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

    Preity Zinta
  • Dharmendra starred in Alok Chitra's shelved film " Kahin Deep Jale Kahin Dil " in 1965. The film co starred Shashi Kapoor. This would have been the first film they both worked in.

    Bollywood Dharmendra
  • Aamir Khan is such a perfectionist! IN the movie Ghulam he did a dangerous stunt where he has to run against a speeding train ALL BY HIMSELF. He almost got killed during that scene

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

    Bollywood
  • Shahrukh Khan had Graduated from Hansraj College, Delhi University and followed it up with a Masters Degree in Mass Communications (Film making) from Jamia Millia Islamia University, in New Delhi, but after a year Shah Rukh opted out as he had to make his acting career in Bollywood.

    Bollywood Shahrukh Khan
  • When Sridevi was only 13, she played Rajnikanth’s stepmom in a Tamil film called ‘Moondru Mudichu’.

    Bollywood
  • Bappi Lahiri composed for films starring Jeetendra beginning from Himmatwala. Together Bappi and Jeetendra did 20 films between 1983 to 1988. Of these 20, 16 were silver jubilee hits and 4 were flops.

    Ajay Devgan Bollywood Himmatwala
  • Shah Rukh Khan always agreed to star in Aditya Chopra's films without looking at the script first.

    Bollywood Shahrukh Khan
  • Jeetendra total film appearances were in 226 films and 121 of them were box office hits and 102 were flops.

    Bollywood Jeetendra
  • 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
  • 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
  • Salman Khan's real name is Abdul Rashid Salim Salman Khan.

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

    Bollywood Salman Khan
  • Salman was voted 7th best-looking man in the world by People Magazine.

    Bollywood Salman Khan
  • Shekhar Kapur's 'Mr. India' was originally written for Amitabh Bachchan but Big B refused to do the 'invisible' role

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

    Bollywood Rishi Kapoor
  • Diana Penty's role in the film Cocktail was first offered to Deepika Padukone.

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

    Amitabh Bachchan Bollywood
  • At the time of marriage, Dilip Kumar was 44 and Saira Banu was 22.

    Bollywood
  • Govinda had a narrow escape from death on January 5, 1994. While travelling to a studio for the shooting of 'Khuddar (1994)', the actor's car hit another car, resulting in him sustaining injuries to his head. Though bleeding profusely, Govinda did not cancel the shooting. After visiting a doctor, he shot for the film till midnight.

    Bollywood Govinda
  • Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge has become a milestone, which is yet to be achieved by anyone even after a decade. It has completed 700 weeks of undeterred run at Mumbai’s Minnerva theatre a couple of years back. It was released nationwide on October 20, 1995.

    Bollywood
  • Rockstar’ was shot in reverse order, with the climax being shot first. Reason: The makers did not want to disturb the continuity of Ranbir Kapoor’s hairstyle.

    Bollywood Ranbir Kapoor
  • Anil Kapoor is the director of Asian Academy of film and television film city noida which conducts film degree programs and is rated as top 10 in the world

    Anil Kapoor Bollywood
  • 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
  • Akshay Kumar studied martial arts in Bangkok before becoming an actor.

    Akshay Kumar Bollywood
  • Salman Khan did his first playback singing for the film 'Hello Brother'.

    Bollywood Salman Khan
  • During the shoot of Gangs of Wasseypur, in Banaras, the assistant director Sohil Shah, died in an accident, when he fell off a bridge while in a jeep. Sohil suffered an instant hemorrhage when he hit his ear against a metal rod.

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

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

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

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

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

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

    Bollywood Hrithik Roshan
  • Raveena Tandon had adopted two girls from an orphanage somewhere around 1997-98. They live with her and go to school.

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

    Bollywood Shahrukh Khan
  • Aamir Khan's favorite sport is Chess and Rubik's cube

    Aamir Khan
  • 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
  • Raj Kapoor used to work as a sweeper boy and clapper boy

    Bollywood
  • For a country that is obsessed with films, there are still very few cinema screens. India has fewer than 13,000 screens compared with nearly 40,000 screens in the US.

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

    Bollywood Salman Khan
  • 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
  • Farhan did something very unconventional in Bollywood by singing all his songs himself for the movie Rock On!! (2008) as the movie featured him as a rockstar.

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

    Bollywood
  • 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 Khan suffers from trigeminal neuralgia, a facial nerve disorder commonly known as the suicide disease.

    Bollywood Salman Khan
  • Waheeda Rahman played both mother and lover to Amitabh Bachchan. She played the love interest of Big B in ‘Adalat’ (1976) and mother in ‘Trishul’ (1978).

    Bollywood
  • Dil Chahta Hai was written keeping in mind Akshaye Khanna, Hrithik Roshan and Saif Ali Khan. When Hrithik turned down the role, it went to Abhishek Bachchan. However, Aamir Khan was finally roped in. Also Sonali Kulkarni’s role as Pooja was initially offered to Isha Koppikar.

    Aamir Khan Abhishek Bachchan Bollywood Hrithik Roshan
  • Akshay Kumar was awarded the highest Japanese honour of “Katana” and a sixth degree Black Belt in Kuyukai Gojuryu Karate.

