'When I was staying in Teen Batti (in south Mumbai), I had one washroom and we were 10 people. Today I have three washrooms and I am the only one using all of them. Can you see the quantum leap that I have taken in life?' Jackie Shroff gets candid.
'People need to offer me exciting stuff. I am stuck in a rut. People keep exploiting what has worked for me in a film, so they offer me the same thing over and over again. I guess people need to see me for the person that I am, and give me youth-centric roles, make me act with actors who are closer to my age.' Prachi Desai believes she can do 'a lot more'!
On the actor's 54th birthday on November 2, we write another tome about the boy with big dreams and a regrettable haircut, who defied incredible odds to become one of the most loved actors on the planet.
The babas' vote banks and the politicians' greed for en bloc votes, is the curse of Punjab and Haryana.
The endorsement career of India's megastar Amitabh Bachchan displays his relevance in diametrically opposite roles and product categories.
'And Indians are loving it,' says Shekhar Gupta.
Theatre director, Joy Matthew has made a comeback to films after 26 years and he is busy like never before.
American Kristin Armstrong became the first cyclist to win the same road event at three different Olympic Games on Wednesday. Britain's surprise packet Joseph Clarke won the Canoe gold in the K-1 slalom course on Wednesday.
'I was nominated 13 times during my 15-week stay in Bigg Boss but they couldn't get me out. That is because I was truthful and entertained the audience with my good sense of humour,' Puneet Issar tells Rajul Hegde/ Rediff.com
What your favourite celebrities are saying on social media.
'Most likely scenario is Modi comes back with either a much smaller majority and no majority at all and a coalition.' 'Very hard to imagine him doing better than he did last time.' 'He will then be a weaker prime minister,' the author of The Billionaire Raj tells Rediff.com's Vaihayasi Pande Daniel.
The politician who has come a long way, from being a one-time vegetable vendor to one of the most powerful politicians in the state, is in big trouble today, says Neeta Kolhatkar.
Calculated or otherwise, if Azhagiri's firing of the first salvo after Karunanidhi's death does not create some space for him to politico-electorally exploit at a later date, there may not be any space left for him at all, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
Two successive Rajni flops could well mean that Tamil cinema might come to a grinding halt, affecting the careers of other big-ticket actors, banners and filmmakers, says N Sathiya Moorthy
'I used to be humiliated.' 'If I would approach an actor, he would just say hello and then turn away.' 'That's when I understood the whole game of the industry.'
'Soft power is the power really to win friends and influence people with the strength of your ideas.' 'India's greatest soft power is being India itself. A nation of varied beliefs, states, creeds, castes, languages and yet embodying that spirit of unity in diversity.'
Sukanya Verma shares her exciting filmi week with us.
'My parents once went to watch Rajkumar Kohli's Insaniyat Ke Dushman. In the film, I "rape" Anita Raaj. My father was very upset. My mother left the theatre. Years later, my father asked me to do a positive role with a heroine like Hema Malini. Unfortunately, I never got to do that. I played her brother-in-law in Satte Pe Satta. Now in Ramesh Sippy's Shimla Mirch, I am romancing her but my father is not alive to see it.' Shakti Kapoor, straight from the heart.
The initial misadventure of an individual AAP leader highlights how the party not only has to bone up on tactics but should also constantly look within to root out ingrained and inherited prejudices, says Subir Roy.
'Azhar has been very honest and has revealed a lot. Did he accept the (match-fixing) money? Did the match-fixing happen? Did he betray his team? We have tackled all that.' Director Tony D'Souza gets candid about his new film, Azhar.
'We have to find a way out of this confrontational politics.'
Why had the CBI decided to have Waghmare tell the court the tale surrounding this odd trip to Kolkata made for even odder reasons, close to a year-and-a-half after Sheena's murder? To show the kind of person Indrani was? And that the murder of her daughter was not a heat of the moment crime, given Indrani was capable of other odd, suspicious, premeditated acts like this?
'When Sultan released, I got greedy. I decided to make another film with Salman because he gets me a lot of box office.'
The fiasco over the former Delhi law minister's college degrees has damaged the reputation of the Aam Aadmi Party, says Nupur Sharma.
.jpg)
A country as diverse as India has some of the strangest rituals and traditions. From bizarre ways to cure illnesses to an unusual matrimony to please the rain gods...the things people do here must be seen to be believed.
Bollywood's blockbuster machine Salman Khan's presence is greeted with whistles and euphoria every time he appears on the silver screen.
'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.'
On the occasion of the first prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru's 125th birth anniversary, Sheela Bhatt/Rediff.com visits his residence of 16 years, and comes away marvelling at his enduring legacy.
'India stands on the broad shoulders of an extraordinary civilisation. In some ways it is quite surprising that it hasn't fully embraced the power of that.' 'The prime minister speaks about Make in India. Let's remind ourselves also of Made in India. What made India great. What are the great things of the past which will help us make India even greater.' 'India stands on the broad shoulders of an extraordinary civilisation. In some ways it is quite surprising that it hasn't fully embraced the power of that.'
'Asked which Dilip Kumar films were among her favourites, she said she had seen not a single movie of his until that time. This became a sensational issue. She did not mean to offend Dilip Kumar. There was not a bone of diplomacy in her and she never acquired that calculating attitude even at the cost of some of the roles that she would eventually lose.'
'Director Abhishek Chaubey didn't think I could be this girl. He didn't even think of coming to me. Shahid thought of coming to me and that's how everything happened. I feel if I don't take risks, I'll never know. I have to play around a little bit. I want to do a film like Udta Punjab as well as an out-and-out comedy.' Alia Bhatt is ready to fly high with Udta Punjab.
Narendra Modi was both conciliatory and mocking towards the Opposition, particularly Congress, during his hour long reply to the debate on the motion of thanks to the President's address in the Upper House.
'Unfortunately, in today's world, people feel it is luxury to eat pizza. I am not saying all pizzas are bad, I am not saying you shouldn't be eating it. But eating fast food constantly is the reason why everyone is getting these problems. The air is polluted, the water is probably polluted. You can't do much about that but we can check our food. Junk food has zero fiber and that creates havoc in your body. That's another reason why people get cancer.' Emraan Hashmi, in an enlightening interview.
'Not allowing people to speak or listen is the biggest act of anti-nationalism,' says Arvind Krishna Mehrotra, one of India's finest poets.
Pitching for larger opposition unity, six constituents of the erstwhile Janata Parivar on Monday shared dais at a mahadharna slamming the Bharatiya Janata Party's 'divisive' politics and accusing Prime Minister Narendra Modi of telling lies and not fulfilling poll promises on black money.
'I want to play a villain. There is something really exciting about villains. They have beautiful girls around them every time, lots of money and all the luxuries because of which I don't mind dying in the end.' Ranbir Kapoor speaks his mind.
The 16th Mumbai Film Festival had a delicious spread of movies.
'I started everything early; I was way ahead of everybody,' Ranveer Singh tells Sonil Dedhia.
