Some fun stories from the just concluded Indian Screenwriters Conference.

When Mani Ratnam was researching for his film Nayakan, loosely based on underworld don Varadarajan Mudaliar, Mudaliar invited Ratnam to his house and personally fed him dosa dipped in chutney. Mudaliar said he was keeping a low profile because he knew the cops would never let him reach the court for justice.

Ratnam was struggling with the climax of Nayakan.

How to end it?

He could have conveniently inserted an encounter sequence and finished the character Velu.

On the last day of #PrideMonth here's a short love story, from my own life. A railway station romance in Bombay.

A love story should be epic, he says.

One of us has to die for that, I thought.

Who better than him to kill me? Here he is, standing in front of me, asking me to take my shirt off and wear his shirt.

I want to shut him up with a kiss. I feel flushed like Hugh Grant in Notting Hill.

Why? I ask.

Because I am going to a party, and my shirt is soaked, he says.

The first time I saw my father, he was standing naked in the room.

I know, I know, how can I talk like that on #FathersDay

Sharam karo and all.

But that first line is the end of that story.

Let's get to the beginning if you have no sharam. A man got out of bed and stood in front of me. The single yellow bulb hanging from the ceiling was miraculously switched on by a person behind me adjusting her petticoat. I could tell the woman from the silvery sounds of her bangles and anklets — the music was home to my ears.

If you thought Dharamji was promoting homophobia, take a look at what Hemaji was suggesting. She was romancing her lady-in-waiting in Razia Sultan. With #Pride In the beautiful lullaby Khwab Ban Kar Koi Aayega, when Parveen Babi is singing to her queen, the two young girls rowing the boat are conscious and aware of the dalliance that must be kept a secret.

One of the finest actors' contribution to queer cinema remains locked in a closet somewhere. #Pride

Why was Irrfan Khan’s gay film Adhura banned?

In 1995, the Censor board did not approve of the same-sex romance. In the film, ironically called Adhura (Incomplete), Irrfan Khan plays a journalist who has an affair with an ageing industrialist.

Art dealer and gallerist Ashish Balram Nagpal played the role of the industrialist. Kitu Gidwani was playing a key role as Irrfan’s wife.

Yesterday, the demise of Shiv Kumar Sharma, the musical duo of Shiv-Hari took me to an all-time fave album Lamhe (1991). I return to for joy, or even solace. Each song I know by heart.

Sample the tune and lyrics of Yeh Lamhe Yeh Pal Hum for instance.
The tune is quite simply just a plaintive flute by Hari, faint guitar riffs, Shiv's santoor or keyboard, following the singer's wistful voice reciting 2 lines of Anand Bakshi's lyrics.

Took mother and her girlgang to watch #GangubaiKathiawadi and to celebrate the sisterhood of #InternationalWomensDay
They wanted to pose with Alia but her poster was nowhere to be seen. They had to make do with Ajay Devgn.😎 Review soon.👍🏽 Half time. The girls take a Kit-Kat break.

Shipra maasi says: Sheela maasi marr gayi!

Simmi laughed throughout the bathing scene.

Lakshmi says daaru peeke ladki aayi, accha laga.

Mother wept when the girls elected Gangu girlboss.

Girls just wanna have fun.❤️

An essay I wrote about my mother. #InternationalWomensDay

‘ये कंप्यूटर-इंटरनेट पर कितने सारे लोगों की तस्वीरें आती रहती हैं. तूने कभी मेरी फोटो क्यों नहीं लगाई?’

She's all over it now. 😷

thewirehindi.com/36341/writer-a… Translated in Urdu. 🙏🏽
thewireurdu.com/25326/manish-g……

Javed Akhtar once recalled a fascinating anecdote about Lata Mangeshkar's sur. This song. ❤️

The #GangubaiKathiawadiTrailer is all kinds of wow for Vijay Raaz. Though these images do remind me of Mary Ellen Mark's photo work in Falkland Road in 1978. Bhansali, of course, knows how to copy and make it his own.

A #MadhuriDixit appreciation thread via #MumtazAskari.

Hindu-Muslim behen-behen type through their communal love…I mean common love of Orange-coloured dresses.

Say syncretic ishstyle. 🧡🧡🧡 I would have said bhagwa or gerua instead of orange
syncretism but you know how some colour names are patented by...khair...moving on...

“Orange is red brought nearer to humanity by yellow,” said Wassily Kandinsky.

Google kar lo who he is.

This painting is by Leighton.