Mahendra Kapoor was an Indian playback singer. In a long career spanning decades, his repertoire included popular songs such as Chalo ekbaar phir se Ajnabi ban jayen hum dono (Gumrah) and Neele Gagan ke tale (Hamraaz). His name however became most closely associated with patriotic songs including Mere Desh Ki Dharti in Manoj Kumar's film Upkaar. He considered Mohammad Rafi as his Guru. In 1972, he was awarded the Padma Shri by the Government of India. He lent his voice to actor Manoj Kumar in most of his films and had a lengthy association with director-producer Baldev Raj Chopra.
Shyam Benegal was an Indian film director, screenwriter and documentary filmmaker. Often regarded as the pioneer of parallel cinema, he is widely considered as one of the greatest filmmakers post 1970s. He has received several accolades, including eighteen National Film Awards, a Filmfare Award and a Nandi Award. In 2005, he was honoured with the Dadasaheb Phalke Award, India's highest award in the field of cinema. In 1976, he was honoured by the Government of India with the Padma Shri, the fourth-highest civilian honour of the country, and in 1991, he was awarded the Padma Bhushan, the third-highest civilian honour for his contributions in the field of arts. He died on 23 December 2024, aged 90, at Wockhardt Hospital in Mumbai, where he was receiving treatment for chronic kidney disease.
Kaifi Azmi was an Indian Urdu poet. He is remembered as the one who brought Urdu literature to Indian motion pictures. Together with Pirzada Qasim, Jaun Elia and others he participated in many memorable Mushaira gatherings of the twentieth century. He was also a communist who wanted to see India one day become a socialist state. His wife was theatre and film actress Shaukat Kaifi.
Helen Ann Richardson Khan, known mononymously as Helen, is an Indian actress and dancer. She has appeared in over 1000 films, making her a prolific performer in Hindi cinema. In a career spanning 70 years, Helen has received two Filmfare Awards. She is often cited as one of the most popular nautch and caberet dancers of her time. In 2009, Helen was awarded with the Padma Shri by the Government of India.
Kaka Hathrasi was a Hindi satirist and humorist poet of India.
Ashok Chakradhar is an Indian author, poet and former head of the department of Hindi at Jamia Millia Islamia. After serving for 29 years, he took voluntary retirement to focus on working towards the propagation and development of the Hindi language. In 2007 he became the Hindi coordinator at the Institute of Life Long Learning (ILLL) at the University of Delhi and in 2009 was appointed as the vice-chairman of Hindi Academy, Government of Delhi and as the vice-chairman of the Kendriya Hindi Shikshan Mandal, Ministry of HRD, Government of India. He is the son-in-law of Kaka Hathrasi.
Kaka Hathrasi was a Hindi satirist and humorist poet of India.
Gajanan Madhav Muktibodh was one of the most prominent Hindi poets, essayists, literary and political critics, and fiction writers of the 20th century.
K. P. Saxena was an Indian satirist and writer. He was employed by the Indian Railways and was a prolific writer for magazines and newspapers. He started writing for Doordarshan's famous serial Bibi Natiyon Wali. He wrote vyangya articles for almost every popular magazine of Hindi. His first book of satire Koi Patthar Se Na Mare was published in 1982. His style is unique and he is very popular among poets in Kavi Sammelans. He was an expert of three Indian language Urdu, Hindi and Awadhi. He was awarded Padma Shri by Government of India, in year 2000. He died on 31 October 2013. He was a regular in Hindi Kavi Sammelan.
Sarita Joshi is an Indian actress. Cited amongst the finest and most significant actors of Gujarati and Marathi theatre, Joshi is known for her Gujarati plays done with her husband Pravin Joshi in the 1970s. She garnered widespread recognition for her role as the matriarch Godavari Thakkar in the Star Plus hit dramedy Baa Bahoo Aur Baby (2005-2010). In 1988, she was awarded the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award for Acting in Gujarati by the Sangeet Natak Akademi, India's National Academy of Music, Dance & Drama. In 2020, she has been awarded with Padma Shri, India's fourth highest civilian award for her contribution in Art. She was recently seen in (2019) Zee TV's Hamari Bahu Silk as a hard-working business woman who hates films especially 'A' grade films. Sarita Joshi is currently seen on Anupama: Namaste America a prequel web series to Star Plus show Anupamaa.
Shilpa Tulaskar is an Indian actress who has acted in Marathi films and Hindi television shows.
Shrilal Shukla was a Hindi writer, notable for his satire. He worked as a PCS officer for the state government of Uttar Pradesh, later inducted into the IAS. He has written over 25 books, including Raag Darbari, Makaan, Sooni Ghaati Ka Sooraj, Pehla Padaav and Bisrampur Ka Sant.
Naheed Abidi is an Indian scholar of Sanskrit and writer. In 2014, she was honoured with Padma Shri, the fourth highest civilian award, for her contributions to the field of literature by the Government of India.
Gopal Prasad Dubey is an Indian classical dancer, known for his expertise in the Indian classical dance form of Chhau. He is considered by many as the leading exponent of the Seraikella variant of the art form. Dubey was honored by the Government of India, in 2012, with the fourth highest Indian civilian award of Padma Shri.
Jeelani Bano is an Indian writer and novelist. She writes in Urdu, Hindi, Gujarati and Telugu languages. She received the fourth highest Indian civilian award of Padma Shri in 2001.
Sunil Jogi is an Indian author. He is a poet of comic verses and the ex-president of the Hindustani Academy, a post holding the rank of a Minister of State in the Government of Uttar Pradesh. He is also a Hindi adviser to the Ministry of Railways & Parliamentary Affairs.
Sunita Jain (1941–2017) was an Indian scholar, novelist, short-story writer and poet of English and Hindi literature. She was a former professor and the Head of the Department of Humanities and Social Sciences at the Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi. She published over 80 books, in English and Hindi, besides translating many Jain writings and some Hindi literature into English. She is featured in the Encyclopedia of Post-Colonial Literatures in English and was a recipient of The Vreeland Award (1969) and the Marie Sandoz Prairie Schooner Fiction Award. The Government of India awarded her the fourth highest civilian honour of the Padma Shri in 2004. In 2015 she was awarded the Vyas Samman by the K.K. Birla foundation for outstanding literary work in Hindi. In 2015 she was awarded an honorary D.Litt. from the University of Burdhwan, West Bengal.
Sushil Kumar Jain known professionally as Sushil Doshi is an Indian journalist, writer, sports commentator and the first cricket commentator in Hindi. Born to Niranjanlal and Madan Kunwar at Indore, in the second largest Indian city of Madhya Pradesh, he graduated in engineering from Shri Govindram Seksaria Institute of Technology and Science (SGSITS) Indore and started his commentating career in 1968 at the Nehru Stadium for a Ranji Trophy match between Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan. Over the years, he is reported to have covered nine Cricket World Cups, 85 test matches and over 400 One Day Internationals, besides several Twenty20 Internationals. His contributions are reported in making cricket commentary in Hindi popular. He has also written two books in Hindi on sports, Khel Patrakarita published in 2003 and Cricket Ka Mahabharat, published in 2016.
V L Nghaka is an academic from the Indian State of Mizoram known for his efforts for the propagation and development of the Hindi language in Mizoram. He authored the first Hind-Mizo dictionary and got it published in the year 1965. In the year 2022, Govt of India honoured V L Nghaka by conferring the Padma Shri award for his contributions to literature and education. As per his citation for Padma Shri award, "He built a cultural bridge between Hindi and Mizo language by drafting a Hindi-Mizo dictionary. As an interpreter, he was instrumental in bringing the government and Mizo people closer.”
