Ashok Kumar, was an Indian actor who attained iconic status in Indian cinema. He was a pioneering actor who introduced natural acting to Hindi cinema. He is considered the first superstar of Hindi cinema in the black-and-white era of the 40s and 50s as well as the first lead actor to play an anti-hero. He also became the first star to reinvent himself, enjoying a long and hugely successful career as a character actor. He was a member of the cinematic Ganguly family. He was honoured in 1988 with the Dadasaheb Phalke Award, the highest national award for cinema artists, by the Government of India. He also received the Padma Bhushan in 1999 for his contributions to Indian cinema.
Saadat Hasan Manto was a Pakistani writer, playwright and author born in Ludhiana, who was active in British India and later, after the 1947 partition of India, in Pakistan.
Alam Ara is a 1931 Indian Hindustani-language historical fantasy film directed and produced by Ardeshir Irani. It revolves around a king and his two wives, Navbahaar and Dilbahaar, who are childless; soon, a fakir tells the king that the former wife will give birth to a boy, later named Qamar, but the child will die following his 18th birthday if Navbahaar cannot find the necklace he asks for. Meanwhile, the king finds out that Dilbahaar falls for the senapati Adil, leading the king to arrest him and evicts his pregnant wife, who later gives birth to Alam Ara (Zubeida).
Shantaram Rajaram Vankudre, referred to as V. Shantaram or Shantaram Bapu, was an Indian filmmaker, film producer, and actor known for his work in Hindi and Marathi films. He is most known for films such as Dr. Kotnis Ki Amar Kahani (1946), Amar Bhoopali (1951), Jhanak Jhanak Payal Baaje (1955), Do Aankhen Barah Haath (1957), Navrang (1959), Duniya Na Mane (1937), Pinjara (1972), Chani, Iye Marathiche Nagari and Zunj.
Khan Bahadur Ardeshir Irani was a writer, director, producer, actor, film distributor, film showman and cinematographer in the silent and sound eras of early Indian cinema. He is considered one of the greatest personalities in recent Indian Cinema. He was the director of India's first sound film Alam Ara. He was the producer of India's first colour film Kisan Kanya. He was renowned for making films in Hindi, Telugu, English, German, Indonesian, Persian, Urdu and Tamil. He was a successful entrepreneur who owned film theatres, a gramophone agency, and a car agency.
Shaheed Lateef was Hindi film director, writer, and producer. He was the maker of films like Ziddi (1948) which launched Dev Anand's career and Arzoo (1950) starring Dilip Kumar and Kamini Kaushal.
"Toba Tek Singh" is a short story written by Saadat Hasan Manto and published in 1955. It follows inmates in a Lahore asylum, some of whom are to be transferred to India following the 1947 Partition. According to a personal essay hosted at Columbia University by a scholar-in-training of Urdu literature, the story is a "powerful satire, and also a bitter indictment of the political processes and behavior patterns that produced Partition".
Prabhat Film Company was an Indian film production company and film studios founded in 1929 by the noted film director V.Shantaram and his friends.
Thanda Gosht is a short story written by Saadat Hasan Manto. The book was first published in a literary magazine in March 1950 in Pakistan. Later it was published by Sang-e-Meel Publications. Manto was charged with obscenity for this story and faced a trial in criminal court.
Sarvottam Badami (1910–2005) was an Indian film director of Hindi, Telugu, and Tamil films. He started his career as a sound recordist for the first talkie in India, Alam Ara (1931). In 1948 he helped set up the Films Division for news-reel and documentaries, where he worked as the chief producer in the newsreel department and also made documentaries. His active years were from 1932 to 1952 when he retired from the Films Division and from making feature films to settle in Bangalore.
Kuldip Kaur,, was an Indian actress who worked in Hindi and Punjabi films. Known for her roles as negative characters, she was cited as one of Indian cinema's "most polished vamps" and actor Pran's "opposite number". She started her acting career with the first Punjabi film produced in India following Partition; Chaman, also called The Garden in 1948.
Manto is a 2015 Pakistani biographical drama film based on the life of Pakistani short-story writer Sadat Hassan Manto, starring Sarmad Khoosat in the title role. It was directed by Khoosat himself, produced by Babar Javed, and written by Shahid Nadeem, whose screenplay was adapted from Manto's short stories, particularly "Thanda Gosht", "Madari", "License", "Hatak" and "Peshawar Se Lahore". It also depicts his relationship with singer-actress Noor Jehan. The film was released on 11 September 2015, sixty years after Manto's death.
Sairandhari (सैरंध्री) a 1933 Indian film based on an episode from the Mahabharata and directed by V. Shantaram. The film was a bilingual made as Sairandhari in both Marathi and Hindi. Produced by Prabhat Film Company, it has been cited as one of the 21 "most wanted missing Indian treasures" by P K. Nair, the National Film Archive of India founder. The music composer was Govindrao Tembe. The cast included Master Vinayak, Leela, Prabhavati, Shakuntala, G.R. Mane, Nimbalkar and Shankarrao Bhosle.
Sagar Movietone also Sagar Films, Sagar Film Company and Sagar Productions was an Indian film production company involved in the making of films for Indian cinema. It was launched by Ardeshir Irani with Chimanlal Desai and Dr. Ambalal Patel in 1929 in Bombay, Maharashtra, India. Sagar was initially started as a branch company of Ardeshir's Imperial Film Company. Several key figures from Imperial, such as Mehboob Khan were shifted to Sagar. The studio was in operation from 1930 to 1939. In 1940, it combined with General Pictures to form National Studios. It made "Parsi theatre based films, mythologicals and stunt movies". Sagar fostered the career of many artists who rose to prominence. Early directors such as Prafulla Ghosh, Sarvottam Badami, Ezra Mir and Nanubhai Vakil were promoted by the company. Mehboob Khan got his first break as a director in Al Hilal in 1935. He was referred to as "the most important alumnus" from Sagar, who went on to become one of Indian cinema's "most influential film-makers".
Manto is a 2018 Indian Hindi-language biographical drama film based on the life of the prominent Urdu author Saadat Hasan Manto, written and directed by Nandita Das. The film stars Nawazuddin Siddiqui in the title character of Indo-Pakistani, author and writer Saadat Hasan Manto. Tahir Raj Bhasin plays the 1940s Hindi film superstar Shyam Chadda. Shyam was Manto's friend, confidant, and inspiration for a number of stories. Rasika Dugal plays the role of Manto's wife, Safia. Manto is based on the 1940s post-Independence period of India. Manto earned seven nominations at 64th Filmfare Awards including Best Film Critics, Best Actor Critics for Siddiqui.
Ascharya Fuck It is an Indian Hindi language black comedy drama film, directed by Samit Kakkad. The film stars Priyanka Bose, Vaibhav Raj Gupta, Ankit Raaj, Anangsha Biswas and Santosh Juvekar in major roles. The story is about how desire and greed intertwine the lives of a Bollywood star, his chauffeur, a prostitute and her pimp in an unlikely love story. The film is backed by Yoodlee Films, a production venture of Saregama.
Padma Devi (1917–1983) was a popular Indian Bengali Hindi/Hindustani Film Actress and playback singer of Indian cinema, in the silent era and the early talkies. Starting her career with the main role in Sea Goddess (1931), directed by Dhirubhai Desai and produced by Saroj Film Company, Padma went on to act in over one hundred films in her career.
