Art runs in his blood. Ram Sampath, known to Hindi cinema as the composer of films as varied as Khakee, Family, Delhi Belly, Fukrey and Laapataa Ladies and albums like Shiamak Davar’s Mohabbat Kar …
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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It’s Happened—Finally: Hindi Cinema Take the Lead, Thanks to Just One Cinematic Miracle—Dhurandhar The Revenge
by Rajiv Vijayakar 2 minutes readIt was a long-felt desire. The need to answer detractors who said that Hindi cinema was finito and Telugu and South cinemas were supreme. In a crazy scenario, Hindi cinema, …
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Asha Bhosle had once told me that she had been a “bandakhor” (rebel) since childhood. Though born into a family of Indian classical musician Pt. Deenanath Mangeshkar and his children …
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An era has truly ended. The last of the ruling pantheon of singers—Asha Bhosle—is no more. If Hindi Film Music can be compared to a hand, then her elder sister …
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This movie is—if I may term it so—a disgrace to the two films we have seen with the tagline Ek Prem Katha. The first was the exceptional Gadar—Ek Prem Katha in 2001, which …
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Film Review: Super Duperr (Marathi) is a Crazy Idea Told with a Message
by Rajiv Vijayakar 3 minutes readA slimy property broker sells a single property to two people at the same time. What happens when the parties, one a hep ‘today’ urban couple who are living in, …
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Web Review: Sankalp is Too Contrived in Concept
by Rajiv Vijayakar 4 minutes readThe series follows the Prakash Jha “tradition”: a good film followed by some mediocre ones. So far as my viewing his films down the years is concerned, I loved Mrityudand, Gangaajal and Raajneeti and …
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Amazon’s Matka King Sees Vijay Varma Learn the Gambling Game for a Reason
by Rajiv Vijayakar 3 minutes readThe event was stereotype Prime Video: stretched with gimmicks, like a wafer-thin plot film expanded into two hours of “entertainment,” The gushy-gushy host, who tried to as usual show off …
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It was an intimate Sunday evening with select media-persons. The venue: Jeetendra’s royal bungalow, Krishna. Correction: the terrace of Krisha, complete with closed and open chambers, cool air, hot food and chilled …
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The month when Easter is globally celebrated, April, is also the birth month of several Hindi film denizens. Here is a look at 12 prominent names in entertainment today. Ajay …