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Book Review: Balraj Sahni: An Autobiography
I have Richard, over at Dances on the Footpath, to thank for this. Several years back, Richard had linked a blog post to a URL from where one could download Balraj Sahni’s autobiography. Since I’m a...
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Seong Chun-Hyang (1961)
Among the most popular old tales in Korea—or so various sites inform me—is that of Chun Hyang, the beautiful daughter of a courtesan, and of Chun Hyang’s efforts to remain faithful to her husband, come...
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Top Ten Songs Sung by Actors Themselves (or by Singers Appearing Onscreen) –...
Some weeks back, fellow blogger and reader Abhik Majumdar suggested an idea for a song list: songs actually sung by (not merely lip-synched by) actors. Not singer-cum-actors, but people who were known...
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Notes from the Chandigarh Literary Festival, 2015
Long-time readers of this blog probably know by now that I’m a writer. Those who’ve been reading this blog for a couple of winters may also remember that, come autumn, and when India’s 70-odd literary...
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Sangdil (1952)
Hindi cinema has, over the years, borrowed liberally from English literature. Shakespeare (Hamlet, and in more recent years, Angoor, Omkara, Maqbool, and Haider), Agatha Christie (Gumnaam), Arthur...
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Ten of my favourite ‘Aaja’ songs
Or, to put that better: Hindi film songs that begin with the word “Aaja”. Let me give the background for this. My daughter, ever since she was a baby, has always had an ear for music. All you had to …...
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Restaurant Review: Side Wok
Fellow blogger and friend Harini and I meet up every couple of months to chat about films, books, and more—and we invariably do so over lunch, followed by coffee and tea. Our usual haunt (we are...
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Jab Pyaar Kisise Hota Hai (1961)
Nasir Hussain, as someone (he himself?) once remarked, came to Bombay with one story in his briefcase, and made out of it one blockbuster after another. The story of a son, separated by circumstances...
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Hua Mu-Lan (1964)
Aka (in its English translation) Lady General Hua Mu-Lan. I must admit to my ignorance: till a couple of months back, I had only heard of Mu-Lan (or Mulan). I’d no idea who Mu-Lan was, whether her...
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Ferry (1954)
Earlier this year, commenting on a post, reader Shalini recommended Ferry to me. I admitted that I’d seen the film—years ago—on Doordarshan, and had liked it, though over the intervening years I’d...
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Miracle on 34th Street (1947)
I am a creature of habit. And a lot of habits of mine kick in around Christmastime every year. One is the daily posting, on Facebook, of a favourite Christmas carol. Another is this: the reviewing of a...
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In Tribute: Sadhana (1941-2015)
A strange series of Sadhana-centric coincidences happened over the past fortnight or so. A new reader—a die-hard Sadhana fan—suddenly arrived on my blog, and commented enthusiastically on just about...
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Ten of my favourite ‘Songs in praise of Sadhana’
When Sadhana passed away at Christmas and I finally got down to thinking what tribute I’d post, the first thing that came to my mind was: a list of Sadhana songs. My favourite ten songs. Then, I...
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Home Delivery Review: Chaayos
Those who know me well know that I’m not much of a tea drinker. Given a choice, I’d rather have coffee, the stronger, the better. Sometimes, though, I like a cup of tea. Especially when it’s deepest...
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Escape (1948)
It’s my birthday today, the 8th of January. Every year, on this day, I post a review of a film that features someone born on January 8. This year, it’s William Hartnell. Born on January 8, 1908 in...
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Mera Saaya (1966)
Permit me one last Sadhana-related post before I put aside my unexpected (even to me) sadness at her untimely death. I know I’ve already been through two tribute posts, but even as I was writing those...
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The Muzaffar Jang Walk, Version #2
Blog regulars will probably know that I am the creator of a series of historical detective fiction books. Featuring Muzaffar Jang, a 17th century nobleman who lives in Shahjahanabad during the...
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Pathlaag (1964)
Some years back, a comments thread on a blog post sparked off a discussion, the net result of which was that I learnt about Pathlaag, the Marathi original of Mera Saaya. Suspense is one of my favourite...
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Restaurant review: La Vie
Fellow blogger Harini and I have almost made it a ritual to meet up every couple of months on a weekend to spend a few hours together lunching, having coffee and tea, and chatting about books, cinema,...
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Ten of my favourite ‘Jaa’ songs
Or, to be rather more lucid, songs that begin with the word ‘Jaa’ (‘go’). This post sprang out of my post on ‘Aaja’ songs. Fellow blogger and friend Ava suggested that I might want to do a post on...
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