#Diwali: A cracking pop culture quiz

1. On Diwali day, Shah Rukh Khan’s character leapt nimbly out of a plane and ran to Amitabh and Jaya Bachchan to join the family celebration… in which movie?

2. In November 2018, the football club Arsenal posted a Diwali video on their social media channels to wish Indian fans. In the video, three of the clubs players were asked Diwali-related questions. What were the names of the players?

3. Which movie ran a promo that saw Deepika Padukone and Vin Diesel in a maroon sherwani wishing everyone Happy Diwali in Hindi?

4. One of London’s biggest Diwali celebrations is called ‘Diwali on _________’. Organized in partnership with the Mayor of London, people show up to enjoy music, dance and food pop-ups. Name the area after which the annual bash is named.

via GIPHY

5. In Guide (1965), Waheeda Rahman’s Rosie makes her feelings for Dev Anand’s Raju clear through a Diwali song sung by Lata Mangeshkar. Name the song?

6. Marathi publications had a tradition of releasing a Diwali magazine each year. Manoranjan, published in 1909, was the first one. What were these magazines commonly called?

7. Dilip Kumar and Raaj Kumar’s first film together featured a funny song about Diwali, Kaise Diwali manaye lala, sung by Mohammed Rafi and featuring Johnny Walker. Name this 1959 film.

8. Name the critically acclaimed 1999 film where Sanjay Dutt, playing a gangster, comes home to his family on Diwali to give out gifts, and brags about his pachaas tauley ka necklace to his mother, played by Reema Lagoo.

9. Name the 1973 Hindi blockbuster that opened with a murder on a Diwali night. (Hint: It was also the first film to feature Amitabh Bachchan as the ‘Angry Young Man’).

10. Aamir Khan and Ayesha Jhulka celebrate Diwali and tease each other, sing and dance in a Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikandar (1992) song. Name the song.

11. This Bollywood director started the trend of Diwali releases. Lamhe, starring Anil Kapoor and Sridevi was his first festive release. Name the director.

12. Sonam Kapoor made waves when she wore an all-gold sari in a Diwali scene from a 2010 film that also featured actors Lisa Haydon and Abhay Deol. Name the film.

13. Which 18th century Urdu poet composed the poem Saman Diwali ka, in which he wrote of the hope and happiness that the festival spreads?

14. This iconic 1987 Doordarshan show centered on the lives of a single mother and her three daughters. In its opening episode, the three girls plan to buy a Diwali present for their mother by combining their leftover pocket money. Name the TV show.

15. Which episode of Ramanand Sagar’s Ramayan showed the people of Ayodhya celebrating Diwali and welcoming Ram, Lakshman and Sita home?

(ANSWERS: 1. Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham…2. Sokratis Papastathopoulos, Laurent Koscielny and Alex Iwobi, 3. XXX: Return of Xander Cage, 4.Trafalgar Square, 5. Piya tose naina lage re, 6. Diwali Anks,7. Paigham, 8. Vaastav: The Reality, 9. Zanjeer, 10. Shehar Ki Pariyon Ke Peeche, 11. Yash Chopra, 12. Aisha, 13. Nazeer Akbarabadi, 14.Kachchi Dhoop, 15. Episode 78 )