Ashok Kumar, was an Indian actor who attained iconic status in Indian cinema. He was considered the first big star of Hindi cinema as well as the first lead actor to play an anti-hero. He also became the first star to reinvent himself, enjoying a long and hugely successful career as a character actor. He was a member of the cinematic Ganguly family. He was honoured in 1988 with the Dadasaheb Phalke Award, the highest national award for cinema artists, by the Government of India. He also received the Padma Bhushan in 1999 for his contributions to Indian cinema.
Raaj Kumar was an Indian actor who worked in Hindi films. In a career that spanned over four decades, he went on to star in 70 films and is regarded as one of the most successful actors of Indian cinema.
Bimal Roy was an Indian film director. He is particularly noted for his realistic and socialistic films such as Do Bigha Zamin, Parineeta, Biraj Bahu, Devdas, Madhumati, Sujata, Parakh and Bandini, making him an important director of Hindi cinema. Inspired by Italian neo-realistic cinema, he made Do Bigha Zamin after watching Vittorio De Sica's Bicycle Thieves (1948). His work is particularly known for his mise en scène which he employed to portray realism. He won a number of awards throughout his career, including eleven Filmfare Awards, two National Film Awards, and the International Prize of the Cannes Film Festival. Madhumati won 9 Filmfare Awards in 1958, a record held for 37 years.
Rajesh Khanna was an Indian actor, film producer and politician who worked in Hindi films. Considered as one of the greatest and most successful actors in the history of Indian cinema, he is known as the first Superstar of Indian cinema. He was the highest-paid actor in Hindi cinema throughout the 1970s and 1980s. His accolades include five Filmfare Awards, and in 2013, he was posthumously awarded the Padma Bhushan, India's third highest civilian honour.
Hrishikesh Mukherjee was an Indian film director, editor and writer. He is regarded as one of the greatest filmmakers of Indian cinema. Popularly known as Hrishi-da, he directed 42 films during his career spanning over four decades, and is named the pioneer of the 'middle cinema' of India. Renowned for his social films that reflected the changing middle-class ethos, Mukherjee "carved a middle path between the extravagance of mainstream cinema and the stark realism of art cinema".
Basu Chatterjee was an Indian film director and screenwriter in Hindi Cinema.Through the 1970s and 1980s, he became associated with what came to be known as middle cinema or middle-of-the-road cinema filmmakers, such as Hrishikesh Mukherjee and Basu Bhattacharya, whom he assisted on Teesri Kasam (1966). Like their films, his films dealt with light-hearted stories of middle-class families often in urban settings, focusing on marital and love relationships.
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).
Rinki Roy Bhattacharya is an Indian writer, columnist and documentary filmmaker. Daughter of film director Bimal Roy, she was married to Basu Bhattacharya and collaborated on his films. She is the vice-chairperson of the Children's Film Society of India (CFSI) and the founder chairperson of Bimal Roy Memorial & Film Society. As a freelance journalist, she has been writing extensively on films, theatre, art and feminist issues, for publications of The Times Group, The Telegraph, The Hindu and The Indian Express.
Madhumati is a 1958 Indian Hindi-language paranormal romance film directed and produced by Bimal Roy, and written by Ritwik Ghatak and Rajinder Singh Bedi. The film stars Vyjayanthimala and Dilip Kumar in lead roles, with Pran and Johnny Walker in supporting roles. The plot focuses on Anand, a modern man who falls in love with a tribal woman named Madhumati. But they face challenges in their relationship finally leading to a paranormal consequence. The film was ranked 11th in the Outlook Magazine's 25 leading Indian directors' poll for selecting Bollywood's greatest films in 2003.
Teesri Kasam is a 1966 Hindi language drama film directed by Basu Bhattacharya and produced by lyricist Shailendra. It is based on the short story Mare Gaye Gulfam, by the Hindi novelist Phanishwarnath Renu. The film stars Raj Kapoor and Waheeda Rehman. The duo Shankar–Jaikishan composed the film's score. The film's cinematography was done by Subrata Mitra, dialogues were written by Phanishwarnath Renu and the screenplay is by Nabendu Ghosh.
