There was something mystical about Mehjabeen Bano, which told you many tales at once of her tragedy and yet, it seems she still refuses to reveal her real self. She eludes everyone like an enigma and yet engages you with her nuanced performances. There isn't much known, even today, about Meena Kumari, except for many... Continue Reading →

In the late 1940s, Prakash Pictures was not at the prime of its glory. Things had changed for the company which was going places with releases like Bharat Milap and Ram Rajya in the mid 1940s. It was then that Vijay Bhatt decided to go ahead with the story written by Ramchandra Thakur on the... Continue Reading →

In 2005, Pradeep Sarkar showcased Calcutta of the 1960s, a city at the peak of its glory, with its night clubs, Durga puja, Rabindra sangeet and bhadralok in Parineeta. In Sujoy Ghosh’s Kahaani, the city assumes new hues of fear, crime and frustration, while retaining the soul of the city of joy. Sujoy tells the... Continue Reading →

It was over the last weekend that I happened to interview Shekhar Ravjiani, who along with Vishal Dadlani had come to Chennai to perform at IIT's fest Sarang. Though they shot to fame with Jhankar Beats in 2003, people first noticed them with the song Allah ke bande, sung by Kailash Kher. That was a... Continue Reading →