Ramblings of a Bandra Boy, Book release: Haps, mishaps and madcaps Joy Bimal Roy has lived his entire, or almost entire life, in the Mumbai suburb of Bandra. The only son of venerated film producer and director Bimal Roy, his address was Godiwala Bungalow, Mount Mary Road. And living there has given him much joy, though his name ought to be spelt Jai for non-Bengalis, Joy being the Bengali way of pronouncing the more common Jai. Joy’s book, Ramblings of a Bandra Boy, was released at the...

Crash Course Trailer launch and Press Conference: Puppets on a chain From ambitions, aspirations and rivalry, to forging everlasting friendships... the trailer of Amazon Prime Video’s new OTT show, Crash Course, was launched at the R.D. National College’s Hekandbai Hall, Bandra, Mumbai, on 24 July. Created by Manish Hariprasad and directed by Vijay Maurya, Crash Course is produced by Owlet Films. It is set in Kota, Rajasthan and explores the twists of student life, after leaving s...

Hachette’s The Bollywood Pocket Book Series, A 4-in-1 Set, by Diptakirti Chauduri: Get set Yes, it’s a pun. I mean you should get the set, buy the book, or rather, books. They look deceptively thin when ensconced in the hardcover box, but provide a substantial reading once you pull them out. Book one is about Iconic Dates, with Raj Kapoor and Nargis on the cover, under an umbrella. The author reminds us about the calendar of events that begin with Raja Harishchandra’s releas...

Deepika Padukone in MFF 21 Movie Mela: Pre-festival feast of conversations with stars, directors For the last few years, Mumbai Academy of Moving Image (MAMI) has been holding Movie Mela as a forerunner to the Mumbai Film Festival (MFF). They skipped it last year because some of the likely male panellists were facing groping and molestation charges, but it came back this year with renewed vigour. Mela is Hindi/Urdu for feast/carnival. It is held in the shape of interviews/interactions between...

Salman and Katrina come to Bharat Hotel Taj Land’s End, Bandra, is about 500 metres from where Indian superstar Salman Khan resides. It would take him exactly five minutes to walk to the venue, or two minutes on cycle, cycling being among his favourite indulgences. So why did he arrive at 2 pm for the launch of his home production, Bharat’s, title song, when the time on the invitation was indicated first as 11.30 pm and later delayed by half-an-hour? Only he knows. His fans and mo...

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...

Le Reve in race against time for Jio MAMI’s 18th Mumbai FF with Star A dream name alright: Le Reve. But beating the clock might be proving a nightmare to the workers who are preparing this renovated single screen cinema to be ready in time for the first screening on Friday morning. That is when Jio MAMI’s 18th Mumbai Film Festival (MFF) with Star kicks off a cross a multitude of theatres. Le Reve is the only one in the upmarket Bandra suburb of West Mumbai, which is now more an ex...