'...that it takes fantasy seriously as a part of real life'... A fascinating excerpt from Jonathan Gil Harris's book, Masala Shakespeare: How A Firangi Writer Became Indian.
Things are off to a good start when a lead movie character appears for the first time against strategic music or swaggering drama and the audience bursts into wholehearted whistles and applause.
Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro, Parinda, 1942: A LOve Story, Devdas, Kareeb, Mission Kashmir, Munnabhai MBBS, Rang De Basanti, Delhi 6, Bhag Milkha Bhag, Kalank... all bear the visual stamp of Binod Pradhan's genius.
Meet the man behind MS Dhoni: The Untold Story.
'Mumbai is very different from the rest of India. It can be ruthless if you don't have work or friends. The struggle time and times of disappointment are horrific and can break you.'
The actress released her statement recently, deriding irresponsible reporting of the incident.
Sridevi's amazing dedication, Ranveer Singh's Scarface, Ranbir-Alia on nepotism and more in Sukanya Verma's emotionally charged Super Filmi week.
'AMU is a secular university with an Islamic ethos.' 'We do not discriminate on the basis of religion. Let me tell you Muslims do not need reservations. They need affirmative action in education.'
In 2014, young Muslims became Owaisi fans. But five years of BJP rule and a weakening Opposition have drawn older Muslims too towards the AIMIM chief. Not enough, though.
Lawyer turned entrepreneur Parama Ghosh shares her story.
'We are not in the crore game, at least not me.' 'So when I do a film, I do it purely on its merit, where I think we will go ahead and make a fantastic film.'
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on range of issues -- from Rafale deal to Ram temple and triple talaq.
Kay Kay Menon gets candid about the film industry.
'Woman need to be respected much more in our country. But choices should be allowed for women as well as men. I don't care about the box office collections of Ki & Ka; I care about the thoughts and conversation that it brings on. Every actor has that one film in their filmography where they pushed the envelope further.' Arjun Kapoor takes on new challenges with Ki & Ka.
P K Nair dedicated his life to restoring and archiving films.
'In our film industry, there are not many opportunities for actors... Our films are not character based, they are hero and heroine based. The only roles we have for character actors are to play the girl's or boy's dad or a police officer...'
Aseem Chhabra lists the movies that taught him about the Idea of India.
Neeraj Pandey, who has written and directed the films A Wednesday and Special 26, has written a novel called Ghalib Danger.
'They are busy making films that suit their purpose. If it suits their purpose to make a Slumdog Millionaire, they will make it.' 'Why are we so upset about not getting an Oscar or producing Oscar quality work? Just look at the quality of work that is venerated by the Oscars. It is not particularly great work. Why are we so desperate to get acknowledgment from the West?'
Aseem Chhabra looks at the year's best Non-Hindi Indian movies.
How many of the 354 films Aseem Chhabra watched in 2017 have you seen?
Sreehari Nair wasn't impressed with Rangoon at all. But find out which film tops his list!
Filmmaker Prakash Jha opens up about his life.
Arjun Mathur recounts his journey as an actor in Bollywood.
Here's celebrating Dilip Kumar by re-visiting his best movies.
'In my personal life, I honestly find it very difficult to express my anger.' 'And then, when you are a public figure, you feel watched that much more and then you are all the more careful.' 'Begum Jaan, therefore, was the answer to my angst.'
The gorgeous Karan Kapoor will be back in India soon. Very soon!
In our special series re-visiting great Hindi film classics, we look back at Sunny Deol and Dimple Kapadia starrer Arjun, 1985.
Saurabh Shukla, Piyush Mishra and Sanjay Mishra are not likely to be in the limelight when a film releases, but they are the ones who eventually light up the movie.
Aamir Khan speaks about his unusual trek in Indian cinema, why he didn't agree to play Sunil Dutt in Sanju, and more...
'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.'
MUST READ: The speech Nayantara Sahgal was not allowed to give.
'I loved doing Bunty Aur Babli. I love working with Rohit Shetty. I just shot for Dilwale. Kuch bhi karva leta hain mujhse (he makes me do anything)!' I worked in Jolly LLB for free. It was just a night's work. We laughed till we died during the shooting. It was such a cute character!' Meet Bollywood's busiest actor, Sanjay Mishra.
'Single life is pretty good. I like the attention. If I feel lonely, I just call my mom and she sleeps in my bed,' Kalki Koechlin tells Rediff.com contributor Paloma Sharma.
Barring a Shah Rukh Khan, an Akshay Kumar or a Preity Zinta, it is near impossible for most Indians to break into Bollywood's exclusive club of star children. Hearteningly, it is still possible for Indians born in middle class homes to become star technicians like 3 Idiots director Rajkumar Hirani. Patcy N and photographer N V Reuben traveled to Raju Hirani's home town Nagpur last week to discover how his journey to directorial superstardom began.
Pavan Malhotra, one of our finest actors, shows us another side of Bollywood.
'The standing ovation in Cannes was a rare moment where I felt patriotic. I realised that the audience was not clapping for an individual but for the team that came from India with such a beautiful film.' Masaan's leading man Vicky Kaushal takes us through its making.
'My stay in Mumbai was taken care of by Vinod Khanna, food by Daisy Irani, work was provided by Feroz Khan, and Sunil Dutt paid me without my doing any work. My wife is 12 years younger than me. She was a child artiste. I got the title Shakti Kapoor: Cradle snatcher. But she was too good so I decided to marry her. I will marry Shraddha off after three years. I don't want her to be an older heroine or marry at 40. I want her to marry at the peak of her career. But I will not force her.' Straight talk from Shakti Kapoor.
'I have honestly never gotten so much appreciation in my career ever,' Shahid Kapoor reveals.
