Superheroes, Holi, apples and other happenings from Sukanya Verma's super filmi week!
Saluting the late MS Viswanathan and his brilliant music.
"For years I had been the cynosure of all eyes in my residential complex -- 'the lady with the full-time maid!'"
'Top actors came to me while Kabali was being shot, to ask me to cast them in at least one scene with Thalaivar -- even if it required them to clean a table on the side while Thalaivar is in the shot.' Kabali producer Kalaipuli S Thanu tries to explain the Rajinikanth phenomenon.
'It was very scary to attempt this role (in Udta Punjab), when I have no way of understanding what it is like to be on a high. I wondered whether I would make a fool of myself or whether I would be able to push my boundaries.' Shahid Kapoor comes clean.
'I felt Meri Pyaari Bindu was my life story.' 'I have songs for everything -- I have songs attached to people, relationships, family, friends or some song that I have sung at a picnic...' 'If you think of your life, there's always a song attached somewhere.'
'If I have become a star with limited talent, I think of myself in these 25 years. I need to believe that people have given me so much, they expect some of it back.' Shah Rukh Khan gets reflective.
'My friends were so embarrassed (about rumours of trouble in her marriage). I think some of them were having a party and they were scared to call Raj (Kundra) and me. I kept quiet but suddenly I saw it snowballing. So I called up my PR and said, what's happening, you have to stop this!' Shilpa Shetty gets candid.
'Maharawal Ratan Singh's situation in Padmaavat is very similar to Shahid's situation in Padmaavat, as an actor. I was pitted against very high odds, in a very unlikely situation and I had to somehow come out with flying colours.'
'Maybe what the lady in Sex and the City said was right-- that maybe our girlfriends are indeed our soulmates and guys are just people to have fun with.'
'Films don't bring about change in society. People may watch a film, and want to live life like the actors on screen, or want to wear the same outfits or live in the same house... Films can affect a person's mind for an hour but after that, they will think about something else.' R Balki prepares us for his new film, Ki & Ka.
Govinda returns with Aa Gaya Hero.
Kay Kay Menon gets candid about the film industry.
In comments that are likely to create a political storm over the next few days, former Research and Analysis Wing chief A S Dulat has reveled that former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee had expressed his discontent over the 2002 Gujarat riots and called it "our mistake".
Sukanya Verma shares her exciting filmi week with us.
'Films will come and go, some will do really well and some will be okay, you have to learn from that and move on. But rest assured, you know one thing: they (audiences) love you, and that's the most important thing. And you love them back, probably twice as much.' Jimmy Sheirgill gets candid.
'I was hesitant initially because I thought Amrish Puri's role was bigger than mine. But when I shot for the film, I realised Adi's casting was so good that no character could be replaced.' Anupam Kher goes back in time.
Despite four screenplay writers and Salman Khan's best efforts, Kick fails to impress, says Sukanya Verma.
'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.
Finding Fanny strikes gold, raves Raja Sen.
Yami: You didn't know about this talent of mine of hiding food in my clothes? In the song Mujhko Barsaat Bana Lo, I hid a bread pakoda in my black sari. Pulkit: We had a shot, where my head was in her lap. Suddenly, just before the director said 'Action', the bread pakoda fell in my face! Yami Gautam and Pulkit Samrat, in a FUN conversation.
Indrani is clearly in charge in her little corner. She is speaking rapidly to a not-very-tall, pot-bellied, balding man, whom she repeatedly, decisively, asks, "Have you understood?" The tone is that of a boss talking to an employee. The words "cheque" and "two lakhs" float by.
'In 2015 I watched films in so many places. I attended several film festivals around the world -- Berlin, Tribeca (New York), Telluride, Toronto, Zurich, Mumbai, Dharamsala and Goa,' says Aseem Chhabra, author of a forthcoming book on Shashi Kapoor.
Salman Khan, star of this year's Eid release Bajrangi Bhaijaan, talks about his journey from supporting actor to superstar.
What happens when two twenty-something Delhi boys become crorepatis overnight?
Farhan Akhtar's Bhaag Milkha Bhaag does not offer anything new
'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.
'It's a joy working there.' 'It's good work and when you come back it gives you pleasure.' 'On returning you take a shower and look at the day and say, "Ah! Nice scenes we did!"' 'Here sometimes you are doing nothing in the day, but you are there for the shoot.' 'You come home and it can be very frustrating, with that frustration the tiredness does not go, you know.' 'Good work gives you that strength and kick.'
'After Lagaan, Aamir would sit up the whole night and drink an entire bottle of Bacardi.'
'People say Aamir Khan cries on Satyamev Jayate and it's fake. But that is not true. Whenever I have narrated a script to him, he has cried often. If I narrated the same script five times, he cried five times at the same point.' Director Rajkumar Hirani speaks to Patcy N/ Rediff.com
How many of these have aged well?
'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.
Rafisaab's memory is as alive as ever in his devoted fans' minds.
Rahul Bhattacharya recounts the anxiety of being in the labour room and the joy that follows.
Raj Babbar remembers wife Smita Patil on her 20th death anniversary.
'In Assam we have lost 2,358 sq km to erosion by the Brahmaputra river! Do you know how much area is 2,358 sq km is? This is four times the size of Bombay. But who is concerned?' 'Didn't the BJP say that as soon as we come to power the Bangladeshis will have to pack their bags? Go to Google and search for 'Modi + Bangladeshi' and see exactly the statement he made... I am asking what has happened to it.'
'I am a human being, I was surely nervous, I am competing against a lot of people, but even when I played cricket there is not a single match where I was not nervous.' 'Lots of mothers, lots of sisters are so sure that no matter what happens, Sree will stand by them.' 'I will go to any length to help people.' 'If it is important to save somebody I will save him even if I have to die.'
'We were firing at Patton tanks that were moving towards India.' 'Fighter aircraft are the biggest menace for tanks because they come at great speed, attack from a height and their rockets are lethal.' 'The Hunter travels at 400, 420 knots. One knot is 1.6 times a km, so it was at a speed of 700, 800 km/hr.' 'You come at great speed and when you see the tanks, you pull up because attacks are always done in a dive.' 'You go up to 3,000 to 4,000 feet and then dive on to the target and let off your rockets...'