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Friday, October 31, 2025
TopicFilmi Flashback

Topic: Filmi Flashback

Parinda introduced gritty realism to Bollywood. A fire on the set injured Nana Patekar

Parinda depicted a new side of Mumbai—the underworld with raw authenticity, unlike the glamorisation seen in earlier films like Deewar.

A courtesan without shame or guilt—1966 film ‘Amrapali’ gave us a proud, powerful heroine

Every tawaif is said to be a corpse in ‘Pakeezah’. In ‘Amrapali’, however, the heroine fights for her status as a ‘nagarvadhu’ and takes pride in it.

Manoranjan—1974 film defied moral police. Zeenat Aman played an independent sex worker

Bright outfits, exaggerated comic scenes, and the lack of long-drawn emotional moments make Manoranjan entertaining. But it was a box office failure.

Raj Kapoor was awed by the global fame of Pather Panchali. He made ‘Jagte Raho’ in Bangla

A film without a lead pair, no romance, or masala and a purist director who belonged to theatre is recipe for commercial failure in Bollywood even today.

An Evening in Paris marked an iconic moment. Showed Indians the Parisian life in desi flavour

Sharmila Tagore’s winged liner, little black dress, sarees paired with knotted blouses to her bikini and puffed hairstyle, everything was on point. Even Shammi Kapoor’s tailored suits, or his colourful shirts were tasteful.

Balraj Sahni and Nutan’s ‘Seema’ is a simple story, almost ahead of its time

The powerful dynamic between the two lead characters can remind one of modern-day films like Dear Zindagi.

‘Mamta’ belongs to Suchitra Sen. Her range is on full display—dancer, mother, fierce lover

The 1966 film explores the life of Devyani who escapes an abusive marriage and becomes a courtesan. Her relationships with ex-lover, her daughter take centre stage.

Yash Chopra tackled Partition and Hindu fundamentalism in Dharmputra, long before Garm Hava

Romantic heartthrob Shashi Kapoor and King of Romance Yash Chopra's first collaboration in 1961 sensitively handled Hindu-Muslim differences and religious bigotry.

Sahir Ludhianvi’s hard-hitting, haunting words make ‘Phir Subah Hogi’ relevant even today

This 1958 Raj Kapoor and Mala Sinha-starrer was all about criticising the government, talking about cruel realities and helping the disadvantaged.

‘Arth’ may have been based on Mahesh Bhatt’s life, but Jagjit Singh played a starring role

Jagjit Singh's haunting ghazals compel listeners to question the meaning of love, loss, life and identity.

On Camera

Starbucks was once progressive. It’s now approaching a dangerous spot in culture wars

Former CEO Howard Schultz once told shareholders those who opposed his support of same-sex marriage were free to invest elsewhere. But now, CEO Brian Niccol seems to be selling Starbucks as a place that just, well, sells coffee.

Consumer Price Index gets up to date. Airfare, OTT plans, e-commerce prices in new basket—MoSPI secy

New CPI series will take 2024 as base year, will provide more accurate measure of inflation, spending on digital services. Expected to enhance representation and reliability, says Saurabh Garg.

India pulled out of Tajikistan’s strategically important Ayni air base in 2022. Here’s why

Tajikistan did not want to extend the lease because of apparent pressure from Russia & China over non-regional military personnel at the air base, it is learnt.

Deepfake on duty: when I asked AI to read Op Sindoor citations

On 21 Oct, a buzz went up that the govt had released full list of gallantry award recipients along with Op Sindoor citations. I put an AI caddy on the job. It took me into a never-ending rabbit hole.