Cinema: The Magic Lantern!!

‘The Chinese Doll’, Meena Kumari, was one of the most enigmatic stars to grace the silver screen. She was known for her strikingly good looks and is often remembered as Cinderella of Indian Cinema. Mahajabeen (the moon faced), a shining orb of excellence lighted many onscreen persona without an inkling of the blisters and scars of sorrow hidden within her golden heart. She captivated audiences with her beautiful, expressive eyes and portrayed strong yet vulnerable women often devastated by romance. She could evoke the complex emotions without uttering a single word. She earned the reputation of being the ‘Tragedy Queen’ for her frequent portrayal of sorrowful and tragic roles. Her medieval beauty, heart-warming smile, droop of her kiss-curl, anguish-laden seductive voice and charismatic screen presence captured millions of hearts. Tragedienne on screen, mimic in real life, poetess in pursuit of love or Mahjabeen to family, Manju to husband and Meena Kumari to million...

India is a land of ethnic festivals and the festival of colors “Holi” entwines in it the spirited elements of fun, joy and happiness. Be it throwing colours at loved-ones, flinging balloons from balconies at some stranger on the street, Holi is all about tasting bitter-sweet life with a tinge of naughtiness. To catch the essence and mood of Holi, numerous Bollywood films carry song-sequences especially before a catastrophe is going to occur. In ‘Sholay’, Gabbar Singh growling “Holi Kab Hai…” and the shot cuts to gulal & water-guns, the camera pans dancing belles. Veeru (Dharmendra) and Basanti (Hema Malini) rock the scene with an incredibly vibrant and energetic Holi song ‘Holi Ke Din..’.  When we talk about Holi, instantly the most intense and iconic Holi song ‘Rang Barse Bheege Chunarwali..’ (Silsila) pops up in our mind. This song has become an informal Holi hymn with the magic of the philanderer Amitabh’s baritone and Harivansh Rai’s lyrics. Amitabh and Rekha...

International Women’s Day is celebrated every year on 8th of March all across the world to focus the achievements and commemorate the contributions of the women to the society. The theme of this year’s campaign says “Balance for Better” and the Bollywood is poised to celebrate this event all throughout the year with multiple women-centric movies. Meghna Gulzar’s ‘Chhapaak’ is based on the life of acid attack survivor Laxmi Agarwal. In ‘Saina’, the biopic of Indian badminton player Saina Nehwal, Shraddha Kapoor plays the leading role. Priyanka Chopra will feature in ‘The Sky is Pink’, a film based on the life of motivational speaker late Aisha Chaudhary who was diagnosed with pulmonary fibrosis and passed away at the age of 18. In the film ‘Kargil Girl’, Janhvi Kapoor will be paying tributes to Gunjan Saxena, India’s first ever woman combat pilot. ‘Saand Ki Aankh’ is based on the lives of Chandro and Prakashi Tomar, the two octogenarian Indian women sharpshooters. Since ...

Haqeeqat, full of patriotic zeal, is the first realistic portrayal of war in Indian cinema. There had been numerous historical films made earlier that had well-executed battle scenes. But Haqeeqat deglamourised war as it showed that not everybody returns from war triumphant. The film bolstered the confidence of a country that was still reeling from the setback of humiliating defeat at the hands of China.  A war movie that demonstrated to the world the infirmity of doctrine of Panchsheel without a powerful and equipped armoury to back it. A watershed in modern Indian history, this war virtually broke Nehru’s heart to such an extent that he never recovered from that and died soon after.  The movie was dedicated to Pt. Jawahar Lal Nehru and all those soldiers who laid down their lives fighting against the aggressors. This was not a pacifistic masterpiece that showed the horrors and brutalities of war to a curious audience but its scalpel-scarp indictment of the pride that co...