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The sheer beauty of Varanasi—the temples, the river banks, the aroma of incense—floods you as Pankuj Parashar—the man who’d have been ‘kink’ (remember Jalwa and Chalbaaz) goes into a heady but steady spiritual quest. Banaras works on several levels. As a film that takes us right into the heart of the holy city, it’s a splendid occasion for sights and sounds seldom heard in contemporary cinema.

Full and irrevocable marks to cinematographer Nirav Shah, music composer Himesh Reshammiya, and background scorer Surinder Sodhi for adding a luminous layer to this mellow drama of some lyrical beauty. These technicians are, at their best, creating a world of optical and spiritual salvation without hampering the flow of the romantic tale that takes hold of the director’s vision and guides him into a soul-searching exercise of considerable sensitivity and compassion.

Admittedly, director Parashar’s quest to fuse...

We have another great installment of the series This Day That Year. This time, Subhash K Jha revisits Kya Yehi Pyar Hai, starting Ammesha Patel, Aftab Shivdasani, and Jackie Shroff, which released in 2002.

Though Kya Yehi Pyar Hai sounds like yet another syrupy song-filled romp in the ravines, it actually stretches its neck out by arguing against the cult of puppy love, which has taken over our films.

Aftab Shivdasani is well cast as a moony dude who relentlessly chases a disinterested dame for four years, only to realize at the end of the prolonged courtship that the effort wasn’t worth his while. In a well-filmed seaside confrontation, the ice-maiden finally thaws, “I’m all yours.”

But the boy takes us by surprise by belatedly rationalizing that love shouldn’t be a be-all, end-all of a young man’s life. “Thousands of youngsters like me while away their crucial...

Looking back at the true story of the writer and the brilliant film Staying Alive with director and lead player Anant Mahadevan.

Screenwriter Sujit Sen, who died unsung in 2005, was the subject of Anant Mahdevan’s Staying Alive. “It was the story of a journalist, played by me, who has had three heart attacks and is back in hospital where he encounters a gangster, played by Sourabh Shukla, in the next bed. These are incidents that actually happened in Sujit’s life. It’s sad that he’s gone before Staying Alive could be released. As a dear friend, I’d have liked to have it released before his death… Sujit Sen was like a father figure, brilliant but broken by the blitzkrieg of callousness in Bollywood.”

Apparently, Sujit, who wrote Mahesh Bhatt’s best films Arth and Saraansh, never quite survived the break with the filmmaker. Anant shrugs off...

Ace filmmaker Rajkumar Hirani’s son Vir is set to make his acting debut with the play ‘Letters from Suresh’, an updated version of the iconic ‘Tumhari Amrita’, which had featured the late Farooq Sheikh and Shabana Azmi.

‘Letters from Suresh’, as in the case of the original, is being directed by theatre veteran Feroze Abbas Khan.

Vir Hirani is a recent graduate of the prestigious Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, better known as Rada, in London. He has been making short films since his teens.

The epistolary production ‘Tumhari Amrita’ was an adaptation of A.R. Gurney’s American play ‘Love Letters’. The Hindi/Urdu version was written in 1992 by playwright Javed Siddiqui after Feroze Abbas Khan approached him following a meeting with Gurney.

The play premiered at the Prithvi Theatre in Mumbai on February 27, 1992, during the Jennifer Kapoor Festival as a tribute to the late actress on her birth anniversary.

Most Hindi cine lovers wait for a Rajshri film and that too if it is a Sooraj Barjatya film, nothing like it. We have been waiting with bated breath since the release of ‘Prem Ratan Dhan Payo’ for the next Barjatya film. Announced in October 2021 Uunchai is Sooraj Barjatya’s latest directorial with a completely ‘senior’ cast. I guess, this could very well be one of the most envious casts with just Parineeti Chopra from amongst the younger generation.

Uunchai is positioned as a film around friendship and that made one think if it is yet another remake of their own ‘Dosti’ (1964) but that is not the case. Uunchai is a film about the thick friendship and bond of four friends played by Amitabh Bachchan, Boman Irani, Anupam Kher and Danny Denzongpa.

