Parsis or Parsees are an ethnoreligious group of the Indian subcontinent whose religion is Zoroastrianism. Their ancestors migrated to India from Sassanid Iran following its conquest by Arab Muslims under the Rashidun Caliphate in the 7th century CE. They are the first of two such groups to have done so, with the other being Indian Iranis, who migrated to the subcontinent many centuries later following the rise to power of the Qajar dynasty in 18th-century Iran. According to a Zoroastrian epic, Qissa-i Sanjan, Parsis continued to migrate from Iran to Gujarat in between the 8th and 10th centuries CE, where they were given refuge to escape religious persecution by Muslims during and after the early Muslim conquests.
Rangeela (transl. 'Colourful') is a 1995 Indian Hindi-language romantic comedy film written, directed and produced by Ram Gopal Varma. It stars Urmila Matondkar, Aamir Khan, and Jackie Shroff. The film was A. R. Rahman's debut Hindi film with an original score and soundtrack, as his previous Hindi releases were dubbed versions of his Tamil, Malayalam and Telugu films.
Kama Sutra: A Tale of Love is a 1996 Indian historical erotic romance film co-written, co-produced, and directed by Mira Nair. The first portion of the film is based on "Utran", a short story in Urdu by the Indian writer Wajida Tabassum. The film takes its title from the ancient Indian text, the Kama Sutra. It stars Naveen Andrews, Sarita Choudhury, Ramon Tikaram, Rekha, and Indira Varma. The English-language film was produced by Indian, British, German and Japanese studios.
Nina Wadia is a British actress and comedian. She is known for portraying Zainab Masood in the BBC soap opera EastEnders, Mrs Hussein in the BBC comedy Still Open All Hours, and for starring in the BBC Two sketch show Goodness Gracious Me. Additionally, Wadia appeared in the Hindi-language romantic comedy Namaste London in 2007. She also appeared in the series Origin in 2018.
Yaadein (transl. Memories) is a 2001 Indian Hindi musical drama film written, directed, edited and produced by Subhash Ghai. The ensemble cast cross over film starring Jackie Shroff, Hrithik Roshan, and Kareena Kapoor.It was inspired by Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice. The film was released worldwide on 27 July 2001 to negative reviews and was a box office disappointment. Jackie Shroff received a nomination for Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actor at the 47th Filmfare Awards. Despite its box office failure, the film was profitable due to ancillary revenues of ₹21 crore, including ₹8.2 crore from selling music rights to Tips.
Firdaus Kanga is an Indian writer and actor who lives in London. He has written a novel, Trying to Grow a semi-autobiographical novel set in India and a travel book Heaven on Wheels about his experiences in the United Kingdom where he met Stephen Hawking. Trying to Grow was later turned into a film, Sixth Happiness, for which Kanga wrote the screenplay, and in which he starred.
Waris Hussein, is a British-Indian television and film director. At the beginning of his career he was employed by the BBC as its youngest drama director. He directed early episodes of Doctor Who, including the first serial, An Unearthly Child (1963), and later directed the multiple-award-winning Thames Television serial Edward & Mrs. Simpson (1978).
Indira Anne Varma is a British actress. Her film debut and first major role was in Kama Sutra: A Tale of Love. She has gone on to appear in the television series The Canterbury Tales, Rome, Luther, Human Target, and Game of Thrones. In September 2016 she began starring in the ITV/Netflix series Paranoid as DS Nina Suresh. She also stars in the Amazon Prime series Carnival Row.
Ram Gopal Varma Ki Aag, or simply, Aag (transl. Fire) is a 2007 Indian Hindi-language action drama film produced and directed by Ram Gopal Varma, the film features Amitabh Bachchan, Mohanlal, Ajay Devgn, Prashant Raj Sachdev, Sushmita Sen, J. D. Chakravarthy, and Suchitra Krishnamoorthi in principal roles. The film is an adaptation of the 1975 Hindi film Sholay, upon release, it was negatively received by the critics.
Damage is a 1992 psychological thriller film directed and produced by Louis Malle and starring Jeremy Irons, Juliette Binoche, Miranda Richardson, Rupert Graves, and Ian Bannen. Adapted by David Hare from the novel Damage by Josephine Hart, the film is about a British politician (Irons) who has a sexual relationship with his son's soon-to-be fiancée and becomes increasingly obsessed with her. Richardson was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress and won a BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role for her performance as the aggrieved wife of the film's main character.
Sohrab Merwanji Modi was an Indian stage and film actor, director and producer. His films include Khoon Ka Khoon (1935), a version of Shakespeare's Hamlet, Sikandar, Pukar, Prithvi Vallabh, Jhansi ki Rani, Mirza Ghalib, Jailor and Nausherwan-E-Adil (1957). His films always carried a message of strong commitment to social and national issues.
Mirza Ghalib is a 1954 Indian Hindi and Urdu language biographical film, directed by Sohrab Modi. Based on the life of well-known poet Mirza Ghalib, the film was acclaimed upon release. It stars Bharat Bhushan as Ghalib and Suraiya as his courtesan lover. The film won the President's Gold Medal for the All India Best Feature Film and the President's Silver Medal for Best Feature Film in Hindi in the 2nd National Film Awards for 1954. Suraiya's singing and her acting was specially applauded by the Prime Minister, Jawahar Lal Nehru, who remarked to her, "You have brought back Ghalib to life", in a special screening of the film at Rashtrapati Bhavan.
Zainab Khan is a character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by Nina Wadia. She made her first appearance on 16 July 2007. Zainab is the mother of Syed, Shabnam, Tamwar and Kamil Masood. She is the wife of Masood Ahmed, who divorces her, and of Yusef Khan, who she remarries after a divorce decades earlier, and who abuses her. Wadia quit her role in 2012 and departed the series in the episode shown on 8 February 2013.
Karzzzz (transl. Debt) is a 2008 Indian Hindi-language action film directed by Satish Kaushik. It stars Urmila Matondkar and Himesh Reshammiya. It is a remake of Karz (1980) and also inspired by The Reincarnation of Peter Proud which itself inspired by an Indian film, Madhumati.
Ritu is a 2009 Indian Malayalam-language film directed by Shyamaprasad. The original screenplay was written by Joshua Newtonn. It was the first time Shyamaprasad made a film based on an original screenplay, all of his previous films were adaptations of published novels or plays. It is now widely acclaimed as the 'coming of age' of Malayalam cinema.
The Nehru–Gandhi Family is an Indian political family that has occupied a prominent place in the politics of India. The involvement of the family has traditionally revolved around the Indian National Congress, as various members have traditionally led the party. Three members of the family – Jawaharlal Nehru, Indira Gandhi, and Rajiv Gandhi – have served as the prime minister of India, while several others have been members of the parliament.
Trying to Grow is a 1991 novel by Firdaus Kanga, published by Bloomsbury. The novel is semi-autobiographical, set in urban India, and is about a young boy growing up with brittle bones.
Jamshed Boman Homi Wadia, commonly referred to as J. B. H. Wadia, was a prominent Bollywood movie director, screenwriter, producer and founder of Wadia Movietone Studio. He was born in prominent Parsi family which hailed from Surat, Gujarat whose ancestral business was ship building. Their family name of Wadia stands for master shipbuilders. In a family of entrepreneurs Wadia is credited with creation of movies involving populist stunt roles including those by Fearless Nadia and bringing concept of stunt actresses in Indian cinema.
