Two men from Bishnoi gang, whose leader has threatened to kill Salman Khan, arrested over Mumbai shooting
Two members of a criminal gang have been arrested by Indian police for firing at the home of the Bollywood actor Salman Khan in retaliation for the star’s killing of two antelopes.
The Bishnoi gang, accused of several murders and extortion rackets, hails from a wider desert-based religious sect that considers the species to be the reincarnation of their guru.
Continue reading...Actor and former Miss World announced move to US at pinnacle of her fame in India eight years ago
The Indian actor Priyanka Chopra Jonas has spoken of how Bollywood’s enduring obsession with fair skin was one of the reasons she left the industry to try her luck in Hollywood eight years ago.
Chopra, 40, is a former Miss World and was at the pinnacle of her fame in India when she abruptly announced the move to the US.
Continue reading...Millions flock to see return of actor Shah Rukh Khan, despite rightwing calls for a boycott
For Ganesh Lokhande, an usher at the Regal Cinema in Mumbai’s southern tip of Colaba, it’s been a quiet few years in the job. That was, until last week.
Pathaan, a new Bollywood action thriller starring Shah Rukh Khan – an actor whose superstardom has elevated him to be known in India as “the king” – has been released in cinemas, triggering excitement across the country. Long queues formed outside theatres as millions flocked to catch a glimpse of Khan’s return to the screen after four years away, now aged 57 but still playing the ravishing muscular hero.
Continue reading...Laal Singh Chaddha is the latest film to face targeted attacks from anti-Muslim, Hindu-nationalist trolls who some claim are beginning to impact box office performance
In August this year, a week after the release of Laal Singh Chaddha, Bollywood’s adaptation of Forrest Gump, a Twitter account with about 280,000 followers, tweeted: “#Urduwood is trending. Thanks to all who have accepted this term to accurately define the anti-national, anti-Hindu paedophile cabal that takes your money to destroy you.” The tweet received more than 1,700 retweets and about 5,800 likes.
For those not familiar with the term “Urduwood”, it is a pejorative popular among far-right social media and politicians. Urdu is an Indian language with a Perso-Arabic script, and the national language of Pakistan; hence it is associated with Muslims and its use is a way to claim the film industry is “Hinduphobic”.
Continue reading...Big releases with usually bankable male stars criticised for formulaic storylines as audience taste evolves
The opening of a new big-name Bollywood film was once a national event across India, greeted by weeks of fanfare, long queues outside cinemas and halls packed to the rafters with audiences cheering and singing along.
But this year, with 77% of releases flopping at the box office, cinema halls have been left eerily quiet and Bollywood’s once unshakeable domination of the Indian film industry has begun to look uncertain.
Continue reading...Krishnakumar Kunnath, a star Bollywood singer best known as KK, complained of feeling cold and unwell before collapsing
Star Bollywood singer Krishnakumar Kunnath, popularly known as KK, has died of a suspected heart attack at age 53 after a concert on Tuesday, prompting a flood of tributes from fans including Indian prime minister Narendra Modi.
“His songs reflected a wide range of emotions as struck a chord with people of all age groups,” Modi said on Twitter.
Continue reading...With an all-star cast led by Deepika Padukone, Gehraiyaan aims to bring a fresh realism to its love story. She and director Shakun Batra assess the risks they’re taking
“I think it’s pretty fresh for an Indian audience,” says Deepika Padukone of her new movie, Gehraiyaan (“Depths”). “The way this story has been told, and the way in which it explores infidelity is certainly very new.” Gehraiyaan’s promotional material isn’t hiding anything, with clips showing Padukone’s character Alisha losing herself in clinches with her illicit lover Zain (Siddhant Chaturvedi), her cousin’s fiance. If that wasn’t messy enough, Alisha also has a perfectly nice boyfriend of six years, Karan (Dhairya Karwa), who’s done nothing to deserve this betrayal.
“She feels stuck,” is how Padukone explains her behaviour. A 30-year-old yoga teacher in Mumbai, Alisha seems like an otherwise likable and pleasant human being, and the film dwells closely on how conflicted she is. “She feels like she’s been with this one person for so many years. And now, you know, she is at a stage in her life where she feels stuck.”
