Bollywood

Aaloo Tikki aur Pudine ki Chutney

Potato cutlets with mint chutney

30 Oct 2008

This is Abhishek Bachchan's favourite dish, and it's very popular with the whole family. Across India, there are variations on the stuffing, from mashed peas to spice blends, but the Bachchans prefer it simple and don't stuff theirs. Mint chutney is…

Screen bites

30 Oct 2008

When a 1970s Indian journalist labelled populist Bollywood films as 'masala movies' - a dollop of drama, pinch of comedy, stirred in with some song and dance - Indian cinema's association with food became firmly established. While the masala movies…

Bollywood princess Natalie Portman

Celebrity Gossip

23 Jul 2008

Natalie Portman plays a Bollywood princess in her boyfriend Devendra Banhart's new music video. The 'V for Vendetta' actress - who has been dating the Venezuelan folk singer since April - wears full Indian costume, complete with a bindi, and must be…

Event horizon - Edinburgh Mela

22 Jul 2008

While Charlotte Square Gardens, The Hub and Pleasance may think they are at the heart of the August experience, there are other cultural bonanzas going on around them. Anna Millar takes a look at some of the other Festival action Often unfairly…

Also Released - Film

10 Apr 2008

Leatherheads (PG) 113min •• Directed by and starring George Clooney, Leatherheads is a wannabe Preston Sturges-style romantic comedy set against the backdrop of the burgeoning American football league in 1925. Dodge Connolly (Clooney) is a cocky but…

Bollywood star set to join Pink Panther return

10 Aug 2007

Bollywood actress and former Miss World Aishwarya Rai will join Hollywood star Steve Martin in the new Pink Panther film. Rai’s business manager has confirmed she signed up for the film and is will join a cast expected to include Andy Garcia and John…

Bollywood round-up

19 Jun 2007

In director R Balki’s Cheeni Kum (PG) 139min (3 Stars) 64-year-old temperamental London chef Bhuddadev (Amitabh Bachchan) falls for 34-year old modern Indian sophisticate Nina (Tabu). Comedy and drama arise from the age difference. Initial comparisons…

Bollywood Round-up

11 Apr 2007

Set in Mauritius Ajay Chandok’s Nehlle Pe Dehlla (12A) 125min (1 Star) is a reworking of the 1989 US comedy hit Weekend at Bernie’s. Saif Ali Khan and Sanjay Dutt mark time amongst the slow motion shots of lycra clad Bollywood babes, practising aerobics…

Bollywood Round-up

27 Feb 2007

Historically Bollywood has reflected an innate ‘Indian’ morality. Themes may be modernised and customs challenged, but the basics are stagnant and laughable. This month’s releases are therefore a refreshing change, atypical of the highly moralistic…

Bollywood Round-up

15 Jan 2007

Director Priyardashan’s Bhagam Bhag (PG) 157min (2 stars) has all the boisterous energy of his previous work (Hera Pheri, Hulchul). It’s based on the innocuous premise of an Indian theatre group embarking on a London tour minus Anjali (Tanushree Dutta)…

Bollywood Round-Up

7 Dec 2006

Vivah - A Journey From Engagement to Marriage (PG) 166min (1 star) harks back to an innocence that hardly, if ever, existed in Bollywood cinema. Prem (Shahid Kapoor) the eligible young son of a business tycoon agrees to an arranged marriage to Poonam…

Bollywood round-up

The romance of remakes

13 Nov 2006

If, like me, you love Hindi or Bollywood cinema, you need to start embracing the idea of remakes. Two current releases, Don and Umrao Jaan, are cases in point. The trouble for me is that, having been reared during what I consider the heyday of the…