Sunday Editorial The brute realism of Hindi cinema: tales from Vaishali By Ratnakar Tripathy Unreal life: real romance? That Hindi films belong to the world of unreality is an established cliché, an obvious assumption as well as conclusion that no longer awaits arguments defending it. But this fantasy world has its own hard-edged side that we often miss. Here is how it works. In a village or a small town, not enjoying the privilege of anonymity, any plans for indulging in romance get hexed on all sides. Most often when you wish to romance someone from your own caste, you are told, you are practicing... 

Dev N Pathak Dear home: Letters from an NRB Gangs of Waaseypur: a drain inspector’s movie? By Dev Nath Pathak The filmography of Anurag Kashyap cinema presents a case for critical study. In a short time of twelve years, starting with a short film Last Train to Mahakali in 1999, with an unreleased controversial Paanch (The Five, 2003), coming to notice with his first full length feature film Black Friday (2004), Kashyap could manage to direct over half a dozen films which earned critics’ rave reviews. In the meantime he wrote scripts for some of the noted Ram Gopal Verma films such as Satya... 

Meet the director of Naya Pata, first crowd funded film from Bihar   Pawan Kumar Srivastava, Director of Bihars’ first independent crowd funded film, Naya Pata, was born at Marhowrah (Chhapra) which used to be a major Industrial town of Bihar. After the completion of High school he went to Allahabad for Further Education , and then moved to Delhi and completed his Graduation in Computer science . He has worked in various sectors like Telecom, Banking and Financial market in Delhi and Mumbai. In Mumbai and Delhi he was a regular visitor of Prithvi theatre and NSD. Finally he realised... 

आखिर किसकी लेने की कोशिश है - ”गैंग्स आफ वासेपुर” -नवीन भोजपुरिया .. जबरदस्त क्या है - - फिल्म के गीत संगीत , शायद भोजपुरी को आज के आधुनिक समय मे इस से बेहतर उडान की शुरुवात नही मिल सकती है । - फिल्म का देशीपन / खांटीपन ने मुझे फिल्म... 

At Cannes: ‘I am happy with how I look’, Aishwarya Rai says!   Cannes, France: some time ago, the glamour press in India splashed pictures of Aishwarya Rai in a less than glamorous light with a double chin and perhaps minimal make up. There was as if a sense of outrage at the sudden discovery that your goddess is mortal after all. Most annoyingly, the gossip columns seem to be thrilled at the waning beauty of the diva, however temporary such a setback may be. This was not the screen queen Aishwarya, but the plain, dowdy mother on an outing! It is the double chin that got the entire... 

The LP  [Laxmikant – Pyarelal] era and its magic!     At 71, Pyarelal Sharma has the enthusiasm of a musical newbie. He remembers his late partner without any false melodrama. “We were like one, closer than brothers, so no one can even begin to understand our bond,” he says. Not many are aware that till Laxmikant suggested that they team up as a duo in films, Pyarelal’s ambition was to become a famous musician from India in Western music abroad, like his close friend Zubin Mehta. After Laxmikant passed away in 1998, the maestro (described by Laxmikant as “the... 

An IPS from Tamilnadu acts in Bhojpuri film: enjoy Bhojpuri with Tamil accent!   Patna: those who complain about Bhojpuri cinema being invaded by outsiders may get yet another chance to crib heartily. According to reports, senior Bihar cadre IPS officer Ravindran Sankaran, 43, is now making his debut as actor in a Bhojpuri film scheduled to be released on May 10. His Bhojpuri dreams having come true, he says his dream is to act with Rajinikanth some day. The Kovai-based cop has been working in Bihar for the last 16 years and said he was a big fan of Rajini and was even the secretary... 

Cameron, maker of ‘Titanic’/ ‘Avatar’ dives 11 kms deep into sea!   Hollywood director James Cameron has just returned to the surface after plunging nearly 11km (seven miles) down to the deepest place in the ocean, the Mariana Trench in the western Pacific. He made the solo descent in a submarine called “Deepsea Challenger”, taking over two hours to reach the bottom. He spent more than three hours exploring the ocean floor, before a speedy ascent back to the surface. His craft was kitted out with cameras and lights so he could film the deep. This is only the second... 

Bhojpuri film ‘Kaalia’ completes shoot in Naxal stronghold: Jehanabad   Jehanabad: believe it or not, according to a latest report, a Bhojpuri film has just completed its shooting schedule at a site that lies right at the heart of Naxalite stronghold in Bihar – Jehanabad! The subject of the film? Feudal tyranny and the peasant’s fight against the landlord! But then this is not a subject uncommon in Bhojpuri films where the village Thakur often turns out the villain. It is definitely for the first time in the recent history of Bihar that a film maker Hyder Kazmi selected Jehanabad,... 

Meet Ashok Kumar, the painter!   Recently, during the 100th birth anniversary of Ashok Kumar, his fans came to know of another passion of his apart from acting – painting. Ashok Kumar’s little secret was that he was a prolific painter excelling in mediums ranging from oil to charcoal and watercolour. The man usually kept the mornings for himself, when he would paint and read and nobody was allowed to disturb him. This is what his daughter Bharti Jaffrey, who now runs the Ashok Kumar Foundation, reveled to the press recently. The foundation organized an art exhibition of his works,...