• Preity Zinta Besides her acting, Preity Zinta has also written a series of columns for BBC News Online of South Asia.
     

    Preity Zinta
  • During the making of 'Sholay' Dharmendra paid the light boys to make mistakes during shots, so that he could embrace Hema Malini again and again.

    Amitabh Bachchan Bollywood Dharmendra Hema Malini Sholay 3D
  • Akshay Kumar is superstitious. He will never write anything on a page unless he first heads it with an ‘Om’.

    Akshay Kumar
  • Model turned actress Malaika Arora is Salman Khan sister-in-law. Actor turned director Atul Agnihotri is his brother-in-law.

    Bollywood Salman Khan
  • Shahrukh Khan personal bodyguard's name is Yasmin Khan. When his bodyguard got married, Shahrukh gifted him a flat that is located beside his residence Mannat.

    Bollywood Shahrukh Khan
  • Both Sridevi and Juhi Chawla's daughters name is Jhanvi.

    Bollywood Juhi Chawla
  • Emraan Hashmi did his first film Footpath with the screen name " Farhan Hashmi".

    Bollywood Emraan Hashmi
  • Rishi Kapoor is petrified of flying. He cannot board a plane till he is drunk out of his wits.

    Bollywood Rishi Kapoor
  • Nana Patekar actually stayed in military camp for several months to prepare for his movie Prahaar.

    Bollywood Nana Patekar
  • On the sets of Amar Akbar Antony Rishi Kapoor smeared kajal on Neetu Singh's face just before the shoot of a song. Poor girl had to redo her makeup.

    Bollywood Rishi Kapoor
  • Raj Kapoor’s ‘Mera Naam Joker’ was the first Hindi movie to have two intervals.

    Bollywood
  • Meena Kumari, Nargis, and Madhubala were all discovered as child artistes before they become actresses.

    Bollywood
  • Fans of Amitabh Bachchan built him a temple in Calcutta. The temple has his movies and a lot of info about him.

    Amitabh Bachchan Bollywood
  • Katrina Kaif's father was a Kashmiri Indian.

    Bollywood Katrina Kaif
  • Fardeen Khan was arrested on May 5th 2001 in connection with Cocaine Seizure.

    Bollywood
  • Raj Kapor used to work as a sweeper boy and clapper boy.

    Bollywood
  • Parineeti Chopra was a nerd in her school days & stood first all over India in her 12th standard exams. For this, she was rewarded by the then President of India.
     

    Bollywood Parineeti Chopra
  • ‘Mughal-e-Azam’ (1960) was a trilingual – with all scenes shot thrice in Hindi, Tamil and English. When the Tamil one flopped miserably, the English language one was aborted.

    Bollywood
  • Lootera movie is based on O'Henry's classic story, 'The Last Leaf'

    Bollywood Ranveer Singh
  • Rekha was a crazy fan of Mumtaz when she entered the industry

    Bollywood
  • Dilwale Dulhaniya Lejayenge has won the most number of filmfare awards till date.

    Bollywood
  • Raj Kapoor's nickname for Shashi Kapoor was "Taxi".

    Bollywood
  • Actor Emraan Hashmi used the screen name Farhaan Hashmi for a few months in the early part of his career. He went back to using Emraan Hashmi a short while later.

    Bollywood Emraan Hashmi
  • Actor Annu Kapoor used his real name " Anil Kapoor" for his first film Adharshila. He later changed it to Annu Kapoor to avoid confusion with Anil Kapoor.

    Bollywood
  • Salman studied acting at actress Daisy Irani's acting institute along with his friends Sajid Khan and Chunky Pandey.

    Bollywood Chunky Pandey Salman Khan
  • Award winning singer Sonu Nigam played the younger avatar of Sunny Deol in the film 'Betaab'.

    Bollywood Sunny Deol
  • The longest film in the world is also a Bollywood film. ‘LOC: Kargil’ is 4 hours and 25 minutes long and if you plan to catch this war saga, we recommend you’re sitting comfortably.

    Bollywood
  • Lata Mangeshkar's song ‘Ae Malik Tere Bande Hum’ from ‘Do Aankhen Barah Haath’ (1957) which was an original composition by Vasant Desai, was adapted by a Pakistani school as the school anthem.