Shailendra was a popular Indian Hindi-Urdu Poet, lyricist and film producer. Noted for his association with the filmmaker Raj Kapoor, singer Mukesh, and the composers Shankar–Jaikishan, he wrote lyrics for several successful Hindi film songs in the 1950s and the 1960s.
Reena Roy, is an Indian actress. She made her film debut as a teenager with B R Ishara's Zaroorat (1972), but gained wider public recognition with Jaise Ko Taisa (1973) and the romance-action film Zakhmee (1975). In 1976, Roy entered the top league after starring in two of the biggest box-office hits, the action thriller Kalicharan and the horror film Nagin. She repeated the feat in 1978 with Vishwanath and Aasha.
Avishkaar is a 1974 Hindi movie. Produced and directed by Basu Bhattacharya, the film stars Rajesh Khanna and Sharmila Tagore. The film was the part of Basu Battacharya's introspective trilogy on marital discord in an urban setting, which included Anubhav (1971) and Griha Pravesh (1979) The movie was critically acclaimed with critics giving it five out of five stars in the Bollywood guide Collections. The review by the newspaper Hindu quoted "Here you can see Khanna inhabiting a disillusioned husband with all the details. There is nothing trademark 'Kaka' here as you only see Amar with all his frailties come alive on the screen. It must have being challenging for the raging star to pick a role where he was not the hero in the conventional sense." Khanna waived 70% of his remuneration to star in this project.
Nabendu Ghosh was an Indian author in Bengali literature, and screenwriter. He has written screenplays of classic Bollywood movies like, Sujata, Bandini, Devdas, Majhli Didi, Abhimaan and Teesri Kasam. He has written stories for movies like Baap Beti, Shatranj, Raja Jani. He has also acted briefly in Do Bigha Zameen, Teesri Kasam and Lukochuri. Later in his career, he directed four movies as well.
Anubhav (transl. Experience) is a 1971 Hindi-language film by noted director Basu Bhattacharya, which stars Sanjeev Kumar, Tanuja and Dinesh Thakur. The film was the first part of Basu Battacharya's introspective trilogy on marital discord in an urban setting, which included Avishkaar (1973) and Griha Pravesh (1979); and went on to win the 1972 National Film Award for Second Best Feature Film and started a trend later picked up even by the mainstream cinema. The film is also remembered for playback singer Geeta Dutt's finest songs composed by music director Kanu Roy with lyrics from Gulzar, like Meri Jaan Mujhe Jaan Na Kaho, Koi Chupke Se Aake and Mera Dil Jo Mera Hota
Aditya Bhattacharya is an Indian film director and screenwriter, most known for his feature film, Raakh (1989), starring Aamir Khan and Pankaj Kapur, which garnered three National Film Awards.
Rajesh Khanna was an Indian actor, politician and film producer who is known for his work in Hindi cinema. During his career, he appeared in more than 180 films. He starred in 15 consecutive solo hit films from 1969 to 1971. He won the Filmfare Award for Best Actor three times and the BFJA Awards for Best Actor (Hindi) four times, received the Filmfare Special Award in 1991, and was awarded the Filmfare Lifetime Achievement Award in 2005. Khanna has been called the First Superstar of Indian cinema.
Sudhendu Roy (1921–1999) was a noted Indian film director, art director and production designer in Hindi cinema, most known for his realistic art direction in auteur Bimal Roy's films, like Sujata (1959), Madhumati (1959) and Bandini (1963), and glitzy work in films Subhash Ghai's Karz (1980) and Karma (1986) to Yash Chopra's Silsila (1981), Chandni (1989) and Lamhe (1991). He won the Filmfare Award for Best Art Direction thrice for, Madhumati (1959), Mere Mehboob (1964) and Sagina (1975).
Baap Beti is a 1954 Indian Hindi film directed by Bimal Roy. The film was produced by Gopi Rohra and stars Nalini Jaiwant, as well as Asha Parekh as a child artist.
