Bipin Chandra Pal was an Indian nationalist, writer, orator, social reformer and freedom fighter. He was one third of the "Lal Bal Pal" triumvirate. He was one of the main architects of the Swadeshi movement. He is known as the Father of Revolutionary Thoughts in India. He also opposed the partition of Bengal by the British colonial government.
Shyam Benegal was an Indian film director, screenwriter and documentary filmmaker. Often regarded as the pioneer of parallel cinema, he is widely considered as one of the greatest filmmakers post 1970s. He has received several accolades, including eighteen National Film Awards, a Filmfare Award and a Nandi Award. In 2005, he was honoured with the Dadasaheb Phalke Award, India's highest award in the field of cinema. In 1976, he was honoured by the Government of India with the Padma Shri, the fourth-highest civilian honour of the country, and in 1991, he was awarded the Padma Bhushan, the third-highest civilian honour for his contributions in the field of arts. He died on 23 December 2024, aged 90, at Wockhardt Hospital in Mumbai, where he was receiving treatment for chronic kidney disease.
Ronald Neame CBE, BSC was an English film producer, director, cinematographer, and screenwriter. Beginning his career as a cinematographer, for his work on the British war film One of Our Aircraft Is Missing (1943) he received an Academy Award nomination for Best Special Effects. During a partnership with director David Lean, he produced Brief Encounter (1945), Great Expectations (1946), and Oliver Twist (1948), receiving two Academy Award nominations for writing.
Ashutosh Gowariker is an Indian film director, actor, screenwriter and producer who works in Indian Hindi cinema. He is known for directing films "set on a huge canvas while boasting of an opulent treatment".
Jack Cardiff was a British cinematographer, film and television director, and photographer. His career spanned the development of cinema, from silent film, through early experiments in Technicolor, to filmmaking more than half a century later.
Colin Pal was a Hindi film actor, technician, journalist, and publicist for 175 Hindi films. He is the son of producer Niranjan Pal and the grandson of Indian independence movement activist Bipin Chandra Pal. Pal was born in London to an English mother, Lily Bell, and spent his early years in Wembley, before moving to Bombay in 1929.
Rajiv Menon is an Indian filmmaker who has worked as a director and cinematographer in several Indian regional film industries. After making his breakthrough as a film cinematographer with Mani Ratnam's Tamil drama Bombay (1995), Menon has continued to collaborate with Ratnam on other projects including Guru (2007) and Kadal (2013). He has also directed two critically acclaimed Tamil films, Minsara Kanavu (1997) and Kandukondain Kandukondain (2000), winning a Filmfare Award for the latter. After a sabbatical, Menon returned to directing with Sarvam Thaala Mayam.
Manmohan Singh is an Indian film director and cinematographer. He is the director of Punjabi films and the cinematographer of Bollywood films. In the past, he had frequently collaborated with Yash Chopra and his son Aditya Chopra, for whom he shot Chandni (1989), Lamhe (1991), Darr (1993), Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge (1995), Dil To Pagal Hai (1997), and Mohabbatein (2000). Besides his Bollywood career as a cinematographer, he is also known as a pioneering director in Punjabi cinema. He directed his first Hindi film, Pehla Pehla Pyar in 1994 and his first Punjabi film Jee Ayan Nu in 2003. He received the "Lifetime Achievement Award" at the PTC Punjabi Film Awards 2019.
Kaagaz Ke Phool is a 1959 Indian Hindi-language romantic drama film produced and directed by Guru Dutt, who also played the lead role in the film along with Waheeda Rehman. It is the first Indian film in CinemaScope and the last film officially directed by Dutt. It marked a technical revolution in Indian cinematography and is widely considered to be ahead of its time.
Jeeva was an Indian filmmaker, cinematographer and film director in Tamil, Hindi and Malayalam-language cinema. He was an established cinematographer in the late 90s and early 2000s.
Jayant Kripalani is an Indian film, television and stage actor, director and trainer. He is most known for his role in the TV series, like Khandaan, Mr. Mrs and Ji Mantriji (2003). He also wrote the screenplay for Shyam Benegal's film, Well Done Abba (2009). He was noted for his performance in The Hungry (2017) that is based on the adaptation of William Shakespeare's Titus Andronicus. He performed in Ji Mantri Ji, the well-known star plus comedy series in years 2000 to 2002.
Kabir Khan is an Indian film director, screenwriter and cinematographer who works in Hindi cinema. He started his career working in documentary films, and then made his feature film directorial debut in 2006 with the adventure thriller Kabul Express (2006). He is best known for directing New York (2009), Ek Tha Tiger (2012), Bajrangi Bhaijaan (2015), and 83 (2021). His latest film Chandu Champion (2024) was released on 14 June 2024 opening to positive reviews. This was his second sports biopic after 83 and after The Diplomat (2025).
Sudeep Chatterjee is an Indian cinematographer, who mainly works in Hindi films and Bengali films. He has collaborated with critically acclaimed directors like Buddhadeb Dasgupta, Vishal Bharadwaj, Srijit Mukherji, Sanjay Leela Bhansali and Nagesh Kukunoor. He is mostly known for his work in films like Iqbal (2005), Chak De India (2007), Guzaarish (2010), Dhoom 3 (2013), Chotushkone (2014), Bajirao Mastani (2015), Padmaavat (2018), and Gangubai Kathiawadi (2022). He has received the National Film Award for Best Cinematography, twice, for Chotushkone and Bajirao Mastani.
Marc Koninckx is a Belgian cinematographer, member of the A.F.C., member of the S.B.C..
Asit Sen was an Indian film director, cinematographer, documentary Filmmaker and screenwriter, who worked in both Bengali and Hindi cinema. He was born in Dhaka, now in modern-day Bangladesh, when it was part of East Bengal in British India. He directed 17 feature films in Hindi and Bengali, and was most known for the films Deep Jweley Jai (1959) and Uttar Falguni (1963) in Bengali, Mamta (1966), Khamoshi (1969), Anokhi Raat (1968) and Safar (1970) in Hindi.
Subhrajit Mitra is a filmmaker from Kolkata, India. He is known for his work in the Bengali film industry.
Kanwar Dhillon is an Indian actor who primarily works in Hindi television. Dhillon is widely recognised for his portrayal of Shiva Pandya in Pandya Store. He has two Indian Television Academy Awards nominations to his credit.
Siddheshwari is a 1989 Hindi documentary directed film by Mani Kaul. It is a cinematic portrait of Siddheshwari Devi, a Hindustani classical music singer from Varanasi, India. It was produced by the Films Division of India. The film was awarded the National Award for the Best Documentary for that year in India.
Uttank Vora is an Indian music director and composer for films, television, and theater, is the youngest son of Pt. Vinayakrai Vora. He is best known for his work in Khichdi (2002), Baa Bahoo Aur Baby (2005) and Sarabhai vs Sarabhai (2004) - three of the most successful shows of the Indian television industry. He also composed the music for the second season of Sarabhai vs Sarabhai – Take 2 (2017) along with his son – Uroovaak Vora.
Raymond Charles Argall is an Australian cinematographer, director, and editor. His feature film Return Home (1990) is regarded by many critics as an Australian cinema classic. Argall served on the board of the Australian Directors Guild for 16 years, holding the position of president from 2006 to 2015 and secretary from 2015 to 2017. In 2016, Argall launched a business restoring archival films through his production company Piccolo Films.