    Bollywood
  • While shooting for the underwater scene in KNPH, Hrithik Roshan's foot got stuck in a rocky crevice and he nearly drowned.

    Bollywood Hrithik Roshan
  • Dilip Kumar was offered a lead role in the international project ‘Lawrence of Arabia’ (1962) by director David Lean. However for reasons unknown, the actor declined the offer. The role subsequently went to Egyptian actor Omar Sharif.

    Bollywood
  • Amitabh Bachchan is so punctual that many a times he used to open the gates of Filmistan Studios himself for he used to reach the place before the watchman or gatekeeper.

    Amitabh Bachchan
  • In his youth, actor Dharmendra was such a big fan of actress Suraiya that he walked miles to watch her film ‘Dillagi’ (1949) over 40 times.

    Dharmendra
  • The popular United Kingdom Magazine "Guardian" said Lagaan is a must-see movie especially for the British.

    Bollywood
  • Shahrukh Khan launched his perfume "SK" with the French perfumers and Jeannes Arthes.

    Bollywood Shahrukh Khan
  • Mohammad Rafi, who loved watching boxing, requested the organisers on his tour to Chicago to get him an appointment with Mohammad Ali. Otherwise a busy man, Ali proceeded to Rafi’s hotel room when he found out that the legendary Indian singer wanted to meet him.

    Bollywood
  • In the early stages of her career, Karisma Kapoor was mortally terrified of photo-sessions.

    Bollywood Karisma Kapoor
  • Sushmita Sen Did you know that former beauty queen and actress Sushmita Sen keeps a python as a pet?
     

    Bollywood
  • ‘Silsila’ (1981) is the only movie in which Shashi played an elder brother to Amitabh. In all the other movies starring the duo, Amitabh has essayed the role of the elder sibling. The films include hits like ‘Deewar’, ‘Suhaag’, ‘Do Aur Do Paanch’ and ‘Namak Halaal’.

    Amitabh Bachchan
  • Raj kapoor worked as assistant director on Dilip Saab's first film- Jwar Bhata' before making his debut in 'Aag'.

    Bollywood
  • Shahrukh Khan 3rd child was born via a surrogate mother on 27 May, 2013.

    Bollywood Shahrukh Khan
  • Hrithik Roshan had got 30000 (!) marriage proposals on Valentine's day 2000.

    Bollywood Hrithik Roshan
  • In Don 2, Shah Rukh Khan (Don) is seen riding on a long motorway aboard a bridge, a motorbike, with a license plate reading “Don 3″. Hence, there may be a possibility of a sequel.

    Bollywood Shahrukh Khan
  • Devika Rani was the first actress with a degree in film-making.

    Bollywood
  • Devdas was the first film of the pair Dilip Kumar-Vyjanthimala, which though a box office flop, fetched awards for most of the crew and Vyjanthimala got nominated for Best Actress at Filmfare and Dilip Kumar got Best Actor award at Filmfare.

    Bollywood
  • Dharmendra did 13 B grade Action films with Hemant Birje in 1991-2003.

    Bollywood Dharmendra
  • In Ishqiya, Preity Zinta was the makers original choice. However, Vidya Balan took over the female lead.

    Bollywood Preity Zinta Vidya Balan
  • Feroz Khan started a film titled Kasak in the 1980s. After recording a song he shelved the film. The song was later used in Yalgaar. The song E Mere Watan sung by Mohd Aziz and Nitin Mukesh..

    Bollywood
  • Amitabh Bachchan holds an art degree from Sherwood College, Nainital.

    Amitabh Bachchan Bollywood
  • Sunil Dutt initially used to be an RJ for Radio Ceylon and wanted to interview his favorite actress Nargis, but it had to be cancelled when he could not say a single word to her. Later, when he worked with her in ‘Mother India’ (1957), they fell in love and got married.

    Bollywood
  • Shahrukh Khan's first salary was Rs 50 which he earned by working as an usher at a Pankaj Udhas' concert in Delhi. He used the money to take the train to Agra and see the Taj Mahal. 

    Shah Rukh Khan
  • Because the cinema industry was still considered a low profession in the 40s, music director Naushad was introduced by his parents to his bride as a tailor. And ironically, the music that played in his ‘baraat’ was from ‘Rattan’ (1944) – that had been composed by him.

