In Lawrence School , Lovedale where I studied, unlike most other public schools, we had hymns of all sorts in various languages to be sung at assembly - English, Hindi, Bengali (with its share of Rabindra Sangeet) and yes, even one in Tamil. Many of my Bengali friends are most impressed when they find out [...]

While meeting the older generation of film people has been absolutely brilliant and truly enlightening, meeting Shyama was heartbreaking. It was sad to see the actress of yesteryear leading a totally isolated and lonely life today. Especially when you consider that at her peak, she was easily the busiest of all actresses in [...]

Meeting the older generation of film people is altogether a different experience.  I have vivid memories of my meetings with Kamini Kaushal, Dev Anand, Waheeda Rehman, Shammi Kapoor, Shyama, Shakila, Tanuja, Kum Kum, VK Murthy, Abrar Alvi, Ravi and others for a project that fellow filmmaking colleagues and close friends Shivendra Singh (Shivi), Arwa Mamaji and I [...]

More gems from Filmindia and the one and only Baburao Patel…
Jugnu (1947)
In short, Jugnu is a dirty, disgusting and vulgar picture that no decent exhibitor with any pride for his profession or any self respect should exhibit in his theatre.
Jeevan Yatra (1947)
Jeevan Yatra is a crude and loud picture and the characters do not get any [...]

“Are you the same Karan Bali who is Sita’s brother?” a female colleague asked me about a year and a half ago. “Yes”, I answered. “Why?” Prompt came the reply, “My mum was friends with your sister.” Till then I had given no thought to the fact that she was 27 and me 39. As [...]

I think easily the best thing to come out of being content-in-charge of Upperstall has been my exposure to Indian cinema for the sake of the site. 
From the studio films of the 1930s and 1940s to the golden age of the 1950s and 60s (easily my favourite era) to the Indian New wave to [...]

So Slumdog Millionaire has done it with 8 Academy Awards in the bag including 3 winners from India – AR Rahman, Gulzar and Resul Pookutty. No doubt, there is much jubilation for the winners and hats off to them for their great victory. And of course the media and the entire country have already gone [...]

I must have been about 10 and was at boarding school at Lawrence School, Lovedale. One of the highlights of boarding school life for me was when films were screened occasionally for us students. I would sit totally focussed on the events unfolding on the screen, happily ignoring the inconvenience of reel changes on the [...]

As part of the features section on Upperstall, I have been trying to start a series on Ten Best or ‘Dus Numbri’ on various aspects of Indian cinema for quite some time. To get it off the ground, I hounded various colleagues better qualified than me to contribute - amongst others fellow Upperstall blogger and [...]

There are certain moments in films that get to you, touch you deeply and yes, make you cry. What’s more, these scenes continue to have a deep impact on you and move you to tears every subsequent time you see them. These are some unforgettable cathartic moments for me where the tears have flowed unabashedly, [...]