WOW FEATURES
Thank you for the hispanic feature on the gorgeous Raquel Welch. Here’s a star who is fruly timeless.

I also enjoyed the insight into the life of Suzanne Pleshette, a great fave during my teen years. Your profile was exhaustive and really an eye-opener for Pleshette fans who are unaware of her vast body of work. I, for one was under the impression that her career faded in the 70s itself, and am pleasantly surprised to learn that she continues to make movies and TV appearances.
HP Girish
Chamarajpet, Bangalore

THE IRON LADY
Thank you for a very insightful portrait of the talented lady, Suzanne Pleshette. I was a travelling sales man during the 60s, the time she made her debut in Lovers Must Learn and no matter which city I was in, I always grabbed the chance to see her in this movie, many times over. Fans were besotted with her beauty and talent, and I was one of them. A great dramatic actress, she will always be remembered for The Wall of Noise, A Distant Trumpet and Nevada Smith opposite Steve McQueen.

Unfortunately, a good many of the movies listed in your profile were never released in India. On looking back, our Bollywood heroine, Rani Mukerji, does resemble the young Suzanne, gravelly voice and all.
Ashok Shenoy
Pune

A KAPOOR GEM
I saw Fiza, produced by Pradeep Guha and directed by film critic Khalid Mohammed with great interest. While the film in the latter half has several dragging moments, it also draws out tears from the audience, particularly so because of the magnificent acting of Karishma Kapoor. The shots of her heart-rending sobs and loud, piercing wails, following the suicide of her mother, should be considered the highlight of Fiza. I wept with her.

Karishma deserves national recognition as the best actress of 2000. What an abundance of talent! She not only titillates the audience with her grace and charm but also has the capacity to rise to great emotional heights.
Sushila Rani Patel
Bandra (W), Mumbai

GET OFF THE HIGH HORSE
In the item “Fresh Spate of Rumours” in Short Takes (SCREEN dated October 8), it is reported that Manoj Bajpai priced himself out of a Mukta Arts’ film. I think Manoj Bajpai is making the mistake of believing all the hype the media created about him after Satya.

The media thrives on hype, and it is not to be taken seriously either by the readers or by those being hyped. The film press (including SCREEN) wrote about Manoj Bajpai that he was the greatest actor ever seen on the Indian screen, and it looks as if he readily lapped it all up. He even turned down promising secondary roles, opting instead to play the solo hero. But his films as hero have not been finding distributors. Even the one that did, Dil Pe Mat Le Yaar hasn’t done too well at te b-o. It is time he got off his high horse and started accepting second lead and negative roles, which are his forte. If it is true that he has been offered a role in Devdas, he should accept it pronto.
RK Sarma
RA Puram, Chennai

TWO GREAT MILESTONES
I am happy to wish a happy birthday to my favourite film weekly SCREEN as well as to my favourite evergreen actor Dev Anand.

As a regular reader of SCREEN I must say it is the only film magazine which interests me. And as for Dev Saab, I’ve been a regular writer to SCREEN, who has insisted it was time he was considered for the Phalke Award. Why deny him the award when he truly deserves it?
Sadanand Kanbarkar
Airport Road, Hubli

BENEATH THE HYPE
YOUR cover story on Aishwaya Rai, “New Worlds to Conquer” (Screen, September 29) was indeed entertaining.

Aishwaya Rai the numero uno among today’s heroines may well cross many a milestone, but her latest release Dhai Akshr Premke is a damp squib altogether. Her acting provers and beauty have not sufficed to ensure a box-office grosser. With Abhishek’s third attempt in Dhai Akshar Prem Ke too failing to set the box office on fire it is high time Abhishek looks for meatier roles before he signs on the dotted line.
TR Anand
Budge Trunk Road, Sarangabad