    Bollywood
  • Aamir Khan once shaved off his hair because a girl rejected him.

    Aamir Khan Bollywood
  • Style diva Rekha wears only crimson or chocolate colored lipstick when making public appearances.

    Bollywood
  • Shahrukh was turned down the Quiz Master's (Prem Kapoor) role in Slumdog Millionaire and the role went to Anil Kapoor.

    Anil Kapoor Bollywood Shahrukh Khan
  • Jeetendra got his first major break when film-maker Shantaram cast him as the hero in Geet Gaaya Pattharonne (1964).

    Bollywood Jeetendra
  • Raj Kapoor was superstitious and went off drinking as well as eating non-vegetarian food before the release of ‘Satyam Shivan Sundaram’ (1978).

    Bollywood
  • Saif Ali Khan was the original choice for Shahrukh Khan’s role in ‘Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge’. Even Tom Cruise was considered for the role of Raj Malhotra (SRK’s role in the film)

    Bollywood Saif Ali Khan Shahrukh Khan
  • Anil Kapoor shaved-off his mustache, for the first time, while filming Lamhe (1991). He has also done so for Jhooth Bole Kauwa Kaate (1998) and Salaam-E-Ishq (2007).

    Anil Kapoor Bollywood
  • Anurag Basu wanted Katrina Kaif originally to narrate the story in ‘Barfi!’ instead of Ileana D’Cruz. But the director had to go with the latter when Katrina refused due to unknown reasons.

    Bollywood Ileana D Cruz
  • Dharmendra’s fee when he debuted in 1960 in the movie ‘Dil Bhi Tera Hum Bhi Tere’ was a meager 51 rupees.

    Bollywood Dharmendra
  • Anil Kapoor was a child artiste in the shelved film Tu Paayal Main Geet starring Shashi Kapoor. He was playing the role of the young childhood Shashi Kapoor.

    Anil Kapoor Bollywood
  • Dev Anand picked up his movie titles and story lines from newspaper headlines and stories.

    Bollywood
  • In most of Salman's films his character name has been Prem and more recently Radhe and Chulbul Pandey has now been synonymous with him.

    Bollywood Salman Khan
  • Amitabh Bachchan He worked in Calcutta for the shipping firm Shaw & Wallace as executive and as a freight broker for Bird and Co. It was in Calcutta that he bought a second-hand Fiat as his first car.
     

    Amitabh Bachchan
  • During escalating tensions between India and Pakistan, Dilip Kumar had agreed to accept an award from Pakistan, and was threatened by workers of an extreme right-wing political party in Bombay, India. He actually wrote to the Prime Minister, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, for protection. The threat has now subsided with improved relations between India and Pakistan.

    Bollywood
  • Farhan Akhtar is exactly one day older than actor Hrithik Roshan, who's a close friend in personal life.

    Bollywood Farhan Akhtar
  • Salman Khan has been wearing Feroza (turquoise) stone bracelet for the past 15 years.

    Bollywood Salman Khan
  • Aamir Khan was supposed to play the role of Max in Josh but later it was played by Shahrukh.

    Aamir Khan Bollywood
  • Salman Khan was swimming champion in his school days and was tipped to represent India at international events.

    Bollywood Salman Khan
  • Akshay Kumar is the son-in-law of India and Hindi Film Industry's first ever Superstar, Rajesh Khanna and actress, Dimple Kapadia, as well as the brother-in-law of actress Rinke Khanna.

    Akshay Kumar Bollywood
  • Ranbir Kapoor still takes Rs 1,500 pocket Money from his mom every week.

    Ranbir Kapoor
  • Govinda actually sang for himself in some of his movies like, "meri pant bhi sexy" from "dulaara" and "gori gori" from "shola aur shabnam".

    Bollywood Govinda
  • Shah Rukh Khan debut film was Dil Aashna Hai but due to the delay in the release of the film Deewana was considered as his debut film.

    Bollywood Shahrukh Khan
  • Aishwarya's first ever commercial was for Camlin pencils while in 9th grade.

    Bollywood
  • Ashok Kumar was a lab assistant in Bombay Talkies before he became an actor in 1936.

