1.
Hindi language
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Hindi, or Modern Standard Hindi is a standardised and Sanskritised register of the Hindustani language. Along with the English language, Hindi written in the Devanagari script, is the language of the Government of India. It is also one of the 22 scheduled languages of the Republic of India, Hindi is the lingua franca of the so-called Hindi belt of India. Outside India, it is a language which is known as Fiji Hindi in Fiji, and is a recognised regional language in Mauritius, Trinidad and Tobago, Guyana. Hindi is the fourth most-spoken first language in the world, after Mandarin, apart from specialized vocabulary, Hindi is mutually intelligible with Standard Urdu, another recognized register of Hindustani. Part XVII of the Indian Constitution deals with Official Language, under Article 343, official language of the Union has been prescribed, which includes Hindi in Devanagari script and English. Gujarat High Court, in 2010, has observed that there was nothing on record to suggest that any provision has been made or order issued declaring Hindi as a language of India. Article 343 of the Indian constitution states The official language of the Union shall be Hindi in Devanagari script, the form of numerals to be used for the official purposes of the Union shall be the international form of Indian numerals. It was envisioned that Hindi would become the working language of the Union Government by 1965. Each may also designate a co-official language, in Uttar Pradesh, for instance, depending on the formation in power. Similarly, Hindi is accorded the status of language in the following Union Territories, Andaman & Nicobar Islands, Chandigarh, Dadra & Nagar Haveli, Daman & Diu. National-language status for Hindi is a long-debated theme, an Indian court clarified that Hindi is not the national language of India because the constitution does not mention it as such. Outside Asia, Hindi is a language in Fiji as per the 1997 Constitution of Fiji. It is spoken by 380,000 people in Fiji, Hindi is also spoken by a large population of Madheshis of Nepal. Hindi is quite easy to understand for some Pakistanis, who speak Urdu, apart from this, Hindi is spoken by the large Indian diaspora which hails from, or has its origin from the Hindi Belt of India. Like other Indo-Aryan languages, Hindi is considered to be a descendant of an early form of Sanskrit, through Sauraseni Prakrit. It has been influenced by Dravidian languages, Turkic languages, Persian, Arabic, Portuguese, Hindi emerged as Apabhramsha, a degenerated form of Prakrit, in the 7th century A. D. By the 10th century A. D. it became stable, Braj Bhasha, Bhojpuri, Awadhi, Khari Boli etc. are the dialects of Hindi
2.
Yash Chopra
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Yash Raj Chopra was an Indian film director and film producer, predominantly working in Hindi cinema. Yash Chopra began his career as an assistant director to I. S. Johar and elder brother and he made his directorial debut with Dhool Ka Phool in 1959, a melodrama about illegitimacy, and followed it with the social drama Dharmputra. Encouraged by the success of films, the Chopra brothers made several more movies together during the late fifties and sixties. Chopra rose to prominence after his commercially and critically successful drama, Waqt, in 1971, Chopra founded his own production company, Yash Raj Films, and launched it with Daag, A Poem of Love, a successful melodrama about a polygamous man. The name Yash Raj was formed with names standing for Yash and Rajesh Khanna, in 1989, Chopra directed the commercially and critically successful cult film Chandni, which became instrumental in ending the era of violent films in Bollywood and returning musicals. Chopra directed and produced the cult classic Lamhe in 1991, considered by critics and Chopra himself as his best work to date, the film became one of the biggest Bollywood hits in the overseas market, although underperforming at the domestic box office. In 1992 he directed Parampara which was panned and was a box office failure. Chopra followed it with the hit and trend setter Darr. Starring Shahrukh Khan, it was a look at obsessive love. -Chopra directed three more films, all starring Khan, Dil To Pagal Hai, Veer-Zaara, and Jab Tak Hai Jaan. Chopra founded and was chairman of the motion picture production and distribution company Yash Raj Films, Chopras career has spanned more than five decades and 50 films, he is considered one of the leading filmmakers in the history of Hindi cinema. He came to be known as the King of Romance of the Indian cinema, Chopra has won several film awards, including six National Film Awards and eleven Filmfare awards, including four Filmfare Best Director awards. The Government of India honoured him with the Dadasaheb Phalke Award in 2001, BAFTA presented him with a lifetime membership for his contribution to films, making him the first Indian to receive the honour. Chopra was born on 27 September 1932 in Lahore, British India and his father was an accountant in the PWD division of the British Punjab administration. He was the youngest of eight children, the oldest of whom was almost 30 years his senior, the eminent film-maker BR Chopra is one of his brothers, and among his sisters is Hiroo Johar, wife of the film maker Yash Johar and mother of Karan Johar. Chopra was largely brought up in the Lahore house of his brother, BR Chopra. Chopra went to Jalandhar in 1945 to continue his education, and studied at Doaba College and he moved to Ludhiana in Punjab after the Partition. He originally sought to pursue a career in engineering and his passion for film-making led him to travel to Bombay, where he initially worked as an assistant director to I. S. Johar, and then for his director-producer brother, Baldev Raj Chopra
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Aditya Chopra
