THE JITENDRA ARYA RETROSPECTIVE

“Photography begins with the marriage of two minds – the dreamers and the technicians.” Arya on photographing Nehru.

 I have not the...

How Bollywood And Its Marketers Lulled Indians Into Obsessing Over Talentless Star-Kids

Like a good section of Indians, I know all that is to be known about the Kapoor babies. Incessant media reports have, after all, kept us all abreast of the lives of several...

Screen To Stage

Sometimes all it takes is a dream. Feroz Abbas Khan wanted to do a play based on the K. Asif classic Mughal-e-Azam for years. Finally the universe conspired and the product...

VIDEO: Rare Clip of Raj Kapoor & Dilip Kumar Playing Cricket For Drought Relief in the 1960s

A rare video of Hindi film celebrities playing cricket has been going viral among both cricket and Bollywood fans. The black-and-white video, featuring celebrities like Raj...

Retroscope - A legacy of taste

Young couples who elope to marry, remember Romeo Juliet (the poor kids died)​ Raj Kapoor’s Bobby or the young lovers from a recent Marathi blockbuster Sairat that h...

Why India Needs Its Writers, Historians, Entertainers, Scientists

Since Pandit Nehru every prime minister has talked about films and music being India’s soft power. We all know of Raj Kapoor’s following in the Russia, east Eur...

Meena Kumari - A Legend

Meena Kumari’s rags to riches saga has a poignant edge to it. Dubbedthe greatest tragedienne of the Indian screen, her doomed personal life flashing with deep tragedy...

A Personal Tribute To Smita

That was sometime way back in the seventies. I still remember the two young women in our Tashkent film delegation who were fashionably late for meals, meetings; who giggled...

Pyaasa – Guru Dutt’s Cult Classic Becomes The Only Indian Restored Film For World Premiere At The 72nd Venice Film Festival In September 2015 In The Competition Section (E)

“Pyaasa” – A timeless masterpiece by Guru Dutt becomes the only Indian film restored by an Indian company for a world premiere in the competition section ...