Et tu, Dadamoni? How Ashok Kumar fell from grace in Suraiya’s eyes
There are a lot of distractions while reading eBooks on the phone and Twitter is one. As I was swiping…
Why Govind Nihalani had to be given police protection
Govind Nihalani faced threats from Hindu right-wing groups for making ‘Tamas’ (1987) and had to be given police protection.
At Rs 100/issue buy e-versions of Filmfare magazine from 60 years ago
Update: Filmfare seems to have removed its magazines from sale on Magzter. As regular readers of this blog (if there are any) would know, I have a thing for vintage…Continue Reading →
Ad from 1982: Pan Parag with Jalal Agha and Kalpana Iyer (and why I can’t ever forget Jalal’s name)
It has happened to the best of quizzards and I was far from being anywhere close to the best. The…
Download for free: 40 HarperCollins India ebooks on Google Play
Disclosure: I am an ebook evangelist. Update 2: As expected, Google and HarperCollins India seems to have been alerted of…
Kishore Kumar: Childhood and first wedding photos
Who is the greatest playback singer of Hindi cinema? The debate was raging from much before I was born (and is still on) and as soon as I could comprehend…Continue Reading →
Bhaag Milkha Bhaag: The actual newspaper headlines in September 1960 were quite different
Indians would have surely been disappointed by Milkha Singh’s legendary defeat in the 400 metres final at the 1960 Rome…
100 Years of Indian Cinema: India Post’s 50 commemorative stamps
[This post is part of the 100 Years of Indian Cinema celebrations on Cutting the Chai] In May this year…
Pran (1920-2013) – a hero of a villain: Unofficial Google doodle
The obits call him Bollywood’s most feared villain. Not for me. To me Pran Saheb was the most hero-like of all the villains of Hindi cinema. By hero-like I don’t…Continue Reading →
Illustrated Weekly cover: Varadarajan ‘Nayagan’ Mudaliar, the ‘most feared man in Bombay’
The Bombay underworld, is full of stories fit to be made into movies and they have been – lots of…
Chamko – Fixes all spots
A topical in context of the ongoing IPL spot fixing brouhaha. This is from one of the most fondly remembered…