He’s 90 now and easily the greatest villain that Hindi cinema has even seen. Such was his impact as the baddie that a survey among Indian schools in the 1970s showed there were no children named Pran! One has been totally taken in by his performances in several films – Afsana (1951), Bahar (1951), Halaku [...]

Reading recent pieces, and Karan Johar’s comments about the importance of publicists and stylists in Bollywood, you are reminded of the time, not so long ago, when the relationship between stars and the media was not so complicated.

Stars used to have a secretary, who was an all-rounder, doing everything from negotiating contracts to fixing appointments [...]