    Akshay Kumar Bollywood
  • Anil Kapoor’s family lived in Raj Kapoor’s garage when they first moved to Mumbai. Later they shifted to a room in one of Mumbai’s middle-class suburbs.

    Anil Kapoor
  • Aishwarya Rai Bachchan was once rejected for a TV serial dubbing job before she became famous. 

    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
  • Salman Khan was initially offered the role of Devdas, which was later on enacted by his rival Shahrukh Khan.

    Bollywood Salman Khan Shahrukh Khan
  • Hrithik Roshan was an assistant to his father during the making of Koyla.

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

    Bollywood
  • Jeetendra career's first blockbuster, without being a remake of a Tamil Film, was Caravan in 1970.

    Bollywood Jeetendra
  • Rohit Dhawan had suggested the title ‘Main Tera Hero’ for Varun Dhawan..

    Varun Dhawan
  • Mahima Chaudhary has a shoe fetish. She spends most of her free time shopping for shoes. During one such shopping stint, she actually picked up a dozen pairs of the same variety in every colour available

    Bollywood
  • Dilip Kumar has won the most awards as the Best Actor with 8 awards spanning over 3 decades.

    Bollywood
  • Katrina Kaif visits  Sidhivinayak Temple, Mount Mary Church and Ajmer Sharif Dargah before the release of her every film.
     

    Katrina Kaif
  • Jaya Bachchan hates to carry handbags, so all her salwar-kameez, formal or informal, all of them, have two pockets on the sides to hold her essentials like keys, combs etc.

    Bollywood
  • Shahrukh Khan owns three Production Houses in India, Dreamz Unlimited, Red Chillies Entertainment and Red Chillies Idiot Box. Red Chillies Idiot Box Production house will start producing Television Serials in India.

    Bollywood Shahrukh Khan
  • Salman was offered Baazigar (1993) by Abbas-Mustan, but turned down the film after the makers refused to accommodate changes suggested by his father Salim Khan. The role went to Shah Rukh Khan.

    Bollywood Salman Khan
  • The song ‘Ab Tumhare Hawale Watan Saathiyon’ in the film by the same name is the longest Hindi film song. The length of this iconic song is 20 minutes and the song is featured in three installments in the film.

    Amitabh Bachchan Jeetendra
  • Jeetendra got his first major break when film-maker Shantaram cast him as the hero in Geet Gaaya Pattharonne (1964).

    Bollywood Jeetendra
  • 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
  • Hrithik Roshan fought hard to overcome a stammering problem.

    Bollywood Hrithik Roshan
  • Salman Khan uses a mulmul cloth to wipe his nose. You will never find him with a handkerchief or tissue! 

    Bollywood Salman Khan
  • The producers of Ghajini were not keen on casting Asin opposite Aamir Khan as she is a South Indian actress. However, Aamir was so much impressed with Asin’s performance in the original Tamil version that he insisted on her playing the lead. It is said that he personally requested Asin to play the lead in the Hindi version. Priyanka Chopra was the original choice.

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

    Bollywood
  • 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
  • The first motion picture in India was ‘The Wrestlers’ screened in 1899 a portrait photographer called Harischandra Sakharam Bhatavdekar.

    Bollywood
  • Anupam Kher awarded the "Special National Jury Award" and the "Actor of the Decade Award" (Millennium Honours) among others, but he also holds the record as the only actor in the industry to have won eight consecutive Filmfare awards.

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

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

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

    Bollywood Farhan Akhtar
  • When Mithun and Sridevi were involved, Mithun had given Sri a pet name. He used to call her Pepsi. This was before the soft drink came to India.

    Bollywood Mithun Chakraborty
  • Imran Khan is not an Indian citizen, but he is actually a US citizen.
     

    Imran Khan
  • Shah Rukh Khan runs a production company "Dreamz Unlimited" with actress, friend, co-star Juhi Chawla and director, friend Aziz Mirza.

    Bollywood Shahrukh Khan
  • 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
  • Akshay Kumar Though nominated seven times at the Filmfare awards, he's won just twice - Best actor in a comic and negative role for Garam Masala and Ajnabee, respectively. 

    Akshay Kumar
  • 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
  • Being a Muslim man Shahrukh Khan married to a Hindu woman, he and his wife combine both religious backgrounds into their children's education.

    Bollywood Shahrukh Khan
  • Lagaan is the first Bollywood film in which maximum number of foreigners have worked.

    Aamir Khan
  • Feroz never attended college. Once he cleared his Senior Cambridge exams, he headed for Bombay, where he rented accommodation for Rs 300 a month. His job as an assistant at movie production house Wadia & Bros paid him exactly Rs 300 a month. To earn more money, he became a hustler at a club and placed bets on snooker matches.

    Bollywood
  • Govinda had got 2007 - Most Stylish Comeback Award at the MTV Lycra Style Awards.

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

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

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

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

    Bollywood Dharmendra
  • 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
  • Salman Khan in his early days as a struggling actor he never used his father's name and influence like many other heroes with relatives in the industry. He used to visit producers on his own and audition for roles.

    Bollywood Salman Khan
  • 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
  • Actor Amjad Khan was almost dropped from ‘Sholay’ (1975) because scriptwriter Javed Akhtar found his voice weak for Gabbar Singh's role. Danny Denzongpa was approached for that role initially.

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

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

    Bollywood
  • Shahrukh 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