Shabana Azmi is an Indian actress of film, television and theatre. Her career in the Hindi film industry has spanned over 160 films, mostly within independent and neorealist parallel cinema, though her work extended to mainstream films as well as a number of international projects. One of India's most acclaimed actresses, Azmi is known for her portrayals of distinctive, often unconventional female characters across several genres. She has won a record of five National Film Awards for Best Actress, in addition to six Filmfare Awards and several international accolades. The Government of India honoured her with the Padma Shri in 1998 and the Padma Bhushan in 2012.
Javed Akhtar is an Indian screenwriter, lyricist and poet. Known for his work in Hindi cinema, he has won five National Film Awards, and received the Padma Shri in 1999 and the Padma Bhushan in 2007, two of India's highest civilian honours.
Kaifi Azmi was an Indian Urdu poet. He is remembered as the one who brought Urdu literature to Indian motion pictures. Together with Pirzada Qasim, Jaun Elia and others he participated in many memorable Mushaira gatherings of the twentieth century. He was also a communist who wanted to see India one day become a socialist state. His wife was theatre and film actress Shaukat Kaifi.
Madan Mohan Kohli, better known as Madan Mohan, was an Indian music director of the 1950s, 1960s and the 1970s. He is considered one of the most melodious and skilled music directors of the Hindi film industry. He is particularly remembered for the immortal ghazals he composed for Hindi films. Some of his best works are with singers Lata Mangeshkar, Mohammed Rafi and Talat Mahmood.
Earth is a 1999 Indo-Canadian period romance drama film directed by Deepa Mehta. It is based upon Bapsi Sidhwa's novel, Cracking India, set during the 1947 partition of India. Earth is the second instalment of Mehta's Elements trilogy, preceded by Fire (1996) and followed by Water (2005). It was India's entry for the 1999 Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film.
The Filmfare Award for Best Story is given by Filmfare as part of its annual Filmfare Awards for Hindi films, to recognise a writer who wrote a film's story.
Namkeen (transl. Salty), is a 1982 Hindi-language social drama film, directed by Gulzar, and starring Sanjeev Kumar, Sharmila Tagore, Shabana Azmi and Waheeda Rehman. It was yet another film by Gulzar made on some very sensitive but untouched aspects of Indian society especially in rural areas. The story Akal Basanta was by Samaresh Basu on whose story, Gulzar had previously made Kitaab (1977).
Mrityudand is an Indian Hindi drama film released in 1997. It was directed and produced by Prakash Jha and stars Madhuri Dixit, Shabana Azmi, Ayub Khan, Mohan Agashe and Om Puri.
Honey Irani is an Indian actress and screenwriter, who works in Hindi cinema. She started her career as a child actor with roles in films such as Mahesh Kaul’s Pyar ki Pyas. She was probably four to five years old when the shooting of the movies Chirag Kahan Roshni Kahan and Bombay Ka Chor started.
Junoon is a 1979 Indian Hindi language film produced by Shashi Kapoor and directed by Shyam Benegal. The film is based on Ruskin Bond's fictional novella, A Flight of Pigeons, set around the Indian Rebellion of 1857. The film's soundtrack was composed by Vanraj Bhatia, and cinematography by Govind Nihalani.
Tehzeeb (transl. 'Etiquette') is a 2003 Indian Hindi-language drama film directed by Khalid Mohammed. It premiered on 21 November 2003. The film stars Shabana Azmi, Urmila Matondkar, Diya Mirza, Arjun Rampal and Rishi Kapoor in a special appearance. Urmila and Shabana were praised for their roles. It was inspired by Ingmar Bergman's Swedish drama Autumn Sonata (1978), and was dedicated to Bergman.
Pandit Sanjeev Abhyankar is a Hindustani classical music vocalist of the Mewati Gharana. Trained under Pandit Jasraj, he was a child prodigy and started his singing career at age 11. Since then has recorded over 60 solo albums and performed in over 200 cities across the world.
Positive is a 2007 Indian Hindi-language short film directed by Farhan Akhtar and produced by Farhan Akhtar and Ritesh Sidhwani under their Excel Entertainment Pvt. Ltd. banner. The film starred Shabana Azmi and Boman Irani and Arjun Mathur.
Gulzar is an Indian Urdu poet, lyricist, author, screenwriter, and film director known for his works in Hindi cinema. He is regarded as one of greatest Urdu poets of this era. He started his career with music director S.D. Burman as a lyricist in the 1963 film Bandini and worked with many music directors including R. D. Burman, Salil Chowdhury, Vishal Bhardwaj and A. R. Rahman. Gulzar also writes poetry, dialogues and scripts. He directed films such as Aandhi and Mausam during the 1970s and the TV series Mirza Ghalib in the 1980s. He also directed Kirdaar in 1993.
Devata is a 1978 Indian Hindi-language film, directed by S. Ramanathan. The film stars Sanjeev Kumar, Shabana Azmi and Danny Denzongpa in lead roles. It is remake of Tamil film Gnana Oli.
Vishal Bhardwaj is an Indian filmmaker, music composer and playback singer. He is known for his work in Hindi cinema, and is the recipient of nine National Film Awards and a Filmfare Award.
Ka Karoon Sajni Aye Na Baalam is a classical song of Hindustani classical music. It is a Thumri sung in the raaga, Sindh Bhairavi Thumri. It was popularised by legendary Hindustani vocalist, Bade Ghulam Ali Khan, Barkat Ali Khan, Bismillah Khan on shehnai (instrument), Pandit Ajoy Chakrabarty etc.
Naunihal is a 1967 Indian Hindi-language drama film directed by Raj Marbros starring Sanjeev Kumar, Balraj Sahni and Indrani Mukherjee in lead roles. The film's music was composed by Madan Mohan, with lyrics by Kaifi Azmi, including the song "Meri Aawaz Suno Pyar ka Raaz Suno" sung by Mohammad Rafi. The song is picturized over the funeral procession of Prime Minister of India, Jawahar Lal Nehru.
Parinay is a 1974 Indian Hindi-language film directed by Kantilal Rathod and produced by Samantar Chitra. The film starred Romesh Sharma and Shabana Azmi, with Asha Sachdev, Dinesh Thakur, Preeti Ganguly and T.P. Jain in the supporting cast. Released on 1 January 1974, this film was associated with Saregama. The screenplay was by Rathod and Shukla, whereas the cinematography was by K. K. Mahajan.
The Mirchi Music Award for Album of The Year is given yearly by Radio Mirchi as a part of its annual Mirchi Music Awards for Hindi films, to recognise the Best song of that year.
