Awam Ka Cinema Fest is a festival dedicate to revive Ayodhya’s lost secular tradition. Jointly operated by a Hindu and a Muslim, the film festival showcases cinema depicting patriotism and documentaries on untold stories of the region’s common man. The Fest celebrated its eighth edition recently.
Remembering the legend on his death anniversary. Although he died twenty years before I was born, his aura always pervaded our household with my father playing old ’78 records of his songs and then singing them on his harmonium. This could be largely attributed to belonging in the same family tree for my grandfather and K L Saigal were first cousins.
In many ways Raj Kapoor’s ‘Barsaat’ (1949) heralded the onset of spring for the Indian cinema. To millions of cinema-goers, Barsaat spelled romance. It glamorized a special brand of necking and hugging on the screen that came to be known as the caveman style of love-making. It popularized Nargis and Raj Kapoor as a star couple in a sweeping fashion.
Badlapur Boys (2014), directed by Shailesh Verma is about a Kabaddi team from a parched village and a remake of Tamil hit film Vennila Kabadi Kuzhuand. Hindi review by Tauheed Shahbaz.
Om Prakash (19 December 1919 – 21 February 1998) was the prima donna of the Hindi Screen character actors. Producers wrote movies based on him. Stars leaned heavily upon his generous measure of talent by insisting that producers sign him up whenever there happened to be a meaty key role in their projects.
If beauty is a necessary requisite of a work of art, then one can without hesitation choose ‘Jawab’ (1942) as the most beautiful film made by P. C. Barua. Nowhere in the entire body of Barua’s work can you find a film of a more exquisite quality.
On the occasion of Raj Kapoor’s birthday today (14 Dec), we profile cinematographer Radhu Karmakar, the man who photographed all his films starting with Awaara in 1951. An indispensable cog in the RK Films wheel, he was the man responsible for the distinct look of these films.
Debaki Bose, one of the premier directors of New Theatres, Calcutta was a practitioner of what was fondly termed as true Indian cinema. And the finest specimen of this is New Theatres’ ‘Vidyapati,’ (1937) which Debaki Bose directed in addition to writing the screenplay and dialogue.
Celebrating Sar Rajnikanth’s 64th birthday today – 12 Dec. For all he had to start off with were empty pockets, the desire to be like Raj Kumar and the perpetual nagging of the neighborhood that he was ‘a rascal, and a write off from any decent sort of society.’
Today the incomparable Dilip Kumar (Born 11 Dec 1922) completes 92 years. At 22, he made his debut in ‘Jwar Bhata’ in 1944 and by the time he was 26, a whole generation had become mad about him. Sometime in winter of 1977, I had a proper introduction to Dilip Kumar. I was ten.