Retroscope

Wonder Animals: The Untold Story

Khalid Mohamed rewinds to the coached dogs, chimpanzees and elephants that would often steal the show in Bollywood blockbusters.  They’ve been missing from the sce...

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The Unknown Story

Indian cinema’s first superstar, Master Nissar, had passed away in abject poverty How many even know about India cinema’s first superstar, Master Nissar, and how ...

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Sunil Dutt – 6th June 1929 to 25th May 2005

I had  met  Sunil Dutt  more than  once, writes Humra Quraishi in her piece this week, where she recalls one such time when she interviewed him in Delhi. ...

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The Revolutionary

Khalid Mohamed looks back at the film legacy of the Bengal auteur, on the day of Mrinal Sen’s 97th birth anniversary today. There’s a rare film, which arouses you...

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Across the Border: Mammo

Khalid Mohamed recalls how he wrote the real-life story and screenplay of the National Award-winning film, Mammo, now accessible on YouTube and streaming on Amazon Prime Video...

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We were the Cathedral School boys, the Cats

What it meant to be a ‘Cat’ during the swinging 1960s at the premier school of Mumbai, India? Take that, Campionites! Now, I wouldn’t be making news if I we...

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CAMPION TALES OF OLD BOMBAY

Producer, Director and Actor Rajiv Kapoor, shared this precious piece written by his school mate John Mani, with me on Whatsapp last night and I publish it here in The Daily E...

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Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan: Genius replayed on a Mega-Monsoon Day in Mumbai

No reason, no occasion for a replay today except maybe the fact that it’s just another mega-monsoon day. And I’m anxiously searching for music to go with the rhyth...

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Lights Still On: Portrait of a 70-year-old Photo Studio where once Bollywood’s Legendary Stars Shone Bright

 The incalculable number of photographs – running into crores – of vintage Hindi cinema’s charismatic actors and film classics have vanished into thin a...

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Bareilly Kaifiyat that throbs in the Bone, Pulse and Heartbeat of a Doctor: Dr Brijeshwar Singh

On April 24 2016 while being car-driven from Delhi to Bareilly I was already in Bareilly Kaifiyat (State of Mind). Driver Roop Singh was an expert on the wheels and a fabulous...

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RAMAYANA NEEDS MORE EMOTIONAL DEPTH

Epic Spectacle, Elusive Soul: Why the New Ramayana Needs More Heart. Piyush Roy examines...

November 10 2026

RAMAYANA PART ONE: EPIC RETELLING

An epic retelling on a canvas of unprecedented ambition by Arnab Banerjee: Nitesh Tiwari...

November 8 2026

THE NEW BUSINESS OF ENTERTAINMENT

When Brands Become The Storytellers: The New Business Of Entertainment: Vinta Nanda expl...

November 7 2026