An Actor’s Actor-Sanjeev Kumar: The Authorised Biography of Sanjeev Kumar A riveting black and white picture of the late actor, in mid-close, looking a little to his right, greets you on the cover of this eminently readable biography of the actor, who, arguably, was an actor’s actor. And so, the authors, Mumbai-based Hanif Zaveri and Delhi-based Sumant Batra, are not exaggerating when they give him that exalted title. As far as the ‘authorised’ bit is concerned, the du...

Har Kisse Ke Hisse Kaamyaab, Review: Many parts, many holes, no whole, no soul In one scene of Har Kisse Ke Hisse Kaamyaab, the protagonist, an actor who goes under the screen name of Sudheer, cannot get his lines right, because he has not had a swig of his favourite brew, and gives retake after retake. We see him do seven/eight retakes, after which, mercifully, the film-maker goes into a montage, with only music, after which it is revealed that he had given as many as 32 retakes. Mercifully,...

Shimla Mirchi, Review: Chilly? Don't be silly! Several highs dot the career graph of director Ramesh Sippy, right from his debut in 1971 as a 24 year-old, with the remake of A Man and a Woman (Claude Lelouch, France, 1966) under the title, Andaz. Crests include Seeta Aur Geeta, Sholay and Buniyaad (TV series), relative high points were reached with Saagar and Shakti, and troughs bogged him down when he attempted Shaan, Bhrashtachar, Akayla and Zamaana Diwana. Completed 19 years after Zama...

My friend, Vijoo Of his reported 440 film count, I shared screen space with the late Vijoo Khote in only two. Yet, I could call myself his friend. During the 1970s and 80s, the refrain I often heard from producers and directors whom I approached for acting assignments was, “You are an educated man. Why are you pursuing a career meant for ‘good-for-nothing-else’ types?” Obviously, I saw no merit in this facetious argument. Nevertheless, in an active career of 26 years, ...

Aamir, Nasir, Tahir, Tariq, Mansoor, Amjad: Movies, Masti, Modernity, Flashback 10: Aamir To remind you, Aamir is indeed Aamir Khan, Amjad is definitely Gabbar Singh, and the triple M above is to acknowledge that it was Akshay Manwani’s biographical book on the cinema of Nasir Hussain that got me delving into the period of about 15 years, when I interacted with the Hussain Khans (first five) and the bare Khan (last, but the most imposing personality). Actually, Mansoor did not use his m...

Siraj Syed reviews Beauty and the Beast: A veritable feast Beauty and the Beast is a treat for young and old alike, with generous doses of humour and an enchanting musical score to go with it. It is not often that you see a kettle, a tea-cup and saucer, a dressing stool, a wardrobe, a piano, an antique clock, a floating, curvaceous  plumage and a candelabra (no, that’s definitely not a typo)  share screen space with the titular duo, that happen to be Beauty and Beast in this c...

FICCI conference: Digital content economy poised to see exponential growth Digital content specialists outlined the future of India’s digital economy at a conference, organised by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry, FICCI, in association with the Los Angeles India Film Council (LAIFC), last week, at the Taj Land’s End Hotel, Mumbai.  Fast Track India: Bolstering Growth in the Digital Content Economy, a Knowledge Series forum by the Federation of India...

MFF 17, by Jio-MAMI, Festival Diary, IV At film festivals, the experience of watching films is like no other. You have many choices, depending on the venue, and the option of walking out of one ‘bad’ film into another unknown entity, just next door, trying pot-luck. Advance booking, the norm at MFF, means that you might never ever succeed in getting a ticket, given that the number of delegates and media-persons always far outweighs the number of seats available, often by 3:1 or 4:...

FICCI FRAMES 2015, Part II At the inaugural session of FICCI FRAMES 2015, the government of India held out the assurance that it would address upfront the challenges before the media and entertainment sector, such as emerging technologies giving way to new media platforms, great diversification of content, industry trying out new business and revenue models and the fact that today every youngster was keen on installing and using mobile phone applications. “These are exciting times for ...