'...and say that if I don't wear a sari, they will unfollow me.' 'Today, if I have 2.9 million followers on Instagram, out of that, the majority is from the South.' 'Telugu has given me the most fame and money.'
Among the big winners was Pulijanmam, the Malayalam film directed by Priyanandan, which won the National Award for best film. Other winners include Rajkumar Hirani's Lage Raho Munnbhai, which was adjudged the best popular film providing wholesome entertainment.
'On the set, he was this big personality, the great Om Puri. But at home, he was like a fluffy teddy bear.'
Bengali film Antaheen by director Aniruddha Roy Chowdhury was chosen as the best film while Tamil filmmaker Bala won the honour of best director for his film Naan Kadavul at the 56th National Film Awards announced in New Delhi on Saturday.
Here's what your favourite Bollywood celebrities are tweeting.
'One is not allowed to smoke on the sets of a Hollywood film even during a break.' 'When I asked an assistant to suggest some place where I could light a cigarette, he recommended the bad boys' corner -- where Jack Nicholson smoked.' 'However, I hesitated.' 'But when I was heading back to my chair after the shot, Jack Nicholson asked me if I wanted to join him for a smoke. We had a long conversation over cups of cappuccino.'
'I'm very, very happy.' Winners react after the 64th National awards announcement.
'On this happy occasion, I wish Sonam more work and another National Award.'
'I had not even realised I had done almost 100 films.'
'The audience has an expectation that the climax will be similar to the last 20 minutes of the previous film.' 'All I can say is you will get what you're expecting and you will also get what you're not expecting.'
The trailer of Jolly LLB 3 shows the two Jollys pitted against each other, which is a very clever idea, because both stars are terrific with comedy, notes Deepa Gahlot.
Check out the winners.
Chidananda S Naik's Sunflowers Were the First Ones to Know... won the first prize and Mansi Maheshwari's animation film Bunnyhood won the third prize in the La Cinef competition in Cannes.
'Of all artists who openly support the current political dispensation, she is far and away the finest,' argues Sreehari Nair. 'With the exception of perhaps Tabu, no Indian actress has done more to extend the range of the feminine mystique in Hindi cinema.'
Veteran actor B Saroja Devi passed into the ages on Monday, July 14, in Bengaluru.
'It is daunting, for sure, because you're rowing upstream.'
'I've not been doing much work because I was not getting the kind of roles I want to do.'
By today's standards, when the cynicism about the corrupt system is rampant, New Delhi Times seems mild. But it was upsetting enough to have problems with film distributors. Even television refused to run it. Deepa Gahlot re-introduces you to this 1986 classic.
Her research legacy laid the foundation for modern primatology: in Gombe Stream National Park, she discovered that chimpanzees can form lasting social bonds and use basic tools. Goodall also found that, like humans, primates experience emotions such as joy, fear, empathy, and grief.
Are the National Awards are bending over backwards trying to celebrate popular cinema, simply in order to gain more relevance and eyeballs, asks Raja Sen.
'We should focus on creating cinema which is entertaining, gives us solace, some message, reduces our tension and makes us think positively.'
Though Vash Level 2 doesn't deliver an absolute knock-out experience we would expect from a horror sequel, it has got enough zing to keep the franchise hurtling forward, raves Mayur Sanap.
'Editor M S Shinde deserves full credit because, I'm told, Ramesh Sippy had shot 300,000 feet of footage, which was brought down to 18,000. 'He died in 2012, in a 126 square foot flat in Dharavi, penniless, a forgotten hero.'
Karan Johar had an extra special Friendship Day. His friends Shah Rukh Khan and Rani Mukerji won their first ever National Awards (Jawan and Mrs Chatterjee vs Norway respectively).
The deadly attack on the Uri garrison on September 18 nine years ago marked the end of India's policy against crossing the Line of Control to target Pakistan-based terrorists. It paved the way for the Balakot Air Strikes in 2019 and Operation Sindoor.
Advertising legend Piyush Pandey has passed away. He was 70. The news of Piyush Pandey's demise was shared by columnist Suhel Seth on X on Friday morning.
'Unfortunately, we live in a 'Mainstream Bollywood' bubble, where we cannot look beyond films that we ourselves find entertaining.'
Dinesh Raheja celebrates Lata's 96th birth anniversary on September 28 by picking some choice examples of her non-typical songs that are tinged with a rare eroticism.
Few people have left the kind of imprint on India's advertising canvas as Piyush Pandey. An observer who seemed to know what made the country tick, a man who could find humour in life's everyday struggles and spin magic from it, one who understood that to reach the masses you needed to communicate with them in their language and context -- he was all of this and more.
The young star kid is all set to make his big fat debut in the OTT series, The Ba***ds of Bollywood.
'It's a tremendous accomplishment to have a father like Amitabh Bachchan and still be so sorted, to not taste the kind of success that he should have and yet be so balanced.'
'Some time back, music was just noise.' 'Producers wrongly think item songs sell better.' 'Audiences are intelligent, they accept whatever you give, but that doesn't mean you can fool them.'
Check out the films that bagged the National Award.
Bollywood makes way for regional cinema at the 65th National Awards.
At 8,700 screens, India, the world's largest film producing country, has just six screens for every million of its people, compared to 125 in the US and 30 in China. With Sitaare Zameen Par, Aamir Khan hopes to expand the market for Indian cinema.
After comedies like Bhool Chuk Maaf and Stree, National Award-winning actor Rajkummar Rao tries hard core action in the gangster film, Maalik.
Bandyopadhyay, eminent playwright and director, said in a statement that he is returning the award conferred on him earlier this year by the Paschimbanga Natya Akademi and the Rs 30,000 monetary grant.
Which of the 28 films in contention gets your vote?
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