Sayyid Abdullah Shah Qadri, known popularly as Baba Bulleh Shah and Bulleya, was a 17th and 18th-century Punjabi revolutionary philosopher, reformer and a Sufi poet, universally regarded as the "Father of Punjabi Enlightenment". He spoke against powerful religious, political and social institutions. He lived and was buried in Kasur.
Waris Shah was an 18th-century Punjabi Sufi poet of the Chishti order, known popularly for his contribution to Punjabi literature. He is primarily known as the author of Heer Ranjha, one of the most popular tragic romances of the Punjab.
Amrita Pritam was an Indian novelist, essayist and poet, who wrote in Punjabi and Hindi. A prominent figure in Punjabi literature, she is the recipient of the 1956 Sahitya Akademi Award. Her body of work comprised over 100 books of poetry, fiction, biographies, essays, a collection of Punjabi folk songs and an autobiography that were all translated into several Indian and foreign languages.
Heer Ranjha is one of the four popular tragic romances of the Punjab. The other three are Mirza Sahiban, Sohni Mahiwal and Sassi Punnun. There are several poetic narrations of the story; the most famous being Heer by Waris Shah written in 1766. It tells the story of the love between Heer Sial and Dheedo Ranjha.
Manmohan Singh Heer(Manmohan Waris) (born 3 August 1967) is an Indian Punjabi folk/pop singer. He is the elder brother of record producer Sangtar and singer Kamal Heer. Waris is considered one of the most gifted singers of Punjabi folk music.
Madan Gopal Singh is an Indian composer, singer, lyricist, actor, screenwriter, film theorist, editor and polyglot. He is currently Senior Fellow at the Nehru Memorial Museum and Library, New Delhi while on leave from Satyawati College, where he taught English literature. Son of well-known Punjabi poet Harbhajan Singh, Madan Gopal Singh has written and lectured extensively on cinema, art and cultural history besides performing the world over as a singer with his ensemble Chaar yaar.
A Punjabi Qissa is a tradition of Punjabi language oral story-telling that emerged in Punjab region of eastern Pakistan and northwestern India, with the fusion of local Punjabi people and migrants from the Arabian peninsula and contemporary Iran.
Asa Singh Mastana was a Punjabi musician and singer best known for lending his voice to the bollywood movie dooj ka chand and singing jugni and Heer-genre of folk songs, which recount the tales of Heer Ranjha by poet Waris Shah. He became popular in the 1940s, by the mid-1960s, when state-run All India Radio started promoting folk musicians, this made him, along with Surinder Kaur, Pushpa Hans, Madan Bala Sidhu, Prakash Kaur, singers of cult status.
Kulwinder Singh Gill, better known as Guggu Gill, is an Indian film actor who mainly works in Punjabi cinema. He was one of the leading actors in Punjabi cinema in the 1990s along with Yograj Singh. He has done 65-70 films so far.
Waris Shah: Ishq Daa Waaris is a 2006 Indian Punjabi language film, directed by Manoj Punj, starring Gurdas Maan, Juhi Chawla and Divya Dutta in lead roles. It is about the life of legendary Punjabi poet Waris Shah during the times when he wrote the poem Heer. The movie was internationally acclaimed and won four awards at the 54th National Film Awards.
Punjabi cinema, popularly known as Pollywood, refers to the Punjabi-language film industry centered around the Indian state of Punjab, and based in Amritsar and Mohali.
Punjabi literature, specifically literary works written in the Punjabi language, is characteristic of the historical Punjab of present-day Pakistan and India and the Punjabi diaspora. The Punjabi language is written in several scripts, of which the Shahmukhi and Gurmukhī scripts are the most commonly used in Western Punjab and Eastern Punjab, respectively.
Yami Gautam Dhar is an Indian actress known predominantly for her work in Hindi films. A daughter of Punjabi film director Mukesh Gautam, she began her career as a model, and starred in television soap operas such as Chand Ke Paar Chalo (2008–2009) and Yeh Pyar Na Hoga Kam (2009–2010). In 2012, she had her first Hindi film release in the comedy-drama Vicky Donor, which won her the Zee Cine Award for Best Female Debut.
Kartar Singh is a 1959 Pakistani Punjabi film about the partition of India in 1947 and the widespread violence related to it.
Deep Dhillon is an Indian actor who works in Hindi and Punjabi cinema. He played the role of Jayadratha in the famous Indian TV serial Mahabharat and appeared as Sahasrarjun in the TV serial Vishnu Puran. He is known for playing Inspector Sharma in Ghayal opposite Sunny Deol, and as the notorious truck driver in Maine Pyaar Kiya. He Is Also Known For Playing Dadaji In Star Plus’s Hit Serial Ek Hazaaron Mein Meri Behna Hai. He is famous for his baritone voice as well as many villain characters in television and movies.
Surilie Gautam Bhatti is an Indian film and television actress. She is the daughter of director Mukesh Gautam and younger sister of actress Yami Gautam. She made her television debut in 2008 with Meet Mila De Rabba. Later she started her film career with Punjabi film Power Cut.
Atul Sharma is a multiple-award-winning music composer, producer, sitarist, singer and judge on the popular TV show "Voice of Punjab". He is known for being one of the pioneers of Bhangra and Punjabi pop/folk music, and has composed music for over 5000 music albums and many Punjabi and Hindi films. He has given many global hits like "Yaar Bolda", "Dupatta Tera Satt Rang Da", "Mukhda Dekh ke", "Jatti", "Mitraan Da Naa Chalda" etc. He has also composed and designed music for various theatre productions and has worked with eminent directors and play writes. Based out of Chandigarh, he has been one of the foremost contributors in setting up the Punjabi music industry, and the emergence of recording studios in North India.
Nirmal Rishi is an Indian Punjabi film and television actress. She is most remembered for her role as Gulabo Maasi in her first movie Long Da Lishkara (1983). She is best known for appearing in Punjabi movies like Nikka Zaildar, Nikka Zaildar 2, Long Da Lishkara and The Great Sardar. In 2024, she was awarded the prestigious Padma Shri award by the government of India, along with Pran Sabharwal, another theatre artist from Punjab.
Shava Ni Girdhari Lal is a 2021 Indian Punjabi-language comedy film directed by Gippy Grewal from a screenplay co-written with Rana Ranbir. Produced by Gippy Grewal, Vashu Bhagnani and Ashu Munish Sahani under the banners of Humble Motion Pictures, Pooja Entertainment and Omjee Star Studios, it stars Gippy Grewal, Neeru Bajwa, and Himanshi Khurana. Yami Gautam also stars in film marking her comeback in Punjabi film industry after 10 years. The film is a period comedy and plot is set in the 1940s. The principal photography of the film began on 3 April 2021, and it was theatrically released on 17 December 2021.
