Jagjit Singh was an Indian composer, singer and musician. He composed and sang in numerous languages and is credited for the revival and popularity of ghazal, an Indian classical art form, by choosing poetry that was relevant to the masses and composing them in a way that laid more emphasis on the meaning of words and melody evoked by them. In terms of Indian classical music, his style of composing and gayaki (singing) is considered as Bol-pradhan, one that lays emphasis on words. He highlighted this in his music for films such as Prem Geet (1981), Arth (1982), and Saath Saath (1982), and TV serials Mirza Ghalib (1988) and Kahkashan (1991). Singh is considered to be the most successful ghazal singer and composer of all time in terms of critical acclaim and commercial success. With a career spanning five decades and many albums, the range and breadth of his work has been regarded as genre-defining.
Chitra Singh (née Shome) is an Indian ghazal singer. She, alongside her husband, Jagjit Singh, popularized the ghazal genre. Respectfully known as the "king and queen of the Ghazal world," the husband and wife duo created some of the most successful Indian music of the 1970s and '80s.
A tawaif was a highly successful entertainer who catered to the nobility of the Indian subcontinent, particularly during the Mughal era. The tawaifs excelled in and contributed to music, dance (mujra), theatre, and the Urdu literary tradition, and were considered an authority on etiquette. Tawaifs were largely a North Indian institution central to Mughal court culture from the 16th century onwards and became even more prominent with the weakening of Mughal rule in the mid-18th century. They contributed significantly to the continuation of traditional dance and music forms.
Mehdi Hassan Khan 18 July 1935 – 13 June 2012) was a Pakistani ghazal singer and playback singer for Lollywood. Widely considered one of the greatest and most influential figures in the history of ghazal singing, Hassan is referred to as the "Shahenshah-e-Ghazal". Known for his "haunting" baritone voice, Hassan is credited with bringing ghazal singing to a worldwide audience. He is unique for his melodic patterns and maintaining integrity of the ragas in an innovative way.
Talat Aziz is a popular ghazal singer and actor from Hyderabad, India.
Ustad Ghulam Ali is a Pakistani ghazal singer of the Patiala Gharana. He has also been a prominent playback singer in Bollywood. Ghulam Ali was a disciple of Bade Ghulam Ali Khan. Ali was also trained by Bade Ghulam Ali's younger brothers – Barkat Ali Khan and Mubarak Ali Khan.
Mohammed Zahur Khayyam Hashmi, better known mononymously as Khayyam, was an Indian music director and background score composer whose career spanned four decades.
Umrao Jaan is a 1981 Indian period musical drama film directed by Muzaffar Ali and starring Rekha as the eponymous character. Based on the 1905 Urdu novel Umrao Jaan Ada, the film tells the story of a Lucknow tawaif and poet her rise to fame.
Naseeruddin Shah is an Indian actor. He is notable in Indian parallel cinema. He has also starred in international productions. He has won numerous awards in his career, including three National Film Awards, three Filmfare Awards and the Volpi Cup for Best Actor at the Venice Film Festival. The Government of India honoured him with the Padma Shri and the Padma Bhushan awards for his contributions to Indian cinema. He is widely regarded as one of the finest actors in the World Cinema.
Mirza Beg Asadullah Khan (1797–1869), also known as Mirza Ghalib, was an Indian poet. He was popularly known by the pen names Ghalib and Asad. His honorific was Dabir-ul-Mulk, Najm-ud-Daula. During his lifetime, the already declining Mughal Empire was eclipsed and displaced by the British East India Company rule and finally deposed following the defeat of the Indian Rebellion of 1857; these are described through his work.
Bhupinder Singh was an Indian musician, a ghazal singer and also a Bollywood playback singer.
Ameer Minai or Amir Meenai was a 19th-century Indian Urdu poet. He was respected by several contemporary poets including Ghalib and Daagh Dehalvi and by Muhammad Iqbal. He wrote in Urdu, Persian and Arabic.
Muzaffar Warsi was a Pakistani poet, essayist, lyricist, and a scholar of Urdu. He began writing more than five decades ago. He wrote a rich collection of na`ats, as well as several anthologies of ghazals and nazms, and his autobiography Gaye Dinon Ka Suraagh. He also wrote quatrains for Pakistan's daily newspaper Nawa-i-Waqt.
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.
Javed Khan Amrohi was an Indian film and television actor. He started his acting career in the theatre in the 1970s and then later in films. He worked in a number of theatrical productions and over 150 films in his career. He made his film debut with film Jalte Badan (1973) and then continued to play supporting roles throughout in the 1970s and 1980s, appearing in many films including hits like Satyam Shivam Sundaram, Woh 7 Din, Tridev and Aashiqui.
Sudarshan Kamra, better known by his takhallus Sudarshan Faakir, was an Indian Urdu poet and lyricist. His ghazals and nazms were sung by Begum Akhtar and Jagjit Singh. He has his son Manav Faakir as a Lyricist now.
Express Entertainment is a Pakistani entertainment television channel that airs Original TV series and life style programs.It is part of express media group.
Ibrahim Khan Ghauri was an Indian Hindi and Urdu poet, journalist, actor and film lyricist. He wrote under the pen name Ashk. He is popular for his lyrics in Hritik Roshan's debut film, Kaho Naa Pyaar Hai. Ashk is well known as a lyricist, and script writer of some well-known films and TV serials. He wrote more than 700 ghazals that were sung by various popular ghazal singers such as Talat Aziz, Jagjit Singh, Chandan Das, Pankaj Udhas, Penaz Masani, Anuradha Paudhwal, Bhupinder Mitali and others in the 80s and 90s.
Shahid Kabir was an Urdu language poet and writer from Maharashtra, India. He was an active writer from 1952, writing poetry, short stories and articles. He was well-known mainly for his ghazals. His significant works include Kachchi Deewaren, Charon Aour and Pehchaan. He was recognised by the Maharashtra State Urdu Academy. His ghazals have been sung by several Indian singers including Jagjit Singh, Chitra Singh, Hariharan, Chandan Dass, Munni Begum Shishir Parkhie and Sabri brothers.
Mukesh Jadhav is an Indian film actor, director, and screenwriter.