The story of Uunchai begins with a celebration; it is Bhupen’s (Danny) birthday and Amit Shrivastav (Amitabh...

Releasing on 11-11-22: is the eagerly awaited film Uunchai starring the incredible.e cast of Amitabh Bachchan, Anjpam Kher and Boman Irani. The film about friendship and conquering an extreme challenge was directed by Sooraj R. Barjatya, and also features Neena Gupta and Sarika, with Parineeti Chopra in a very special appearance and two solid guest appearances by Danny Denzongpa and Nafisa Ali Sodhi.

Uunchai is a celebration in story of friendship, adventure, and life with the tag line ‘Friendship was their only motivation’. Uunchai is a story about how we can challenge ourselves, change the impossible into possible, never mind our age. It is a story of inspiration, where there is no age limit to do what we like… whether it is to learn a new language, a new gadget, or climb to the Everest base camp.

Earlier we were introduced to Amitab Bachchan’s Amit Shrivastava...

The king of romance, Shah Rukh Khan, alongside his co-star Kajol, their film Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge completes 25 years.

Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayeng directed by Aditya Chopra in his directorial debut, produced by his father Yash Chopra, and written by Javed Siddiqui with Aditya Chopra. Released on 20 October 1995.

The plot revolves around Raj and Simran, two young non-resident Indians, who fall in love during a vacation through Europe with their friends.

Raj tries to win over Simran's family so the couple can marry, but Simran's father has long since promised her hand to his friend's son. The film was shot in India, London, and Switzerland, from September 1994 to August 1995.

It is one of the best romantic films of Bollywood till date.

On the occasion of 25 years of Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge, we have some romantic dialogues of Shah Rukh Khan and Kajol starrer Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge below:

Raj: 'Agar...

In the book ‘Aditya Chopra Relives…Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge’, written by Nasreen Munni Kabir, Aditya Chopra revealed he enlisted the help of Javed Siddiqui for the dialogues. However, the tone of his dialogues was not right for Aditya and hence he himself wrote most of the dialogues. Yet, there was one dialogue that caught Aditya Chopra’s attention which is‘Bade bade deshon mein aisi chhoti chhoti baatein hoti rehti hain.’ Aditya Chopra explained that he felt that it was a lovely catchphrase, the sort that was popular in the 1950s. The line had a kind of cheesy quality that he liked.

The post Birthday special: Meet Javed Siddiqui who wrote the iconic line ‘Bade bade deshon mein…’ appeared first on Bollywood Hungama.

Bollywood epic movie ‘Umrao Jaan’ director Muzaffar Ali is returning after three decades gap with his next outing ‘Jaanisaar’. As the movie’s releasing date is coming near, the promotional activities of the film are going full swing. The Jaanisaar team were recently spotted promoting the film. Lead actors Imran Abbas and Permia Qureshi were presented along with director.

Jaanisaar is a love saga of a revolutionary courtesan of Avadh, India, and a prince brought up in England, set 20 years after the first war of Indian independence of 1857. Written by Javed Siddiqui, Shama Zaidi and Muzaffar Ali, the film is scheduled to release on 7th August this year.

The post Promotion of Muzaffar Ali’s ‘Jaanisaar’ appeared first on BollySpice.com.

Islamabad, March 19: Om Puri is set to return to stage with 'Teri Amrita'.

The 65-year-old actor is set to mark his return to stage after near twenty five years with Feroze Khan's Punjabi adaptation of the play, Teri Amrita, along with Divya Dutta, the Express Tribune reported.

The Indian adaptation of the play, which first premiered in 1992 and was performed for over 20 years, was conceived by Javed Siddiqui, who titled the rendition Tumhari Amrita.

The 90-minute narration is based on dialogic storytelling process, in which the narration of the letters is used to act out the screenplay. (Ani)...

