News

Subhash K Jha, in a new installment of the This Day That Year series, looks at Rajiv Rai’s Asambhav (Impossible), 23 July 2004, starring Arjun Rampal, Naseeruddin Shah and Priyanka Chopra.

It may take you a while to figure out why the film is called Asambhav. Out of the blue—or is it purple? — In the second half, the mystery is solved when the 60-plus Indian high commissioner to Switzerland (Sharat Saxena) catches hold of a severely underdressed, suspiciously underage staffer and smooches her torridly in full camera view…all 6 or 7 of them. We’re counting the number of cameras, not the smooches.

Rajiv Rai is in many ways the guru of hi-tech potboilers in Hindi. He shoots this gun-gals-gizmo film on international terrorism with a multitude of cameras. Often, we get split-screen views of the conflict at hand with different cameras capturing the characters at different places simultaneously as they...

Genre cinema can be incredibly transgressive. Like termite art, they mutely chew on the boundaries of conformation. In horror, courtroom drama, noir, murder mysteries, and many more, the director is paramount for these films. How they treat it saves a good genre film from being generic, which most certainly holds true for murder mysteries. Plots in these films are like the foundation, invisible, and pretty similar in nature. However, the material used to construct the building on this foundation is the treatment. The foundation can and should be strong enough to hold the building, but what the audience would buy is the building.

The functionality of atmosphere, mood, pace, suspense, cinematography, lighting, and brain-teasing tension plays a much larger part in a murder mystery. Without these, we just have a story where we’re waiting for the big reveal. More often than not, the lack of slick treatment gives us a generic mystery.

In a new installment of his feature series This Day That Year, Subhash K Jha refocuses on Anubhav Sinha’s Dus, a slick action flick with and all star cast, which just celebrated 20 years since its release.

This film is so cool, you probably need sunglasses to watch it. Unlike its thriller predecessors like Sanjay Gupta’s Kaante, Vikram Bhatt’s Elaan, and Rajiv Rai’s Asambhav, Dus isn’t phony-cool. Nor does it doesn’t seem like a poor country cousin of the Die Hard and Mission Impossible series.

Sure, the screenplay writers Yash and Vinay have borrowed huge chunks—sometimes without alteration—from several Hollywood actioners. And the whole cool-dude attitude that every protagonist wears like designer clothes is straight out of the ultra-chic Men-in-Black prototype that serves as an imperialistic role model for large-screen heroism.

Nevertheless, you have to hand it to Anubhav Sinha. He handles the...

Director Rajiv Rai talks with Subhash K Jha about his action thriller film Gupt: The hidden Truth, which released 28 years ago, that starred Bobby Deol, Manisha Koirala, and Kajol.

Why is Gupt one of the most beloved murder mysteries?

Yeah, it is one of the most beloved murder mysteries. I do agree with that. I think there are many reasons. It’s not one reason. It is, of course, the story and the screenplay, the suspense and the way it’s treated. Also, it kind of keeps you guessing and it also shocks you in the end. So generally, a murder mystery will be respected if you can get better of the audience and you can defeat them. If they guess the killer, then they defeat you. So when you’re making a murder mystery, you have to be very sure that nobody will guess it because if they can,...

Which 5 movies impacted Arjun Rampal’s career the most?(Photo Credit –Instagram)

In an interview with India Today, Arjun Rampal revealed his five transformative films that impacted his career.

He shared, “The first film that changed my life was obviously ‘Moksha.’ When I signed it, I was modelling, and I was quite a famous model at that time. Ashok Mehta (director) came to me and I remember shooting in Chambal valleys with Manisha Koirala, who is a phenomenal actor. This one scene, and I saw rushes of it, and I just hated myself when I saw it. I realized the reason I hated myself was because every time the camera came on, I was performing as a model and not as an actor. So I decided I was not going to model again. I officially retired from modelling that day. But that film took six years to get paid, so...

When Akshay Kumar Opened Up About Recreating Tip Tip Barsa Paani (Photo Credit – Instagram/YouTube)

Akshay Kumar is a brand himself who has been working in the film industry for several years. He is among the biggest and highest-paid actors in the Hindi film industry. He has appeared in many iconic movies, and his Mohra achieved cult classic status over the years. In addition to that, the film’s song Tip Tip Barsa Paani is equally famous, which was recreated by the actor in his movie Sooryavanshi. Remixes and recreations have become a trend in the industry, and the actor once opened up about the recreation of Tip Tip Barsa Paani. Scroll below for the deets.

Kumar’s 1994 movie, directed by Rajiv Rai, features an ensemble cast of Naseeruddin Shah, Akshay Kumar, Sunil Shetty, Raveena Tandon, Poonam Jhawer, Raza Murad, Paresh Rawal, Gulshan Grover, and Sadashiv Amrapurkar. This was reportedly...

Siddhant Chaturvedi is a talented actor who played a rapper in Gully Boy as though born to do so. But a typical Hindi film hero, he is not. In director Ravi Udyawar’s Yudhra which means the fight, t is phonetically very close to Yudh, which was the title of Rajiv Rai’s action-musical 1985 blockbuster.

The two films. 49 years apart, are close country cousins. Nothing changes in mainstream Hindi cinema, except the faces, though they continue to express the same range of expressions from A to B. The hero of Udyawar’s scrappily written bonecruncher is remarkably expressionless.

Luckily Siddhant Chaturvedi who plays the titutal bulldozer, has little scope or occasion to act, except in the pre-climax where he presumes his girl is dead.

Yudhra sobs. The audience in the theatre burst out laughing.

For the rest Chaturvedi clenches his fists grits his pearlywhite teeth and roars towards the villains with bullish energy.

From Kabhi Haan Kabhi Naa to Main Khiladi Tu Anari: Celebrating 30 Years of Iconic Bollywood Movies (Photo Credit – YouTube)

We’ve reached the middle of 2024 and it’s almost unbelievable that these iconic movies are completing 30 years from the time they hit the cinema halls. The year 1994 was definitely a landmark one for the Bollywood industry. With power packed action, timeless romance, quintessential Bollywood drama and songs that have stayed on our playlists ever since, let’s take a trip down memory lane with these cinematic wonders.

1. Hum Aapke Hain Koun..! (Photo Credit – YouTube)

Directed by: Sooraj R. Barjatya

If there was one movie that redefined family entertainers and weddings at large, it was Hum Aapke Hain Koun. This Salman Khan and Madhuri Dixit starrer revolutionized the genre with its depiction of Indian family values and relationships. The film broke multiple box office records, won awards everywhere and became a cultural phenomenon.

Arjun Rampal Was Jobless For 6 Years Because Of Og Bollywood Debut Moksha! ( Photo Credit – Instagram )

Arjun Rampal is one of the most good-looking actors in Bollywood. He began his showbiz career as a model and was doing quite well for himself. National film award-winning Indian film cinematographer Ashok Mehta offered him his directorial debut, Moksha, but little did he know the film would get delayed for six long years. Scroll below for details on how he went jobless and suffered financial woes.

Many know that Arjun made his Bollywood debut with Rajiv Rai’s Pyaar Ishq Aur Mohabbat (2001) opposite Suniel Shetty, Aftab Shivdasani, and Kirti Reddy. He went on to star in Deewaanapan opposite Dia Mirza. But what most don’t know is his first film was ideally supposed to be Moksha.

Arjun Rampal suffered financial troubles due to Moksha

In an interview with Pop Diaries, Arjun Rampal revealed he...

Pankaj Udhas earned his first accolade as a singer when he was 11 years old. He sang the patriotic song ‘Ae mere watan ke logon’ at a public event in his hometown Rajkot when the Sino-Indian War was raging in 1962, and he so impressed a member of the audience that he gifted the young singer what was then a princely sum of Rs 51.

Udhas, who passed into eternity on Monday, February 26, at the age of 72, however, had not planned to become a singer. He was training to play the tabla at the Sangeet Natya Academy in Rajkot, where he had been enrolled along with his brothers by his father, Keshubhai Udhas, a government official who had learnt to play the dilruba from Ustad Abdul Karim Khan.

Seeing his father play his favourite dilruba in his spare time inspired Udhas to pursue music seriously. His elder brothers, Manhar and Nirmal Udhas, also...

Filmmaker-producer Vidhu Vinod Chopra, who is best known for films such as ‘Parinda’, ‘Khamosh’, ‘1942: A Love Story’, ‘Mission Kashmir’ and for bankrolling the ‘Munna Bhai’ franchise, has completed 45 years in cinema.

The filmmaker is gearing up for his upcoming release ’12th Fail’ and his work is being celebrated across the country with a festival of his most memorable films.

As he completes 45 years in cinema and turns a new leaf, here are some interesting facts about Chopra.

Vidhu Vinod Chopra’s parents came from Peshawar, now in Pakistan, but he was born in Srinagar, where he did his schooling mainly in Hindi and Urdu. Memories of his homeland come through in his films ‘Mission Kashmir’ and ‘Shikara’.

He got selected to the Film and Television Institute of India (Ftii), Pune, where his diploma film titled ‘Murder at Monkey Hill’ bagged the National Film Award for Best Experimental Film.

His next film,...

Filmmaker-producer Vidhu Vinod Chopra, who is best known for films such as ‘Parinda’, ‘Khamosh’, ‘1942: A Love Story’, ‘Mission Kashmir’ and for bankrolling the ‘Munna Bhai’ franchise, has completed 45 years in cinema.

The filmmaker is gearing up for his upcoming release ’12th Fail’ and his work is being celebrated across the country with a festival of his most memorable films.

As he completes 45 years in cinema and turns a new leaf, here are some interesting facts about Chopra.

Vidhu Vinod Chopra’s parents came from Peshawar, now in Pakistan, but he was born in Srinagar, where he did his schooling mainly in Hindi and Urdu. Memories of his homeland come through in his films ‘Mission Kashmir’ and ‘Shikara’.

He got selected to the Film and Television Institute of India (Ftii), Pune, where his diploma film titled ‘Murder at Monkey Hill’ bagged the National Film Award for Best Experimental Film.

His next film,...

Actor Jackie Shroff stirred up the nostalgia among his fans and followers, as he celebrated the 34th anniversary of the iconic Bollywood film ‘Tridev’ on Friday, by sharing a heartfelt reel on Instagram.

Jackie goes down the memory lane, and shares unseen pictures from the sets alongside Madhuri Dixit, Sunny Deol and other cast from the team.

The actor captioned the post as, “34 years of Tridev”, expressing his sentiment and appreciation for the movie that left an indelible mark on his career.

The reel has garnered 76.3K views. It got comments such as, “My all-time favorite movie!”, “Dada, you looked incredible then, and you look incredible now”, and “Ek number”.

It also evoked memories of the popular song ‘Gali Gali Mein Firta Hai’, which became an instant hit then, and is still loved by fans today.

‘Tridev’ is a 1989 action thriller film directed by Rajiv Rai, starring Sunny Deol, Naseeruddin Shah,...

Mumbai, May 3 (Ians) It has been over three decades to Anil Kapoor’s iconic dialogue ‘jhakaas’ as his film ‘Yudh’ has clocked 38 years in Hindi cinema.

Anil took to Twitter, where he shared a slew of stills from the film, which marked the directorial debut of producer Gulshan Rai’s son Rajiv Rai in 1985.

He wrote: “38 Years of #Yudh and 38 years since #Jhakassss came into our lives and never left! ?? I always remember #Yudh very fondly for so many reasons! Working with the producer Gulshan Rai and his son Rajiv was a pleasure, Tina Munim was a fabulous costar and Jackie was, as always, a blast!”

Anil shared that he also loved working with Nutan because “she was always so warm and caring, she reminded me of my own mother.”

“Plus, who can forget a dream chance to dance with the one and only Hemaji! Yudh really was a gift...

Mumbai, March 17 (Ians) It was a visual treat to see actress Ananya Panday dance with her father Chunky Panday on the song ‘Saat Samundar Paar’ at her cousin Alanna Panday’s wedding held here on Thursday.

A video shared on Ananya’s fan page, showed Ananya dressed in a powder blue and white saree dancing with Chunky, who sported a parrot green blazer paired with white pants. They were also joined by Ananya’s cousin brother Ahaan, who looked dapper in a black suit.

The song ‘Saat Samundar Paar’ is from Chunky’s 1992 film ‘Vishwatma’ directed by Rajiv Rai. It also stars Sunny Deol, Naseeruddin Shah and Divya Bharti among many others.

The film follows Prabhat, an honest police officer, being sent to Kenya by the Indian Government to capture the dreaded crime lord Ajgar Jurrat and bring an end to his illegal businesses.

On the work front, Ananya will...

Bollywood actors Kajol and Bobby Deol celebrated the success of their cult film ‘Gupt’ which completes 25 years. Kajol recalls playing a ‘badass woman’ in the film. The actors turned up along with the filmmaker Rajiv Rai at a special screening organised by Radio Nasha. On the occasion of the silver jubilee of the film, […]...

Filmmaker Rajiv Rai, son of the famous producer Gulshan Rai, is well known for his films like Mohra, Gupt and Tridev. The latest update on him is that, he is now officially divorced from his wife, yesteryear actress Sonam, after 25 years of their marriage. The official divorce of Rajiv Rai and Sonam came through on July 25 this year. Speaking about the divorce, Rajiv Rai said that they had decided to go in for a legal separation in June last year and that the petition for divorce by mutual consent was filed on January 21 this year. He added that, they (Sonam and him) neither had a showdown or argument anytime nor any verbal disagreements over the decision. He also added that, while there was no specific reason why things didn't work out for them, they were trying hard to make their marriage work, but somewhere along the way it fell apart.

It was way back in 1994 when Naseeruddin Shah had taken Akshay Kumar as well as Suniel Shetty for a ride with his blind man act in Mohra. It had turned out to be a huge twist in the tale when as a businessman Jindal, Naseeruddin Shah had turned out to be a villain of the piece, instead of being a savor that he projected himself to be. Now 21 years later, it is John Abraham's turn to face the music, as he comes face to face with Naseeruddin Shah in a blind avtar again. The film is Welcome Back and this time around there is no pretense being put as the veteran actor is playing a comical don named Wanted Bhai in the Anees Bazmee directed action comedy. In the first of the series, it was Firoz Khan who came in the lives of Akshay Kumar, Anil Kapoor and Nana Patekar...

Now it can be told. In his directorial debut Kick, producer Sajid Nadiadwala has paid a tribute to actress Divya Bharti, the young much-missed actress who passed away suddenly on April 5, 1993 at the age of 19 leaving behind an astonishingly large and popular body of work that she did in her short-lived 4-year career. Divya was married to Sajid Nadiadwala at the time when her shocking death happened. After her death every single film that Sajid produced until his re-marriage in 2004 was dedicated to Divya. Now years later, as he turns director Sajid has not forgotten to remember Divya. In a memorable tribute he has Salman Khan dancing and lip-synching to the hit Viju Shah composition 'Saat samundar paar mein tere peeche-peeche aa gayee'. The song from Rajiv Rai's Vishwatma was filmed on Divya Bharti. It was her acting debut. Apparently Sajid paid the music company Saregama a small fortune,...

Not many know but the title ‘Villain’ did not originally belong to Balaji. While the film was under production, the title was being used provisionally.

However director Mohit Suri, the writers and producers (Balaji) were extremely keen to have that title for their Sidharth Malhotra-Riteish Deshmukh-Shraddha Kapoor starrer as they felt that it was extremely powerful and relevant to the subject.

The title was the ownership of yesteryear’s film maker Rajiv Rai, known for blockbusters like ‘Tridev’, ‘Mohra’ and ‘Gupt’. When Balaji requested him recently, he obliged.

