Do Bigha Zamin is a 1953 Indian Hindi-language drama film directed by Bimal Roy. Based on Rabindranath Tagore's Bengali poem "Dui Bigha Jomi", the film stars Balraj Sahni and Nirupa Roy in lead roles. Known for its socialist theme, Do Bigha Zamin is considered an important film in the early parallel cinema of India, and a trend setter.
Punjabi University is a collegiate state public university located in Patiala, Punjab, India. It was established on 30 April 1962 and is only the second university in the world to be named after a language, after Hebrew University of Israel. Originally it was conceived as a unitary multi-faculty teaching and research university, primarily meant for the development and enrichment of the Punjabi language and culture, but alive to the social and education requirements of the state.
Kuldeep Manak, also spelled as Kuldip Manak, was an Indian singer best known for singing a rare genre of Punjabi music, kali, also known by its plural form kalian or kaliyan. Manak is generally regarded as one of the greatest Punjabi artists of all time. His high pitched strong voice was unique, and instantly recognisable. A statue of Manak has been erected in Ludhiana near his residence as a tribute.
Fazilka, also known as Bangla, is a city and a municipal council in Fazilka district of Punjab, India. In 2011, it was made the headquarter of the newly created Fazilka district. The Trans-Afghanistan Pipeline (TAPI) project originating in Turkmenistan will have its last station in Fazilka.
Harshdeep Kaur is an Indian playback singer known for her Bollywood Hindi, Punjabi, English and Sufi songs. She is popularly known as "Sufi Ki Sultana" because of her soulful Sufi renditions. After winning titles in two reality shows, Kaur established herself as a lead singer in Bollywood soundtracks. Kaur was sixteen years old when she released her first Bollywood song, "Sajna Mai Haari".
Punjabi cinema refers to the Punjabi-language film industry centered around the Indian state of Punjab, and based in Amritsar, Ludhiana and Mohali.
Gurdial Singh Rahi was an Indian writer and novelist who wrote in Punjabi. He started his literary career in 1957 with a short story, "Bhaganwale." He became known as a novelist when he published the novel Marhi Da Deeva in 1964. The novel was later adapted into the Punjabi film Marhi Da Deeva in 1989, directed by Surinder Singh. His novel Anhe Ghore Da Daan was also made into a film of the same name in 2011 by director Gurvinder Singh. Singh was honoured with the Padma Shri in 1998 and Jnanpith Award in 1999.
The 59th National Film Awards, presented by the Directorate of Film Festivals, honoured the best of Indian cinema for 2011 and took place on 3 May 2012 at Vigyan Bhavan, New Delhi. Awards were presented in 38 categories in the Feature Films section, 20 categories in the Non-Feature Films section and two categories for the Best Writing on Cinema section; 41 jury members chose the winners from 392 entries. The ceremony was hosted by actors Vinay Pathak and Saumya Tandon. Awards were presented by the Vice-President of India, Mohammad Hamid Ansari. The ceremony was broadcast live on three television channels, eleven All India Radio stations, and webcast live.
Marhi Da Deeva is a 1989 Indian Punjabi-language film directed by Surinder Singh, starring Raj Babbar, Deepti Naval and Parikshit Sahni in the lead roles. It was a critically acclaimed and well-received film based on a novel of the same name by Gurdial Singh. It won the National Award for Best Feature Film in Punjabi.
Marhi Da Deeva, sometimes spelled as Marhi Da Diva, is a 1964 Punjabi novel by Gurdial Singh. This first novel established Gurdial Singh as a novelist. The author himself described it as the first Punjabi novel in "critical realism". It came in for high praise, with some critics calling it a landmark equivalent to Premchand's Godan. It was translated as The Last Flicker by the Sahitya Akademi.
