The luminous Waheeda Rehman will be honoured with the Dadasaheb Phalke Award this year,
'We accept EVMs cannot be hacked because it is not connected, but can they be manipulated?' 'Are you allowing us to check if EVMs can be manipulated?'
'There is no peace in the Kashmir Valley.'
'If you can come with some arrangement with the Pakistanis that Pakistan ceases to stop creating trouble in Kashmir in return for the Indians not arming Afghanistan, everyone wins.' William Dalrymple discusses his new book Return of a King, Afghanistan, the Mughals and, of course, India with Rediff.com's Syed Firdaus Ashraf.
Narendra Modi can never be Vajpayee because the poet-prime minister had a heart. Modi doesn't. He only understands the language of business, of profit and loss. It is beyond his capacity to understand a complex country like India, says Syed Firdaus Ashraf.
'Under this amendment, in any dispute over Waqf properties, the Waqf Board cannot approach the court.' 'This is very surprising because the government instead of protecting Waqf properties they are snatching it away and not allowing them to go to court.' 'The third biggest landowner in India is the Waqf Board after the Indian Army and Indian Railways.'
'I went to jail and met my father to convince him to join politics and believe in the Constitution.'
'If my brother was a criminal they could have filed a case against him and put him on trial. Why kill him?' This is not justice.'
'They made so many toppers in NEET that automatically the paper leak issue got exposed.' 'The first mistake they did was announcing 67 toppers in NEET. No way this figure was possible.' 'The maximum numbers of toppers that you can have are two or three at best every year.'
'The Election Commission cannot be regulated by the government.'
Jaswant Singh's biography of M A Jinnah has cost him his place in the BJP. Syed Firdaus Ashraf looks at Jinnah and his controversial place in India's history.
Deepika Padukone talks about her upcoming film, Karthik Calling Karthik, and Ranbir Kapoor.
'Akhilesh Yadav made voters think why is the BJP asking for 400 paar.' 'They understood his words and believed the BJP wanted 400 paar only to demolish the Constitution and end reservations.'
The movie has everything going for it. A total paisa vasool film!
'I like to tell stories that are real. When you say something true, it becomes controversial. It's not that I desire controversy; it's just that I want to tell the truth.' Director Rahul Dholakia talks about his new film Lamhaa and the Kashmir issue.
'All of these guys who are opposing the Supreme Court judgment are from dominant scheduled caste communities and none of them come from the scavenging community.' 'Not a single scavenging leader will oppose this Supreme Court judgment.'
'And be confident that we will do a successful operation... Don't ask for a deadline. It is very difficult to say in such cases,' says Major General R K Hooda.
Zarine Khan hopes to have her own footprint in Bollywood, with her film Veer.
Journalist turned filmmaker Mahesh Nair speaks to Syed Firdaus Ashraf about his struggle to make it in Bollywood.
Scenes from Azad Maidan.
'The liberalisation of the Indian economy has triggered a growing belief in education, because they believe they can be a part of the economic bandwagon and benefit from it.'
'...but subjecting our heritage to rigorous evidence-based understanding.'
'Rahul Gandhi is raising the issue of a caste census though his party has been doing injustice on this front from the 1950s.'
Syed Firdaus Ashraf feels director Omung Kumar shares too much in the trailer of his upcoming film, Bhoomi.
'Modi will do himself a favour if he starts studying about Mahatma Gandhi.' 'I feel pity that we have a PM who has no idea of our own history.'
The filmmaker, whose latest film, Black & White hits the marquee on Friday was in a philosophical mood as he recounted the debacle of Kisna, and why Bollywood needs writers more than ever.
'Heavy rains are not the primary reason for landslides in Wayanad.' 'There are all sorts of (human) intervention going on in that area.'
'The BJP will not win a single seat in Punjab.'
'If a Brahmin child by birth is poor then he must get reservation benefits rather than an OBC child who is rich and born in a rich family.'
R Madhavan talks about life after his huge hit, 3 Idiots.
After giving us one of the biggest hits of 2009, Salman Khan is back to prove his mettle once again with his pet project, Veer.
'Every Haryana assembly seat has its own unique problems to earn victory for a political party and you as a politician need to know what are those issues and tackle it.'
Nikhil Advani gets a second chance in life with Patiala House.
Himesh Reshammiya talks about his Radio experience, and his next film Kajra Re.
Ajab Prem lyricist Irshad Kamil tells us what inspires him.
Katrina Kaif talks about her upcoming movies and teenage love.
'No Musharraf or Vajpayee can solve this problem till the people of Kashmir are involved,' JKLF leader Yasin Malik tells Syed Firdaus Ashraf.
Filmmaker Mahesh Bhatt tells us what keeps him so young at heart.
'Many people have this perception that Biharis are abnormal people,' says director Prakash Jha.
He does not have the flamboyance of Karan Johar. Yet, Priyadarshan is Bollywood's top director, whose last five films have made a good Rs 150 crores in theatrical release only. The director is back with his new film, Mere Baap Pehle Aap.
© 2026 Rediff.com - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances