Ranveer Singh took inspiration from Dev Anand films for 'Lootera' Mumbai: Ranveer Singh, who is known to be a high-on-energy actor, watched veteran star Dev Anand's old classics for his mellowed look in Vikramaditya Motwane's 'Lootera'.

The 27-year-old made his Bollywood debut with a bubbly character in 'Band Baja Baarat' and was vibrant in his second film 'Ladies vs Ricky Bahl' as well.

But 'Lootera', a period film, demanded the actor to emote with his eyes and Ranveer did so by watching Dev Anand's hits.

"Lootera is a tribute to 50s. We have styled our romance on Dev Anand," said a spokesperson for the film. ...more    
02:20 PM, May 30, 2013

Government honours South actors recommended by Mohan
by IANS
Chennai: Popular Tamil film and TV actor Mohan Raman, also a well known philatelist, was pleasantly surprised when the government honoured actors he had recommended from the south through 50 stamps that were released at the 60th National Film Awards. President Pranab Mukherjee released the stamps Friday commemorating 50 iconic film personalities who brought changes to Indian cinema. "I was approached by a member of the film chamber few months...  
12:25 PM, May 06, 2013

Indian cinema has completed its 100 years on May 3, 2013. India's first feature film 'Raja Harishchandra' was released on this day in 1913. On this occasion, we bring to you a compilation of 50 iconic film scenes that have influenced the popular culture in a big way.Mother India (1957): In Mehboob Khan's 'Mother India' a righteous Radha (Nargis) shoots her younger son Birju (Sunil Dutt), a bandit who kidnaps a girl of his village on her wedding day. While fleeing with the girl, Birju is warned by Radha to let the girl go. When he diesnt relent, Radha shoots him and Birju eventually dies in his mother's arms. Sholay (1975): Who can forget the 'Ye Haath Mujhe Dede Thakur' scene from one of the most memorable films from Bollywood. Taking revenge for his family's death Thakur Baldev Singh (Sanjeev Kumar) hunts for Gabbar Singh (Amjad Khan) but the latter instead cuts off Thakur's hands. The acting prowess displayed by Amjad Khan and Sanjeev Kumar makes it one of the most powerful scenes in the film.
06:05 PM, Apr 30, 2013

Snapshot: Is Akshay Kumar copying Dev Anand's style? Akshay Kumar was spotted at a recent event sporting a new hairdo- similar to the puffed hairdo that actor Dev Anand was famous for. ...  
12:36 PM, Mar 11, 2013

Even though films came in the early part of 1900, the mass hysteria that accompanies films in present times came much later. The Indian society in the pre independence era was also a conservative one, where film viewing was restricted to a certain section of the society- mostly the elite and films was yet to spread far and wide. The emergence of larger than life stars slowly started emerging post-independence. The advent of media also helped in making the actors more accessible to the audience. Tabloid, gossip columns, and major influence of the west helped in making stars larger than life, close to demigods in a country which was made the world of cinema its escape from the daily routine.With Gregory Peck type of looks, Dev Anand seemed too westernized for the films that were being made in the 1950s. Many even shunned him as someone who just looked good but couldn%u2019t act. While initially he did play soft romantic roles, he then shifted to films which spoke about social issues. The craze for his typical swagger, his style, his body language caught on soon and was aped by the youth. The charming smile and the thoughtful eyes poured deep into the hearts of millions of fans and ladies swooned all over him. The man went on to make some memorable films, some of which became cult classics, launched several new faces in the film industry and lived life in his own unique way and refused to get old. Rajesh Khanna:He taught the country the term %u2018superstar%u2019. Till then, actors had strong fan following but the hysteria that Khanna brought was unmatched. The shy boy won a talent hunt contest and landed his first role in a feature film in %u2018Aakhri Khat%u2019 in 1966 but within a year Khanna%u2019s popularity started spreading far and wide. So much so, that the ending of Nasir Hussain%u2019s %u2018Baharon Ke Sapne%u2019 had to be changed from a sad one to a happier one following national uproar. His popularity reached delirious in a short span-stories of how his car was covered with lipstick marks, his name was chanted by women on the road while his car passed by are part of film folklore now. And Kaka, as he was popularly known as, still remains the only actor to have back to back fifteen consecutive solo superhits, during the years 1969 to 1972., a feat which is yet to be broken by any actor.MG Ramachandran: Films and film actors are taken very seriously down south. Actors are treated differently, given god like status. Generally starring in romance or action films, MGR got his big breakthrough in the 1947 film 'Manthiri Kumari', but 'Malaikallan' in 1957 was the film that catapulted him to superstardom. MGR had been politically active since the early years of his acting career. While he continued to make films and act in them, his involvement in building Tamil Nadu%u2019s new political system was also quite prominent. Perhaps, his superstar persona helped him gain support when he broke away from DMk and formed his own party AIADMK in the 1972. The only actor to have received the Bharat Ratna (posthumously), he is still considered an icon in Tamil Nadu.
04:44 PM, Mar 02, 2013

There can be no one as special as her. The beautiful Madhubala's life may have been cut short abruptly, but the actress still lives through her films.Born as Mumtaz Jahan Begum Dehlavi in New Delhi on 14 February 1933 to a Muslim couple from Delhi, Madhubala was the fifth child among eleven children.Due to poverty, Madhubala's father made his daughter work in films for the tender of nine. She made her debut as a child artist and her first big break came in in 1947 in 'Neel Kamal' opposite Raj Kapoor. She was fourteen when she was given the lead role in the movie. By 1948, Madhubala's first few films as heroine had been released among which were filmmaker Kidar Sharma's Neel Kamal (1947), NM Kelkar's Amar Prem (1948) and Mohan Sinha's Dil Ki Rani (1947), all with Raj Kapoor.
06:54 PM, Feb 13, 2013

