With the arrest of the film censor board's CEO on charges of demanding bribes to clear films, the regulatory role of the panel is in focus once again
'Hrishi-da often voiced his disenchantment with Bachchan's Angry Young Man persona -- the 'maara-maari', the growth of sidelocks; he even said directors were killing Amitabh the actor and turning him into a stuntman. Yet, as Jaya Bhaduri jovially pointed out, the seeds of that seething persona can be found in Anand and Namak Haraam.'
'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.
'Shakti Samanta was a very honest man. I have done four films with him. He was very sick before he died; nobody was allowed to see him in the hospital. I went but I could not bear to see him like that. Iftekar and I would go to see Ashok Kumar often. He would ask me to bring some kheema, as he loved my wife's preparation. I would have attended kavi sammelans with Jan Nisar Akhtar (Javed Akhtar's father), Sahir Ludhianvi and Harivansh Rai Bachchan. Amitabh Bachchan was a child then, and would often accompany his father.' Veteran actor Chandrashekhar Vaidya goes back in time.
'I had once gone to Kashmir with him and his wife. He would talk to the boatmen, the watchmen, at the dargahs he would ask so many questions. He always had a notebook and would write down everything... He was an intellectual and he was fun. He loved people, loved life and had the spirit of enquiry. He used to advise me, "When you write - inform, provoke, abuse".' Sadia Dehlvi on her 30-year-old friendship with Khushwant Singh.
How many of these have aged well?
The journey of the digitally restored version of The Apu Trilogy is packed with dark stories and years of near detective work by those determined to preserve some of Satyajit Ray's finest works.
'No other actor in India was as lucky as me,' Soumitra Chatterjee tells Indrani Roy/ Rediff.com
'I got to know things early in life.' On Childrens' Day, one of Hindi film industry's most memorable child -- Raju Shrestha - lets us into his life with a twinkle in his eye.
The full text of the speech delivered by VVS Laxman at the Pataudi Memorial Lecture in Kolkata.
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