Did Ram or the epic Ramayana really exist? Or is it a fictional creation reportedly authored by Rishi Valmiki? In fact, there is no scientific or historical truth in the existence of Rishi Valmiki himself. Evolution has taken such long steps in our lives, that any question raised about the authenticity of the very existence of Ramayana has become redundant as we have accepted the Ramayana to be the ideal, indisputable truth unfolded through the eternal battle between fact and

The 1973 classic captured a changing India, from youthful romance and new fashions to a new musical and cinematic language. By the early 1970s, Raj Kapoor had reached a curious point in his career. He was one of Hindi cinema’s most recognisable filmmakers, an institution whose name was inseparable from films such as Awaara, Shree 420 and Sangam. Yet his most ambitious film, Mera Naam Joker, had proved a commercial disappointment. Kapoor, who had spent decades building a disti

Mumbai: Film-maker Sumira Roy’s “Bhangaar” (Obsolete), an intimate Marathi-English documentary about an elderly Mumbai couple who sought the right to die together with dignity, has won the Best Non-Feature Film Award at the 72nd National Film Awards. Written, directed and produced by Roy, and produced by Monisha Advani, Partner, Emmay Entertainment, the film follows the simple lives of octogenarians - Narayan Krishnaji Lavate and his wife, Irawati (now deceased) - who spent m

Alfred Hitchcock made fear a sophisticated form of entertainment. Above, James Stewart in Rear Window (1954) and Cary Grant in North by Northwest (1959). Let us begin where discussions of this kind usually begin, the market. Leaving thriller novels and short stories aside, market analyses of audiovisual thrillers suggest that the global OTT and theatrical market was projected to reach $10 billion by 2026. Although the United States remains its largest consumer, the vast Asia

Mumbai: The failure of ‘Batwara 1947’ has emerged as one of those box-office mysteries that is difficult to explain purely through the usual parameters of filmmaking. The film brought back the celebrated combination of Sunny Deol and director Rajkumar Santoshi after nearly three decades, carried a powerful Partition backdrop and featured acclaimed performers. Yet, despite the pedigree, the film struggled to attract audiences to theatres. For trade analyst Taran Adarsh, the fa

To capture Valmiki’s wonder on screen, filmmakers must look beyond the great battle and to the poignant love between Sita and Rama. Yugo Sako’s 'Ramayana, The Legend of Prince Rama' came closest to ciematically capturing the tenderness of Sita and Rama’s life in Panchavati. Is there a key to unlock, simultaneously, the poetic beauty as well as the spiritual depth of Valmiki’s Ramayana, for the purpose of turning the epic Itihasa poem into a beautiful cine matic adaptation? So

Mumbai: Sharon Verma’s journey in comedy is a story of an unlikely breakout. She was not introduced to audiences as an established star, but as a relatively new comedian who walked onto the stage of India’s Got Latent and turned a self-deprecating joke about being a “weak independent woman” into a moment audiences remembered. Originally from Bihar and now based in Mumbai, Verma has built her identity around observational, self-aware humour. Her comedy frequently draws from ev

From Dhyan Chand and cricket legends to Lagaan and Chak De! India, the relationship between Indian cinema and sport has grown into a cultural phenomenon. August 29 is observed as National Sports Day in India to commemorate the birth anniversary of hockey legend Major Dhyan Chand. The day celebrates the spirit of sport across disciplines—from hockey and cricket to football, chess and many other games. But in India, sport has always existed alongside another powerful form of ma

The Hindi film industry’s old formula of sanitising Pakistan and demonising Indian society is now facing a box-office challenge from films putting national security and historical memory at the centre of the story. There have always been two distinct, divergent streams in the so-called Hindi film industry or Bollywood, often derided as a lame replica of Hollywood or derogatorily referred to as ‘Urduwood.’ One stream that promoted an agenda-driven, ‘left-liberal’ hypothesis wa

Mumbai: After months of attention surrounding his reported exit from Don 3, Ranveer Singh has finally moved on to his next major cinematic venture. The actor’s ambitious survival spectacle Pralay has officially gone on floors in Mumbai today, marking the beginning of filming on one of the most ambitious and scale-driven projects in Indian cinema. Headlined by Ranveer Singh and directed by Jai Mehta, Pralay is an original end-of-the-world action thriller that promises to take

