Barring a Shah Rukh Khan, an Akshay Kumar or a Preity Zinta, it is near impossible for most Indians to break into Bollywood's exclusive club of star children. Hearteningly, it is still possible for Indians born in middle class homes to become star technicians like 3 Idiots director Rajkumar Hirani. Patcy N and photographer N V Reuben traveled to Raju Hirani's home town Nagpur last week to discover how his journey to directorial superstardom began.
'If ever there was a film that begged to be celebrated on the big-screen -- heck, that begged viewing with 3D glasses -- it is this one, a sensational ride that throws you, the viewer, into the deep-end and drags you along for a chained and scorched and unbelievable ride,' says Raja Sen.
'If I'm in Bombay for 30 days of work, I'm working all 30 days, there's no holiday between my work.' 'Sometimes I wish for a routine in life, but maybe if the routine comes in, it would be horrible.' 'I'm so used to rushing and hurrying,' Anushka Sharma tells Ronjita Kulkarni/Rediff.com
Want to add to Sukanya Verma's list? Hit the message board.
'Not only are the concerns expressed in Stree (patriarchy, consent, prejudice against women) mere excuses to touch our 'sentimental hotspots', the movie itself is a few tricks cobbled together,' says Sreehari Nair.
Stunning photos have revealed incredible secrets of the underwater world, with the winners of the 2018 Underwater Photographer of the Year award announced. German photographer Tobias Friedrich has been named Underwater Photographer of the Year 2018. More than 5,000 images were submitted this year by photographers from around the world. UPY was once again kind enough to share some of this year's honourees with us below, with captions written by the photographers.
'When I am at the top I always feel I am blessed and closer to god.'
Sathya Saran talks about Guru Dutt and Abrar Alvi at the launch of her book Ten Years with Guru Dutt: Abrar Alvi's Journey.
Haider is a remarkable achievement and one of the most powerful political films we've ever made, a bonafide masterpiece that throbs with intensity and purpose.
'He's not dead. I am dead. I am dead. He didn't love me like I wanted him to. He didn't love me as much as I wanted him to. But it doesn't matter, I loved him. And he's dead. And he has my first silly poem in his drawer. And he has all the imperfect paintings I tore to pieces in his files. ' For Sameera, time froze still on December 13, 2013.
'With Tanu Weds Manu, I discovered myself.'
He was getting fruits, but no implement to cut them with. He told the judge, sadly: "I have tried and it is very difficult, your honour." His statement quickly brought up the imagery of Peter trying to cut a pineapple with his teeth or a papaya with a pen or a toothbrush.
'The success or otherwise of Modi's foreign policy will largely depend on the equation he is likely to strike with Donald Trump.'
'The situation in the country is very scary.' 'There is an increasing attack on the Constitutional democratic rights of our people.'
You'll see that there's more to the state than just its forts and havelis!
'So they are extracting a price from me for letting me marry their son, is it? Manas, I cannot believe that you subscribe to this view of theirs. This is our child growing in me. It is part of me - girl or boy. Can I just throw it away if it is not a boy?'
From safe selfies to wife carrying championships, here's this week of wacky stories from around the world.
Sanjay Khan goes back in time with memories of the Mysore fire tragedy.
How many of these have aged well?
Time to pack your bags and pamper the wanderlust in you.
'You are a Kashmiri first. You are not an Arab.' 'Revisit our traditional sufi thought.'
Here looking at 10 of Bollywood's best-known crime movies.
Despite some fairly amazing performances, not only does Lone Survivor fail to engage the audience but it also seems conflicted about whether it wishes to honour the immense bravery of four individuals or whether it wishes to prove the US's decision of interfering in Afghanistan correct, writes Paloma Sharma.
Sin City 2 doesn't quite illicit the same response as the film film, says Paloma Sharma.
'2 hours and 20 minutes later, I walked out of Sachin: A Billion Dreams learning not one additional thing about Tendulkar: Not one factoid, not one statistic.' 'Maybe it's convenient filmmaking, or maybe just the essence of God,' says Sreehari Nair.
If you live in Delhi you can quit smoking, give up alcohol, go to bed early, exercise every day and eat right, but unless you also give up breathing, you can still get very sick, says Mitali Saran
Rediff.com reproduces the 1997 feature about Laxman, his passion for crows, and of course, his genius.
We present you 15 of the weirdest stories that were too funny to be true.
The Wildlife Photographer of the Year, developed and produced by the Natural History Museum, London, announced its winners for 2016 and we guarantee you that these images will blow your mind.
Veteran actor Sadashiv Amrapurkar, who breathed his last this morning at Kokilaben hospital in Mumbai, will be remembered for his remarkable ability to make us both adore and abhor him with his on screen antics. Here's a look at his best performances.
The new Spider-Man film gets everything wrong except the girl, feels Raja Sen.
Lance Naik Mohan Nath Goswami met a hero's end battling Lashkar-e-Tayiba terrorists in the jungles of Kashmir. His valour earned him the nation's highest gallantry award in peacetime this Republic Day. Archana Masih/Rediff.com travelled to Lal Kuan, Haldwani, to find out who this hero was.
The key to every Daniel Day-Lewis performance was a big theme and a thousand details. And in the final phase of his acting career, says Sreehari Nair, America became his big theme, and the details... well, he just popped them out like waffles.
Here's your weekly digest of the most weird, true and funny news from the across the globe.
'Why does it exist in the film industry?' 'It is because we are culturally nepotistic.' 'The son always grows up to carry on the work of the father; that's where we come from.' 'So if you have to tackle nepotism in the film industry, you have to tackle it in our culture.'
Model Pia Trivedi tells Rediff.com's Tista Sengupta about the issues closest to her heart.
Each of its characters have an important lesson to offer in terms of how to build and lead a team, work on your shortcomings and look at the bigger picture.
Here are some of the best images of winners and finalists.
Haider will haunt you long after you've left the theatre, promises Sukanya Verma.
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