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Sunday, August 17, 2025
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Reel Take

‘Kohinoor’, the 1960s gem that had Bollywood’s tragedy king & queen at their comical best

Starring Dilip Kumar and Meena Kumari, the 1960 film directed by S.U. Sunny broke the shackles of tragedy and provided audiences wholesome entertainment.

50 years of Anand — Hrishikesh Mukherjee’s timeless classic is an ode to life

Thursday marks 50 years since Anand was released on 12 March 1971. It was well-received at the box office and went on to become the third-highest grossing film of 1971.

In Hum Dono, lyricist Sahir Ludhianvi turns melodrama into a meditation on love, war & life

Starring Dev Anand in a double role, along with Sadhana and Nanda, Hum Don is film takes on the classic lookalike trope, set against the backdrop of World War 2.

Aakrosh, Om Puri’s masterclass in the art of silence, is especially powerful after Hathras

Om Puri, Naseeruddin Shah, Amrish Puri and Smita Patil star in Govind Nihalani's 1980 directorial debut that explores caste politics and the oppression of Adivasis.

Smita Patil in Aakhir Kyon? is an example of how art and mainstream films aren’t so far apart

Directed by J. Om Prakash, the film, also starring Rajesh Khanna, Rakesh Roshan and Tina Munim, was one of Smita Patil's early forays into mainstream Hindi cinema.

Vinod Khanna’s Achanak is a philosophical look at the duty of medical and legal professionals

Written and directed by Gulzar, Achanak takes off from the sensational Nanavati case that was India's first brush with a media trial and a high-profile crime of passion.

Daag, Yash Chopra’s debut as producer, broke the mould with its shades of bigamy

Starring Rajesh Khanna, Sharmila Tagore and Rakhee, the film was a daring choice for Yash Raj Films to debut with, but its massive success made it a risk worth taking.

Feroz Khan’s Qurbani is stylish and sexy and doesn’t take itself too seriously

A high-octane action flick starring Feroz Khan, Zeenat Aman and Vinod Khanna, Qurbani was a smash hit in 1980 and is great fun even today.

Hrishikesh Mukherjee’s Majhli Didi is a family drama driven by strong women

Based on legendary Bengali author Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay's novel Mejdidi, the movie stars Meena Kumari and Lalita Pawar in a progressive take on adoption.

Ijaazat is a strangely poetic take on divorce that was rare in 1980s Hindi films

Naseeruddin Shah and Rekha's portrayal of a divorced couple in this Gulzar film is more loving and honest than many marriages that do last.

On Camera

Postcards from Hyderabad—stories Europeans told about the city

For all their colonial underpinnings, postcards from Hyderabad also inadvertently preserve a trace of local memory: a glimpse of a street, a face, a forgotten name.

Navigating Trump’s tariffs is no child’s play. Indian toymakers are losing out on orders, enquiries

Indian toymakers are now exploring new markets, but they want govt to negotiate a trade deal with US soon, introduce incentives and subsidies to make the industry more competitive.

What is Project Sudarshan Chakra, announced by Modi from ramparts of Red Fort

The project is meant to be a ‘protective shield that will keep expanding’, the PM said. It is on the lines of the ‘Golden Dome’ announced by Trump, it is learnt.

War of IAF, PAF doctrines: As Pakistan obsesses over numbers, India embraces risk, wins

Now that both IAF and PAF have made formal claims of having shot down the other’s aircraft in the 87-hour war in May, we can ask a larger question: do such numbers really matter?