Khwaja Ahmad Abbas was an Indian film director, screenwriter, novelist, and journalist in Urdu, Hindi and English.
The Lower Depths is a play by Russian dramatist Maxim Gorky written in 1902 and produced by the Moscow Arts Theatre on December 18, 1902, under the direction of Konstantin Stanislavski. It became his first major success, and a hallmark of Russian social realism. The play depicts a group of impoverished Russians living in a shelter near the Volga.
Balraj Sahni was an Indian film and stage actor, who is best known for Dharti Ke Lal (1946), Do Bigha Zameen (1953), Chhoti Bahen (1959), Kabuliwala (1961), Waqt (1965) and Garm Hava (1973). He was the brother of Bhisham Sahni, noted Hindi writer, playwright, and actor.
Chetan Anand was a Bollywood film producer, screenwriter and director from India, whose first film, Neecha Nagar, was awarded the Grand Prix Prize at the first ever Cannes Film Festival in 1946. Later, he co-founded Navketan Films with his younger brother Dev Anand in 1949.
Kamini Kaushal is an Indian actress who worked in Hindi films and television. She is noted for her roles in films such as Neecha Nagar (1946), which won the 1946 Palme d'Or at Cannes Film Festival and Biraj Bahu (1954), which won her the Filmfare Award for Best Actress in 1956.
Do Raaste is a 1969 Indian Hindi film directed by Raj Khosla. It stars Rajesh Khanna as the dutiful son and Mumtaz as his love interest. Balraj Sahni and Kamini Kaushal play the eldest son and his wife. Prem Chopra plays the wayward son with Bindu as his wife who creates disputes.
Haqeeqat is a 1964 Indian Hindi-language war-drama film written, directed and produced by Chetan Anand. The film stars Dharmendra, Balraj Sahni, Priya Rajvansh, Sudhir, Sanjay Khan and Vijay Anand in major roles. The music of the film is composed by Madan Mohan and the lyrics of the songs are by Kaifi Azmi. The film is based on the events of the 1962 Sino-Indian War about a small platoon of soldiers in Ladakh pitched against a much larger adversary. The film was constructed around the battle of Rezang La in Ladakh and showcases a fictionalised version of the last stand of Ahir Company, 13 Kumaon led by Major Shaitan Singh. However the film is not only a representation of war, but a dramatic retelling of the impact war has on the common soldier. Chetan Anand dedicated the film to Jawaharlal Nehru and the soldiers in Ladakh. The film is widely considered one of India's greatest black and white war-films.
Parallel cinema, or New Indian Cinema, is a film movement in Indian cinema that originated in the state of West Bengal in the 1950s as an alternative to the mainstream commercial Indian cinema.
Biraj Bahu is a 1954 Hindi film produced by Hiten Choudhury and directed by Bimal Roy, and based on a Bengali novel by Saratchandra Chattopadhyay. The film stars Kamini Kaushal, Abhi Bhattacharya and Pran and has music by Salil Chowdhury. The film won the All India Certificate of Merit for Best Feature Film.
Zohra Mumtaz Sehgal was an Indian actress, dancer, and choreographer. Having begun her career as a member of a contemporary dance troupe, she transitioned into acting roles beginning in the 1940s. Sehgal appeared in several British films, television shows, and Bollywood productions in a career that spanned over eight decades.
Dharti Ke Lal is a 1946 Hindustani film, the first directorial venture of the noted film director Khwaja Ahmad Abbas. It was jointly written by Khwaja Ahmad Abbas and Bijon Bhattacharya, based on plays by Bhattacharya and the story Annadata by Krishan Chander. The film had music by Ravi Shankar, with lyrics by Ali Sardar Jafri, Nemichand Jain, Vamiq, and Prem Dhawan.
The 1st annual Cannes Film Festival was held from 20 September to 5 October 1946. Twenty-one countries presented their films at the "First Cannes International Film Festival", which took place at the former Casino of Cannes. Only one year after the end of World War II, most of the films were about the war. There arose several technical issues, such as the tarpauline cover blowing away in a storm on the day before the winners were to be announced, the reels of Alfred Hitchcock’s Notorious shown in reverse order, and Miguel M. Delgado’s The Three Musketeers projected upside-down.
Dharti (transl. Earth) is a 1970 Indian Hindi-language action film directed by C. V. Sridhar. It stars Rajendra Kumar, Waheeda Rehman in lead roles. It is a remake of the 1969 Tamil language film Sivandha Mann.
Leela Mishra was an Indian actress. She worked as a character actor in over 200 Hindi films for five decades, and is best remembered for playing stock characters such as aunts. She is best known for her role of "mausi" in the blockbuster Sholay (1975), Dil Se Mile Dil (1978), Baton Baton Mein (1979), Rajesh Khanna films such as Palkon Ki Chhaon Mein, Aanchal, Mehbooba, Amar Prem and Rajshri Productions hits such as Geet Gaata Chal (1975), Nadiya Ke Paar (1982) and Abodh (1984). Her career's best performance was in Naani Maa in 1981, for which she received Best Actress award at the age of 73.
Navketan Films is a film production house based in Mumbai, India. Started in 1949 by actor-director and producer Dev Anand and his elder brother Chetan Anand, whose debut film, Neecha Nagar, received the Palme d'Or award, at the first ever Cannes Film Festival in 1946. Younger brother Vijay Anand, also directed numerous films for the company, like Guide (1965), Jewel Thief (1967) and Johny Mera Naam (1970). Chetan and Vijay parted ways with company later and today Dev's son Suneil Anand is currently heading the production house. The last film released by Navketan films was Chargesheet in 2011. Navketan’s latest venture is a Hollywood film titled Vagator Mixer (2023) which is being directed by Suneil Anand. It stars Suneil in the lead with a host of Hollywood actors.
Uma Anand was an Indian journalist, actress, and a broadcaster in the mid-1900s.
Hayatullah Ansari (1912–1999) was an Indian author, journalist and politician from Uttar Pradesh. He jointly wrote the script of Chetan Anand's Neecha Nagar along with Khwaja Ahmad Abbas and also served in the selection board of the Jnanpith Award.
Aman is a 1967 Indian anti-war film directed by Mohan Kumar. It stars Rajendra Kumar, Saira Banu, Balraj Sahani and Chetan Anand. The film was also the debut for Naseeruddin Shah who played an uncredited minor role.
