'Till late on the night before the National Awards ceremony, Smriti was in talks with the President's office, hoping to make the President change his mind.'
Here's a look at the winners of the 60th National Awards.
Shaji N Karun on helming the Malayalam film Kutti Srank which won a National Film Award for Best Film.
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.
'Naseer does not have the sense of humour that Om Puri has. 'Also Om has a great deal of compassion as a human being. Naseer was too focused on his own self.' A fascinating excerpt from Sangeeta Datta's book, Shyam Benegal.
The latest updates from the Malayalam film industry.
This is the magic of Sircar's filmmaking -- National Award winners, many of them -- that makes every new work of his an eagerly-awaited affair.
'It is daunting, for sure, because you're rowing upstream.'
Though Zanjeer is credited as Amitabh's breakthrough film, it didn't immediately enthrone him. Rajesh Khanna countered with a huge hit in Daag that year. But Deewar upended audience's cinematic taste and filmland hierarchies at the very start of 1975. Bachchan emerged as a one man industry, the angry young man who could regulate the thermostat of the entire film industry, recalls Dinesh Raheja.
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.
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).
'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.'
While the sympathy vote for Sushant Singh Rajput's tragic demise must have played an important part in tilting the scales in Chhichhore's favour, the qualitative difference between the two films is so high that it could not have been a close shave, argues Subhash K Jha.
'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.'
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.
Check out the winners of the 63rd National Film Awards.
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.
The young star kid is all set to make his big fat debut in the OTT series, The Ba***ds of Bollywood.
Lal speaks candidly about the National Awards and his approach to acting.
'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.'
After comedies like Bhool Chuk Maaf and Stree, National Award-winning actor Rajkummar Rao tries hard core action in the gangster film, Maalik.
'It's also the media and the audience.' 'The audiences want to watch what the media is putting about certain star kids.'The industry feels since the audience is interested, let's make a movie with them.' 'So I think it's a circle.
'I promise you, you've never seen her do anything like this.' 'It is a complete reinvention of Janhvi Kapoor.'
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.
Shweta Basu Prasad, the 11-year-old lead actor in Vishal Bhardwaj's 2002 film Makdee --- a performance that won her the National Film Award for Best Child Artist -- was arrested on Sunday after the police caught her in a prostitution racket at a Hyderabad hotel.
The actress stood out in an off-shoulder shimmery dust blue gown. She teamed her gown with a classic bob, which is similar to the look that she will be seen sporting in her upcoming film Rangoon.
'Fauji jo hain, woh desh sambhalta hain, border sambhalta hain, hum shehar sambhalte hain (Soldiers protect the country, the border, we protect the city).'
The Pushpa actor waved to a large crowd from a balcony with the YSRCP candidate and also posted a message on 'X' in his favour.
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.
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.
Director Priyadarshan's Malayalam film Marakkar: Arabikadalinte Simham was declared the Best Feature Film.
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.
'We are thinking on something like the 'Irrfan Memorial Award' given to the most promising new actor.'
Debutant director K P Suveeran made a beautiful film despite budget restrictions.
Meet the dreamers of Bollywood, who come together for Chidiya.
'The way Helen ma'am grooves, she's so seductive.'
His cinema of compassion inspired me, gave me tools to develop empathy for others. But it also made me understand that serious, socially committed cinema with deeply engaging narratives and great performances is an art form to admire, appreciate and explore. Aseem Chhabra remembers Shyam Benegal, who passed into the ages on Monday evening.
The bond between Bollywood's siblings is there for all to see. While some may not not worked together, they promote and support each other just as strongly.
'Indian life is full of chaos. So it captures the cultural chaos quite beautifully and lightly.'
Amitabh Bachchan was presented with the Dadasaheb Phalke Award, Indian cinema's highest honour, in a special ceremony in Delhi on December 29.
