'Storytelling will never change.' 'As long as storytelling can be unpredictable... AI cannot tell you an unpredictable story.'
'Despite acting in some 100 films and television plays, people still remember the daadi of Hum Log.'
'It took 22 working days for us to complete the song.'
'This leading filmmaker told me: "Don't let the industry cake you up with makeup and wigs. You are a breath of fresh air".'
'Recently a girl who was suicidal was brought to me.' 'When I asked her what was bothering her, she said she and her friend took photos at the same place and posted them on Instagram.' 'While her friend got 23 likes, she didn't get a single like.' 'She said, "nobody likes me, nobody wants me in this world. I am rejected by everybody".' 'And she wanted to end her life.'
There are some shows that kept us hooked from start to finish on the strength of their storytelling or a sizzling chemistry between the leads.
The recipe for Indian higher education institutions to succeed in the global markets is excellence in academics, promoting contemporary socially relevant material, and enabling individuals (learners) to realise their full potential, suggests N Ravichandran.
'I'm totally focussed on finding the right energies around me. A lot of the treatment is psychosomatic, as my mother keeps reiterating, if you think positive, positive things will happen to you.'
The sheer awfulness of Andaaz 2 really doesn't deserve anyone's time or attention, warns Mayur Sanap.
'Without our support Nitish Kumar wouldn't have become chief minister.' 'After the government was formed we became ministers, but our agenda remained the same: Amit Shah had promised reservation for Nishads.' 'He wouldn't listen, so we went to UP and contested 52 seats in the 2022 elections. He didn't like the idea of rebellion.' 'He saw that this man, coming from Bombay, is very sharp. He's made four MLAs now, tomorrow he'll make 40. A time will come when they will make it 125.' 'They bought our MLAs and ousted us from the government.'
'Women have always been given titles like 'mother' or 'housewife'. 'These tags put so much pressure on a woman to be a certain way.'
'It is daunting, for sure, because you're rowing upstream.'
The many episodes in which the characters quarrel, sulk and rehearse would have been boring were it not for the music, observes Deepa Gahlot.
'Arundhati Roy is like a ballerina performing on a high wire, cool, supremely at ease but conscious of all the adoring eyes on her,' notes P Vijaya Kumar.
'Winning gold for India was a dream I lived on that rink.'
The film lurches from one melodramatic situation to another, for nearly 160 minutes, before culminating in an ending that embodies Director Anupam Kher's personal philosophy: Kuch bhi ho sakta hain, notes Mayur Sanap.
'Bappi Lahiri was looking for a break so he and his father would meet me.' 'I told Director Bhisham Kohli about this promising young boy from Kolkata, and Bappi came over with his harmonium.' 'Bappi played this composition and Bhisham liked it immediately.' 'As we were discussing, I said I would give the words, and that's how I wrote this song.'
'A lot of parents tell their children, "You are not good enough. The neighbour's child is so good. Why can't you be like him?"' 'I want to tell all parents and children that all of us are created with absolute brilliance.' 'My life is an example. From 42% in my board examination, I became one of the IAS toppers.' 'Every child should have his or her own dream to chase; not their parents' or not somebody else's.'
Sejal Shah's flatly-narrated timeline would probably serve better as a documentary, observes Sukanya Verma.
Donald Trump is catering to the basest fears and prejudice of unenlightened Americans -- yes, there are those too, in sizeable enough numbers to elect one of their own as president. That would most certainly not Make America Great Again, asserts Shreekant Sambrani.
There's not any effort -- not even a smidgen -- to resurrect a superstar on the wane in Sikandar, sighs Sukanya Verma.
'I've had a 10-and-a-half year journey behind the camera and people don't know who I am.'
One of the best ways to celebrate Children's Day is by spending quality time with your kids and binge watch meaningful yet entertaining cinema pieces.
'When they took my name, I went numb.' 'Before I went on stage, my dress got caught in my shoe!' 'I said, stay calm.' 'Then I started walking and was like, okay, now think of what you're going to say, quickly!'
'I find his sense of history astounding, not just history of film, but of life in general.' Another fascinating excerpt from Sangeeta Datta's book Shyam Benegal.
Every year has its share of duds and turkeys. 2024 was no different except that even the rotten ones are too drab to have any real offence value.
While Satya's pleasures are palpable -- among them the poetry of the coarse language, the mercifully rough-hewn texture, the oh-so-familiar underdog story -- these pleasures hit you at a completely different speed. The movie is charged with a sense of discovery, and every shot is a cornucopia of details existing independent of the main story. It's touching, notes Sreehari Nair.
'Everything about farming is enjoyable and relaxing.'
Images that should keep you grinning for days on end.
'Not even in my wildest dreams did I think I would write a book one day.'
When in Landour, discovers Supriya Newar, one of the most important things to do and that too in large measures, is to do nothing at all.
The row broke out after a private television news agency attributed the excerpts of the article shared by the NC leader to him.
There are a whole lot of cop-themed movies on OTT this week.
'Whenever people say to me that all my work looks unique, I say to them originality is the art of concealing your source.' 'You can't see the sources that I take from because usually, they are Indian.' 'But then Indians don't find my work Indian.'
Abhijith Gopinath aka A.B.I was mocked through school and college. He found solace in hip-hop and chose love over hate.
'At the age of 25, there are still no work offers coming your way, so how do you move ahead in life?'
Religion and economic barriers continue to define love in modern India, discovers Preshth Bhardwaj.
We asked colleagues, present and past, to reflect on a man who has made such a difference to their lives and careers. Here it is then, a rich collection of memories that offer enchanting glimpses of the enigmatic Ajit Balakrishnan.
Once a K-drama buff, always a K-drama buff.
'When the mill strike started, there was crisis in every mill worker household.' 'One entire generation went without education.' 'Hunger forced them to take to crime.'