Short is Beautiful: 12 Spectacular Indian Short Films You Need to Watch ASAP!
What is it that makes short films so popular in a cinema crazy country like India where full-length feature films are churned out like hot cakes year after year? Original content, fresh faces, engaging...
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When Mogambo Said No to Steven Spielberg: An Epic Story From Amrish Puri’s Life
Probably one of the few stalwart actors in the Hindi film industry to have captivated the audiences with his exceptional portrayal of negative roles, Amrish Puri was an actor who could nail any role...
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This Superstar’s Words Are the Perfect Advice to Extreme Fans Across India
The god-like reverence that film stars receive in India is a phenomenon one rarely witnesses elsewhere in the world. From fans waiting for hours outside the houses of their heroes for a glimpse to...
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The Forgotten Mumbai Filmmaker Behind 6 Oscars & 31 Oscar-Nominated Films!
For cinema buffs in India and around the world, the name Merchant Ivory Productions holds a very special place. Over the course of their remarkable 44-year partnership, the producer-director team of...
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This Man’s Brilliant Stories Took Him from a Meghalaya Village to Cannes Film...
For Dominic Sangma, a leading independent filmmaker from Meghalaya’s Garo Hills, the journey from a remote village on the border with Assam to the glitz and glamour of the Festival de Cannes has been...
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Thank You For The Laughter: Little Known Stories About the Legendary Johnny...
‘Yeh aap par itne phool barsaingi, itne phool barsaingi . . . ki aap bloody fool ho jayenge’ (They will shower so many flowers on you . . . that you will turn into a ‘bloody fool’) Known as the king of...
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Star Trek to Success: Persis Khambatta, the First Indian Woman to Stamp a...
Long before modern-day actresses took to the international stage, it was a Mumbai born and bred, former Miss India who blazed the trail for Indian actors to venture into Hollywood. She made hearts...
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An Ode to Hrishikesh Mukherjee, The Legend Who Crafted ‘Anand’&‘Golmaal’
Babumoshai . . . zindagi lambi nahi badi honi chahiye, said Anand Sehgal, a terminally-ill cancer patient to his friend, Dr Bhaskar Banerjee. The quote roughly translates to “Life is not about how long...
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Bollywood’s First Empress: Before Madhubala & Nargis, India had Devika Rani
Before Madhubala, Nargis, and Meena Kumari, there was Devika Rani, a star actor and film producer, who co-founded Bombay Talkies, India’s first self-contained film studio, alongside her first husband...
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Meet the High School Dropout From Meghalaya Bringing Khasi Cinema to The World
For filmmaker Pradip Kurbah, life has come a full circle. On 5 October, his third full-length feature film ‘Iewduh’ premiered at the Busan International Film Festival (BIFF) in South Korea, which ranks...
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India’s First Talkie Set Off a Riot, And Didn’t Even Have Any Sound Equipment!
78 murde insaan zinda ho gaye. Unko bolte dekho? or as the English tagline ran: All living. Breathing. 100 per cent talking. This is how director Ardeshir Irani advertised India’s first ever talkie or...
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Amjad Khan: 5 Stories You Didn’t Know About India’s Unforgettable Gabbar!
Yahan se pachas pachas kos door gaon mein … jab bachcha raat ko rota hai, toh maa kehti hai bete so ja … so ja nahi toh Gabbar Singh aa jayega. Dressed in a khaki suit and armed with a belt, when the...
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Bob Biswas To Lajja: 8 Iconic Villains Etched Into Bollywood’s Cinematic History
While his boss is screaming at him, an LIC agent checks the picture of an old lady that flashes across his mobile screen. Later, the agent rings a bell and the same old lady opens the door. “Nomoshkar,...
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Flawed, Gritty & Liberated: 7 Women-Centric Bollywood Roles from The Last Decade
A hero falls in love with the heroine. Since he crosses hurdles and challenges to ‘get’ her, her world revolves around him. In the end, he ‘rescues’ her from all worldly atrocities and they live...
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Daily Wage Worker From Kerala Is The Hero Of Her Own Story. Quite Literally!
For Tahira, a resident of Kodungallur, a town in Kerala, depending on people for help or sitting at home was never an option. She was only 14 when her father passed away. Seeing no other way out, she...
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B’Luru Filmmaker is Helping Save a Great Tribe Before Their Culture Vanishes
With The Positive Collective, The Better India’s COVID-19 coverage is available to regional language publications for free. Write to editorial@thebetterindia.com for more details. On the way to Goa,...
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What’s the Real Story of ‘Gulabo Sitabo’? Hint: Amitabh’s Village Is Involved!
“Mohabbat Karte Hai Hum Apni Haveli Se, Be Inteha” – You can hear a decrepit Mirza enunciating this line in the preview of Shoojit Sircar’s latest offering ‘Gulabo-Sitabo’ – the Haveli in question is...
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This Forgotten Pioneer Made India’s First Indigenous Film Camera From Scratch!
Baburao Painter refused to budge when people told him shooting at night won’t get him any results. One of the pioneering filmmakers of India, Baburao ignored the warnings, mockings, and accomplished...
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Lockdown Hack: 3 Filmmakers Share How They Kept Shooting, While Never Leaving...
“The only way of discovering the limits of the possible is to venture a little way past them into the impossible.” -Arthur C Clarke, British science fiction writer Over the last few months, the...
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Credit De Do Yaar: 5 Songs Where Credit Wasn’t Given to Lyricists
In a video published earlier today, 15 lyricists from the Hindi film industry demanded that they receive proper credit for their work on music streaming platforms and YouTube channels. Titled ‘Credit...
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