Jagjit Singh was an Indian composer, singer and musician. He composed and sang in numerous languages and is credited for the revival and popularity of ghazal, an Indian classical art form, by choosing poetry that was relevant to the masses and composing them in a way that laid more emphasis on the meaning of words and melody evoked by them. In terms of Indian classical music, his style of composing and gayaki (singing) is considered as Bol-pradhan, one that lays emphasis on words. He highlighted this in his music for films such as Prem Geet (1981), Arth (1982), and Saath Saath (1982), and TV serials Mirza Ghalib (1988) and Kahkashan (1991). Singh is considered to be the most successful ghazal singer and composer of all time in terms of critical acclaim and commercial success. With a career spanning five decades and many albums, the range and breadth of his work has been regarded as genre-defining.
Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle is a 2004 American buddy stoner comedy film directed by Danny Leiner, written by Jon Hurwitz and Hayden Schlossberg, and starring John Cho, Kal Penn, and Neil Patrick Harris. The first installment in the Harold & Kumar franchise, the film follows Harold Lee (Cho) and Kumar Patel (Penn) on their adventure to a White Castle restaurant after smoking marijuana.
Kalpen Suresh Modi, known professionally as Kal Penn, is an American actor, author, and former White House staff member in the Barack Obama administration. As an actor he is known for his portrayals of Lawrence Kutner on the television program House, White House staffer Seth Wright on Designated Survivor, Kevin, a psychologist and boyfriend to Robin in How I Met Your Mother, and Kumar Patel in the Harold & Kumar film series. He is also recognized for his performance in the film The Namesake. Penn once taught at the University of Pennsylvania in the Cinema Studies Program as a visiting lecturer.
The Guru is a 2002 sex comedy film written by Tracey Jackson and directed by Daisy von Scherler Mayer. The film centers on a dance teacher who comes to the United States from India to pursue a normal career but incidentally stumbles into a brief but high-profile career as a sex guru, a career based on a philosophy he learns from a pornographic actress.
Sarfarosh (transl. Fervent) is a 1999 Indian Hindi-language action thriller film written, produced and directed by John Matthew Matthan and starring Naseeruddin Shah, Aamir Khan, Sonali Bendre and Mukesh Rishi. John started working on Sarfarosh in 1992. Seven years were spent on the research, pre-production and production till it finally released in 1999. The film deals with an Indian police officer's quest to stop cross-border terrorism.
Dude, Where's the Party? aka Where's the party yaar? is a 2003 film directed by Benny Mathews. It stars Kal Penn and Sunil Malhotra. It is a comedic film that focuses mainly on the Indian American experience.
The Namesake is a 2006 English-language drama film directed by Mira Nair and written by Sooni Taraporevala based on the novel The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri. It stars Kal Penn, Tabu, Irrfan Khan and Sahira Nair. The film was produced by Indian, American and Japanese studios. The film was released in the United States on 9 March 2007, following screenings at film festivals in Toronto and New York City. The Namesake received positive reviews from American critics.
Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay is a 2008 American buddy stoner comedy film written and directed by Jon Hurwitz and Hayden Schlossberg. The sequel to Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle (2004), it is the second installment in the Harold & Kumar franchise, and stars John Cho, Kal Penn, and Neil Patrick Harris. The film follows Harold Lee (Cho) and Kumar Patel (Penn) as their planned trip to Amsterdam is derailed after being wrongly imprisoned at Guantanamo Bay detention camp.
Ajay Mehta is an Indian actor based in North America, known for his deep baritone voice.
Bhavna is a 1984 Hindi film directed by Pravin Bhatt in directorial debut of the cinematographer. The film stars Shabana Azmi, Marc Zuber, Kanwaljit Singh, Saeed Jaffrey, Rohini Hattangadi, Satish Shah and Urmila Matondkar. The film's music is by Bappi Lahiri.
Loins of Punjab Presents is a 2007 Indian film directed by Manish Acharya. It stars Shabana Azmi, Ayesha Dharker and Ajay Naidu. The film marked Acharya's feature directorial debut.
Harold & Kumar is the name of a series of American films created by Jon Hurwitz and Hayden Schlossberg. Beginning with Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle (2004), and followed by Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay (2008) and A Very Harold & Kumar Christmas (2011), the films star John Cho, Kal Penn, and Neil Patrick Harris.
Neeraj Shridhar is an Indian film playback singer, composer and singer-songwriter who was the lead vocalist of Indian pop and rock group Bombay Vikings. Bombay Vikings became popular with remix hits like "Kya Soorat Hai", "Woh Chali" and "Chod Do Anchal".
Rizwan Manji is a Canadian actor. He is known best for his portrayals of Ray Butani on Schitt's Creek, Tick Pickwick on The Magicians, Rajiv Gidwani in the NBC Universal TV series Outsourced, and Jamil in the DC Extended Universe (DCEU) television series Peacemaker (2022–present).
Desi Boyz is a 2011 Indian Hindi-language romantic comedy film directed by debutant Rohit Dhawan, son of director David Dhawan. The film stars Akshay Kumar, John Abraham, Deepika Padukone and Chitrangada Singh while Sanjay Dutt features in an extended cameo.
A Very Harold & Kumar Christmas is a 2011 American buddy stoner Christmas comedy film directed by Todd Strauss-Schulson and written by Jon Hurwitz and Hayden Schlossberg. The sequel to Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay (2008), it is the third installment in the Harold & Kumar franchise, and stars John Cho, Kal Penn, and Neil Patrick Harris. The film follows estranged friends Harold Lee (Cho) and Kumar Patel (Penn) as they reunite to hunt for a Christmas tree.
Leela is a 2002 drama film directed by Somnath Sen. The movie stars Dimple Kapadia and Deepti Naval. The film's story is loosely based on Summer of '42. The film premiered at Reel World Film Festivalm, Toronto, in 2005. It also was featured in the 2002 edition of the IAAC Film Festival, conducted by the Indian diaspora, which works to showcase the Indian films to the West.
The Tiger Hunter is a 2016 American comedy film directed by Lena Khan, written by Khan and Sameer Gardezi, and starring Danny Pudi, Jon Heder, Rizwan Manji, Karen David, Iqbal Theba, Samuel Page, Parvesh Cheena, Michael McMillian, and Kevin Pollak. The film had its world premiere at the Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival on April 21, 2016 and opened in fall of 2018 in theaters across the United States.
Baazaar (transl. Market) is a 2018 Indian Hindi-language financial thriller drama film directed by Gauravv K. Chawla and written by Parveez Sheikh and Aseem Arora. The film starring Saif Ali Khan, debutant Rohan Vinod Mehra, Radhika Apte and Chitrangada Singh in lead roles.
ABCD: American Born Confused Desi is an Indian Telugu-language comedy drama film directed by Sanjeev Reddy and produced by Madhura Sreedhar Reddy. The film stars Allu Sirish and Rukshar Dhillon. The phrase American-Born Confused Desi describes Indians born in America, who have difficulty in balancing their ethnic culture within the majority non-Indian American culture. The film is a remake of the Malayalam film of the same name starring Dulquer Salmaan and was released on 17 May 2019.
