Bhupen Hazarika (1926-2011). North-East India loses a star
The legendary Bhupen Hazarika died of multiple organ failure in a Bombay hospital today. He was one of the few stars of North East India that the rest of the…Continue Reading →
Watch: Helen, Queen of the Nautch Girls (and a Lux ad)
A 1973 31-minute documentary from Merchant Ivory Productions, directed and narrated by Anthony Korner on Bollywood greatest ‘item girl’ ever.…
A beardless Kabir Bedi’s long affair with Wills cigarettes
Got the first glimpse of a beardless Kabir Bedi in a Marlboro Man avatar, thanks to Memsaab. And now here’s…
Zeenat Aman is the classic Indian dark-haired beauty in 1970 Air India ad
“Memories of dark-haired beauties,” is what a traveller to India will bring back, promises a 1970 advertisement for Air India. “Long after you leave India, India will still be with…Continue Reading →
Why Agneepath needed a remake
Some movies just need to be there, embedded in our memories. We shouldn’t attempt to refresh its memory by trying…
10 years since that summer of 2001: What 'Dil Chahta Hai' meant to me
(Dil Chahta Hai was released on August 10, 2001. This post was first published in 2011) Summer of 2001. Bhopal.…
Boom (2003): A treasure trove of celebrity childhood photos
कीचड़ में ही कमल खिलते हैं (Kichad mein hi kamal khilte hain) Out of the mud, the lovely lotus blooms Not too many would’ve seen Kaizad Gustad’s 2003 debacle, Boom,…Continue Reading →
To have beautiful hair like Waheeda Rehman, use Castaroma
A print advertisement from the 1950s for Castaroma hair oil endorsed by actress Waheeda Rehman.
Husn Bewafa – Lust of Beauty…
Pleasantly surprised to find these posters in the neighbourhood. Sex in mainstream cinema has hit this genre hard but they…
Femina Kamasutra Mehndi Cheat Sheet [NSFW]
Suhagraat. The legendary Indian tradition where the newly-weds are left alone in a room for the first time, to do what newly-weds are expected to do. The marriage, according to…Continue Reading →
Sunil and Rohan Gavaskar’s Brush with Forhan’s
Abhishek Bachchan delivered a string of 17 flops before his first hit and then gradually rose up the ladder to…
So Munni’s Zandu Balm wasn’t an in-film placement
Update: I think I need to eat my words. From what it now appears, to me, that it was indeed…
