'In school, I would get very upset when guys called me 'moti.' I would feel bad and pick up fights. But once I started working, I got mentally prepared for it because my weight was my bread and butter.' Going back in time with Guddi Maruti.
'I got Rs 300 for a dubbing job, and I was so happy with that money because it was my first income in Mumbai!' Laal Rang heroine Pia Bajpai shares her story.
'When I started off the process for Kaabil, we were making the character sympathetic as he is blind.' 'Just looking at him and his environment, you would say, 'Arrey bechara'.' 'But meeting blind people, I realised there is no essence of helplessness in them.'
'What you saw in Gangs Of Wasseypur is only two percent of what really happens. Murder and other crimes are a daily affair even today. There is no value for life. People can shoot someone for Rs two! Once, I was talking to a person. I turned around to ask for tea, and when I looked at him again, someone had shot him dead.' Meeruthiya Gangsters director Zeishan Quadri talks tough.
'I belonged to the working class, not the middle class.' 'I was a rag-picker. I used to pick up coal from the railway tracks.' 'I was rejected from the FTII, as I was very unkempt and skinny.' 'I did not look like a hero, villain or comedian.' 'But Girish Karnad and Jairaj said I should be taken based on merit, not looks.'
'I have been offered the main lead many times now, including romantic and action hero roles. But they're not interesting. I want to do films like Aandhi, Angoor, Ram Aur Shyam, Mela, Deewar, Zanjeer and Sholay but I don't have a plan.' Mohammed Zeeshan Ayyub gets ready for the next level.
Filmmaker Shyam Benegal, who as FTII chairman was himself gheraoed by students, gives us his point of view on the crisis facing India's premier film school.
Sobhita Dhulipala makes her debut with Raman Raghav 2.0.
'Cocktail allowed me to make Finding Fanny.' Homi Adajania gets candid.
'Mardaani has become a kind of movement. It is beyond being a film.' Rani Mukerji loves the response to her latest film.
'Hrithik is 10 years junior to Shah Rukh, so I know there will be an impact on the box office. Star power matters, they bring in the crowds. But that is only until Sunday. From Monday, the star doesn't work, the film does.' Director Sanjay Gupta talks Kaabil.
Vin Diesel can't get enough of Deepika Padukone!
'I have been a part of more than a dozen films as a cinematographer but this was the smoothest shoot of my life. There was not a single day, when I wondered how a particular shoot would be done.' Meet Running Shaadi director Amit Roy.
'I looked at the smiles around and realised that each day that I smiled was amazing.' 'So I put into play something that I have been toying with for years.' 'I called it the Rich Universe.' 'You often hear people say "I wish I become a superstar and my life gets made".' 'I wondered how it would be if I said if I hug my father, it would be an amazing day, or if I hugged my mother and said how lucky I am.'
'When you are half decent looking, you want to look like yourself, especially in your first project. But it was important to do justice to the role, especially when it is such a big project. I don't want to play the lead and look like a hero. I am open to do character roles, what is the harm in it?' Dangal actor Aparshakti Khurrana looks ahead in life.
'We still look at films with A-listers.' 'There is change, but it's minor.' 'We still haven't learnt how to invest in stories.'
'The other day, someone told me they saw Sarbjit again and it still haunts them.' 'They said I made Aishwarya do what she's never done before.'
'I have been tagged the next superstar for a long time, but I have not reached that stage.' 'So it's very important to accept your failures, not be in denial.' 'Those films happened because I chose them.' 'Nobody put a gun to my head and asked me to sign them.'
'I may sound snobbish but I am genuinely tired of responding and saying thank you on Facebook, on Twitter, on phone calls. People are calling from everywhere. There is all this excitement and different groups are throwing parties. I have to attend them or else they will think I am snooty.' Meet Masaan director Neeraj Ghaywan.
'Rishi Kapoor and I come from two different schools of filmmaking. I like to approach scenes in a certain way, and take multiple takes. Rishi sir comes from a school where things were much simpler. I think that's where the friction comes in.' But in the end, Kapoor & Sons director Shakun Batra is still smiling!
'After being a housewife for 13 years and a mother of three, I was put on stage with Shah Rukh Khan! I was trembling on stage and did not know what to do. From singing bhajans with Anup Jalota, I was doing hip-hop and item songs!' Baby Doll singer Kanika Kapoor tells us her inspirational story.
'The Ek Do Teen song was shot for many days.' 'Listening to it so many times during the shoot, we knew it would be a big hit.' 'When Tezaab was released, Madhuri had gone to the US for a holiday.' 'When she returned to Mumbai, there was a large crowd waiting for her at the airport, calling out 'Mohini, Mohini,' her character from Tezaab.' 'That day Madhuri had arrived in the real sense.'
Saif Ali Khan shares his dilemmas as an eager-to-experiment star actor and his kids' probable foray in Bollywood.
'People don't talk about any role that my father did -- it is always Gabbar Singh. He regretted this. He would tell me, 'I started at 25 floors and couldn't go any higher because I had started too high.'
'Aditya Chopra says the only time Shah Rukh acts is when he laughs' 'I never realised this, but when I see him, I realise that he has never laughed.' 'So I asked him why doesn't he laugh.' 'He said he didn't know, that he never thought about it.'
'I barely manage to be in front of the camera and act.' Amitabh Bachchan gets shockingly modest.
'People say my father was scared of Kishore Kumar. That is untrue. There are so many songs that my father told the composers to let some other singer sing because they too are good.'
Advait Chandan decodes Aamir Khan.
'It's very tough for someone, who doesn't have a filmi background, to get work in Bollywood. It's not a smooth ride unless you are really lucky. But I think one has to be prepared for that. I must have given 30 auditions for films alone.' Rajkummar Rao survived the struggle to give us some brilliant films.
'My mother has one complaint -- I die in all of my films. She has told me to stop dying now.'
'I had seen Waqt, starring Balraj Sahniji, and I can never forget it. There is a happy family and an earthquake later, everything is gone. That movie got stuck in my head. How one man loses his entire family and becomes a pauper. The same thing happens in Airlift.' Akshay Kumar, and his lovely leading lady Nimrat Kaur discuss their latest film.
'I am 29. I have a long way to go.' Arjun Kapoor claims he's not insecure in Bollywood.
Neeraj Pandey, who has written and directed the films A Wednesday and Special 26, has written a novel called Ghalib Danger.
'After Lagaan, Aamir would sit up the whole night and drink an entire bottle of Bacardi.'
'The 17-year-old boy, who pulled out Nirbhaya's intestines, should have got the harshest punishment because he was not human at the time.' 'Instead, he was given a sewing machine and some money to have a new beginning!' 'Are we giving out incentives?' 'Are we telling our unemployed youth that if they do something like this, the government will give them jobs?'
'The beauty of my job is that no matter how much well I do it, people will say this guy is insensitive, romancing Sonam, dancing with Jacqueline, going to Poland to shoot a film, when he has a hunting case and an accident case against him. He's enjoying himself; he's earning Rs 600 crore but people don't know how much I have. All my good work goes against me.' Salman Khan gets candid.
'Masaan is history for me. This is another journey with Raman Raghav 2.0. You have to clean your slate after every film, and not let its success or failure affect you.' Vicky Kaushal moves on, with Raman Raghav 2.0.
'We have won our political freedom, we have liberalised our economy and now it's time to liberate our minds also. That is why this film.' Director Ketan Mehta lists his reasons for making Rang Rasiya.
The new kid on the block, Sooraj Pancholi, speaks about his debut film, Hero and the importance of Salman Khan in his life.
© 2026 Rediff.com - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances