Naushad Ali was an Indian composer for Hindi films. He is widely considered to be one of the greatest and foremost music directors of the Hindi film industry. He is particularly known for popularising the use of classical music in films.
Suraiya Jamal Sheikh, mononymously known as Suraiya, was an Indian actress and playback singer who worked in Hindi films. In a career spanning from 1936 to 1963, Suraiya acted in over 67 films and sang 338 songs. Regarded among the finest and greatest actresses in the history of Indian cinema, Suraiya was the most celebrated actress between the mid- to late 1940s and early 1950s and was paid more than her male counterparts.
Usha Khanna is an Indian music director in Hindi cinema. She is the third female music director to enter the Hindi film industry, after Jaddan Bai and Saraswati Devi and is one of the most commercially successful music directors in the male dominated music industry. She is most known for songs like “maine rakha hai mohabbat” (Shabnam), “Hum tum say juda ho ke”, “gaa deewane jhoom ke”, "Chhodo kal ki baatein", "Shaayad meri shaadi ka khayal" (Souten), and “tu is tarah Se meri zindagi”. She remained active for more than 3 decades from 1960s to 1980s. She is still active making some music for some movies and television-serials, more than 40 years after her debut as music director in Dil Deke Dekho (1959). She received a Filmfare Award nomination for composing the songs for the huge hit film Souten (1983). She was married to director, producer, lyricist, Sawan Kumar Tak, from whom she separated later on.
Shamshad Begum was an Indian singer who was one of the first playback singers in the Hindi film industry. Notable for her distinctive voice and range, she sang over 6,000 songs in Hindustani, Bengali, Marathi, Gujarati, Tamil, and Punjabi languages, among which 1287 were Hindi film songs. She worked with renowned composers of the time, such as Naushad Ali and O. P. Nayyar, for whom she was one of their favorites. Her songs from the 1940s to the early 1970s remain popular and continue to be remixed.
Leela Chitnis was an Indian actress in the Indian film industry, active from 1930s to 1980s. In her early years she starred as a romantic lead, but she is best remembered for her later roles playing a virtuous and upright mother to leading stars.
Khwaja Khurshid Anwar was a Pakistani filmmaker, writer, director and music composer who earned recognition in both India and Pakistan. He is credited as being one of the most original and inventive music directors of his generation. He was the Programme Producer (Music) at (AIR), All India Radio or Akashvani, Delhi in 1939.
Sashadhar Mukherjee was an Indian filmmaker in Hindi cinema. He started his career with Bombay Talkies in the 1930s, and later established Filmistan Studio with Rai Bahadur Chunilal, Ashok Kumar and Gyan Mukherjee in 1943. In the 1950s, he went on to start his independent studio, Filmalaya. He is noted for films like Dil Deke Dekho (1959), Love in Simla (1960), Ek Musafir Ek Hasina (1962) and Leader (1964). He is part of the distinguished Mukherjee clan of Bollywood.
Azaad (transl. Free) is a 1955 Indian Hindi-language action comedy film produced and directed by S. M. Sriramulu Naidu. It was the top grossing Hindi film in the year of its release, and one of the biggest Hindi film hits in the decade. In addition, Dilip Kumar won his second Filmfare Award for Best Actor for his work in this movie.
Abdur Rashid Kardar (1904–1989) was an Indian film actor, director and producer. He is credited with establishing the film industry in the Bhati Gate locality of Lahore, British India.
Dastan a 1950 Bollywood drama film produced and directed by A. R. Kardar. A box office success, the film became the third highest earning film of 1950, earning an approximate gross of Rs. 1,15,00,000 and net of Rs. 65,00,000. It stars Raj Kapoor, Suraiya, Veena, Suresh, Al Nasir, Murad and Shakila.
Dard (Pain) is a 1947 Bollywood drama film directed by Abdul Rashid Kardar. The film was produced by Kardar Productions. It was a surprise "musical hit" at the box office as it had an ordinary star cast. Suraiya played the second lead, with Munawwar Sultana as the main heroine. The film was Suraiya's first "big hit", becoming a popular singing star following the success of the film. The hero of the film was Kardar's brother Nusrat (Kardar), who shifted to Pakistan following Partition in 1947, where he acted in a few films.
Diwana is a 1952 Bollywood romantic drama movie directed and produced by Abdul Rashid Kardar. It was written by S. N. Banerji and edited by M. S. Hajee. It narrates the tragic love story of a prince and a nomadic woman who marry each other, become separated and when they finally reunite together they find themselves bereaved at the loss of their only son. It stars Suraiya, Sumitra and Suresh in the leading roles, with Shyam Kumar, Ramesh, Madan Puri, S N Banerji, Amirbai Karnataki, Mumtazbai, Neelambai and Amir Bano in supporting roles. The dialogues of this film were written by Jagdish Kanwal. The music was composed by the renowned musician Naushad, with lyrics penned by Shakeel Badayuni.
Jhoola (transl. Swing) is a 1941 Indian Hindi-language film directed by Gyan Mukherjee. It was produced by Sashadhar Mukherjee under the banner of Bombay Talkies. The film starred Leela Chitnis, Ashok Kumar, Shah Nawaz, V.H.Desai, Mumtaz Ali, Karuna Devi, Shahzadi, Rajkumari Shukla, Minoo Cooper, M.A.Aziz, and Master Laxman. The music was composed by Saraswati Devi with lyrics by Kavi Pradeep. The film was remade in Telugu as Uyyala Jampala (1965).
Sharda is a 1942 Bollywood film directed by Abdur Rashid Kardar. It starred Mehtab, Amir Banu, Nirmala Devi and Wasti. The film focuses on the importance of girls' education. It was the first prominent work of the music composer Naushad. Suraiya lent her voice to the film as playback singer when she was just twelve years old. The film was remade as Salma in 1960.
Sanjog is a Bollywood film. It was released in 1943.
Gajanan Jagirdar was a veteran Indian film director, screenwriter and actor. He worked in Hindi Cinema, also called Bollywood, as well as Marathi cinema. The period of 1942 to 1947, saw his rise as a film director with Prabhat Films.
Arun Kumar Ahuja, popularly known as Aroon, was an Indian actor and producer who was active in Hindi cinema in the 1940s and early 1950s, appearing in over 30 films in both leading and supporting roles. He was married to singer and actress Nirmala Devi and is the father of actor Govinda.
Mehtab (1913–1997) was an Indian actress of Hindi/Urdu films who worked from 1928 to 1969. She was born in Sachin, Gujarat, to a Muslim family and named Najma. Her father, Nawab Sidi Ibrahim Mohammad Yakut Khan III, was the Nawab of Sachin, near Surat in the state of Gujarat. Starting her career in the late 1920s with small roles in films like Second Wife (1928), Indira B. A. (1929) and Jayant (1929), she went on to do character roles before acting in the lead opposite Ashraf Khan in Veer Kunal (1932). After almost a decade of doing mainly action-oriented roles, she came into prominence with the Kidar Sharma-directed Chitralekha (1941).
Dil-E-Nadaan is a 1953 Hindi romantic drama film produced and directed by A. R. Kardar.
Munawar Sultana was an Indian cinema actress, who acted in Hindi films. She is cited as one of the "popular" actresses of the late 1940s to early 1950s period, along with Noor Jehan, Swarnalata and Ragini. Her specialty was playing a selfless woman, enduring the rough treatment meted by her husband and family, but who eventually "brought her erring husband back home".