A still from Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey. If you have read epic poetry from ancient Greece or India, whether in translation or in the original, you’d know that the heroes in these great epic poems have their vulnerabilities. I’m not talking about physical vulnerabilities that ultimately prove fatal for them: Achilles’ heel or Duryodhana’s thighs, for example. No, but I point to the heroes’ vulnerabilities and weaknesses, understood within broader psychological, behavioura

A century of memories, culture and trust that lives in the hearts of millions. Some voices do not remain mere voices; they become witnesses to history. They live on through generations of memories, create a sense of belonging in homes, and become an inseparable part of the collective memory of society. The voice of All India Radio Mumbai is one such voice. 23 July 2026 marks a historic and proud moment in the history of Indian broadcasting. On this day, All India Radio Mumbai

She mentored actors like Nana Patekar, Anupam Kher Mumbai: The curtains fell for the last time on the Grand Dame of acting, Vijaya Mehta - one of India’s most acclaimed actresses, director, producer, writer and visionary – whose immense contributions to mainstream and parallel cinema and theatre influenced generations of actors and filmmakers. The National Award-winning actress passed away at her Mumbai residence late on Tuesday at 91. Her last rites were performed at the Sh

Pratyabartan is a new Bengali film which gets across the message about a “return to one’s roots” by an urban, upward-climbing neutral family who are settled in Kolkata. The film opens on an upwardly mobile, slightly Westernised nuclear Bengali family settled in Kolkata. What happens when their teenage daughter, studying in an elitist, English-medium school, falls back on her academics as she is addicted to her cell-phone. While Dr. Dipankar Sanyal (Shilajit Majumdar) has a ve

Mumbai: Playback singer Suman Kalyanpur was always compared with legendary Lata Mangeshkar. There was a reported rift between them over certain issues. However, Kalyanpur, who passed away on Sunday night in Mumbai, had dismissed the speculation in an exclusive chat with this correspondent almost three decades ago. She had responded with characteristic grace and a smile: “I have nothing to say about this. Lata-didi is like my elder sister. We respect each other. I just do my

Mumbai: Come October 2, Maharashtra’s dark secrets known to the Nashik Bhondubaba, Capt. Ashok Eknathrrao Kharat – currently in custody - may now explode on the silver screen. A prominent film director Swaroopp B. Sawant has announced a new Marathi crime thriller, “Maharashtra Epstein Files” which threatens to rip open the sleazy and exploitative world of Kharat before it started crumbling in March when his murky deeds tumbled into the public domain. An online poster rel

Mumbai: As Raja Shivaji marches steadily towards the Rs 100 crore mark, the film has reignited debate around the future of the Marathi film industry. Having already crossed Rs 80 crore at the Indian box office, the historical drama is now only the second Marathi film after Sairat to achieve the milestone. Its success has raised a larger question within the trade: can a major blockbuster finally attract sustained investment into Marathi cinema, an industry often marked by cycl

Sadly, marital rape is not a punishable crime in India. More than half of the world’s countries do not criminalise sexual assault in marriage, including OECD countries like the Czech Republic and Japan. But is marriage the right solution even at a suggestive stage in countries like India where domestic violence on wives by husbands is very high? Many such violent acts are directly linked to violent rape never mind whether the wife is willing or not, whether the wife is batte

Mumbai : The legendary singer Asha Bhosle - who passed away here aged 92 on April 12 - once lived far from the arc lights of fame, in the distant north-west suburb of Borivali, in the early 1950s, when she was still a struggling artist finding her voice. In those difficult days, she developed an enduring affection for the humble trains. When buses and taxis were beyond her means, Asha-tai relied on the Western Railway’s suburban locals, travelling across the city for her re

Mumbai : From the narrow lanes and arterial roads of Mumbai dotted with chawls and skyscrapers, a sea of humanity bid a tearful farewell to the legendary Asha Bhosle - whose body in pastel coloured sari, a white pearl necklace and traces of make-up - was taken in a flower-bedecked white and yellow van, with a large portrait atop, showing her sporting her favourite ‘nath’ (nose jewel), and her trademark large red ‘bindi’. The city appeared to pause as thousands of Mumbaikars