2025 has been—in cinema—a year like no other. Unique even by standards of uniqueness. And I would like to begin its recap too in a unique way. By looking at …
Rajiv Vijayakar
Rajiv Vijayakar
Rajiv Vijayakar is the Entertainment Editor at South Asian Herald. He has been a journalist and critic for over 25 years and was part of the National Film Awards Jury in India in 2011 and 2015. He has authored four books, the latest of which, “Music by Laxmikant Pyarelal,” won the National Award for Best Book on Cinema in 2021. He also was on the 2025 jury for choosing the Indian entry for the Oscars.
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Mohammed Rafi: The Voice of Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow
by Rajiv Vijayakar 5 minutes readToday, the youngest-at-heart playback singer of Hindi cinema would have been 101 years old. But barely a few minutes, if at all, must be passing even today without a Mohammed …
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Film Review: The Great Shamsuddin Family is Just What the Doctor Ordered
by Rajiv Vijayakar 4 minutes readIt makes you involved in their problems. It makes you laugh at their idiosyncrasies. It makes you sympathize with and wish that all their issues are favorably resolved. Finally, it …
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Indian Edition of Wheel of Fortune Features Akshay Kumar
by Rajiv Vijayakar 3 minutes readFollowing the much-anticipated announcement of Wheel of Fortune, Sony Entertainment Television has unveiled the first promo of the iconic global game show, marking its grand arrival in India. The promo is …
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Web Review: Single Papa is a Tale of Two Cuties
by Rajiv Vijayakar 6 minutes readThe baby is immeasurably (if I may use the term!) cute. By hook or by crook (technology!) he smiles, cries, gurgles and looks blank all at the right moment. The …
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The Hindi teaser of Dacoit: Ek Prem Katha was launched at the Hotel Novotel on December 17, in the presence of actors Mrunal Thakur, Adivi Sesh and Anurag Kashyap, and director Shaneil …
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Exclusive: Shehzad Sippy on the Sacred Mission of Restoring Sholay
by Rajiv Vijayakar 5 minutes readA perennial remains a perennial. Not for nothing is Sholay the biggest-ever hit in Indian cinema. This was a film that ran for 250 weeks continuously in Mumbai, beginning August 15, 1975. …
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Inside the Unseen World of Indian Customs: Netflix Reveals Taskaree
by Rajiv Vijayakar 3 minutes readNeeraj Pandey and Emraan Hashmi unite for Taskaree: The Smuggler’s Web, exploring the high-stakes world of Indian customs. Produced by Friday Storytellers, created by Pandey and directed by Raghav Jairath, the …
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Aditya Dhar’s Dhurandhar has created the kind of mania perhaps last seen with Sholay across the nation, though at that time, the demographics and everything else was way different. So near-unanimous is the popular …
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The upcoming film, Kesar Singh, produced by Parimal Shah and Vinit Shah under Equator Entertainments, brings together Bhumika Chawla and Arbaaz Khan in a deeply emotional slice-of-life drama set in the …