An Actor’s Actor-Sanjeev Kumar: The Authorised Biography of Sanjeev Kumar A riveting black and white picture of the late actor, in mid-close, looking a little to his right, greets you on the cover of this eminently readable biography of the actor, who, arguably, was an actor’s actor. And so, the authors, Mumbai-based Hanif Zaveri and Delhi-based Sumant Batra, are not exaggerating when they give him that exalted title. As far as the ‘authorised’ bit is concerned, the du...

Shashi Kapoors don’t die: Part I Showbiz is often cruel, usually ruthless. It takes so many factors to make it as an actor, luck or lineage included. Then, you need to stay on, weather flops and hits, and keep grabbing opportunities, in the hope that the next one will do it for you. Son of Prithviraj Kapoor, Balbir (Shashi) Raj Kapoor had done his bit of drama at his Papajee’s Prithvi Theatre, like his two older brothers (Ranbir) Raj Kapoor and Shamsher (Shammi) Raj Kapoor. They h...

Aamir, Nasir, Tahir, Tariq, Mansoor, Amjad: Movies, Masti, Modernity, Flashback 5 To remind you, Aamir is indeed Aamir Khan, Amjad is definitely Gabbar Singh, and the triple M above is to acknowledge that it was Akshay Manwani’s biographical book on the cinema of Nasir Hussain that got me delving into the period of about 15 years, when I interacted with the Hussain Khans (first five) and the bare Khan (last, but the most imposing personality). Actually, Mansoor did not use his middle na...

Aamir, Nasir, Tahir, Tariq, Mansoor, Amjad: Movies, Masti, Modernity, Flashback 4 To remind you, Aamir is indeed Aamir Khan, Amjad is definitely Gabbar Singh, and the triple M above is to acknowledge that it was Akshay Manwani’s biographical book on the cinema of Nasir Hussain that got me delving into the period of about 15 years, when I interacted with the Hussain Khans (first five) and the bare Khan (last, but the most imposing personality). Actually, Mansoor did not use his middle na...

Aamir, Nasir, Tahir, Tariq, Mansoor, Amjad: Movies, Masti, Modernity, Flashback 3 To remind you, Aamir is indeed Aamir Khan, Amjad is definitely Gabbar Singh, and the triple M above is to acknowledge that it was Akshay Manwani’s biographical book on the cinema of Nasir Hussain that got me delving into the period of about 15 years, when I interacted with the Hussain Khans (first five) and the bare Khan (last, but the most imposing personality). Actually, Mansoor did not use his middle na...

DILIP KUMAR: Me and the Padma Vibhushan winner Getting the nation’s second highest civilian honour at 92 years and 45 days of age maybe a good example of beating the clock by the proverbial whisker, and Dilip Kumar is a most deserving recipient. But his art has already bagged all possible honours in the 54 year acting career he had, from 1944 to 1998. As a teenager, I earned tons of appreciation for mimicking him in the famous temple-deity confrontation scene from Dil Diya Dard Liya. L...