Book Review – Kanan Devi – The First Superstar of Indian Cinema by Mekhala Sengupta

April 23, 2018

I came across this book sometime last year when I was trying to educate myself on the early days of Indian cinema. Since my interest in Indian cinema is in movies from 1950s and onwards, when it comes to the two preceding decades, barring certain iconic names such as K.L. Saigal, Pankaj Mullick, Devika Rani, … More Book Review – Kanan Devi – The First Superstar of Indian Cinema by Mekhala Sengupta

Ziddi (1964)

April 14, 2018

I have been meaning to restart this blog for a while – the hiatus, as before, was entirely unplanned – as work and other real-life matters took up much precedence. Many unfinished drafts later, finally back here with a movie review.  Why this movie? I read Asha Parekh’s autobiography, The Hit Girl some months back … More Ziddi (1964)

Happy Deepavali

October 18, 2017

As a South Indian who grew up in Delhi, Deepavali celebrations at home have always been an amalgam of both the traditions – South and North.. In South India, the festival is celebrated a day earlier and the legend behind it is a story from the Mahabharata (and not the Ramayana) – one in which … More Happy Deepavali

Book Review: The one and lonely Kidar Sharma – An anecdotal autobiography

October 11, 2017

The one and lonely Kidar Sharma: an anecdotal autobiography resurfaced among a pile of read, unread books in one of my bookshelves during a massive book-sorting exercise recently. As I saw the title, it struck me that despite having picked it up ages back, it had not been read. Worse, still, it had been completely … More Book Review: The one and lonely Kidar Sharma – An anecdotal autobiography

My favourite songs picturised on Shakila (Jan 1, 1935- Sep 20, 2017) – in memoriam

October 4, 2017

While I had been meaning to revive this blog – as the rather long hiatus was unplanned – my efforts at actually doing so were rather half-hearted and excuses plenty. A sweet and touching message from Madhu yesterday was the push that I needed. Thank you, Madhu. Considering this is my first post in more … More My favourite songs picturised on Shakila (Jan 1, 1935- Sep 20, 2017) – in memoriam

Asha sings for Ravi

August 31, 2016

This blog has been dormant now for 8 months: real life and sheer laziness  had come in the way and I kept putting off updating it. Rains in my city, which forced me to stay home from work today proved to be the catalyst. I decided to post something – just anything at all. So that this becomes … More Asha sings for Ravi

Sangtye Aika (You ask, I tell: An autobiography) by Hansa Wadkar transl. by Jasbir Jain and Shobha Shinde

October 8, 2015

In the late 80’s or early 90’s,  Doordarshan telecast a fantastic series titled ‘Portrait of the Director‘. It featured six documentaries on six acclaimed directors of Hindi Cinema. It was in the episode on Shyam Benegal, that I first heard about this book. His acclaimed 1977 film, Bhumika, starring Smita Patil in the award winning title role, … More Sangtye Aika (You ask, I tell: An autobiography) by Hansa Wadkar transl. by Jasbir Jain and Shobha Shinde