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Sunday, March 22, 2026
TopicOld movies

Topic: Old movies

1976 film Chhoti Si Baat is one of Bollywood’s most progressive portrayals of masculinity

Films such as Kabir Singh and Animal have normalised toxic masculinity to the point where the gentleness of Arun in the 1976 film Chhoti Si Baat is almost disorientating.

In Angry Young Man era, Khel Khel Mein stood out for its wisecracking rogue — Rakesh Roshan

Rakesh Roshan, never known for his success in leading roles, outshines Rishi Kapoor in 1975’s Khel Khel Mein, Bollywood’s first college murder thriller.

Asha Parekh set the tone for 1970s glamour in Aan Milo Sajna

‘Achha toh hum chalte hain’—it’s the songs that stuck around in the 1970 film Aan Milo Sajna.

Khatta Meetha was Bollywood’s first blended-family film. Progressive without preaching

The beauty of Basu Chatterjee’s storytelling in Khatta Meetha was that he didn’t show remarriage as something frowned upon or in need of justification.

Barsaat ki Raat was a rain-soaked romance. It had a qawwali that Shah Rukh Khan loves

If a luminous Madhubala is the heart, Sahir Ludhianvi’s Urdu poetry is the soul of Barsaat Ki Raat, 1960’s second-biggest hit after Mughal-e-Azam.

Khandhar is Mrinal Sen’s most poetic film. It’s a masterpiece of stillness and silence

Khandhar’s emotional core lies in what is left unsaid. Shabana Azmi and Naseeruddin Shah's towering performances convey unspoken yearning and forbidden longing without relying on dialogues.

With Aavishkar, Basu Bhattacharya turned his troubled marriage into a masterpiece

Rajesh Khanna and Sharmila Tagore played a couple falling apart in Aavishkar. Basu Bhattacharya based it on his own marriage and even filmed it in his house.

Haathi Mere Saathi captured true human-animal bond—long before CGI

Rajesh Khanna brings a rare sensitivity to the character of Raju. His interactions with the elephants exude authenticity—so much so that one forgets he’s acting.

Ek Dil Sau Afsane exposes a society obsessed with male child. It remains relevant even today

The grandmother's insistence on consulting a girl’s astrological birth chart to determine her capacity to bear a son underlines how superstition and patriarchy are deeply intertwined.

Dil Hi Toh Hai was a ‘Muslim social’ — but it put insaniyat and sharafat above khandan

The 1963 film Dil Hi Toh Hai, starring Raj Kapoor and Nutan, is a compelling outlier in the ‘Muslim Social’ genre. It defied conventions, even if gently.

On Camera

AI Is hastening the résumé’s demise. Good riddance

The résumé’s usefulness was short-lived at best and should have been replaced with a better way to evaluate job seekers long ago.

Amid revenue crisis, Himachal cuts budget by Rs 3,586 cr, defers salaries of CM, MLAs, top officials

Sukhu will defer half his own pay for six months; Group C, D employees and pensioners are fully exempt; Opposition calls it a budget that 'has gone backwards'.

Iran launches missile at US and UK’s Diego Garcia base, reveals new striking capability

New Delhi: In a dramatic escalation that has surprised the world, Iran attempted two missile strikes on a US-UK joint military base in the...

The Vishwaguru delusion, mine vs yours, is ruining our view of the world

One side thinks India is punching way above its weight. The other thinks Modi has undermined India and it punches below its strength. Both are wrong.