Today is the 43rd death anniversary of one of the most iconic stars of Hindi cinema. The Tragedy Queen, as she was dubbed, thanks to the number of weepy roles that she played, Meena Kumari is one of the best-known actresses of her generations till date. She starred in approximately ninety films in a career … More My favourite Meena Kumari songs
There was a Hindi movie made in 1990 called Gunahon ka Devta. Starring Mithun Chakraborty and Sangeeta Bijlani, it was a typical late 80s B-grade action movie – about an honest police inspector getting falsely implicated for a crime he never committed and his son taking revenge and bashing up the baddie. For a long time, I was under the … More Gunahon Ka Devta by Dharamvir Bharati (Chander and Sudha, transl. by Poonam Saxena)
Last month, at the Book Fair, I came across a book that refreshed many memories. I studied English literature, back in those days when English literature meant British literature only. So studying Indian literature in English or any other language was out of question. But there were many professors who would try to educate us, and … More Durgeshnandini – Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyaya (Transl. Arunava Sinha)
On March 3, 2015, the legendary music director who is surprisingly not that well-known, Ravi, would have turned 89. And March 7, 2015 marked his third death anniversary. Surprising because so many of his songs are popular to this date – used in jingles, remixes and what not. For example – Ae meri zohra jabeen or Baar Baar Dekho. … More My favourite Sahir Ludhianvi – Ravi songs
This was not a movie I had planned to watch or review any time soon. There were other planned posts for this blog (besides my work and day-to-day chores.) But then, when do things go as planned? Some days back, I woke up with no voice at all. Yes there had been a niggling throat … More The Shop Around the Corner (1940)
I was planning to review two movies starring Nutan- both previously watched and liked. One was Dilli Ka Thug and the other movie was to have been Paying Guest – a movie I love because of the Dev Anand- Nutan pairing and the music. But there was a change in plan after I came across this … More Baarish (1957)
I remember 21st Feb, 1991 quite vividly. My siblings and I had just gotten back from school. Over lunch, my mother mentioned that the actress Nutan had died earlier in the day. She was one of my dad’s favourites. We had heard him go on and on about her and Waheeda Rehman – about how the … More Dilli Ka Thug (1958)
I do not make new year resolutions. However one ‘resolution’ I made this year, if it can be called that, is to read as much Indian writing in regional languages as possible. So, am attacking my pile of books quite religiously to find such gems and read them. An unintended (but not entirely unwanted) consequence of this renewed vigour … More Tithidore or When The Time is Right – Buddhadeva Bose (translated by Arunava Sinha)
When I was growing up, I remember my grandmother often commenting that girls should not be too beautiful. She firmly believed that beautiful women had the toughest and saddest of lives. It did not make much sense to me back then but was reminded of it today when I sat to write this post. One of the most … More My favourite songs of Madhubala
I have a thing for whodunits – both books and movies. When I first found out about this 1957 movie (thanks to its lovely songs), I was a little hesitant to watch it. For one, it has a lesser-known cast and was not very popular. So I was not too sure about whether I wanted to watch it or … More Apradhi Kaun (1957)
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