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

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 […]

My favourite songs sung by Mukesh

I have never been much of a Mukesh fan. I found him a bit limited in his range and technical mastery, when compared to my favourites Rafi and Manna Dey. And most of his songs sounded morose – not particularly endearing to my younger self. And in particular he was the voice of an actor I […]

My favourite ‘car’ songs

I spend a couple of hours in a car daily as I commute from Gurgaon to my work place in New Delhi. Last week, as I was on my way, I started thinking about how so many songs have been picturised in modes of transport – cars, cycles, jeeps, boats, trucks, lorries, trains, bullock carts, horse carts […]

My favourite songs with the word ‘Badal/ Badra’

A couple of mornings back, the skies of Delhi were overcast with dark, grey clouds. Coupled with cool winds, a light drizzle and very pleasant weather, the monsoons were here, a day earlier than expected. Now that was then! Since then all is well with the world. Delhi is back the way it is meant to be – swelteringly and […]

My favourite Meena Kumari songs

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 […]

A Tribute to Mohd Rafi – Part 1

Today (24th December 2014) will mark the 90th birth anniversary of one of Hindi cinema’s finest singers and my personal favourite, Mohd Rafi. When I planned to make a list of my favourite Rafi numbers as a tribute, it struck me that I would just not be able to come up with a list of 10 […]

Remembering Sanjeev Kumar

(Yes this post is a day early – but I am a bit tied up tomorrow and hence this post now.) November 6, 2014 will mark the 29th death anniversary of one of Indian cinema’s finest actors – one of my personal favourites – the talented, versatile and charming Sanjeev Kumar. (Check him out in his early […]

Thoughtsofacrazywoman

Ramble on and on...blah blah blah

Sai Scribbles

From the Author of Abhaya

Evergreen Indian film music

Great film music and great music directors

Delightful Children's Books

Find a book to delight a child.

Novel approaches

From academic history to historical fiction virtual conference

Vintage Indian Clothing

A Brief History of the saree blouse and Indian fashion before 1960 with an occasional excursion after. All images are credited but if they are here by accident please do let me know and I will take it down. All posts also on vintageindianclothing.tumblr.com

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by arunava sinha [arunava@gmail.com]