Confirms Tanuj Garg, CEO – Balaji Motion Pictures, “Rajiv (Rai) is a dear friend. When I requested him for the title, he consented immediately. He wasn’t planning to produce or direct any film with the title and gave it to us.”

‘Ek Villain’ releases in cinemas worldwide on June 27.

In case you missed it, check out the first look of the film!

It was way back in 2001 when actor Arjun Rampal made a strong impact with Rajiv Rai’s Pyaar Ishq Aur Mohabbat, and even though the film failed at the box-office, Arjun was flooded with offers. Quite a few films later and despite having worked with several top actresses like Aishwarya Rai (Dil Ka Rishta), Preity Zinta (Dil Hai Tumhara), Priyanka Chopra (Yakeen) etc, Arjun could not make his mark as a lead actor and most of his films flopped at the ticket window. Read More...

It was way back in 2001 when actor Arjun Rampal made a strong impact with Rajiv Rai's Pyaar Ishq Aur Mohabbat, and even though the film failed at the box-office, Arjun was flooded with offers. Quite a few films later and despite having worked with several top actresses like Aishwarya Rai (Dil Ka Rishta), Preity Zinta (Dil Hai Tumhara), Priyanka Chopra (Yakeen) etc, Arjun could not make his mark as a lead actor and most of his films flopped at the ticket window.

His last directorial venture Asambhav had bombed at the box office. But director Rajiv Rai, who is living at an undisclosed destination outside India, is keen to direct again and would very much like to have Arjun Rampal in the lead.Rai who has given hits like Tridev, Mohra and Gupt had to leave India in 1997 with his family, after a hitman tried to kill him but didn't succeed. It is believed the man behind this attack was underworld don Abu Salem.But, Rai is keen to come back and don the director's hat again."I've been back ...

Mumbai, Oct 12: His last directorial venture 'Asambhav' had bombed at the box office. But director Rajiv Rai, who is living at an undisclosed destination outside India, is keen to direct again and would very much like to have Arjun Rampal in the lead.

Rai who has given hits like 'Tridev', 'Mohra' and 'Gupt' had to leave India in 1997 with his family, after a hitman tried to kill him but didn't succeed. It is believed the man behind this attack was underworld don Abu Salem.

But,Rai is keen to come back and don the director's hat again.

'I've been back in Mumbai on several occasions recently. No one gets to know about.

His last directorial venture .Asambhav. had bombed at the box office. But director Rajiv Rai, who is living at an undisclosed destination outside India, is keen to direct again and would very much like to have Arjun Rampal in the lead.Rai who has given hits like .Tridev., .Mohra. and .Gupt. had to leave India in 1997 with his family, after a hitman tried to kill him but didn.t succeed. It is believed the man behind this attack was underworld don Abu Salem.But, Rai is keen to come back and don the director.s hat again..I.ve been back in Mumbai on several occasions recently. No one gets to know about it because I keep a low profile. I don.t know what.s being written about me. I am not sure what I.ll direct. I.ve worked out a few stories,. he said..I might do a film next year.

Balaji’s forthcoming The Dirty Picture is deep into its shooting schedule and they have recently shot a song sequence. Picturised on Vidya Balan and Naseeruddin Shah the track was shot at Hyderabad’s Ramoji Film City.

For the sensational song sequence director Milan Luthria recently ordered two truckloads of oranges. Why? Well, in true South style, over a thousand oranges were rolled down a hillside as the actors danced to choreographer Pony Verma’s matkas and jhatkas — reminiscent of the erstwhile Jeetendra-starrer Himmatwala!

In The Dirty Picture, Naseer, who plays a South-Indian superstar, consented to dancing after 20 years, as it was in line with the requirements of his character. He was last seen dancing with Sonam in Rajiv Rai’s smash hit, Tridev. We know we can’t wait to see his moves!

Naseer, Vidya and the Dirty Oranges! is a post from: BollySpice...