Continue reading...The late Indian star sang of love in all its glorious and terrible forms – but also rooted listeners in history and spirituality
Sitting in the back of my parents’ Peugeot 504 as a child, we listened to songs by the likes of Mukesh, Mohammed Rafi and, of course, Lata Mangeshkar. We were too young to understand what they were about – love, loss, and romance – but we knew all the lyrics.
Well, not quite all of them. During her 92 years, Mangeshkar recorded 50,000 songs in 18 languages, breaking records as the most recorded artist in human history. As a playback singer for Bollywood films, she was never seen on screen, but her voice, dubbed in place of the actors’, was unmistakable. She got her start in 1942, and for a woman to have a career this long and distinguished in India, Mangeshkar must have been steely beneath those silk saris – her voice, though, remained gentle, and she was known as “the nightingale”.
Continue reading...Lata Mangeshkar, “the nightingale of Bollywood”, who has died aged 92 after contracting Covid-19, was a much-loved Indian national and international figure, whose songs provided the backdrop to the lives of millions for seven decades.
Music sung by her was heard constantly across India, in shops, restaurants, taxis or on the radio, and she became known as “Didi”, or sister, because so many people identified with her often emotional songs. And yet she was best known as a playback singer, a vocalist who does not appear onscreen but provides the soundtrack for films in which actors lip sync to her singing.
Continue reading...The singer who defined music and melody for generations in India has died in Mumbai
Lata Mangeshkar, one of India’s biggest cultural icons and considered one of the country’s most influential singers, has died in Mumbai aged 92.
Prime minister Narendra Modi lead tributes for the “nightingale of Bollywood”, saying: “She leaves a void in our nation that cannot be filled. The coming generations will remember her as a stalwart of Indian culture, whose melodious voice had an unparalleled ability to mesmerise people.”
Continue reading...Supporters say attacks over choice of name similar to 17th-century Muslim Mughal emperor rooted in prejudice against inter-faith marriage
Bollywood star Kareena Kapoor has received abuse online from extremists over her new baby’s name.
Kapoor has been attacked on social media for calling her second son Jehangir, the imperial name of the 17th-century Mughal emperor, which means “conqueror of the world”. Kapoor, a Hindu, and her husband, Saif Ali Khan, a Muslim and also a Bollywood star, have faced abuse for their marriage.
Continue reading...The star was a defining figure in post-independence Indian cinema and was one of the country’s first method actors
Bollywood legend Dilip Kumar, who was a defining figure in post-independence Indian cinema, has died aged 98.
Kumar had been taken to hospital in Mumbai last week suffering breathlessness, but died early Wednesday morning. “He passed away due to prolonged illness at 7.30am,” Dr Jalil Parkar of Mumbai’s Hinduja hospital said.
Continue reading...She has conquered Bollywood, broken Hollywood, married a pop superstar, gained millions of followers – and now she is publishing a memoir of life in the spotlight
Priyanka Chopra Jonas looks flawless – perfect skin, gorgeous face, utterly serene and wearing the most immaculately steamed silk shirt I’ve ever seen. In the background, a fire roars invitingly; to her side, out of sight of Zoom, her mother, Madhu, lies on the floor exercising. This is life as an idyll.
The former Miss World and Bollywood turned Hollywood star is talking about her memoir, Unfinished. And she is quick to point out that there is so much unfinished business. In many ways, she says, at 38 years old, she has barely started. Chopra Jonas has her fingers in so many pies. How would she describe herself? “I’m an entertainer, and that bifurcates into being an actor, producer, author, entrepreneur. And I dabble in tech. I would say I’m a multi-hyphenate, professionally.”
Continue reading...Upper-caste actor playing Dalit politician Mayawati shown dishevelled and holding broom in publicity for new film
A picture of a woman holding a broom. Anywhere else, the image might pass unnoticed. But in India the poster for the film Madam Chief Minister, loosely based on the life of politician Mayawati, who is a Dalit, has triggered uproar for perpetuating caste stereotypes.
Bollywood actor Richa Chadha, who plays Mayawati, tweeted an image of the poster ahead of the film’s release later this month. She is shown looking dishevelled and holding the kind of large broom used by municipal roadsweepers. The tagline of the poster reads: Untouchable, Unstoppable.
