action, the International Boxing Association (AIBA) has provisionally suspended India's woman boxer Laishram Sarita Devi for refusing to accept the bronze medal at the Asian Games podium ceremony.