'Shekhar Suman joining the BJP when the nation is going to the polls is like gatecrashing into a wedding just when the guests are being served their meal.'
It was a hit and miss for some but each one of them revelled in the opportunity to showcase their talent.
'Over a span of three years, our entire studio was devoted to Heeramandi.'
Sukanya Verma celebrates Hrithik Roshan's silver work anniversary with a playlist of 25 of his chartbusters.
Sanjay Leela Bhansali will direct the first episode of Netflix's Heera Mandi.
Alia, we hear, has no more than 15 minutes of playing time in RRR.
Continuing our Navratri colour trail, Sukanya Verma lists nine royal blue impressions that Bollywood left on screen.
'I need to disconnect from the stress, smell the roses, chase the butterflies...'
As Heeramandi, set in 1920s Lahore, drops on Netflix on May 1, Sukanya Verma marvels at Bhansali's magnificent slices of history in 25 resplendent frames.
'Diljit and Prabhas are so similar -- very humble, down-to-earth, extremely shy introverts and at the same time, extremely talented guys.'
Bollywood doesn't need fire-breathing dragons when it has Bhai.
She wept when the director took 101 takes to shoot a song for Heeramandi.
'I suppose all the excitement of the past few weeks caught up with me.'
Bollywood has a history of making heads turn -- theirs and everybody else's -- in shiny hair accessory.
Sanjay Leela Bhansali's niece Sharmin Segal wed Aman Mehta, and quite a few film folk were spotted at her wedding reception held over the weekend.
Aishwarya was dressed in an outfit completely out of her comfort zone from Sophie Couture's collection.
The year was rich in content as far as Web series were concerned.
'Heeramandi is not for audiences of the Pakeezah/Umrao Jaan era. SLB has designed it as attuned to today's youngsters.'
'Why go to the trouble to build elaborate sets when it could all be done in front of a green screen?'' 'Nitin lost out on a lot of good work; film-makers no longer needed his lavish studio in Karjat as much as they did earlier.'
Dazzling, dancing and decked to the hilt, courtesans in Hindi films are a breathtaking mix of shiny fantasy and flirtatious poetry to behold.
Subhash K Jha gives us the lowdown on what's going on in showbiz.
It's an emotional time for Manisha Koirala, as she stars in Sanjay Leela Bhansali's Web series Heeramandi: The Diamond Bazaar.
Both Khera and Suman joined the saffron at its headquarters in Delhi in the presence of senior leaders, including BJP national general secretary Vinod Tawde and national media department in-charge Anil Baluni.
Holidays turn into horror, Bhansali brand of razzmatazz and tons more on OTT this week.
'Before every scene, Sanjay Leela Bhansali would play two or three songs over and over again, especially when Sharmin and I would shoot, because it invoked his emotion. One of the songs was from The Last Samurai. Everything is in rhythm for him. If he doesn't have that rhythm in place, then something is off.'
Alia Bhatt won hearts when she wore her wedding sari at the 69th National Film Awards at the Vigyan Bhawan in Delhi. The ivory embroidered drape was designed by Sabyasachi Mukherjee.
'It was Ranbir's idea to take a paternity break. He is a very excited father-to-be.'
Film stars are beloved in our cinema-obsessed country. Stars are not only watched and worshipped on screen but also talked about with much fondness.
Alia meets Bhansali... Tara promotes Ek Villain Returns... Urvashi glams up...
'The government wants to ban surrogacy and take away women's fundamental right to do what she wants with her body.'
May offers a mix of original Web series and digital movie premieres on OTT.
Alia's white sari with fringes was designed by Rimple and Harpreet Narula.
On Alia's 31st birthday on March 15, Subhash K Jha looks at her best films.
'How much will our film industry succumb to these tactics from outfits who have made protests against Hindi films a thriving cottage industry?'
On her 50th birthday on November 1, Sukanya Verma raises a toast to Bollywood's Golden Girl and 15 of her noteworthy performances.
Heeramandi, a passion project that took off after years in development and planning, mirrors Sanjay Leela Bhansali's film-making's finest and frustrating features, observes Sukanya Verma.
'You can see the influence of Charulata in the way I've projected Aishwarya in Devdas.'
'It used to be a big problem to make people understand that one can be equally passionate about dancing as well as acting, and you don't need to choose one to be good at something. Bagging the kind of roles I wanted to do was a struggle.'
