Anupam Kher is an Indian actor, director and producer who works primarily in Hindi-language films. Considered one of the finest actors in Indian cinema, he has played a variety of characters including numerous critically acclaimed leading or parallel roles. His accolades include two National Film Awards and eight Filmfare Awards. The Government of India honoured him with the Padma Shri in 2004 and the Padma Bhushan in 2016 for his contribution in the field of Indian cinema and arts.
Mani Kaul was an Indian director of Hindi films and a figure in Indian parallel cinema. He graduated from the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII) where he was a student of Ritwik Ghatak and later became a teacher. Starting his career with Uski Roti (1969), which won him the Filmfare Critics Award for Best Movie, he went on to win four of them in all. He won the National Film Award for Best Direction in 1974 for Duvidha and later the National Film Award for his documentary film Siddheshwari in 1989.
Girish Kasaravalli is an Indian film director, in the Kannada cinema, and one of the pioneers of the Parallel Cinema. Known internationally for his works, Kasaravalli has garnered fourteen National Film Awards, including four Best Feature Films; Ghatashraddha (1977), Tabarana Kathe (1986), Thaayi Saheba (1997) and Dweepa (2002). In 2011, he was awarded with the Padma Shri, the fourth highest civilian award by Government of India.
Gurdas Maan is an Indian singer, songwriter and actor mainly associated with Punjabi language music and films. He gained national attention in 1980 with the song "Dil Da Mamla Hai". Since then, he had gone on to record over 34 albums and had written over 305 songs. In 2015 he performed on the song "Ki Banu Dunia Da" with Diljit Dosanjh in MTV Coke studio India that was aired in season 4 episode 5 on MTV India.
Renu Saluja was an Indian film editor. In the 1980s and 1990s, she worked with both mainstream and art house Hindi cinema directors, including Govind Nihalani, Vidhu Vinod Chopra, Sudhir Mishra, Shekhar Kapoor, Mahesh Bhatt, and Vijay Singh. Her work encompassed multiple feature films, documentaries, short films, and television series.
Punjabi cinema refers to the Punjabi-language film industry centered around the Indian state of Punjab, and based in Amritsar, Ludhiana and Mohali.
The Film and Television Institute of India (FTII) is a film institute under the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting of the Government of India and aided by the Central Government of India. It is situated on the premises of the erstwhile Prabhat Film Company in Pune. It was established in 1960 and its alumni includes technicians, actors and directors in the film and television industry.
Rajan Khosa is an Indian writer-director-producer who has worked between the UK, Europe and India for much of his career.
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.
Diljit Dosanjh is an Indian singer, songwriter, actor, film producer and television personality. He works in Punjabi Music and subsequently in Punjabi and Hindi cinema. Dosanjh entered Social 50 chart by Billboard in 2020. He is featured in various music charts including Canadian Albums Chart, UK Asian chart by Official Charts Company and New Zealand Hot Singles. His movies, including Jatt & Juliet 2, Punjab 1984, Sajjan Singh Rangroot and Honsla Rakh are among the highest grossing Punjabi films in history.
Umesh Vinayak Kulkarni is a Marathi film director. He is an alumnus of the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII), Pune. He is known for Marathi films such as Valu, Vihir, Deool and Highway.
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.
Anhe Ghore Da Daan is a 2011 Indian Punjabi-language film directed by Gurvinder Singh. It is based on the 1976 novel of the same name by Gurdial Singh. It portrays the plight and problems of farmers in Punjab, India, rural working class, as well as the landlords. The film won National Awards for Best Direction, Cinematography and Best Feature Film in Punjabi at the 59th National Film Awards of India.
Jagat Murari was a distinguished Indian documentary filmmaker, known well for his contributions to Indian cinema as a producer, director and, above all, educator. He played a pioneering role in a number of key film institutions in India, including the Film & Television Institute of India (FTII), the National Film Archive of India (NFAI), and the Directorate of Film Festivals (DFF). Murari is well remembered for nurturing young, talented students as head of FTII, Pune between 1962 and 1971, many of whom are now well known names in the Bollywood industry, including Jaya Bhaduri, Shabana Azmi, Adoor Gopalakrishnan and Subhash Ghai.
Waryam Singh Sandhu is an Indian author of short stories. In 2000, he was awarded the Sahitya Akademi Award for his short story collection Chauthi koot. Although he writes in Punjabi, his works have been translated into Hindi, Bengali, Urdu and English.
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.
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.
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.
Catherine Lamb is an American composer and violist, and a winner of the 2020 Ernst von Siemens Composer Prize.
