It has been almost half a century since Meena Kumari (1933- 1972) passed away, and yet her evocative silver screen images come back again and again to stir our emotions. In death, as in life, she remains the creator of many stories, exactly resembling Princess Scheherazade of the Arabian Nights. The Arabian Princess wove endless […]
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Kaifi Azmi — the Poet of Love, Revolution and Regeneration Aaj ki raat bahut garm hava chalti hai Aaj ki raat na footpath pe niind aa.egi Sab uTho, main bhi uThun tum bhi uTho, tum bhi uTho Koi khiDki isi divar men khul ja.egi (A sultry wind blows tonight, Sleep won’t visit the footpath […]
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Saeed Jaffrey — the Transcultural Beacon “I cannot rest from travel: I will drink Life to the lees: All times I have enjoy’d Greatly, have suffer’d greatly, both with those That loved me, and alone, on shore, and when Thro’ scudding drifts the rainy Hyades Vext the dim sea.” -Alfred Tennyson, ‘Ulysses’ Literally in […]
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Shyam Benegal: the Affable Auteur “Weave a circle around him thrice, And close your eyes with holy dread, For he on honey-dew hath fed, And drunk the milk of Paradise.” -Samuel Taylor Coleridge, ‘Kubla Khan’ The most endearing aspect of Shyam Benegal as an individual and a director is his unassuming demeanour. He is an […]
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Sharmila Tagore ‘From the east to western Ind, No jewel is like Rosalind. Her worth, being mounted on the wind, Through all the world bears Rosalind. All the pictures fairest lined Are but black to Rosalind, Let no face be kept in mind But the fair Rosalind’ –Shakespeare, As You Like It (Act III, scene […]
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Geeta Dutt ‘Tis not through envy of thy happy lot, But being too happy in thy happiness,— That thou, light-winged Dryad of the trees In some melodious plot Of beechen green, and shadows numberless, Singest of summer in full-throated ease. – John Keats, Ode to a Nightingale In Geeta Dutt’s warbling voice, subdued smile […]
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Vivien Leigh — the Scorn that Won the World “Was this the face that launch’d a thousand ships, And burnt the topless towers of Ilium? Sweet Helen, make me immortal with a kiss. Her lips suck forth my soul: see, where it flies! Come, Helen, come, give me my soul again. Here will I dwell, […]
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Aparna Sen Where the bee sucks, There suck I; In a cowslip’s bell I lie; There I couch when owls do cry; On the Bat’s back I do fly After summer merrily. Merrily , merrily shall I live now, Under the blossom That hangs on the bough. -The Tempest, Act V, Scene I With […]
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Shabana Azmi Age cannot wither her, nor custom stale her infinite variety These lines from Antony and Cleopatra, originally woven by the Bard of Avon to sing a paean to the Egyptian queen, seem apt for Shabana Azmi. There is an unwritten norm that most celebrities much before they approach seventy opt for retirement […]
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Of all the genres of mass culture, cinema is arguably the most popular and universal, yet it is also the most intricate. Cinema is rigorous multi tasking and meticulous teamwork. It is the ultimate example of intermedia art that brings together an assortment of technological expertise and artistic insight. In cinema we see people like […]
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