'They said I had to sign an exclusive contract, otherwise I will have to sit at home and they we will ruin my career.' Angoori Devi aka Shilpa Shinde gives her version.
In the 25 odd days that he has appeared before CBI Special Judge Jayendra Chandrasen Jagdale, you have experienced the entire range of emotions just observing him. Everything from pity to irritation. To bafflement. And shock. You have scoured his face, gazed into his eyes, watched his expressions and body language, searching vigilantly for motives. And come away no wiser. Who is Shyamvar Rai? Does anybody know?
And then came the chief moment of Friday. If the courtroom had a soundtrack, Beethoven's 9th would be playing, providing a triumphant, dramatic prologue to the production of this last clip. A woman reporter was asking Mekhail about Sanjeev Khanna. He says clearly, without mincing words, emphatically: 'Never seen him. First time I am hearing his name.'
Mekhail delivered the most deliberate heart-tugging line of the day: "If a son asks his mother for money is wrong, then tell me." At the back Indrani gave one of her most beaming smiles that was meant to convey the exact opposite. This was no mother happy that her son had said he turned to her when he needed money because she was his mother.
Vaihayasi Pande Daniel reports from the Sheena Bora murder trial.
'I kept photographs of everyone. Because I was working for them.' 'Madam, Saab...' Shyamvar Rai, the approver in the case, said in a tone that tried to suggest that that would be a routine practice for a driver.
Indrani is clearly in charge in her little corner. She is speaking rapidly to a not-very-tall, pot-bellied, balding man, whom she repeatedly, decisively, asks, "Have you understood?" The tone is that of a boss talking to an employee. The words "cheque" and "two lakhs" float by.
'I had seen Waqt, starring Balraj Sahniji, and I can never forget it. There is a happy family and an earthquake later, everything is gone. That movie got stuck in my head. How one man loses his entire family and becomes a pauper. The same thing happens in Airlift.' Akshay Kumar, and his lovely leading lady Nimrat Kaur discuss their latest film.
'We have won our political freedom, we have liberalised our economy and now it's time to liberate our minds also. That is why this film.' Director Ketan Mehta lists his reasons for making Rang Rasiya.
'My parents once went to watch Rajkumar Kohli's Insaniyat Ke Dushman. In the film, I "rape" Anita Raaj. My father was very upset. My mother left the theatre. Years later, my father asked me to do a positive role with a heroine like Hema Malini. Unfortunately, I never got to do that. I played her brother-in-law in Satte Pe Satta. Now in Ramesh Sippy's Shimla Mirch, I am romancing her but my father is not alive to see it.' Shakti Kapoor, straight from the heart.
Bollywood's Badshah turns 50 on November 2, and it's time to celebrate his life and movies.
