Meet Bollywood's finest casting director Mukesh Chhabra.
Kapil Mishra was one of the closest aides of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal. However, in May 2017, the tides turned. A loyalist of the Aam Aadmi Party founder, Mishra shocked one and all by openly accusing him of corruption, a claim that the AAP dismissed. Since then Mishra has become one of the most prominent AAP rebels. In the face of the sit-in by Kejriwal, his deputy Manish Sisodia and ministers - Satyendar Jain and Gopal Rai at Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal's office, Mishra spoke to Syed Firdaus Ashraf/Rediff.com and said that this is the first time in history that a sitting chief minister of a state in India has kidnapped himself.
'I am 51 now. I think I can do action till 56.' 'After that, God knows.'
'Reading a newspaper is as important to me as reading a script. Sitting in a caf and drinking coffee is as important as going for a shoot.' Peeking into Atul Kulkarni's life.
Writers from across the country gathered at Shri Ram Centre near Mandi House and marched towards Sahitya Akademi in the capital, wearing black ribbons on their heads as a sign of protest.
Telugu actor Sumanth feels his Vicky Donor remake -- named Naruda Donoruda -- is just what his career needs.
Very few today realise that without Brigadier John Dalvi's courage, we would never have known what really happened during those tragic days of October/November 1962, reveals Claude Arpi.
Aseem Chhabra looks at the year's best Non-Hindi Indian movies.
'The Maoists want the tribals to boycott the election while the police think the election is a farce and do not want to risk going deeper in the conflict zone.' 'Newton (played with sincerity and deep felt passion by Rajkummar Rao) wants to make sure that the locals cast their vote, a right given to them by the Constitution.'
The Indian-American was one of the real sheroes at the awards.
Well, these engineering students race them too.
'Raj and DK have taken the effort to look at Moosa as a person.' 'Like, what happened to him?' 'What made him become a terrorist?' 'The emotional trauma that he might have had... that clicked for me.'
Putting together a play about the Father of the Nation is no easy task. But when that play is a musical, the challenges increase.
Ivide tries to tackle a lot of things but ends up satisfying none.
'I looked at the smiles around and realised that each day that I smiled was amazing.' 'So I put into play something that I have been toying with for years.' 'I called it the Rich Universe.' 'You often hear people say "I wish I become a superstar and my life gets made".' 'I wondered how it would be if I said if I hug my father, it would be an amazing day, or if I hugged my mother and said how lucky I am.'
Ahmedabad's cultural scene would not have gone beyond the garba, but for Mrinalini Sarabhai's pioneering efforts.
On Ramesh Sippy's 70th birthday, we celebrate the man and his milestones.
'Just a day before the Pulwama attack happened, one of my songs had released. It's called Baarishein, featuring Atif Aslam. However, it was pulled down the very next day. See, when it comes to standing with the nation, I will. Even when the makers decided to take that song down, I supported them. Atif and I are artists but we cannot be bigger than our nations.'
'I have been offered the main lead many times now, including romantic and action hero roles. But they're not interesting. I want to do films like Aandhi, Angoor, Ram Aur Shyam, Mela, Deewar, Zanjeer and Sholay but I don't have a plan.' Mohammed Zeeshan Ayyub gets ready for the next level.
'Satyajit Ray was somewhat tolerable; you didn't have to hang your head in shame.' 'Sholay is a series of stereotypes and borrowed ideas... And we are still singing praises of that film.' 'What would I make of two grown men behaving in this manner? It's deeply embarrassing.' If you thought Naseeruddin Shah was too frank with his opinions, he'd have to take a back seat to wife Ratna Pathak Shah, who doesn't waste a second, giving you her strong views on matters movies and personal.
'Asked which Dilip Kumar films were among her favourites, she said she had seen not a single movie of his until that time. This became a sensational issue. She did not mean to offend Dilip Kumar. There was not a bone of diplomacy in her and she never acquired that calculating attitude even at the cost of some of the roles that she would eventually lose.'
Kabir Akhtar won it for Outstanding Single-Camera Picture Editing for the series Crazy Ex-Girlfriend.
'We still look at films with A-listers.' 'There is change, but it's minor.' 'We still haven't learnt how to invest in stories.'
'People don't talk about any role that my father did -- it is always Gabbar Singh. He regretted this. He would tell me, 'I started at 25 floors and couldn't go any higher because I had started too high.'
These offbeat courses will guarantee you a job.
'There are many stories that could be made in the North East.' And here's one of them.
As the legendary actor turns 60 today, we look at his finest performances in the last six decades.
Bharata Natyam legends Shanta and V P Dhananjayan discover they are a national sentation after their Vodafone ads.
'I'm a rascal, I'm going to play a paramahansa?!'
'My mother has one complaint -- I die in all of my films. She has told me to stop dying now.'
The 'Shatrughan Sinha of the South' plunges into politics.
In its 60th year, Shriram Bharatiya Kala Kendra's dance drama is as iconic as Delhi itself
Devanik Saha wonders if saffronisation of India is on the rise
Battling on Rahul Gandhi's behalf, Priyanka Gandhi took on Narendra Modi over his shehzada, namuna and other barbs at her brother on Tuesday, saying the Bharatiya Janata Party leader is aspiring to be prime minister but indulging in childish behaviour and that he should maintain decorum.
Mohammad Sajjad salutes the memory of Mushirul Hasan -- historian, thinker, academic, institution builder, -- who passed into the ages this week.
'His script, his body language is different, at the most he is a trained pracharak, a national politician building a base, an audience, a community of behaviours and followers from a younger generation, attempting to talk to children so they become his enthusiasts. Many are and that is his victory.'
The year threw up quite a few shockers, some rather rude one. Below are Rediff.com's 12 picks that made us sit back and think, 'Did that really happen?'
'The other day, someone told me they saw Sarbjit again and it still haunts them.' 'They said I made Aishwarya do what she's never done before.'
Mohammad Sajjad profiles Professor Riazur Rahman Sherwani, 94, versatile mind, intrepid intellectual.
