Khalid Mohamed

Khalid Mohamed

Khalid Mohamed

Four mistakes of my life

Sometimes — why sometimes? — very often, I’ve been naïve or idiotic, or both when it comes to interacting with Bollywood’s biggies as well as small fries. Honestly, I should keep my mouth and mind shut.

Chosen for superstardom at first sight

Now let’s see: Is it possible to admire at first sight? It is, going by the “wow” effect made by at least a handful of newcomers in the past. Shah Rukh Khan in his TV serial Fauji, I could sense, was star material. Kajol jumped out of the screen with her oh-so-natural act in Bekhudi (never mind the quality of the film).

Bollywood’s boogie badshahs

Now a Mumbai-manufactured movie without a song-‘n’-dance is like Hamlet without the Prince of Denmark. Right? Criticise the irrelevant outburst of hippy happy shakes, deride them as “item numbers”, but without them, there’d be no salt or caramel in your tub of popcorn.

The forgotten director of Bengal

Once, film directors from Bengal were revered for cinema made in the Hindi language for nationwide viewing.

Bouquets, brickbats celeb baggage

Now, thousands of bouquets — of the verbal kind — may be lavished upon film personalities. But anything resembling a brickbat reduces those roses to ashes. One squeak of dissent and you’ve invoked the wrath of the Mr and Mrs Perfects.

Guess a diamond tiara isn’t forever

It’s an unscribbled rule of show business. Beauty pageant winners are expected to become the Next Big Heroines, as soon as they are crowned with those sparkling tiaras and air-kissed with a hundred muaaahs on stage.

Method in matinee madness

Strange but true. Frequently, front-page film controversies serve as a tremendous boost at the ticket counters. When Rang De Basanti was under fire — for showing MiG fighter-aircraft and the depiction of a banned horse race — it hit the headlines.

And the award now goes to...

Awards — everyone loves them but declaim from the rooftops, “Aaargh, who believes in them anyway?” B’wood is an orchard of sore losers.

Mastering a filmi wardrobe

Clothes maketh the actor? I’m not quite sure about that, going by the suits as well as the casuals being ramp-walked in the movies nowadays. The fashion du jour is dictated, currently, by Salman Khan of course. That means super-tight shirts and vests which the Dabangg dude can explode from for the fight-to-the-finish.

Mastering a filmi wardrobe

Clothes maketh the actor? I’m not quite sure about that, going by the suits as well as the casuals being ramp-walked in the movies nowadays. The fashion du jour is dictated, currently, by Salman Khan of course. That means super-tight shirts and vests which the Dabangg dude can explode from for the fight-to-the-finish.

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I want to begin with a little story that was told to me by a leading executive at Aptech. He was exercising in a gym with a lot of younger people.

Shekhar Kapur’s Bandit Queen didn’t make the cut. Neither did Shaji Karun’s Piravi, which bagged 31 international awards.