Alka Yagnik is an Indian playback singer who works predominantly in Hindi cinema. She has been described in the media as one of the most prominent and successful playback singers in Bollywood. In her career spanning over four decades she has recorded over 8000 songs for films and albums in various Indian languages and received several accolades including two National Film Awards, two Bengal Film Journalists' Association Awards and a record seven Filmfare Awards for Best Female Playback Singer from a record of thirty-six nominations.
Udit Narayan Jha is an Indian playback singer whose songs have been featured mainly in Hindi films. He has also sung in various other languages including Telugu, Kannada, Tamil, Bengali, Odia, Bhojpuri, Nepali, Malayalam, Assamese, Bagheli and Maithili. He has won four National Film Awards and five Filmfare Awards with twenty nominations among many others. The Government of India honoured him with the Padma Shri in 2009 and the Padma Bhushan in 2016 for his contribution towards arts and culture. As many as 21 of his tracks feature in BBC's "Top 40 Bollywood Soundtracks of all time".
Sharmila Tagore is an Indian actress, primarily known for her work in Hindi and Bengali cinema, Tagore is the recipient of two National Film Awards, a Filmfare Award, and the Filmfare Lifetime Achievement Award for her contributions to Hindi cinema. In 2013, the Government of India, honoured her with Padma Bhushan, India's third highest civilian honour for her contributions to the Indian culture through performing arts.
Swades: We, the People (transl. Homeland) is a 2004 Indian Hindi-language drama film co-written, directed and produced by Ashutosh Gowariker. The film stars Shah Rukh Khan, Gayatri Joshi and Kishori Ballal while Daya Shankar Pandey, Rajesh Vivek, Lekh Tandon appear in supporting roles.
Motihari is the headquarters of East Champaran district in the Indian state of Bihar. It is located 80 kilometres west of Muzaffarpur and 152 kilometres northwest of the state capital Patna.
Sumi Jo, OSI is a South Korean lyric coloratura soprano known for her Grammy award-winning interpretations of the bel canto repertoire.
Asha Parekh is a retired Indian actress, film director, and producer who appeared in many commercially successful films throughout her career. She was the highest paid actress of her time and was one of the most successful actresses of the 1960--70s. She is considered one of the most influential actresses of all time in Hindi cinema. In 1992, she was honoured with the Padma Shri by the Government of India for her contribution to the field of cinema and also honoured with the Dadasaheb Phalke Award for 2020.
Innocent Vareed Thekkethala, known mononymously as Innocent, was an Indian actor, film producer, writer and politician. He predominantly worked in Malayalam films in addition to few Tamil, Kannada, Hindi and English films, mostly in comedic roles. In a career spanning more than five decades, he acted in more than 700 films and is considered one of the best comedians in Malayalam cinema. He also appeared in roles with negative shades such as in Mazhavilkavadi, Ponmuttayidunna Tharavu and Ganamela. Innocent had won several awards, including Kerala State Film Award and Kerala Film Critics Award. He served as the Member of Parliament in the 16th Lok Sabha (2014-2019) of India representing Chalakudy constituency.
Kaazcha is a 2004 Indian Malayalam-language family-drama film written and directed by Blessy, in his directorial debut. The story revolves around the boy Pavan who reaches Kerala after he loses everything in the 2001 Gujarat earthquake. Film projectionist Madhavan (Mammootty) happens to meet the boy and takes him with him. The film won three Filmfare Awards South, including the debut of actress Padmapriya. The movie was reported to be inspired by the 1986 Iranian movie Bashu, the Little Stranger.
Asumal Sirumalani Harpalani, known by devotees as Asaram Bapu, is an Indian religious leader and convicted rapist, who started to come into the limelight in the early 1970s. By 2013, he was estimated to have established over 400 ashrams and 40 schools in India and abroad.
Padmini Kolhapure is an Indian actress and singer, who works primarily in Hindi films. She began her acting career in 1972 at the age of seven, and her early works include Zindagi (1976) and Dream Girl (1977). She had her breakthrough with the film Satyam Shivam Sundaram (1978), starring as the young Roopa. She is the recipient of two Filmfare Awards.
Sudeep Sanjeev, also known as Sudeepa or Kichcha Sudeep, is an Indian actor, director, producer, screenwriter, television presenter and singer, who primarily works in Kannada films. He has also worked in Hindi, Telugu and Tamil films. He is one of the highest paid actors of Kannada Cinema and is one of the first Kannada actors to be listed in the Forbes list of top 100 celebrities of India since 2013. He has received several awards including four Filmfare Awards South.
Rohini Molleti, known professionally as Rohini, is an Indian actress, screenwriter, and lyricist. She has mainly acted in Malayalam, Telugu, Tamil films along with few Kannada films. Having started her acting career at five, she has about 130 south Indian films to her credit. She received National Award of Special Mention and Andhra Pradesh state Nandi Special Jury Award for Best Performance in 1995 for the film Stri.
Piyush Jha is a film director, screenwriter, author and series creator from India.
M. K. Arjunan was an Indian film and theatre composer, known for his works in Malayalam cinema and the theatre of Kerala. He was fondly referred to as Arjunan Master.
Sooraj Santhosh is an Indian singer, songwriter, producer, and composer. He straddles the worlds of independent music and playback singing, moving smoothly between the two. Sooraj is the recipient of a Kerala State Film Award (2016), 2 Mirchi Music Awards, and a Kerala State Film Critics Award (2021). He has sung around 300 songs in 8 languages.
Varun Grover is an Indian writer, comedian, poet and filmmaker. He won the award for Best Lyricist at the 63rd National Film Awards in 2015. He is also the co-creator of Aisi Taisi Democracy, a political satire show. His debut feature All India Rank was the closing film at the 52nd IFFR.
Sanjeev K Jha is an Indian screenwriter based in Mumbai. He started his career as a freelance journalist and worked with The Indian Express, Jansatta, Hindustan HT Media, Dainik Jagran and Outlook.
Close is a 2022 coming-of-age drama film directed by Lukas Dhont, and written by Dhont and Angelo Tijssens, reteaming after their first feature film Girl (2018). The film stars Eden Dambrine, Gustav de Waele, Émilie Dequenne and Léa Drucker. It follows two teenage boys whose close friendship is thrown into disarray when their schoolmates notice their intimacy, causing a rift between them.
Tara Jauhar is a writer and educationist from Delhi, India who has dedicated her life for disseminating the teachings of Sri Aurobindo who was an Indian philosopher, yoga guru, poet and nationalist who advocated a philosophy of life based on spiritual evolution. Tara Jauhar is the Chairman of the Sri Aurobindo Ashram, Delhi Branch which had been founded by her father Surendra Nath Jauhar in the year 1956. In the year 2022, Govt of India honored her with the Padma Shri award for her life long work dedicated to spreading the teachings of Sri Aurobindo.
