The connection between ‘Haathi Mere Saathi’ and a house for superstar Rajesh Khanna

A real estate deal had a great deal to do with the biggest hit in the 1970s actor’s career.

Gautam Chintamani

· Dec 29, 2017 · 08:15 am

‘Pink’ revisited: The anatomy of the ‘No means no’ scene, and the original ending

Excerpts from a book about the making of the acclaimed legal drama, directed by Aniruddha Roy Chowdhury, produced by Shoojit Sircar and written by Ritesh Shah.

Gautam Chintamani

· Sep 16, 2017 · 08:15 am

Before the hit, the hiccups: what kind of a title is ‘Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak’ anyway?

Conviction and a publicity campaign borrowed from American pulp fiction paved the way for Mansoor Khan’s debut movie.

Gautam Chintamani

· Oct 20, 2016 · 03:00 pm

I am a Nadeem-Shravan fan and I am not ashamed to admit it

Kudos for the music composers who defined Hindi film music in the 1990s before losing it all to the murder of Gulshan Kumar.

Gautam Chintamani

· Jul 01, 2016 · 01:30 pm

Films that are 50: ‘Aakhri Khat’ features a baby on its day out and future icon Rajesh Khanna

The debutant actor hunts for his misplaced son in Chetan Anand’s unusual movie from 1966.

Gautam Chintamani

· Apr 12, 2016 · 01:00 pm

When you attack Mark Zuckerberg, surely you don’t mean the guy from ‘The Social Network’?

Biopics can distort perceptions for good, as is proven by the negative press on the Facebook founder.

Gautam Chintamani

· Dec 11, 2015 · 05:35 pm

The brilliance of Salim-Javed lies not just in what they said, but how they said it

The legendary writing partners will be honoured for their contributions to popular Hindi cinema at the Jio MAMI Mumbai Festival.

Gautam Chintamani

· Oct 25, 2015 · 12:30 pm

‘Midnight’s Furies’: the violence of the Partition cannot be explained retrospectively

Has author Nisid Hajari succumbed to the trap of imposing today’s ideas on yesterday’s events?

Gautam Chintamani

· Aug 09, 2015 · 06:30 pm

Five sports books that made 2014 a sports-lover’s delight

They may not be the best sports books ever, but they offered sports-lovers some juicy reading this year.

Gautam Chintamani

· Dec 27, 2014 · 06:45 am

Star biographies: can a film-star’s life be an open book?

What iconic actors don’t reveal about themselves in their biographies tells as much as the things they do say.

Gautam Chintamani

· Nov 30, 2014 · 05:30 am

'Sun Mere Bandhu Re': The double notes of S.D. Burman’s life

An unusual narrative style combines with fresh insights to cast the composer’s life in a new light.

Gautam Chintamani

· Nov 12, 2014 · 02:30 am

Days and nights at Rajesh Khanna’s Bandra lair

A glimpse into the private life of Rajesh Khanna, the seventies supernova.

Gautam Chintamani

· Oct 12, 2014 · 12:30 am