Frames of Reference

Every Frame Evokes a Memory, and Every Memory is Worth Sharing

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My name is Uday Nandivada and I am an Indian American in my sixties – a part time poet and a full-time movie fan. Movies, especially Hindi movies have shaped many things in my life. My celebrations begin with a song, and my disappointments end with one. I grew up in a literary family, which perhaps influenced my choice of movies. But it was movies that shaped my view of the world. Encouraged by some friends I started “Frames Of Reference” as a place for fellow cinephiles like me to gather and take this nostalgic trip along with me.

Category: Memories

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  • Guru Dutt, Dev Anand and the Birth of Bombay Noir

    Guru Dutt, Dev Anand and the Birth of Bombay Noir

    Gurudutt directed the Dev Anand starrer Baazi in 1951. And a new genre of Hindi movies was born – Bombay Noir. From Baazi to Jaal to CID, their collaboration produced some unforgettable gems. Separately each of them also had some great movies in this genre. Dev Anand featured in Taxi Driver, House No 44 and…

  • S Janaki – A Tribute to a Rare Talent

    S Janaki – A Tribute to a Rare Talent

    S Janaki shared something unique with Asha Bhosle and Suman Kalyanpur. All three of them sang from the heart. They could magically shift the emotion in their voice from the innocence of a child to the playful tease of a girl in love to the rapture of devotion. Their voices had a distinct blend of…

  • Madhubala and Meena Kumari – Two Legends, Two Tragedies and Two Classics

    Madhubala and Meena Kumari – Two Legends, Two Tragedies and Two Classics

    Get content suggestions Madhubala and Meena Kumari were two luminous stars of Hindi cinema whose lives seemed to mirror each other in haunting ways. Both began as child artists, both shouldered the responsibility of supporting their families, and both rose to extraordinary fame. Behind the radiance, however, lay troubled relationships, fragile health, and a loneliness…

  • Remembering Suman Kalyanpur

    Remembering Suman Kalyanpur

    We remember Suman Kalyanpur as a voice that was a quiet constant in Hindi film music, from the golden era to the nineties — present across countless films, lending warmth and sincerity to every song she sang. She may not always have received the recognition her talent deserved, but her recordings have endured, and those…

  • Abhi Na Jao Chod Kar! – In Memory of Asha Tai!

    Asha Bhosle — the voice that danced through seven decades of Indian cinema — passed away on April 12, 2026, in Mumbai at the age of 92. Her departure closes a chapter of music history that began in the shellac era and stretched into the digital age, a journey that defined the soundscape of Bollywood…

  • Abhi Na Jao Chod Kar! – In Memory of Asha Tai!

    Asha Bhosle — the voice that danced through seven decades of Indian cinema — passed away on April 12, 2026, in Mumbai at the age of 92. Her departure closes a chapter of music history that began in the shellac era and stretched into the digital age, a journey that defined the soundscape of Bollywood…

  • Born in Hollywood, Twisted by Bollywood

    Born in Hollywood, Twisted by Bollywood

    Folk singer Pete Seeger once said that plagiarism is basic to every culture. Every film industry borrows. Some call it homage, some call it inspiration, some call it “creative adaptation,” and Bollywood — with its swagger, sentiment, and song‑soaked heart — has always had a special talent for taking a Hollywood skeleton and dressing it…

  • Lost in Translation, Found in Bollywood!

    The year was 1973, and the place was Gwalior, Madhya Pradesh. Our family had just moved from Hyderabad to Gwalior. My admission to the Kendriya Vidyalaya was almost in jeopardy due to my poor performance in Hindi during the admission interview.