We asked colleagues, present and past, to reflect on a man who has made such a difference to their lives and careers. Here it is then, a rich collection of memories that offer enchanting glimpses of the enigmatic Ajit Balakrishnan.
Clubbing in multiple weddings in one go dilutes some of the conversation. Conflicts are resolved too neatly and grey areas of complicated equations are left on a note of ambiguity, observes Sukanya Verma after watching the second season of Made in Heaven.
'I didn't want to be the bottom-most in the food chain of a commercial film.' 'I'd rather do something experimental and learn and hope that this translates into somebody noticing me.'
'If somebody remixes my song Banno 20 years later, why would I feel bad about it?'
A movie that seeks to explore an 'alternate history' cannot be so superficial, sighs Utkarsh Mishra.
'Listen to my songs if they make you happy at home.'
On planes, on Netflix, Amazon Prime, Hotstar, Zee5, Hulu, MUBI, Kanopy, film festivals... Aseem Chhabra tell us how he watched 309 films in 365 days.
Everybody knows he's a master of sublime, but Mani Ratnam's brilliance in escalating drama delivers a goosebumps-inducing impact when bolstered by A R Rahman's musical gravitas,
'Badlapur,' says Sreehari Nair, 'proves that sometimes there are more personal truths to be discovered in our trash cans than in our neatly arranged book-shelves.'
'Movie plots clearly don't excite director Dileesh Pothan as much as true stories where life had come dizzyingly close to becoming like a movie and then, had fused back with life.' 'This means that a conversation he overhears at a tea shop is more likely to give Pothan a setting for his next picture than a brainstorming session inside a conference room,' says Sreehari Nair.
'Will you take a Mercedes Benz or Rolex watches or fancy shoes to your grave?'
Now, let's wait for the movie, says Syed Firdaus Ashraf.
With Hansal Mehta's Scam 1992 bringing it up so interestingly, Joginder Tuteja looks back at films that have dealt in the stock market.
A look at the top tweets from your favourite Bollywood celebrities.
Bollywood hero on the run, hijacked weddings, shrinks in need of therapy, Sukanya Verma lists the chaos and entertainment on OTT this week.
What you need to know about M S Sathyu's classic Garm Hawa.
'I don't look forward to seeing my films because this only sort of gives me a deep sense of dissatisfaction that I could have done better, and I lose my self-confidence.'
Andhadhun is a stunning, comic, grisly, absurd, intense, cold, crazy and must-watch, raves Sukanya Verma.
Here are Aseem Chhabra's picks -- 'films that mattered to me, entertained me and will stay with me through the year.'
'He provokes you intellectually so hard that you really break out of your shell and come up with something creative.' 'He can extract a creation out of you, such is the power of Godard and his films.'
Of late, crime, politics, corruption and hate have been leaking out of every streaming platform. By the time Garmi drops, fatigue has already set in, observes Deepa Gahlot.
After the debacle of the first episodes of Season 6, the latter half give an even-handed treatment to intriguing not-so-well-known events of Queen Elizabeth II's reign, observes Vaihayasi Pande Daniel.
'Writers are always nervous.' 'If you go to a party, you will notice that the writers are always in a corner of the party, looking anxious, sweating and tense about something or the other.' 'I am that kind of person.'
City Of Dreams 2 released recently, and is quite a must watch.
'I don't want to develop a bag of tricks that I keep reaching into and repeating myself.' 'When you act every day, you start repeating yourself and that's a trap.'
The glass is always full when it comes to OTT. Sukanya Verma brings you everything you can catch on streaming platforms this week.
Broken But Beautiful 3 is a typical ALT Balaji show which delves into new age relationships, observes Prateek Sur.
Mutliplexes want the gap between a film's release in theatres and on OTT to be doubled from 4 to 8 weeks.
Movie stars holiday in exotic locations and share lovely pictures on social media.
If you want to watch a meaningful movie that will feed your soul, watch Ram Singh Charlie, recommends Namrata Thakker.
The underlying message is clear: Please do not question Shah Rukh Khan's loyalty to India. He is Indian, loves his motherland. And he will continue to entertain India for as long as he can, applauds Aseem Chhabra.
'I went to a school in Baroda, where if the boys harassed us, the teachers pulled the girls aside and said, "Oh, your skirts are too short".' 'They made us feel ashamed of having any sexual feelings or having bodies that were growing up to be a young women.'
Stars and stars at Gully Boy screenings!
'I am an A-lister of television. I didn't want to do any Bollywood movies just for the sake of it. There are audiences for Naagins and the supernatural kind of shows but for me, Beyhadh is a real show. I would watch it.' Kushal Tandon gets candid.
'If someone were to ask you if you want to die tomorrow, no matter what problems you are grappling with, you would be hesitant, right?'
After a lifetime of showing us what it means to 'act at the top of one's bent and never hit a false note', Mammootty had the good sense, in the third act of his career, to pare down his style, become less mannered, draw directly from life. And getting a performer like that to play characters who seem 'completely dead inside', is, in my view, a betrayal of his legacy, his still-burning ambition, and his still-sharp feelers, observes Sreehari Nair.
The simplicity of the model that was the original, which allowed it to glide with grace, has been foregone, observes Rohit Sathish Nair.
Sunil Shetty makes his OTT debut. Chiranjeevi comes calling. Parvathy Thiruvothu, Nithya Menen and Amruta Subhash provide enchanting viewing. Santa Claus gets ready to retire.
If you were one of those waiting for the entire fourth season of Succession to drop so that you could binge-watch it over a weekend, you have missed the train.
A R Rahman shows us that he deserves the accolades for Slumdog Millionaire.
