Sir Ahmed Salman Rushdie is a British Indian novelist and essayist. His second novel, Midnight's Children (1981), won the Booker Prize in 1981 and was deemed to be "the best novel of all winners" on two separate occasions, marking the 25th and the 40th anniversary of the prize. Much of his fiction is set on the Indian subcontinent. He combines magical realism with historical fiction; his work is concerned with the many connections, disruptions, and migrations between Eastern and Western civilizations.
Suzanna Arundhati Roy is an Indian author best known for her novel The God of Small Things (1997), which won the Man Booker Prize for Fiction in 1997 and became the biggest-selling book by a non-expatriate Indian author. She is also a political activist involved in human rights and environmental causes.
Helen Garner is an Australian novelist, short-story writer, screenwriter and journalist. Garner's first novel, Monkey Grip, published in 1977, immediately established her as an original voice on the Australian literary scene–it is now widely considered a classic. She has a reputation for incorporating and adapting her personal experiences in her fiction, something that has brought her widespread attention, particularly with her novels, Monkey Grip and The Spare Room (2008).
The 1993 Bombay bombings were a series of 12 bomb explosions that took place in Mumbai, India, then known as Bombay, on 12 March 1993. The coordinated attacks were carried out in revenge for earlier riots that killed many people, mostly Muslims,and were the most-destructive bomb explosions in Indian history. These were the first serial-bomb-blasts of their kind in the world. The single-day attacks resulted in 257 fatalities and 713 injuries. The then-Chief Minister of Maharashtra, Sharad Pawar, announced that there had been thirteen blasts, including a fictitious bomb in a Muslim quarter of the city, to prevent the events from taking on a communal hue.
Suresh Gopi is an Indian film actor, politician, playback singer and television presenter. He works predominantly in Malayalam cinema and has also appeared in few Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and Bollywood films. Suresh has acted in more than 200 films and is a recipient of a National Film Award and Kerala State Film Award. He currently serves as a Member of Parliament in Rajya Sabha. Suresh is also a philanthropist, social worker, and advocates for environmental protection.
Telugu cinema, also known by its sobriquet Tollywood, is the segment of Indian cinema dedicated to the production of motion pictures in the Telugu language, based in Film Nagar, a neighborhood of Hyderabad, Telangana. Since 1909, filmmaker Raghupathi Venkaiah was involved in producing short films and travelling to different regions in Asia to promote film work. In 1921, he produced the first Telugu silent film, Bhishma Pratigna. He is cited as the father of Telugu cinema. Tollywood is the second largest film industry in India after bollywood.
David Malcolm Storey was an English playwright, screenwriter, award-winning novelist and a professional rugby league footballer. He won the Booker Prize in 1976 for his novel Saville. He also won the MacMillan Fiction Award for This Sporting Life in 1960.
Kangana Ranaut is an Indian actress and director who works in Hindi films. One of the highest-paid actresses in the country, she is the recipient of several awards, including three National Film Awards and four Filmfare Awards. Ranaut has featured five times in Forbes India's Celebrity 100 list.
Priya Vasudev Mani Iyer, professionally credited as Priyamani, is an Indian multilingual film actress and former model, who works in Kannada, Malayalam, Tamil, Telugu and Hindi language films. She has established a career in regional Indian films, and is the recipient of a National Film Award and three Filmfare Awards in different-language films.
Anurag Kashyap is an Indian film director, writer, editor, producer and actor known for his works in Hindi cinema. He is the recipient of several accolades, including a National Film Award, and four Filmfare Awards. For his contributions to film, the Government of France awarded him the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres in 2013.
Rana Daggubati, is an Indian actor, producer, television personality, and visual effects co-ordinator known primarily for his work in Telugu cinema, as well as his works in Tamil cinema and Hindi cinema.
Vishal Bhardwaj is an Indian film director, screenwriter, producer, music composer and playback singer. He is known for his work in Hindi cinema, and is the recipient of seven National Film Awards in four categories.
Desperately Seeking Helen is a 1998 film by Eisha Marjara, produced by the National Film Board of Canada.
Helen Macdonald is an English writer, naturalist, and an Affiliated Research Scholar at the University of Cambridge Department of History and Philosophy of Science. She is best known as the author of H is for Hawk, which won the 2014 Samuel Johnson Prize and Costa Book Award. In 2016, it also won the Prix du Meilleur Livre Étranger in France.
Chhalia is a 1973 Hindi-language Indian feature film directed by Mukul Dutt and starring Navin Nischol, Nanda, Shatrughan Sinha, Rajendra Nath and Helen. The film was amongst the last films of actress Nanda in lead roles in 1970s when she had reduced her work after starring in several film from 1950s. The film did not do well on box office.
Raja Thakur (1923–1975) was an Indian film director predominantly working in Marathi film industry. He is best known for his films Me Tulas Tujhya Angani (1960), Rangalya Ratree Ashya (1962), Ektee (1968), Mumbaicha Jawai (1970), Gharkul (1971) and Jawai Vikat Ghene Aahe (1972); for which he won National and State-level awards.
Shatranj is a 1969 Indian Hindi-language spy thriller film co-produced and directed by S. S. Vasan. His final directorial venture, it stars Rajendra Kumar, Waheeda Rehman, Mehmood, Shashikala, Helen, Achala Sachdev and Agha.
Chand Usmani (1933-1989) was an Indian actress in Hindi films from the 1950's to the late 1980's. She won the 1971 Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actress. She is best remembered for playing self-sacrificing wives and mothers.
