'A truly original Hindi writer whose writing no other author can match.'
'Do films today even have the courage to question the establishment?'
As the year draws to a close, Rediff's Senior Contributor Roshmila Bhattacharya takes a look at the hits and misses, the highs and lows, the newsmakers and the dealbreakers in alphabetical order.
In 1973, several major leading ladies like Mumtaz, Raakhee, Jaya Bhaduri, Dimple Kapadia, Tanuja, had married and retired from films. Producers wanted a new heroine as a replacement. Many thought Sulakshana was a Mumtaz lookalike and was soon persuaded to sign on multiple films as a leading lady.
While Amitabh Bachchan's chemistry with his heroines -- from Jaya Bhaduri to Rekha to Hema Malini -- brought sizzle to his films, many of his biggest blockbusters have been powered by his combustible combination with male co-stars.
Dravid imitated Amitabh Bachchan's look from the 1975 classic Deewar in a commercial for dry fruit company Farmley.
Seven people died after a wall collapsed near Mohan Baba Mandir in Jaitpur, Delhi, following heavy rainfall. Rescue operations were conducted by police, fire services, and NDRF teams. An investigation is underway to determine the cause of the collapse.
Because of Mukesh's much-hailed association with Raj Kapoor, it is often overlooked that the singer has also scored hits with almost all major heroes. On Mukesh's 102nd birth anniversary on July 22, Dinesh Raheja recalls some of his classic songs.
Today's Hindi film mothers are younger, trendier, more mischievous. But, truth be told, says Dinesh Raheja, I still do miss sometimes the comforting presence of the trad mother.
Though Zanjeer is credited as Amitabh's breakthrough film, it didn't immediately enthrone him. Rajesh Khanna countered with a huge hit in Daag that year. But Deewar upended audience's cinematic taste and filmland hierarchies at the very start of 1975. Bachchan emerged as a one man industry, the angry young man who could regulate the thermostat of the entire film industry, recalls Dinesh Raheja.
Writers and creators are telling more authentic stories based in states and cities that we may not have seen much of in mainstream media, such as Nagaland, Arunachal Pradesh, and Madhya Pradesh. Or ones that we have some mistaken notions about like Punjab, Delhi, Haryana, Bihar, Tamil Nadu, highlights Vanita Kohli-Khandekar.
The Congress has already announced 40 per cent reservation for women candidates in the 2022 Uttar Pradesh polls.
Rajesh Khanna: 'When I saw Namak Haram at a trial at Liberty cinema, I knew my time was up.' I told Hrishida, "Here is the superstar of tomorrow".'
Sukanya Verma quizzes you to find out just how much you know about the movies.
From dubbing voices to putting faces with the help of AI, political campaigns are undergoing a Bollywood makeover. Among the favourites is a scene from the Anil Kapoor-starrer Nayak, posted by the BJP, where Kapoor asks about the Chunaavi Vaade (poll promise), with Arvind Kejriwal at the receiving end instead of Amrish Puri.
Reader Abhishek pays tribute to Amitabh Bachchan as he completes 40 years in the industry.
Angry Young Men gloats in Salim-Javed's well-known attributes yet never gains access into the process or passion behind one of Indian cinema's greatest chemistries at work, observes Sukanya Verma.
Samantha walks the ramp... Parineeti can't look away from the mirror... Kunal chases the clouds...
Amitabh Bachchan: 'Success didn't affect me at all.' Rajesh Khanna: 'I felt next to God!'
'After Diwali, I don't see this trend of re-releases going forward. We won't have that window to re-release films because of the kind of movies that are slated to be released.'
Directors Yash Chopra, Ramesh Sippy and R Balki speak about their close associtation with the iconic actor.
Continuing our Navratri colour trail, Sukanya Verma lists nine royal blue impressions that Bollywood left on screen.
It was a day with a difference for industry icons Salim-Javed, who transformed Hindi cinema in the 1970s with films like Zanjeer, Sholay, Deewar and Don, when their families got together to hail them on stage.
At the launch of Khalid Mohamed's latest book, The Aladia Sisters, Karan Johar got Javed Akhtar and Anil Kapoor to reveal a few secrets.
Angry Young Men misses some important elements of the Salim-Javed story including an understanding of the duo's creative process. In fact, the two men do not even appear together in the same space in the series.
Bollywood has told many 'Brothers' tales over the years.
'Here are 25 stories special to me for one reason too many,' says Sukanya Verma who scored 25 years writing about the movies last week.
Yash Chopra's wife Pamela Chopra passed into the ages on the morning of April 20, and film folk made their way to her residence to condole with the family.
Modi referred to the Lok Sabha polls as a "Kurukshetra (battle)" in which "there is development on one hand and 'vote jihad' on the other".
'We haven't seen films like these in the Telugu film industry.'
I was very happy to see the old Shah Rukh Khan back. Please, leave the action to Salman Khan, requests A Ganesh Nadar.
'While I was performing it, I had a weird feeling that people would love it because it's so bizarre.'
Sukanya Verma quizzes you to find out just how much you know about the movies.
Yash Chopra, who directed that Hindi film classic, would have been 90 today, and what better way to mark the movie mogul's birth anniversary than these images which capture the eloquence of writers Salim-Javed's memorable dialogue that Shashi Kapoor hurls at his errant brother Amitabh Bachchan?
All the six packs in the world can't compensate for an unenthusiastic performance, sighs Sukanya Verma.
Sukanya Verma quizzes you to find out just how much you know about the movies.
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