Gurvinder Singh is an Indian film director. He is best known for his Punjabi language films Anhe Ghore Da Daan, and Chauthi Koot which premiered at Venice and Cannes Film Festival respectively. Gurvinder is an alumnus of the prestigious Film and Television Institute of India (FTII), Pune from where he studied film-making and graduated in 2001. He travelled extensively through Punjab between 2002 and 2006, living and traveling with folk itinerants, documenting folk ballads and oral narratives. It led to his first documentary 'Pala'. He continued to make short experimental works and documenting arts/artists for the next few years. In 2005 he was invited by avant-garde Indian filmmaker Mani Kaul to be his teaching assistant for a master-class at FTII, which led to a close association with the filmmaker who became his mentor. He translated and published a book of conversations of Udayan Vajpeyi with Mani Kaul, titled 'Uncloven Space'. His latest film is 'Infiltrator' starring Veer Rajwant Singh which is a 15-minute short story in an international omnibus called 'In the same garden'
The Fourth Direction is a 2015 Punjabi-language Indian drama film directed by Gurvinder Singh. It is based on the short stories The Fourth Direction and I Am Feeling Fine Now from Indian author Waryam Singh Sandhu's 2005 collection Chauthi Koot. The film is produced by Kartikeya Narayan Singh and is set around the Sikh separatist movement of the 1980s.
Kul Sidhu is an Indian theatre, television and movie artist, who works in Punjabi cinema. She acted in the National Film Award-winning movie Anhe Ghore Da Daan (2011) playing the role of the wife of a rickshaw-puller, the protagonist of the movie. She has also acted in some short films including Nooran and Sutta Naag.
Gopal Krishan Singh Dhaliwal is an Indian civil servant who currently serves as Director of the Department of Rural Development and Panchayats for the state of Punjab, India. He is a 1986 batch officer of the Punjab Civil Services, was later promoted to Indian Administrative Service in 2001.
Samuel John is an Indian actor and theatre activist. He played the role of the protagonist in the National Award-winning Punjabi film, Anhe Ghore Da Daan. He recently played a role in Punjabi movie Munda Hi Chahida as the father of Dharmender.
Ranjit Singh Bajwa known professionally as Ranjit Bawa, is an Indian singer and actor associated with Punjabi language music and films. He rose to fame from his single "Jatt Di Akal" from his debut in the 2015 album, Mitti Da Bawa which was awarded the "Best World Album" award in the 2015 Brit Asia TV Music Awards. He has also received "PTC Best Folk oriented Song Award" in 2013 for his Song in 2013, Jatt Di Akal. His numorous songs including 'Yaari Chandigarh Waliye' and 'Impress' peaked on UK Asian Music Chart and UK Punjabi Music Charts. He made his film debut in playing the title role in Toofan Singh, a semi-biographical film about the 1980s Punjabi activist Shaheed Bhai Jugraj Singh Toofan.
Angrej (transl. Englishman) is a 2015 Indian Punjabi-language historical romance film directed by Simerjit Singh. Set against the backdrop of the waning British Raj, the film chronicles the love story of a young man and a woman, played by Amrinder Gill and Sargun Mehta respectively, belonging to different social strata. Angrej has Aditi Sharma, Ammy Virk, Binnu Dhillon, Anita Devgan, Sardar Sohi, and Nirmal Rishi in supporting roles; it marked the feature film debut for Mehta and Virk.
Nachhatar Singh Chhatta, commonly known by his stage name Nachhatar Chhatta, was a popular Punjabi singer.
The 43rd International Film Festival of India was held on 20 to 30 November 2012 in Goa. The Guest of Honour was Australian Director Paul Cox. Veteran actor Nandamuri Balakrishna was the chief guest for the edition, and Bollywood actor Akshay Kumar inaugurated the festival. Shankar Mohan served as the festival director.
Balbir Madhopuri is a Punjabi language writer, poet and translator. He is best known for his autobiography, Chhangiya Rukh. His writings are primarily focused on the issues related to the oppressed and depressed classes, especially Dalits. In 2021, He has received The Dhahan Prize for Punjabi Literature for his novel Mitti Bol Payi.
