Eagle-eyed movie buffs don't miss a thing. Part of their passion for cinema is noticing clever little details slipped in by the filmmaker as ardently as the creative.
With Easter Sunday just around the corner, Sukanya Verma digs up some super filmi easter eggs just for you.
Dhurandhar The Revenge
Yami Gautam's surprise cameo as a undercover Indian spy posing as a Pakistani nurse named Shazia Bano in husband Aditya Dhar's money-spinning sequel is a nod to her critically acclaimed character in Suparn S Varma's Haq.
Haq, interestingly, is a story of a woman's fight for justice inspired by the real-life case of Mohd Ahmed Khan vs Shah Bano Begum in 1985.
Brahmastra: Part One-Shiva
In a fun endorsement to one of his most loved portrayals in Ashutosh Gowariker's Swades, Shah Rukh Khan returns to his scientist roots as Mohan Bhargav.
Only this time, he's a vanar astra-wielding member of a secret superhero society in keeping with Director Ayan Mukerji's (and Gowariker's brother-in-law) mythology-meets-fantasy vision.
Jaane Bhi Do Yaaron
Kundan Shah's upstart crew members Vidhu Vinod Chopra and Sudhir Mishra are the inspiration behind the names of his leads played by Naseeruddin Shah and Ravi Baswani in Jaane Bhi Do Yaaron.
One of the comic exchanges of this anti-corruption satire feature Naseer and Satish Kaushik, wherein the latter's inquiry for a codeword is responded to with Albert Pinto Ko Gussa Kyun Aata Hai.
It's a droll reference to Naseer's movie directed by Saeed Mirza, Kundan Shah's close buddy from their FTII days.
Andaz Apna Apna
We've all loved and laughed through every second of Andaz Apna Apna.
There are some Sholay-sized Easter eggs in there. When Salman Khan's wannabe hero shows up at filmmaker Mehmood's office, the board reading Wah Wah Productions is hard to miss. It's a hilarious throwback to the legendary comedian's loony filmmaker as well as the production house he scrambles to get going in Pyar Kiye Jaa.
Om Shanti Om
Right from its Karz-inspired opening titles to Madhumati mimicking finale, Farah Khan's reincarnation drama Om Shanti Om is the A to Z of Easter eggs full of industry jokes, retro fashion and timeless trivia.
SRK coming to Deepika Padukone's rescue after a fire breaks out during the shooting of Maa Bharti alludes to the real-life incident of a daredevil Sunil Dutt saving future wife Nargis in an identical scenario during the filming of their milestone movie, Mother India.
Shahenshah
Mukhtar Singh ka naam suna hai?
The fabled villain of Amitabh Bachchan's tall tales in and as Kaalia, finally, gets a face in actor Praveen Kumar as he returns to provide Shahenshah's comic relief in the form of the Big B's seemingly dishonest cop.
Director Tinnu Anand is at the helm of both but Mukhtar Singh's gwala-turned-gambling den-running ruffian has a metal-armed vigilante to deal with.
Golmaal
Hrishikesh Mukerji's Guddi centres around show business but Golmaal has its moments around movie studios as well.
Right before Amol Palekar shows up on a film set with his friend Deven Verma, Amitabh Bachchan is shown shooting a restaurant fight scene of Hrishida's long-in-the-making Jurmana.
Later, Bachchan and Verma joke about the delay.
A month after Golmaal released in April 1979, Jurmana, too, saw the light of the day along with the above-mentioned exact scene.
Chef
Too bad Saif Ali Khan's Chef remake is such a dull watch and few will remember him recounting his 'embarrassing' memories from a Goan holiday with his two best friends 20 years ago where a fling with a foreigner left him robbed and 'high and dry.'
Dil Chahta Hai? You bet.
Monica, O My Darling
Nobody does Easter eggs as niftily as Vasan Bala. Almost all his creations have tons to boast.
But the visual of this society name board in a scene of his thriller Monica, O My Darling, doffing his hat at all his favourite filmmakers, along with a note that winks -- Thank You For Pausing to Read The Names -- is a masterclass in fanboy fervour.
Go Goa Gone
Raj and DK's zombie comedy is happy to acknowledge its creative inspirations across Go Goa Gone's wit and imagery.
At one point, Vir Das suggests surviving the zombie outbreak by deceiving the brain dead beings -- contorting their face and walking in a bizarre manner -- while quipping he saw it in some movie.
Simon Pegg and Co in Shaun of the Dead, of course.
Har Dil Jo Pyaar Karega
SRK and Sana Saeed recreate Kuch Kuch Hota Hai's father-daughter duo Rahul and Anjali for a fleeting few seconds in Har Dil Jo Pyaar Karega where Rani Mukerji is lying in a coma and Salman Khan's playing the field, er, lead.
Photographs curated by Satish Bodas/Rediff