A Nedumudi Venu character was happiest when moving his head to a piece of music with his eyes closed; or, when inventing off of a note that a co-actor had left unfinished; or, when reciting a poem by Kavalam Narayana Panicker where a hymn about nature descends into a musing about cheating, depression and death, feels Sreehari Nair.

Aseem Chhabra lists his favourite films from the recent Toronto International Film Festival.

'Films like Arth don't happen again and again. They come once in a lifetime. I was lucky to make it, and I couldn't have done it without Smita and Shabana.'

'Women use acting as a way to protect themselves.'

Every film that Sriram Raghavan makes is a compendium of ideas and sensations that tickle him. Trying to remake a Sriram Raghavan film is like getting excited by somebody else's goosebumps, observes Sreehari Nair.

'I've come across fans with my name tattooed on their arms.' 'The craziest fan was this guy who came all the way from Andhra to Mumbai to meet me and slept on the road for a couple of nights before he got what he wanted.'

'The amount of warmth I received from Aamir Sir during the shooting of Laal Singh Chaddha is very difficult to describe in words.'

This Khan superstar told Gulshan Grover, 'Go ahead, become a star in Hollywood.'

In Maqbool, Vishal Bhardwaj did a Godfather; in that he took something that was pulpy and fast and gripping, and made out of it something timeless and grand, feels Sreehari Nair.

'Once in a while if there is a great show, why not do it on OTT?'

'Today with Taliban at our doorsteps literally, we can't even put up our national flag. Only Allah knows, what will happen to Afghanistan now'

'We will see footfall returning to pre-COVID levels by January.'

'Kishoreda was very close to our family and offered a lot of support.'

When the top stars refused to play Milkha Singh, Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra went down another route. A riveting excerpt from the director's memoir The Stranger In The Mirror.

Farhan Akhtar, in first person, about the role that transformed his career as an actor.

Aseem Chhabra lists 10 of his favourite films that played in various sections at the 74th Cannes Film Festival.

It stirs up your emotions and you end up feeling attached to each of the characters in Uyare like you've known them forever, feels Divya Nair

After repeatedly essaying the role of doomed lover, Dilip Kumar, a thinking actor, found it diffcult to break out of in real life. Heeding his psychoanalyst, he flirted with some frothy roles and played the swashbuckling hero with elan, recalls Dinesh Raheja.

'I was attracted to her both as a fine co-star and as a person who had some of the attributes I hoped to find in a woman at that age and time,' says Dilip Kumar in his autobiography, Dilip Kumar: The Substance And The Shadow.

The way Dilip came to the porch to receive Lata, you would never have guessed something was amiss between the two. Raju Bharatan's many wonderful insights into Dilip Kumar's life.

If Netflix and the film's producers thought they would bring younger audiences to the master's works, many who might have aversion to decades-old black and white films, they have failed with the experiment, says Aseem Chhabra.

Zee is estimated to have paid around Rs 225 crore for the complete rights of Radhe. The total revenue that it may earn could be around Rs 135 crore, implying a shortfall of Rs 90 crore.

These images prove what a whacky world we live in!

'Somewhere, I have to be true to myself. At this point in life, I am more interested in human drama.'

'He's the biggest crowd-puller we have.' 'He still has the power, talent and most importantly, a mind-boggling fan base.' 'He is a darling of the masses, but he has to match the content.'

'I'm trying to move away from what I've done before, not because I'm not happy with what it was, but because I have already done that.'

Amit Mistry was a wicked actor, someone who could chance a broken arm, who could take deep dives, who could ram his head into walls, all without bothering about the outcome. And, as with that closing bit, the knowledge of where he might have arrived at eludes us now, observes Sreehari Nair.

There is a world that Satyajit Ray created in his films that I wanted to be a part of -- as Durga bathed in the rain to Ravi Shankar's music; when Charulata sat on the swing regretting she never had a child; and Aarti stood up in defence of her colleague. Aseem Chhabra shares interesting memoris of Satyajit Ray on the latter's birth centenary on May 2.

'We are thinking on something like the 'Irrfan Memorial Award' given to the most promising new actor.'

Irrfan never stopped being hopeful about the endless possibilities open to actors and film-makers in Indian cinema.

In a special segment called In Memoriam, Irrfan Khan and Oscar-winning costume designer Bhanu Athiya were remembered alongside many Hollywood actors and filmmakers including Chadwick Boseman, Ian Holl, Sean Connery and Max von Sydow.

Janhvi, Sara workout together... Ayushmann celebrates nine years of Vicky Donor...

Despite its stiffness, in Aarkkariyam, a supernatural glow does shine out of the ordinary.

It will be a start-to-finish quickie and feature the multi-faceted Dulquer in a role never seen before.

'I might in the future step out of a Dileesh Pothan movie not completely satisfied, but content I'll be in the knowledge that our greatest living film-maker had failed striving to be something more than just an auteur,' notes Sreehari Nair.

'There are only two religions in this country: Films and cricket.' 'These two religions will unite all religions.' 'And that only happens in a cinema hall.'

Subhash K Jha lists Holi songs that you have probably never heard.

'Of all artists who openly support the current political dispensation, she is far and away the finest,' argues Sreehari Nair. 'With the exception of perhaps Tabu, no Indian actress has done more to extend the range of the feminine mystique in Hindi cinema.'

Though he went back to writing "beautiful scenes" for other Bollywood directors, his deep interest in the lives of ordinary citizens never slackened, evident from the way he made himself available to human rights groups whenever they called him.

Overall, the Thalaivi trailer is a convincing experience, says veteran Tamil Nadu politics watcher N Sathiya Moorthy.