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Last night, I came back from my private screening of Raj Kumar Santoshi’s Andaz Apna Apna. The chuckles never stop. They never did. Over the years, this tour de ‘farce’ has made a place among moviegoers as The go-to movie whenever the blues bellow to get their dues.

There is nothing even remotely logical or sensible about the farcical antics of Amar (Aamir Khan) and Prem (Salman Khan) as they negotiate their way through a screenplay that is more of a screenplay. Not a soul in the audience would imagine for even a second that the actors were given a hardbound script. The improvisational spirit is so high that the narration often feels like a bridge doddering toward an impending collapse. The shakedown never happens, even though we feel the characters are going too far with their antics.

More amusing than anything that the two Khans do on screen...

Subhash K Jha takes a look at the comic virtuoso Jagedeep’s incredible career in this special spotlight.

Many would like to remember Jagdeep not only as Soorma Bhopali in Sholay (1975) but also as Badriprasad Chaurasia in Priyadarshan’s Muskurahat(1992).

Recalling the experience of directing Jagdeep in Muskurahat, Priyan says, “What I still remember vividly about him is that he would actually listen to my directorial instructions and then give the shot. A lot of actors pretend to listen. Not him. He was on it fully. I wish I had worked more with him. He fitted right into my situational comedies. I guess I was just stuck in my comfort zone.”

A lot of movie buffs believe Jagdeep’s performance in Muskurahat to be on a par with his celebrated Soorma Bhopali in Sholay. Sadly, Muskurahat didn’t work. It was Priyadarshan’s first Hindi film.

Writer-director Rumi Jaffery met...

2020 was especially cruel to our entertainment industry. One by one, we lost Irrfan Khan, Rishi Kapoor, (music composer) Wajid Khan, Basu Chatterjee, Sushant Singh Rajput, Saroj Khan, Jagdeep, S. P Balasubramaniam, Soumitra Chatterjee, and Nishikant Kamat.

Nishikant Kamat’s going; I took it personally. Though I had never met him, we shared a certain bonding. Whenever he called, he would speak in that soft, respectful voice and tell me that I should not mind if he doesn’t respond to my messages immediately as he travelled a lot.

I first reached out to Nishikant after I saw his directorial debut, that exceptional Marathi film Dombivali West in 2005, which was quickly remade into Tamil as Evano Oruvan with Madhavan in the lead. Nishikant quickly became a successful director in Bollywood. But he hardly had any friends in the Mumbai film industry except John Abraham, with whom he did the successful Force and Rocky Handsome.

This breed called the secretary was not born to be one. In most cases, he was a close buddy of the star or some freelance journalist or such person who hung around a particular star. Some of them had come to make a career in the film industry; in most cases in acting. Now that a secretary had made a place for himself, his goal in life was to turn a film producer.

Many were successful in achieving that goal and turned to film production. In most cases, the biggest mistake a star secretary would make was to trust the same star to lead his film. The very star you were subservient to! That was a recipe for disaster and I have seen many secretaries thereafter get consigned to oblivion.

The real star secretaries were the ones who handled the work of character artistes. Because, while a producer may have the dates for his star,...

White Hill Studios announces its forthcoming venture ‘Zora Malki’ with a title poster. Written and directed by Jagdeep Sidhu and starring Diljit Dosanjh in the lead, Zora Malki is a romantic film at its heart. After some record-breaking blockbusters together – Jatt & Juliet, Jatt and Juliet 2, Punjab 1984, Sardaar Ji and Sardaar Ji 2, the upcoming film, Zora Malki will see both White Hill Studios and Diljit Dosanjh returning again.

With Jagdeep Sidhu as the writer-director, this will mark the second association of Jagdeep Sidhu with both White Hill Studios and Diljit Dosanjh. The film is slated for a release on 28th June 2024.

“It is always a treat to work with Diljit. Our previous films are a testament to the magic created on screen whenever White Hill Studios and Diljit have come together for a project,” said the producer of the film Gunbir Singh Sidhu.

Talking more about the film, Manmord Singh Sidhu,...

Starring Punjab’s most loved actor Sargun Mehta and singer Gitaz Bindrakhia, Jagdeep Sidhu’s ‘Moh’ is a coming-of-age love story packed with pure emotions and heartbreak. It shows a boy falling head-over-heels in love with a mature woman. With time their feelings grow stronger but their love never meets its fate. The powerful trailer is packed with hard-hitting dialogues and gives a thunderous insight into the characters.

Girish Kumar says, “Moh is a very special film, right from its inception we have been emotionally attached to it. With Jagdeep helming the project packed with a powerful cast of Sargun Mehta, Gitaz Bindrakhia with lyrics of maestro Jaani and music by B Praak, the film is bound to live with the audience forever.”

Sargun Mehta says, “What enticed me to Moh is the fact that there’s never been a poetical drama and also the storyline is so impactful that...

An evening to remember for the Indian film industry as Filmfare hosted the 66th Vimal Elaichi Filmfare Awards 2021 on 27th March 2021. Making a much-awaited return, because ‘the show must go on’, the awards ceremony, this year, was held as a closed-door event where the coveted Black Lady was awarded to deserving winners from across a host of categories.