    Bollywood
  • Sunil Dutt initially used to be an RJ for Radio Ceylon and wanted to interview his favorite actress Nargis, but it had to be cancelled when he could not say a single word to her. Later, when he worked with her in ‘Mother India’ (1957), they fell in love and got married.

    Bollywood Dharmendra
  • Irfan Khan is the first Bollywood actor who star in two films that won the Academy Award for Best Director (Slumdog Millionaire (2008) and Life of Pi (2012)). Both films also won the Academy Award for Best Cinematography and Best Original Score.

    Bollywood Irrfan Khan
  • Shahrukh Khan son, Aryan Khan, voice of Tez Lajawaab (Dash), character for Hindi dubbed version of Disney's animated film, The Incredibles (Hum Hain Lajawaab).

    Bollywood Shahrukh Khan
  • Jeetendra’s first film was ‘Navrang’ (1959), where he played Sandhya’s body double.

    Bollywood Jeetendra
  • Indra Sabha with 71 songs is the film with most number of songs.The film was made in 1932 by madan Theatres.

    Bollywood
  • Once the sound era in films started with Alam Ara in India, the second film after Alam Ara, Indrasabha had a record 71 songs.

    Bollywood
  • Raj Kapoor had promised Feroz Khan that if Rajendra Kumar declined Sangam he would sign him for the film.

    Bollywood
  • Dharm Hema were paired romantically in lead role in 31 of the 35 films they did together and 20 were hits and 15 were flops.

    Bollywood Dharmendra Hema Malini
  • Shahid Kapoor starting off his career by working in music videos and advertisements, Kapoor made his Bollywood debut as a background dancer in Subhash Ghai's Taal. Later, he made his debut as a lead in Ishq Vishk and won a Filmfare Best Male Debut Award for his performance.

    Bollywood Shahid Kapoor
  • Geet Gaaya Pattharonne was Jeetendra first hit, but that didn't fetch him offers as a lead hero. It was Farz released in 1967, his 4th film appearance and 3rd as the male lead, which made him a known face.

    Bollywood Jeetendra
  • Shamita Shetty is deeply into Sports and Body training and holds a Diploma in Fashion Designing.

    Bollywood
  • SRK joined Barry John's theatre group in New Delhi and learned acting from him, Barry John also taught acting to Manoj Bajpayee in his theatre group.

    Bollywood Shahrukh Khan
  • Shilpa Shetty Did you know Shilpa is scared to drive her car? Yes, the actress doesn't know how to drive a car and always has a driver along with her where ever she goes. 

    Bollywood
  • Salman Khan was offered Saif Ali Khan's role in 'Kal Ho Na Ho'

    Bollywood Saif Ali Khan Salman Khan
  • Aishwarya Rai Bachchan was once rejected for a TV serial dubbing job before she became famous. 

    Bollywood
  • Shah Rukh Khan studied in St. Columba's school, New Delhi, where he was awarded the 'Sword of Honor', essentially the award for best student.

    Bollywood Shahrukh Khan
  • Hrithik Roshan loves collecting photographs. He would never travel anywhere without his personal camera even as a child. He has a vast collection photographs and special scrapbooks marking each occasion.

    Bollywood Hrithik Roshan
  • Hukumat, Dharmendra 74th solo hero film, was highest grosser, at the box office in 1987.

    Bollywood Dharmendra
  • Amitabh Bachchan loves snacking on Bourbon biscuits and cashew nuts.

    Amitabh Bachchan Bollywood
  • Anil Kapoor's father Surinder Kapoor was Nargis and Geeta Bali's secretary.

    Anil Kapoor Bollywood
  • The film ‘Lagaan’ by Aamir Khan has the most number of British actors playing a significant role in the entire history of Bollywood cinema.

    Aamir Khan Bollywood
  • Govinda was voted No.10 in a BBC News Online Survey to find out the Top 10 Greatest Stars of Stage and Screen of the last 1000 years.

    Bollywood Govinda
  • Hrithik Roshan had a stammering problem since childhood. In order to combat the problem, he took speech lessons and, today, he is one of the most eloquent Bollywood stars.
     

    Hrithik Roshan
  • Rohit Dhawan had suggested the title ‘Main Tera Hero’ for Varun Dhawan..

    Varun Dhawan
  • Hrithik Roshan fought hard to overcome a stammering problem.

    Bollywood Hrithik Roshan