Continue reading...Dhawan casts his son Varun in the role made famous in 1995 by Govinda, but little effort has been made to acknowledge the quarter-century since
It’s a tale of two Bollywoods this Christmas. Over at Netflix, Anurag Kashyap and Vikramaditya Motwane, representing Indian film’s modernising wing, have engineered the sharp and knowing meta-thriller AK vs AK. Here on Amazon Prime Video meanwhile, you can watch veteran comedy director David Dhawan renew his IP rights on Coolie No 1, previously a hit 1995 vehicle for the Sandwell-born funnyman Govinda. Even the latter’s most devout fans would probably concede the original left room for improvements, but that’s something Dhawan appears unfussed about. This Coolie updates a few reference points and replaces Govinda with latter-day hunk Varun Dhawan – the director’s son – then surrounds him with antiquated players and playing, part of a frenetic attempt to pretend the last 30 years never happened.
The plot – lowly railway porter (Dhawan) is hired to woo a society belle (Sara Ali Khan) as part of a conspiracy to disgrace her family – remains familiar and predictable. The most immediate contrast with the original is a result of the casting. Rather too obviously a handsome, cardio-trained leading man schlubbing down for (not many) easy laughs, Dhawan Jr bounds onscreen with boyish enthusiasm, but trails a lingering note of condescension – and Dhawan Sr was evidently too busy remembering how best to smash his supporting actors in the gonads to direct anyone. Khan, sadly, is stranded on balconies looking fetchingly concerned while the men below determine her character’s destiny. In this, Coolie 2020 really does seem so last century.
Continue reading...Former Miss World and daughter admitted to same Mumbai unit as her husband and father-in-law Amitabh Bachchan as India’s pandemic worsens
Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, the Bollywood star and former Miss World, has been moved to a hospital in Mumbai along with her eight-year-old daughter nearly a week after they were revealed to have the coronavirus, media reports said.
Her husband, actor Abhishek Bachchan, and her superstar father-in-law, Amitabh Bachchan, are already in the same hospital with Covid-19, the highest-profile personalities to have been infected in India, which has now recorded more than one million cases in the pandemic.
Continue reading...India’s film-makers accused of hypocrisy for supporting Black Lives Matter while keeping silent on bias for fair complexions
The Bollywood film industry is a global phenomenon built on glitz and glamour. But it has also faced accusations of being among the biggest purveyors of racism for glorifying fair complexions in its hyperbolic love stories and catchy songs. Now, amid anger over what some consider Bollywood’s hypocritical stance on Black Lives Matter, the industry has finally been forced to confront one of its most enduring taboos.
Bollywood has witnessed considerable liberalisation in recent years. But while taboos such as same-sex relationships have been relegated to a past in which stars hid behind a rose bush to steal a kiss, the industry’s determination to cling to colourism – prejudice against people of your own race on the basis of skin colour – has become a cause of anger and dismay.
Continue reading...Tributes for the ‘bright young actor’ flow from colleagues, cricketers and India’s prime minister
Popular Bollywood actor Sushant Singh Rajput was found dead at his Mumbai residence on Sunday, police and Indian media reports have said.
Initial reports, citing police sources, said the 34-year-old’s body was found in his apartment in suburban Bandra.
Continue reading...Family urges fans not to publicly mourn leading man of numerous musical romances
The Indian actor Rishi Kapoor, who built a career as one of Bollywood’s romantic heroes, has died of leukaemia at the age of 67.
Kapoor, part of a famous Bollywood family, was admitted to hospital in Mumbai on Wednesday and died on Thursday, according to a family statement.
Continue reading...Khan, who had a string of Anglo-American successes under his belt, including Slumdog Millionaire, Life of Pi and Jurassic World, has died in Mumbai
Irrfan Khan, the Indian-born actor who achieved considerable success in both Bollywood and the west, has died aged 53. He had been admitted to the intensive care unit of Mumbai’s Kokilaben hospital on Tuesday with a colon infection.
In March 2018, he revealed he had been diagnosed with a neuroendocrine tumour, but after extensive treatment he recovered well enough to shoot Angrezi Medium, the film which would turn out to be his last, and whose release this March was cut short because of the coronavirus pandemic.
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