Utpal Dutt was an Indian actor, director, and writer-playwright. He was primarily an actor in Bengali theatre, where he became a pioneering figure in Modern Indian theatre, when he founded the "Little Theatre Group" in 1949. This group enacted many English, Shakespearean and Brecht plays, in a period now known as the "Epic theatre" period, before it immersed itself completely in highly political and radical theatre. His plays became an apt vehicle for the expression of his Marxist ideologies, visible in socio-political plays such as Kallol (1965), Manusher Adhikar, Louha Manob (1964), Tiner Toloar and Maha-Bidroha. He also acted in over 100 Bengali and Hindi films in a career spanning 40 years, and remains most known for his roles in films such as Mrinal Sen’s Bhuvan Shome (1969), Satyajit Ray’s Agantuk (1991), Gautam Ghose’s Padma Nadir Majhi (1992) and Hrishikesh Mukherjee's breezy Hindi comedies such as Gol Maal (1979) and Rang Birangi (1983). He also did the role of a sculptor, Sir Digindra Narayan, in the episode Seemant Heera of Byomkesh Bakshi on Doordarshan in 1993, shortly before his death.
Yeh Jo Hai Zindagi is a sitcom that aired on DD National in 1984. It was written by comedy writer Sharad Joshi and directed by Kundan Shah, S. S. Oberoi and Raman Kumar.
Dina Pathak was an Indian actress and director of Gujarati theatre and also a film actor. She was an activist and President of the National Federation of Indian Women (NFIW).
Om Prakash Chibber was an Indian film actor. He was born in Jammu and was a well known character actor of Hindi Cinema. His most well-known movies are Gopi (1970), Hulchul (1971), Namak Halaal (1982), and Sharaabi (1984).
Kanwarjit Paintal, better known as Paintal, is an Indian actor and comedian. He started off as a comic actor and moved on to teaching the art of acting. He has extensively worked not only in numerous movies but also television. He was born into a Sikh family in a village named Tarn Taran which is near Amritsar, Punjab. He lived his early life with his family members in Sadar Bazaar, Delhi. Paintal learnt acting at the Film and Television Institute of India and in 2008 was the Head of the Acting Department of FTII. He came to Bombay in 1969. His brother Gufi Paintal played the role Shakuni in B.R. Chopra hit show 'Mahabharat ', in which he himself played the roles of Shikhandi and Sudama. His son, Hiten Paintal, is also an actor, who worked in movies such as Dil Maange More (2004) and Bachna Ae Haseeno (2008).
Shoma Anand is an Indian film and television actress. She started her career opposite Rishi Kapoor in Pramod Chakraborty's romantic-crime movie Barood, then played a role in Patita, produced and directed by the same person. She had a few other films in which she was the lead, such as Jagir and Coolie in the 1980s. From the late 1990s to present, she has played supporting roles in films like Jaise Karani Waisi Bharani, Coolie, Hungama, Kyaa Kool Hai Hum and Kal Ho Naa Ho.
Ranjeet, is an Indian actor and film director.
Kundan Shah was an Indian film director and writer. He is known for his comedy classic Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro (1983) and his 1986–1987, TV series Nukkad with Saeed Akhtar Mirza.
Amit Kumar is an Indian playback singer, actor, music composer. Kumar launched his own music production company, named Kumar Brothers Music. He predominantly worked in Bollywood and regional film songs since the 1970s, including 150 Hindi and Bengali compositions by R. D. Burman. After Burman's death in 1994, citing a lack of quality music composition, Kumar withdrew from playback singing and concentrated on live orchestra shows. In addition to singing in Hindi, has also performed in Bengali, Bhojpuri, Odia, Assamese, Marathi and Konkani. He is the eldest son of singer-actor Kishore Kumar.
DD Metro also known as DD 2 was an Indian free-to-air television channel. It was launched in 1984 as DD2 in Delhi as an alternative to DD National. Later, it increased its coverage area by expanding to Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai. In 1993, the channel was rebranded as DD-2 Metro. On 3 November 2003, the Prasar Bharati Corporation replaced DD Metro with their new news channel, DD News.
Tiku Talsania is an Indian actor, who works in the Bollywood industry. Apart from acting in films and television serials, he also performs as a freelance theatre artist, working for Gujarati theatre.
Rita Bhaduri was an Indian film and television actress. she has also worked in Gujarati cinema. She is sometimes mistaken for Rita Bhaduri, sister of actress Jaya Bachchan and wife of actor Rajeev Verma.
Bharati Achrekar is an Indian Marathi and Hindi theatre, film and television actress. She has been a part of several films in Indian cinema and was celebrated as Mrs Wagle from the doordarshan show, Wagle ki Duniya. She is currently starring as Radhika Wagle in Wagle Ki Duniya – Nayi Peedhi Naye Kissey. Her son Siddharth Achrekar played lead guitar for the Indian rock-band Colourblind, with Ram Sampath.
Mushtaq Khan is an Indian film and television actor and comedian who has worked in several Hindi films in a career spanning three decades. He is best known for his roles in films like Hum Hain Rahi Pyar Ke (1993), Jodi No.1 (2001) and Welcome (2007).
Isi Ka Naam Zindagi is a 1992 Indian Hindi-language drama film directed by Kalidas, starring Aamir Khan, Farha Naaz, Pran, Shakti Kapoor, Asrani and Tej Sapru. It was a box office failure. However, actor Pran gave one of his best performances, which was used to promote the movie. It is based on the Bengali play Bancha Ramer Bagaan by Manoj Mitra.
Achyut Potdar is an Indian actor who has worked in over 125 Bollywood films. In addition to film, Potdar has appeared in 95 serials, 26 plays and 45 ads.
Pariva Pranati is an Indian actress who mainly appears in Hindi soap operas. She has acted in Vaada Raha and With Love, Delhi. Most recently, she was playing Amrita in the series Hamari Sister Didi. She is currently starring as Vandana Wagle in Wagle Ki Duniya – Nayi Peedhi Naye Kissey on Sony SAB.
Wagle Ki Duniya is an Indian sitcom that aired on DD National from 1988 to 1990. It was produced by Durga Khote, directed by Kundan Shah, and was based on characters created by noted cartoonist, R. K. Laxman, especially "the common man" about the issues of common middle-class Indian man. It starred Anjan Srivastav as a bumbling sales clerk in a multinational and Bharati Achrekar as his wife.
Wagle Ki Duniya – Nayi Peedhi Naye Kissey is an Indian sitcom that premiered on 8 February 2021 on Sony SAB. It is based on characters created by noted cartoonist, R. K. Laxman, especially the common man about the issues of the common middle-class Indian man and serves as a sequel to Wagle Ki Duniya which aired on Doordarshan. It stars Sumeet Raghavan, Pariva Pranati, Anjan Srivastav, Bharati Achrekar, Sheehan Kapahi and Chinmayee Salvi.
