AN ARTICLE BY J.S.RAO Known for his eccentricity, he was called everything from a miser to a madcap to a moron. But, as a singer he was unparalleled. So was his ability to make people laugh. J S Rao remembers Kishore Kumar on the occasion of his 15th death anniversary. (more…)

Source: The Asian Age, 13 June 1996, Calcutta
(By Dinesh Raheja and Jitendra Kothari)

When dust particles dance in the ray of light that bisects the darkened theatre and the screen lights up, a special communication is established between the moviegoer and the flickering images onscreen. And when the viewer becomesentranced with the shifting dynamics of the world before him, luminaries are born. It was on a wet day in July 1896, in a much smaller Mumbai with a population of barely 10 lakh people, that the screening of the first ever cinema show in India was held at Watson’s Hotel. British officials and their memsahibs came to see this ‘marvel of the century’ brought here by the Lumiere brothers barely six months after they had first exhibited their exciting invention in Paris. When the lights came on, even the pricey Re 1 seaters cheered and welcomed this new mass medium of entertainment. (more…)