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 [...]

It was with the Tamil film Vaaranam Aayiram (2008), which I saw in April sometime last year, that I discovered Suriya. Actually, three years before that I had seen a song, Ennai Konjam Matre, which I was told was from a film called Kaakha Kaakha (2003) and that the actors were Suriya and Jyothika. [...]

No one was happier than me when the Munna Bhai films succeeded so well. For one, they are both great films, thoroughly enjoyable and ample proof that you can make good and sensible films within the mainstream Hindi film format. A bigger reason for me to smile was that the main crew was all FTII [...]

Let’s start with the obvious. India is easily the largest Film ‘Industry’ the world over or what one could call the largest Institution of the Imaginary. And yet even though we release films by the hundreds every year, there are many, many more that fail to make it to the finish line.
A film has [...]

Yesterday (November 28, 2009), I came across a rather disturbing piece of news on the net. Veteran actress from the South, Manorama, who has done all types of roles and regaled audiences in over 1500 films and is still active even today, is unconscious in the ICU of a hospital in Chennai following a surgery [...]

I was discussing the woeful quality of current Hindi cinema with my filmmaking colleague and fellow Upperstall blogger, Batul, when the conversation shifted to Wake Up Sid (WUS) and Ajab Prem ki Ghazab Kahani (APKGK). Even as we spoke about Ranbir Kapoor in glowing terms and were pretty sure that Hindi cinema had found its [...]

October 2, 1959 saw the release of Guru Dutt’s Kaagaz ke Phool. The film was a total washout at the box-office and what’s more, received some scathing reviews in its time. Hailed as a masterpiece today, it is also remembered for being India’s first feature film to be shot on CinemaScope and released 50 years [...]

The golden-hearted hero forced to crime probably due to a sick, coughing mother or sister, the goody-two shoes, virginal heroine waiting patiently for her man to come back to her, the femme fatale or the club dancer, who falls for the hero and takes a bullet meant for him, the club owner or the villainous [...]

Watching a film at Fame Thakur Movies the other day when the slide asking one to guess Sanjeev Kumar’s real name was displayed on screen. Overheard two youngsters behind me in response,
Youngster 1: Yeh, Sanjeev Kumar kaun hai? (Who is this Sanjeev Kumar)
Youngster 2: Yaar, shayad us film mein Thakur tha…(Maybe he played the Thakur [...]

“You’re meeting all these actors and actresses of yesteryear. Have you met Sheila Vaz?” an old school friend, Eddie (Edward Anthony) asked me. I had to say no but my mind was already ticking and images of Ramaiya Vastavaiya, Leke Pehla Pehla Pyar, and Thandi Thandi Hawa were flickering before my eyes. Yes, Sheila Vaz [...]