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Shashant’s Shah’s Dasvidaniya draws at your heart strings. The story is simple and it is by no means an extraordinary film. It is a simple film, with a simple story line, with simple characters. No out of the world melodrama, no larger than life characters.

And that’s the beauty of it.

Vinay Pathak is as usual brilliant. The more you watch this man, the more you are amazed at his versatility. Thankfully Hindi cinema is growing up enough to give actors like Pathak a chance. Earlier you’s probably have him play the hero’s sidekick - but now he’s carrying an entire film on his shoulders and wonderfully at that!

Other than Vinay, if there is someone who stood out in the film, it is Sarita Joshi, playing the mother. Her smallest moves, expressions, were just so very right. No over the top comedy, no playing up the tragic instances of losing her …

Shyam Benegal is one name that commands attention and respect. And, his recent film proved it. Welcome to Sajjanpur can at best be called a highly mediocre film, which had it been from any other director, would have trashed left, right and center. But, you don’t do that with Shyam Benegal. So, you have all the reviews in the country sounding extremely vague on the film. They definitely cannot trash it for sure (after all Benegal!), and they also can’t praise that bad a film.

I was rather conned into going for the movie. And, it would be an understatement to say that the movie was BAD. I mean, while watching a Benegal film, if you are actually reminded of Daviv Dhawan humour - you can imagine the plight! The film is crude, crass and vulgar in stages. Benegal tries to weave in social messages (like education, eunuchs given their rights, …

Watching either Robert De Niro or AL Pacino is a treat in itself, and more so if both come together in a film. Think Godfather II (though they are never together in the same frame), Heat and you will know what I mean.

The recent film, Righteous Kill, might not be great film, and it definitely isn’t - but for Pacino and De Niro. Both together on the screen rock big time. Pacino underplays himself - he lets De Niro hog the limelight in the first part of the film - and that’s the absolute beauty of being Pacino. In fact, in the interval, I was thinking to myself that this was more a De Niro film, and that Pacino just happened to be there. True, though, that Pacino gets to mouth all the best lines!

De Niro is effective like always. There are certain actors who you know for …

Two very different films. One deals with the aftermath of the Mumbai train blasts, and the other is all about music - coming together because of it and falling apart for it. And, both incidentally wel-received. Bollywood is growing and how!

Even a couple of years back, it would have been near impossible to make a film like Mumbai Meri Jaan and not be put into the ‘art cinema’ category. And, probabaly no one would have thought of a story like Rock On! Rock music is still a developing genre in India - you only have a handful of people who actually can identify with the music.

Mumbai Meri Jaan deals with the aftermath of the Mumbai train blasts. It’s about how different people’s lives change as a result. Everyone has done wonderfully in the film, but two names that stand apart are definitely Paresh Rawal and Irrfan Khan. The best …

Recently I got thinking about the festivals that attract Bollywood. Yes, thanks to Karan Johar and Yash Chopra, Karva Chauth has become synonymous with the silver screen. But the one festival that really pulls in the crowds is Holi!

Maybe it has something to do with the nature of the festival itself. The gay abandon, the colors, the madness, the intoxicating fun – all this help make Holi ‘the’ festival for the silver screen.

The film industry is also famously known for its Holi celebration off screen as well. Celebrations at Yash Chora’s house, the Kapoor’s, Amitabh Bachchan’s place, and of late, Shah Rukh Khan’s bunglow – all these are the Holi hotspots of the filmi gang.

Talking about on screen celebrations, can one forget AB’s Rang Barse? Impossible! Holi is just not Holi without it!

So here on the eve of Holi, is a list of my top favorite Holi songs of all …

“Baarish ho na ho, baarish ka intezaar toh hona chahiye” – this thought expressed so beautifully in Amol Palekar’s Thoda Sa Roomani Ho Jaye, actually speaks of the spirit of the film.

I would not tell you the story of the film because the highly esteemed RK has done that already in his post. In fact this post is on a request by him.

Many a times we go through a phase in our lives, when nothing seems to work right. Not only is everything around us draped in darkness, but we also lose faith in ourselves. We lose confidence and self-esteem, and are literally on the verge of a breakdown.

True, family and friends do help at such times, but more often than not, we tend to shut them out of our lives. The only person who actually manages to reach us in those difficult moments, is someone who can …