Zoya Akhtar's The Archies and the memories of M from Mawprem
Watching a new generation of Bollywood kids making their debut in this Netflix film, I couldn't help but think of M, the girl from Mawprem who had opened up the…Continue Reading →
The Deewaar of Aadhaar
The 'deewaar' of Aadhaar has people on both sides of the wall (and also many sitting on it)
2016 in unofficial Google doodles
There are some doodles that Google didn’t (or wouldn’t) doodle. The Chaiwallah prides himself as an unofficial Google doodler. I…
Aishwarya Rai Bachchan – the unofficial Google doodle
I was in school when she first mesmerised us all with those emerald eyes and over two decades later, those eyes still have the same enthralling effect. On Aishwarya Rai…Continue Reading →
The Bollywood periodic table
London-based designer Johnny Joannou has a thing for the periodic table. His long series of designs based on the chemisty…
Coming soon: The post-Piku t-shirts (and panjabis) 😉
You might have read the reviews, or better still, watched the ‘motion picture’. Shoojit Sircar’s Piku brings out the poop…
Akshay Kumar’s first modelling assignment
Before becoming an actor, Akshay Kumar did only one modelling assignment and it was for a gym called Perfect 10. And from the money that he earned from his first…Continue Reading →
Mao Tse-tung’s favourite Bollywood song
It is a little difficult to imagine Chairman Mao, humming along a Hindi film song. But it is said that…
Shammi Kapoor’s unrealised desire
One of Shammi Kapoor’s unfulfilled desires was to be a horse-riding tea garden manager in Assam. [tbpspa]
Guru Dutt the reluctant actor
Shammi Kapoor was to be the hero in Aar Paar (1954) and Dilip Kumar was the choice for the role of Vijay in Pyaasa (1957) but Guru Dutt, ever the…Continue Reading →
Watch: Interval at a cinema hall in the 1970s screening a Hindi film
Now that multiplexes (and piracy) have altered our movie watching experience for good, ever wondered what it was like inside…
Don (1975) and the curious case of duplicates
In Chandra Barot’s Don (1978) Pran’s duplicate (for stunts) was a woman, while Zeenat Aman’s was a man. (Hat tip:…
