scorecardresearch
Thursday, July 31, 2025
HomeFeaturesReel Take

Reel Take

Rekha’s Ghar asks an important question—How does a couple survive sexual assault?

The 1978 classic Ghar attempts to start a conversation around rape and trama, which is absent from most Hindi films to date.

English is a very funny language—Bachchan gave the OG Bollywood monologue in ‘Namak Halaal’

While Bachchan has been rightly applauded for his dialogue delivery in ‘Namak Halaal’, the writer is not widely known—it was actor Kader Khan.

Rekha’s Khoon Bhari Maang showed revenge doesn’t have to be violent—it can also be fashionable

Eccentric headgear, leather outfits, lace gloves, pearls—Rekha’s sartorial choices dominated Rakesh Roshan’s thriller.

Bollywood’s playful resistance to Emergency was Rekha’s Khubsoorat

Khubsoorat won the Filmfare Best Film award in the 1980s. It established Rekha as a star who could carry a film on her own, even in the absence of famous male hero.

‘Insaf Ka Tarazu’ was well-intentioned but couldn’t resist rape fetishisation of ’80s Bollywood

BR Chopra's 1980 remake of 'Lipstick' revived Raj Babbar's career, stalled for three years after his banned debut 'Kissa Kursi Ka'. Despite hesitation, Babbar accepted the role of a serial rapist.

‘Dosti’ was 1964’s breakout hit. A Bollywood film with no romance, hero-villain drama

Its actors, Sudhir Kumar and Sushil Kumar, were not superstars. The music was directed by Laxmikant-Pyarelal, when they were still not the powerhouse they eventually became.

‘Aasha’ explored a different view of one-sided love—that of the woman

Aasha, played by Reena Roy, is complex and empathetic—something female characters in Om Prakash movies have in common.

Sai Paranjpye’s ‘Sparsh’ squashes the ‘lachar-bechara’ image of blind people

Sparsh also highlights that number of books in Braille is abysmally low. It also shows how stories for the blind must make sense to them.

‘Ankhiyon Ke Jharokhon Se’ was a remake of an American novel. Here, parents aren’t villains

It steers clear of the traditional Bollywood stereotype of the Christian woman who goes on dates and loves to party. Lily is shown as an intelligent, studious and ambitious woman.


‘Mashaal’ mixed news media with melodrama. It made Anil Kapoor an ‘A-grade hero’

The 1980s were a tough time for Yash Chopra. He directed Mashaal after two of his major films, Silsila and Faasle, flopped at the box office.

On Camera

Big win for Delhi factories as MCD scraps an extra layer of red tape for ease of doing business

Until now, units operating even in recognised industrial areas needed a separate factory licence. The move is expected to especially give a boost to small and medium enterprises.

India to get last of Spain-built C-295 next month, focus now on 1st India-made aircraft

New Delhi: The last of the C-295 transport aircraft that is replacing the ageing Avro fleet of the Indian Air Force (IAF) will be...

Modi’s Bharat vs Indira’s India: 11-yr report card of politics, diplomacy, economy, nationalism

As Narendra Modi becomes India’s second-longest consecutively serving Prime Minister, we look at how he compares with Indira Gandhi across four key dimensions.