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Khozhdenie Za Tri Moray (aka Pardesi) (1957)
Frequent readers of this blog have probably realised I have a soft spot for ‘real life’ stories: Gladys Aylward, Dr Kotnis, Changez Khan, Shahjahan: I’m game. Of course, I don’t always end up with...
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Sunehre Kadam (1966)
This film has the distinction of not being listed on imdb. I’m sure there are other films like that, but the exclusion of Sunehre Kadam came as a surprise to me: it’s not as if it has an obscure cast...
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Lata in Ten Moods
When I did the Rafi in Ten Moods post a few months back, Stuartnz suggested I also do a Lata Mangeshkar post sometime. It’s taken a good deal of thought, since—like Rafi—Lata also has such a huge...
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The Russians are Coming the Russians are Coming (1966)
When I was raving about Alan Arkin’s bloodcurdling performance as a ruthless killer in Wait Until Dark, memsaab—classic Bollywood aficionado, the inspiration for this blog, and font of knowledge of all...
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Dholak (1951)
I have been singularly lucky lately: instead of watching (as I usually end up doing) one not-so-great film after another, I’ve actually watched two absolutely delightful films within a couple of days...
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Ten of my favourite Asha Parekh Songs
Today is the 68th birthday of one of my favourite actresses: Asha Parekh, beautiful, expressive, a fine actress and an excellent dancer. Although she had worked in a handful of films as a child...
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The Talent of Sam Millar
Dilip Kumar. Mughal-e-Azam. K Asif. A very familiar poster. But how many people know the name of the man who created this poster? The man who, in fact, created also the almost iconic Mother India...
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Shama Parwana (1954)
This film stars Shammi Kapoor. If you like Shammi Kapoor, do not watch this film. If you are a glutton for punishment and want to see it anyway, do not watch the last ten minutes. I can guarantee that...
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King Solomon’s Mines (1950)
I probably shouldn’t call it a genre, but one type of film that always appeals to me is the ‘journey film’: people, often strangers, setting off on a journey together. The motive or need for the...
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Agra Road (1957)
I should have smelt something fishy when I saw this: That looks like Ravindra Dave was doing all his unemployed relatives a favour. Or, more ominous, he’d cut corners and employed people whom he could...
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The Pardesi Extra’s Story
Earlier this month, this blog hosted a guest post by Fred Miller, son of the talented (but alas, largely uncredited) Sam Millar. Fred had promised us another post, of his reminiscences from his days...
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Who Was That Lady? (1960)
I don’t know how it happened that I missed the news of the death of Tony Curtis on September 29, 2010. My niece—who knows I’m mad about old cinema—was reading Time Magazine the other day and asked me,...
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Beginning Johnny Walker Week
One day in 1950, Hindi film actor (and occasional script writer) Balraj Sahni was travelling in a BEST bus in Bombay when he noticed a bus conductor who didn’t just issue tickets or make sure people...
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Madhumati (1958)
A Johnny Walker film, but one that’s known for a lot else besides. I always associate Bimal Roy with the Do Bigha Zameen or Parakh sort of film: deeply rooted in reality, both harshly real and...
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Johnny Walker: The Actor
Following Nabil Khan’s heartwarming post on his grandfather, legendary actor Johnny Walker, another post… this one is on Johnny Walker, the actor. Not just the loving family man, but the very...
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Chhoomantar (1956)
Unlike Madhumati and Aar Paar, where he was just a supporting actor (though, in my opinion, his contribution to both films far surpassed the actual screen time of the characters he played), in...
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Johnny Walker: The Family Man
After the post about Johnny Walker, the actor, the famous comedian’s grandson Nabil Khan brings us another post about his granddad. And with two lovely photos too, of which this one in particular made...
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Ten Great Johnny Walker Roles
My major complaint against Hindi cinema has been that we’ve never given comedy the sort of status it’s received in the West. True, there has been the occasional classic comedy – Chalti ka Naam Gaadi,...
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Johnny Walker and Mehmood: An Uncelebrated Friendship
To bring Johnny Walker Week to a close, a post from his daughter Tasneem Kaur, about a friendship whose depth few people were aware of. Over to Tasneem: Thank you very much for Johnny Walker week....
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El Verdugo (1963)
The past year has been a rather tragic one when it comes to classic cinema: Jean Simmons died in January; Lena Horne passed on in May, and then, just a little over a month back, Tony Curtis died. And,...
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