How Dilip Kumar changed the concept of acting The Titan and living legend who spawned scores of imitators introduced a whole new school of acting. ...  
01:40 PM, Dec 29, 2012

Waheeda breaks into tears unveiling Dev Anand's statue
by IANS
Mumbai: Yesteryear actress Waheeda Rehman was in tears as she unveiled a life-like brass statue of screen legend Dev Anand here, and said the actor-filmmaker still remains alive in many hearts. "He is not here with us today and I am unveiling his statue. His name will always be remembered in the film industry forever. He will be alive in the people's heart," a tearful Waheeda said here during the...  
06:16 PM, Dec 04, 2012

Remembered as Bollywood's evergreen hero, Dev Anand died of cardiac arrest on December 3, 2011 in London. He was 88.Yesteryear actress Waheeda Rehman was in tears as she unveiled a life-like brass statue of screen legend Dev Anand. The statue is a part of Walk of the Stars in Mumbai now. His son Suniel was also present at do. Suniel Anand pays tribute to his father on the occasion of his first death anniversary observed at Ramleela maidan in Mumbai.
05:43 PM, Dec 04, 2012

Asha Parekh who started her Bollywood journey as a child artist with the film 'Aasmaan' (1952), turns 70 today. Thanks to her series of successful films like 'Jab Pyar Kisise Hota Hai', 'Gharana', 'Shikar' and 'Aan Milo Sajna' , Asha Parekh was called the Jubilee Girl in Bollywood. Asha Parekh was born in a Gujarati family in Bangalore in 1942.
10:50 AM, Oct 02, 2012

Hemant's last song for Dev Anand composed by SD In 2008, a prominent matrimonial portal carried the song 'Na tum hamein jaano' as a part of its advertising campaign. The song could have fitted the ad campaign of a private detective agency much better, really. Here's why. A view into the storyline of 'Baat Ek Raat Ki' tells a different tale about the positioning of this song in the film. The scene was actually about a criminal lawyer trying...  
05:07 PM, Sep 26, 2012

Dev Anand was a democrat, says LK Advani New Delhi: BJP leader LK Advani, once a film critic, has lauded Dev Anand for his opposition to the Emergency rule imposed by prime minister Indira Gandhi. Speaking at the 89th birth anniversary celebrations of the late actor, director, writer and producer of Hindi movies, Advani recalled Dev Anand's political activism during the 1975-77 Emergency. "He led a group of film personalities and stood against the internal Emergency imposed by...  
09:05 AM, Sep 26, 2012

Dharam Dev Pishorimal Anand, better known as Dev Anand was born on September 26, 1923.Dev Anand's father Pishori Lal Anand was an advocate. Dev Anand was born in Gurdaspur of undivided Punjab. He did his graduation in English Literature from Government College, Lahore in British India.Actor, producer and director Dev Anand worked in more than 100 films in his career of almost 65 years.
07:05 PM, Sep 25, 2012

This is the funniest 'Suhaag Raat' video ever! Actor Dev Anand had directed a film called 'Sau Crore'. This is a clip from the film dug up by the very ingenious Twitter user @BabaJogeshwari. The film was released in 1991 and starred Dev Anand, Naseeruddin Shah, Anupam Kher, Pavan Malhotra, Kiran Kumar, Fatima Sheikh and Raman Kapoor. The music was by Bappi Lahiri. In a nutshell, a couple spend an unusual 'suhaag raat' or first night after marriage,...  
01:38 PM, Sep 17, 2012

Aamir Khan now owns Shammi Kapoor's jacket New Delhi: Superstar Aamir Khan and his wife Kiran Rao successfully bid for film memorabilia worth Rs 2,38,000 at the first Osian's-Cinefan auction, including Shammi Kapoor's jacket for Rs 88,000. The auction, held in the Capital yesterday as a part of the ongoing Osian's film festival, turned out to be a grand success with sales of Rs 69.55 lakh and 86 per cent lots sold. Gurgaon-based Kingdom of Dreams successfully...  
01:33 PM, Aug 01, 2012

Waheeda Rehman, the actor with an aura of a star Rosie dared to leave her archeologist husband (who preferred to live in the past along with his fossils), reclaimed her ghunghroos and started living in with Raju, the Guide. That was in 1965 film 'Guide' based on R K Narayan's novel 'The Guide.' That a woman in the film was so audacious in those times was only half as scandalous as the decision of an actress who chose to bring...  
01:40 PM, Jul 25, 2012

Iconic last tweets by celebrities: 'Be inspired' New Delhi: If you did not know that death stared you in the face, what would be the last message you would send out to the world? Would it be mundane and impersonal? Last tweets of celebrities have assumed the same status as the last words before death. They tell a poignant story and offer a glimpse into the minds of the people who posted them just before their death....  
08:44 AM, Jul 25, 2012

Bollywood Blockbuster: The story behind 'Guide'

On this episode the cast of 'Guide' talks about their experience while shooting for the film. ...
01:07 PM, Jun 09, 2012

CNN-IBN and History Channel together brings a special series in which we are looking for the greatest Indian after the Mahatma. Following are the 50 short-listed by our experts.World Chess Champion Vishwanathan Anand started as a child prodigy by solving chess puzzles when he was still in school in Manila, Phillipines where the family had moved. His mother played an important role in grooming the young Anand.He was often called Acharya or a National Teacher of India and he is considered spiritual successor of Mahatma Gandhi.
06:22 PM, Jun 06, 2012

Bollywood actress Waheeda Rehman turns 76 on May 14.Waheeda was born on May 14, 1936 in a Muslim family in Tamil Nadu. Her father was a District Commissioner and passed away while she was still in her teens.
12:26 PM, May 14, 2012