Portraits

Monday, 17 August 2026

Madhuri Dixit in the 1980s in Bollywood

The stylist edit: Madhuri Dixit in the 1980s in Bollywood - Sridevi too. Look at the pattern of their blouse - it must have been trending!!

Sunday, 16 August 2026

Manisha Koirala

When Manisha Koirala arrived with a bang in Bollywood, she was so staggeringly beautiful. A great actress... an ok dancer. She somehow had hit songs but she's more thespian than gizelle...

Saturday, 15 August 2026

Bollywood's Ultimate Pair: Rekha and Amitabh Bachchan

I read this about them in MOVIE magazine; "He gave her class, she gave him sex appeal; the magic of Rekha and Amitabh Bachchan on the big-screen.

Friday, 14 August 2026

Aishwarya Rai in her first Hindi film: Aur Pyar Ho Gaya

Released on 15 August 1997, ie 29 years ago, Ash entered Bollywood with a musical bang, though it was a critical and commercial... whimper!

Aishwarya Rai in the 90s was unbeatable (cough cough Sushmita at Miss India was... an aberration, albeit a splendidly eloquent one), as a popular model from her teens to topping the pageant world, Rai was accustomed to being looked at and fawned over from an early age. She also took the barbs and brickbats on her sharply honed chin and hid her hurt well, occasionally revealing in tell-all interviews when the criticism got to her -- reached peak volume during her second Cannes outing - more on that later.

Her launch in Hindi films had all the right ingredients as she's never looked better on the big screen - which is saying something considering her Miss World credentials. She hit Bollywood with great expectations, all of 23, post her Miss World world tour, she had Neeta Lulla working on her clothes, Manmohan Singh lighting her like the dream she is in the movie (he famously made Sridevi look ethereal in Chandni years before), and the biggest flex of all, Ash's look, wardrobe, makeup, hair etc was entirely styled by the great Mickey Contractor - if you don't know him, go down a Google search rabbit hole, and be amazed at his hand-craft skills.

Aur Pyar Ho Gaya is remembered today mainly as Aishwarya Rai's Bollywood entry point rather than for its box office success or critical acclaim. The music by the late, great Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan and lyrics by Javed Akthar are impeccable. So many songs stand the test of time - and all so gloriously picturised on the telegenic pair. For her first film, Aishwarya's not bad but people expected her to be Madhuri from day one. Which was unfair to the (albeit confident) newcomer. As a rom com its.. fine. Its fine.

As a time capsule for contemporary fashion in the 90s, its textbook. Skip through most of the film, and just watch Ash. Totally worth it.

Thursday, 13 August 2026

Rekha in her career defining year: Khoobsurat

Released in January 1980, Rekha was the undisputed queen of Bollywood at the time. A career-defining year for Re as she absolutely stunned in Khoobsurat, Kalyug, Basera, Umrao Jaan and Silsila, all which came back-to-back.

When you see her filmography in the early 1980s, she appeared in nearly a dozen movies each year. Sadly the quality of the films themselves was all over the place. Either she was exquisite or erratic.

As a beauty, actor and dancer, Rekha is peerless - topped with a flawless voice and husky dialogue delivery where her Hindi and Urdu is perfection.

In her vast filmography, many like to state that Umrao Jaan is her career-defining performance. A valid thesis can be made of that.

I propose the flawless, Khoobsurat. Legend has it Hrisihikesh Mukherjee made the film just for Re - and is closest character to the actress herself.

I've seen the film... 148 times. It is glorious. Every single actor in the movie is so natural and wonderful. Particularly Ashok Kumar and his magical jugulabandi with Dina Pathak.