The biggest winner of the night was the movie Thappad, which bagged the Best Film award and saw director-producer Anubhav Sushila Sinha and T-Series’ Bhushan Kumar accepted the iconic Black Lady. It was an emotional moment for Babil Khan as he accepted the Best Actor in a Lead Role (Male) on behalf of his father Irrfan Khan for his memorable performance in Angrezi Medium. Add to that, the Awards further honoured and celebrated his legacy and contribution as the versatile actor was awarded posthumously the Lifetime Achievement Award.

On the other hand,...

Indian danger act Bir Khalsa made it through to this second stage of “America’s Got Talent” with their death-defying stunts. They’ve returned for episode 2 of judge cuts, hoping to number among the 7 acts put through to the live shows. As you can see from the sneak peek video above, Jagdeep Singh, Kanwaljit Singh and Karamjit Singh look like they’ve won over all the judges with another jaw-dropping stunt.

Before the trio start performing, Howie Mandel makes merry with the size of Jagdeep, who says he is the world’s tallest policeman. He has guest judge, Dwayne Wade, who is married to panel newcomer Gabrielle Union, go up on stage and stand next to Jagdeep. Even though Wade is 6’4″ tall, he looks small next to this 7’6″ giant.

See Everything you need to know about season 14 of ‘America’s Got Talent’

Jagdeep is then used as a chopping block...

Humaara naam Soorma Bhoopali aise nahin hai...This super hit dialogue from G.P.Sippy's Sholay has made comedian Jagdeep immortal in the annals of Indian Cinema. The veteran comedian turns 75 on March 29 and Glamsham.Com wishes him birthday greetings and prays for his healthy life. Jagdeep, a victim of partition was forced to make an earning at the tender age of eight years. He first began selling small items on the road and eventually landed in films when filmmaker B.R.Ch...

Films that gained a ‘cult following’ over the years,despite being unnoticed on release

Silsila

Yash Chopra is looked upon as the grandfather of candyfloss romance, an antithesis to the more ‘artistic’ genre of films. One wonders why. Here’s what his early films were about:

Unwed mothers and illegitimate children – Dhool ka Phool (1959)

Partition and the rise of Hindu fundamentalism – Dharmputra (1961)

Taut, song less thriller about a fugitive, a lone woman and a corpse – Ittefaq (1969)

A man who lives with his wife and the ‘other woman’, Hindi Cinema’s first Ménage à trois- Daag (1973)

In 1981, we had another of his equally risqué works, Silsila. Expectedly, sparks flew when the Screen God of the time shared screen space with the reigning diva. Rekha and Amitabh were quite an item on screen and allegedly, off screen too. The grapevine has it that Chopra was inspired to make Silsila on this relationship...

From reincarnations to haunted mansions. From vindictive oatmeal faced corpses to shape shifting nagins, Bollywood has bravely offered a plethora of films in the name of horror over the years. Although many of these films may lack in finesse, they still manage to offer some scares (along with a bag of laughs). Siddhant Pillai investigates…

Golden Age of Horror; 1940s-1960s

A still from the classic Mahal

In a country obsessed with lost souls and reincarnation, it was natural for filmmakers to dabble in this facet of the supernatural. Perhaps the first path breaking film in this genre was Kamal Amrohi?s 1949 hit, Mahal. The film was replete with a spooky house filled with life size portraits, grandfather clocks, swinging crystal chandeliers and a haunting tune (Aayega Aanewaala) carried by the air and sung by an elusive candle-lit lady. The movie was a box office hit and paved the way...

August 24, 2010: The legendary cult movie of Bollywood, Sholay, has inspired many filmmakers in India and one such is a producer based in Hyderabad. The producer is planning to make a spoof on the iconic Ramesh Sippy movie Sholay.

Veteran comedian Jagdeep has been finalized to revive the famous character of ‘Soorma Bhopali’ from the 1975 movie Sholay. However, there will be a little change as his character will be named ‘Churma Bhopali’ instead of ‘Soorma Bhopali’ and the title of the film will be changed to Sholay Baney Oley. Other characters will also be given some funny.

It drew its inspiration from multiple Hollywood movies but went on to become the quintessential Indian film, perfectly balancing drama and tragedy, romance and violence, comedy and action. This Aug 15 it will be 35 years since 'Sholay' was released - three decades and more of Gabbar, Jai, Veeru and Basanti still striking a chord.Sometimes described as an Indian curry western, 'Sholay' is still a reference point for Indian cinema and impossible to pin down to any one genre. It was about the undying friendship between Jai and Veeru, the unspoken love of a young widow, the exuberant romance between a garrulous 'tonga walli' and a flamboyant thief, the immensely tragic life of an idealistic police officer and, of course, Gabbar Singh, the dacoit who struck terror.It worked at many levels, and still does for generations of film-goers who watch the 1975 multi-starrer for the ultimate movie-going experience.