RAVAGES OF TIME
THE photo feature, "Yesterday’s Dreams" gives several photos of an ageing star from the young age to the present. What purpose does the feature serve? If you wish to show how good the stars looked in their youth, why not publish just the youthful photographs? What is the idea in showing the star ageing visibly and getting uglier? It is bad enough in the case of the heroes, but in the case of the heroines, it is excessively cruel, especially when applied to the likes of Asha Parekh, Saira Banu, Sharmila Tagore and Raakhee. And when you do it to Sadhana, it is positively sadistic.

If you insist on retaining the weekly feature, why not change the slug to "Today’s Nightmares?"
K Raghunath
St Thomas Mount, Chennai

NEGLECTED LEGEND
SELFISH politics, complete carelessness and nepotism still loom large in our country. How else would on explain the fact that living legends like Surayya, Sardar Malik, Khayyam, Rajkumari, Naushad, Anil Biswas and Uma Devi go unhonoured in the national and other awards?

Surayya, for one, deserves a Padma Bhushan for her evergreen songs and unforgettable films. Even Lata Mangeshkar, the late Noorjahan and several Indian and Pakistani singers have been inspired by the hypnotising songs by Surayya. She continues to stay aloof from the limelight in Mumbai. If singers like Lata are born once in thousand years, all-round artists like Surayya are even rarer.
Urvashi Kesar
RN Street, Jammu

WORTHY SISTER
WHILE is is heartening that Lata Mangeshkar has won the highest honour, Bharat Ratna, it is disgusting that Asha Bhonsle does not figure among the ward winners anywhere. Such blunders take away and erode the very credibility and sanctity of these Republic Day honours. If Lata deserves a Bharat Ratna, Asha deserves it no less.
Manohar
Janak Puri, New Delhi

CONTENT IS KING, INDEED
I went through the article "Content is King," (Screen, February 2), and I wholeheartedly agree to the general drift of the argument. That 95 per cent of Hindi films released in the last two years flopped bears ample testimony to the fact that the stars and music do not guarantee success to any film. A strong and convincing storyline is imperative if the film is to capture the hearts of the audience.
I hope Mumbai’s mainstream movie industry pays heed to the advice of Shyam Benegal and Govind Nihalani.
Jyotiranjan Biswal
Durgapur, Talcher

MINISTER NOT TO BLAME
OF late, Screen editorials are needlessly picking on I&B minister Sushma Swaraj. About the ban on the Close-up ad, you say (Screen, March 2) it’s a pity that a country that has so many crises, should be debating over non-issues. Who is debating over it? Certainly not the minister. It is the media which is making so much fuss over an utterly stupid, regressive ad, merely because a BJP minister is against it.

In the editorial on February 23, after listing the ills of the industry (Gujarat earthquake, video piracy, lack of new releases, etc), the question is posed, "Is I&B minister Sushma Swaraj reading this?" What is expected of the minister? Can she undo the Gujarat earthquake which has diminished attendance in cinema halls there? Can she put a stop to video piracy which really the state governments should tackle? Can she produce good films which will bring the public back to the theatres?

If the film industry is in the doldrums, it has only itself to blame. To look to the minister to wave a magic wand and set everything right is to indulge in naive over-simplification. For the ills of the film industry to disappear, all that is necessary is to produce good films with clean money, and persuade state governments to deal firmly with cable operators.
RK Sarma
RA Puram, Chennai

A WOW COVER
I read the cover story on Anil Kapoor by Bhawana Somaaya in Screen’s online edition. This actor is an ace superstar, who surprises one with every movie. He deserves the national award for Pukar.

I like Bhawana Somaaya’s easy-going and insightful interviews. She is one of the best film journalists today.
Alok Gautam
alokgautam@rediffmail.com