Mumbai, Nov 12: Write-ups suggesting that actor Randeep Hooda, once a very close friend of actress Neetu Chandra, showed up at the Prithvi Theatres to witness her stage debut as "Umrao Jaan" for old times' sake, has her fuming.

"This isn't what I want to be known for. I don't want my moment of glory to be diluted by talks about whom I am seeing or whom I am broken up with," said the actress of films like "Traffic Signal" and "Garam Masala".

"My stage debut doesn't need such props. There were so many senior theatre artistes present for my stage debut like Benjamin Gilani, Kunal Kapoor, Om Puri, Nida Fazli, Javed Siddiqui.

Mumbai, June 1: Who can forget super hit film Umrao Jaan which made a star out of Rekha. According to sources the film makers are planning to make a sequel for this super-hit classic of 1981. The film which was directed by Muzaffar Ali was inspired by Urdu Novel Umrao Jaan Ada, written by famous author Mirza Hadi Ruswa. Rekha's performance as a famous Lucknow courtesan, won her the first National Award. The film's director Muzaffar Ali and Javed Siddiqui who is one of the film's writer are planning to come with a sequel for the film. Javed Siddiqui interacting.

Mumbai, Nov 21: Shabana Azmi, who has been part of the Indian film industry for the past 35 years and has worked in about 120 films, says her most memorable role is not from a film, but a play.

'I have been working for the last 35 years and I have played a lot of different roles. But the most satisfying experience for me was the character of Amrita in the play 'Tumhari Amrita' written by Javed Siddiqui,' the actress, who is also a social activist, told reporters at a book launch function here.

'When I first heard the story of the play, I started crying. Even after doing 300 shows of the play, I start crying at the same.

Shabana Azmi, who has been part of the Indian film industry for the past 35 years and has worked in about 120 films, says her most memorable role is not from a film, but a play..I have been working for the last 35 years and I have played a lot of different roles. But the most satisfying experience for me was the character of Amrita in the play .Tumhari Amrita. written by Javed Siddiqui,. the actress, who is also a social activist, told reporters at a book launch function here..When I first heard the story of the play, I started crying. Even after doing 300 shows of the play, I start crying at the same point every time,. said Shabana.Besides Javed Siddiqui, Shabana, who is married to well-known writer Javed Akhtar, is also a huge fan of Gulzar..I consider Gulzar a fabulous lyricist and a dialogue writer. I want him...

Shah Rukh Khan and Kajol. Kajol and Shah Rukh Khan. What can you say about a jodi who is just 5 films old, yet one of the most bankable jodi’s in Hindi cinema? A jodi that has not yet delivered a box office dud. A jodi that has produced some of Bollywood's biggest hits - earning her three Filmfare Best Actress Awards and him three Filmfare Best Actor Awards.

To celebrate the return of this jodi to the silver screen after eight incredibly long years, BollySpice is all set to take you on a journey down memory lane to look at the magic that has been created by one of the industry’s favourite jodi’s.

Baazigar

Directed by: Abbas Mustan

Produced by: Ganesh Jain

Written by: Robin Bhatt, Akash Khurana, Javed Siddiqui

Music by: Anu Malik

Starring: Shahrukh Khan, Kajol, Shilpa Shetty, Rakhee, Dalip Tahil, Anant Mahadevan, Siddharth, Johnny Lever...

Bollywood actress Sonali Bendre, a regular on TV as a judge in such shows as Indian Idol and India’s Got Talent, suffered some embarrassment when she was prevented from opening a lounge bar at a new mall complex in Kolkata by the police and escorted back to her car. Portions of the complex had been erected illegally and were due for demolition.

Hopefully, Sonali will have better luck with her other new endorsement which is for Dr Morepen healthy lifestyle products. "Health & overall wellness is becoming increasingly important in today's fast paced world,” she says, “I’m very happy to be associated with Dr. Morepen who are providing realistic, holistic & handy solutions to our everyday health problems."

In the last few years, Sonali has been looking beyond mainstream cinema in the quest for new experiences to stretch herself as an actress. She appeared in the acclaimed Marathi historical drama...