
Bolly Volley Volume I
Arup Raha's monthly Bollywood column: the new wave of debutant directors, plus Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara, Delhi Belly, Ready — and a music quiz.
Explore every Entertainment article on Thoughtful India — in-depth reporting, analysis, and perspectives on entertainment across India.
220 articles

Arup Raha's monthly Bollywood column: the new wave of debutant directors, plus Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara, Delhi Belly, Ready — and a music quiz.

Shah Rukh Khan threw himself into Ra.One's dance numbers in 2011 — rehearsing for months and filming Chammak Challo with Akon on playback.

Tanuja and Kajol, Dimple and Twinkle, Hema and Esha — five Bollywood mother-daughter pairs where the resemblance, on screen and off, is uncanny.

After leaving California's governorship, Arnold Schwarzenegger returned to the screen with The Last Stand and Escape Plan — a comeback built on range, age,

Ram Gopal Varma called Raveena Tandon stunning — reviving a conversation about the 1990s star who refused Bollywood's script for fading leading ladies.

Ellen DeGeneres argued thinness isn't the point of health — and research on 'fat but fit' largely agreed. Revisiting her 2011 body-image stand.

The buzz in April 2011: Salman Khan and Katrina Kaif reuniting on screen for Kabir Khan's Ek Tha Tiger — their first film together since their relationship

Justin Bieber’s 2011 Israel visit — thousands of fans, crowd-control headaches, and a brief meeting with President Shimon Peres.

Canadian comedian Russell Peters took a swipe at Bollywood's acting and recycled stories in a 2011 interview — and explained why his cross-cultural honesty

In 2011, at the peak of his post-Slumdog global fame, A.R. Rahman launched his authorized biography. On the private genius and the book that tried to

After splitting from John Abraham, Bipasha Basu spoke openly about enjoying being single — and Indian celebrity culture didn’t quite know what to do with her.

Sesame Street’s Urdu adaptation, Sim Sim Hamara, brought Elmo to Pakistani television — a case for making children’s TV genuinely local, not dubbed.

Reese Witherspoon married Jim Toth in March 2011 wearing pale pink — a custom Monique Lhuillier gown, not white. The bridal rule she quietly broke.

Review of Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules (2011), the second film from Jeff Kinney's series, on Greg Heffley's fraught bond with his older brother.

Elizabeth Taylor died March 23, 2011, at 79. A look back at her three careers — MGM child star, two-time Oscar winner, and founding national chairman of amfAR.

Saif Ali Khan argued Bollywood is creatively self-sufficient. The commercial case is strong; the creative one is more contested.

In early 2011, Shah Rukh Khan quit Twitter over its toxicity -- one of the first major celebrity exits, and a preview of a decade of debate.

Charlie Sheen's March 2011 firing from Two and a Half Men was the first celebrity implosion conducted on social media. What 'winning' taught Hollywood.

In 2011, stories of an underground fight circuit in Mumbai echoed the famous film. What the scene said about unmet demand for combat sports in India.

In February 2011, Rajasthan braced for Tom Cruise and Salma Hayek. What the announcement promised -- and what actually got filmed.