Madhubala, Nimmi & Dilip Kumar in Mehboob Khan's Amar(1954) I must confess that I tried watching Mehboob Khan’s Mother India (1957)...

Abhishek Bachchan & Ahilya Bamroo in Shoojit Sircar's I Want to Talk (2024) With ‘I Want To Talk’ (IWTT) we now have a means of measuring...

The year was 2018. My film was in post-production when Abhijit Majumdar, Head of the Direction Department at Whistling Woods...

Abha Dhulia, Shama Zaidi, Shyam Benegal, Shivendra Singh Dungarpur, Naseeruddin Shah, Preeti Sagar & Prahlad Kakkar at Eros Cinema...

Saumesh Bangera Saumesh Bangera’s cinema is a perfect manifestation of the phenomenon of democratisation of filmmaking since it got...

Technology rules. Consequently, die-hard collectors of Bollywood music soundtracks are in a fix. That thrill of rushing to the closest...

Suresh Jindal ‘Hirsute’ is the description Sai Paranjpye and I had coined for him. With his abundant salt-and-pepper hair always brushed,...

The two are completely different, the songs of Amar Singh Chamkila of Punjab and Lavani of Maharashtra. While Chamkila was a pop singer...

Anand Bakshi At the outset, a quick run-through the facts: Bakshi Anand Prakash Vaid was born in Rawalpindi now in Punjab, to a Brahmin...

J.Jayalalithaa Never too late perhaps. I’d been avoiding the series with the longest barge-pole. On a fallow day, lately, I started on it...

Manoj Kumar as Bhagat Singh in Shaheed (1965) Either you were apprehensive about the lavish productions which he wrote, edited and...

The last image I have stored of Mehmood is that of an ailing, helpless septuagenarian, in a baggy white kurta and brown cashmere shawl,...

It’s an eternal mystery. So many stalwart directors who contributed immeasurably in the last millennium to Mumbai-produced cinema have...

Raaj Kumar & Priya Rajvansh in Heer Ranjha (1970) While tracking down Hindi cinema's golden oldies - through whichever source accessible...

On seeing a bunch of Mani Ratnam’s early films, variously in Tamil and Telugu -- Mouna Ragam (1986),  Nayakan(1987), Geethanjali (1989)...

Sridevi & Rajeev Ravindranathan in English Vinglish(2012) Ostensibly, Mumbai-produced cinema makes films in Hindustani, a blend of Hindi...

Naushad Tall, lithe, spotlessly dressed – black sherwanis suited him the most. Naushad Ali was so at home conjuring tunes on a piano that...

Yash Chopra Imagine, Yash Chopra, his wife Pam, trusty cinematographer Manmohan Sigh and I in a helicopter, hovering over a fairy...

Undeniably, we romanticize the movies we were weaned on during our childhood, exaggerating the   precious memories tattooed on our hearts...

Grandma Fayazi, my educator in movie matters, had a thing about Vyjayanthimala. So one January afternoon, she’d bundled me up in a...

Social media despite the clampdowns is a relatively democratic space where one can express oneself about anything, right from what one...

Bhagwan Dada The fast-crumbling chawl in an emaciated by-lane was a brisk 10-minute walk away from Dadar station. I had been asked by...

Chetna(1970) For sure, he had an USP. Sex, lies and the exploitation of women at different levels of the social strata were his preferred...

Image: Screenshot by AG from the film ‘Meghe Dhaka Tara’ (The Cloud-capped Star, 1960), Direction: Ritwik Ghatak, Sound: Mrinal Guha...

The three Ganguly Brothers – of the iconic Chalti ka Naam Gaadi (1958) – were a part of me, many of us I should think, but we never...

Image: Screenshot by AG from the film ‘Meghe Dhaka Tara’ (The Cloud-capped Star, 1960), Direction: Ritwik Ghatak, Sound: Mrinal Guha...

Image: Screenshots from the film + collage by AG. You might have wondered to see the credit titles and sketches from Ritwik Ghatak’s film...

Image: A close-up of Neeta’s mother (Geeta Dey) from Ritwik Ghatak’s film ‘Meghe Dhaka Tara’, screenshot by AG In a profound tribute to...

Mita Vashisht in Kumar Shahani's Kasba(1991) Kasba (The Town) is a 1991 Hindi film directed by Kumar Shahani. It is based on a short...

Supriya Devi in Ritwik Ghatak's Meghe Dhaka Tara(1960) While talking about his 1928 silent film ‘The Passion of Joan of Arc’ (1928), Carl...

Pankaj Kapoor in Tapan Sinha's Ek Doctor Ki Maut(1990). Tapan Sinha’s Ek Doctor Ki Maut (1990) shows how scientific research and...

Image: extreme close-up of Ustad Bahadur Khan in a sarod recital scene from ‘Subarnarekha’ (1965) Béla Balázs, the writer of the book...

Filmmaker Amos Gitai called a close-up an ‘exclamation mark’ in cinematography. “But you don’t want exclamation marks all over the...

Arundhati Roy & Raghubir Yadav in Pradi Krishen's Massey Sahib(1980). In 1980, Pradip Krishen won the first prize in a script-writing...

Mita Vashisht in Siddheshwari(1989). Mani Kaul’s Siddheshwari (1989) eschews the linear narrative and the quest for static truth. Instead...

In today’s world when the monster of ‘market’ has taken over cinematography with the overriding behemoth of the so-called ‘content’, the...

Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro (Just Let It Go, Friends) is a 1983 black comedy directed by Kundan Shah and produced by the NFDC. It is a satire on...

Image: Jahar Ray in ‘Ranger Golam' ‘Ranger Golam’ (The Knave of the Trump, 1968) was yet another incomplete feature film left behind by...

Mamta Shanker & Mithun Chakraborty in Mrinal Sen’s (1976). Do you know a Hindi actor who received a National Award for his debut film?...

Image: Sudharani Sharma in ‘Rendezvous’, screenshot by AG. The twenty-first edition of my Ritwik Robibarer Close-up Katha celebrates...

Khayal Gatha (The Saga of Khayal) is a 1989 Indian experimental film written and directed by Kumar Shahani. The film traces the history...

Image: Indrani Mukhopadhyay in Ritwik Ghatak’s partially restored film ‘Bagalar Banga Darshan’ (1964), a still, courtesy: Ritwik Memorial...

Image: A close-up of one of Chittaprosad’s pen and ink sketches in Ritwik Ghatak’s short film ‘Durbargati Padma’ (1971). Chittaprosad was...

Ek Ruka Hua Faisla (A Pending Decision) is a 1986 Hindi language courtroom drama directed by Basu Chatterji. It is a remake of the Golden...

Image: Deepa has returned with her new-born baby Megha and her careerist husband, to Kolkata. It is ‘window’ that becomes the ‘pakad’ for...

Gopi Desai & Lalit Tewari in Kamal Swaroop's Om Dar-B-Dar(1988). During the lockdown period, I made a documentary titled What’s Your...

Image: A screenshot from the film by AG. The film ‘Ramkinkar Baij: A Personality Study’, 1975. The film shows Baij in different locations...

Mrinal Sen’s ninth film, his first Hindi film, Bhuvan Shome opens with shots of railway tracks speeding by, against the metallic sound of...

Image: Last close-up from Ritwik Ghaak’s film ‘Titash Ekti Nadir Naam’ (1973), screenshot by AG. [Titash is also often spelt as Titas –...

Shyam Benegal's Ankur (1974) Ankur (The Seedlings) was Shyam Benegal’s first feature film, released in 1974. It was also the debut film...