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Aditya Chopra is an Indian film director, producer, screenwriter, broadcast producer and distributor. His work as a director includes Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge, Mohabbatein, Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi and he is also the current chairman of Indias multi-national film, media and entertainment conglomerate, Yash Raj Films. Chopra is also the first Indian film producer to move towards a film studio model through independent projects helmed by producers, writers and directors under his YRF banner. Major production and post-production work of the company is now carried out of YRF Studios, as of July 2016, Chopra has produced eight films that have accumulated worldwide gross earnings of more than INR200 crore. Apart from emerging as a brand, his company has earned the status of a movie mogul in Indian entertainment. The Directorate of Film Festivals has awarded him the National Award for his contribution to Indian Cinema, Chopra has however remained extremely media-shy and has battled constant reports of an alleged social anxiety disorder and/or APD, throughout his two-decade career. Chopra, the son of the late filmmaker Yash Chopra. He completed his education and acquired his Indian Certificate of Secondary Education from Bombay Scottish School. He graduated from Hassaram Rijhumal College of Commerce and Economics along with Anil Thadani, Karan Johar and he was married to Payal Khanna, until their divorce in 2009. On,21 April 2014, he married actress Rani Mukerji in a wedding ceremony in Italy. The film was scripted by Chopra and produced by his father Yash Chopra, Chopra started work on the script of the film in 1990, at the age of 19, and gradually spent time making about five drafts of the films original script. Chopra even managed to convince his brother Uday Chopra and Karan Johar, Chopra once said that the presence of his relatives during the making of the film worked as a huge emotional support. Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge eventually went on to one of the biggest hits of all time. Chopra eventually went on to write the dialogues and the story of his fathers 1997 blockbuster Dil To Pagal Hai, the film was also written and co-produced by Chopra and fared very well at the box office. The next film under the Yash Raj Films banner was Mere Yaar Ki Shaadi Hai, in 2002, the film did moderately well at the box office. In 2004, Chopra produced Hum Tum, Dhoom and Veer Zaara under the YRF banner, all three films went on to become critical and commercial blockbusters, earning more than ₹199 crore in the worldwide market. The films became the seventh, fourth and highest-grossing Indian films of 2004, the company won most of the Indian film awards in the year, with Veer Zaara also winning the National Award. This was considered a major break-through for this film producing company, Chopra then produced and wrote several other highly commercial and critically acclaimed films over the years, namely Bunty Aur Babli, Salaam Namaste, Fanaa, Dhoom 2 and Chak De India
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Shah Rukh Khan
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Shah Rukh Khan, also known as SRK, is an Indian film actor, producer and television personality. Referred to in the media as the Baadshah of Bollywood, King of Bollywood or King Khan, he has appeared in more than 80 Bollywood films, Khan has a significant following in Asia and the Indian diaspora worldwide. In terms of size and income, he has been described as one of the most successful film stars in the world. Khan began his career appearances in several television series in the late 1980s. He made his Bollywood debut in 1992 with Deewana, early in his career, Khan was recognised for portraying villainous roles in the films Darr, Baazigar and Anjaam. He then rose to prominence starring in a series of romantic films, including Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge, Dil To Pagal Hai, Kuch Kuch Hota Hai, Mohabbatein. He earned critical acclaim for his portrayal of an alcoholic in Devdas, a NASA scientist in Swades, India and a man with Asperger syndrome in My Name Is Khan. His highest-grossing films include the comedies Chennai Express and Happy New Year, many of his films display themes of Indian national identity and connections with diaspora communities, or gender, racial, social and religious differences and grievances. For his contributions to film, the Government of India honoured him with the Padma Shri, and he is a frequent television presenter and stage show performer. The media often label him as Brand SRK because of his many endorsement, Khans philanthropic endeavours have provided health care and disaster relief, and he was honoured with UNESCOs Pyramide con Marni award in 2011 for his support of childrens education. He regularly features in listings of the most influential people in Indian culture, Khan was born on 2 November 1965 in a Muslim family in New Delhi. He spent the first five years of his life in Mangalore, according to Khan, his paternal grandfather, Jan Muhammad, an ethnic Pathan was from Afghanistan. Shah Rukh Khan also said in his interviews that he is a Pathan from Peshawar, Khans father, Meer Taj Mohammed Khan, was an Indian independence activist in Peshawar, British India. As of 2010, Khans paternal family was living in Shah Wali Qataal area of Peshawars Qissa Khawani Bazaar. Meer was a follower of Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan, and affiliated with the All Indian National Congress and he moved to New Delhi in 1948 partition of India. Khans mother, Lateef Fatima, was the daughter of a government engineer. His parents were married in 1959, Khan described himself on Twitter as half Hyderabadi, half Pathan, some Kashmiri. His paternal cousins in Peshawar claim that the family is of Hindkowan origin from Kashmir, not Pashtun, Khan grew up in the Rajendra Nagar neighbourhood of Delhi
5.
Preity Zinta
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Preity Zinta is an Indian film actress. She has appeared in Hindi films of Bollywood, as well as Telugu, Punjabi, after graduating with degrees in English honours and criminal psychology, Zinta made her acting debut in Dil Se. in 1998 followed by a role in Soldier the same year. These performances earned her a Filmfare Award for Best Female Debut, Zinta received the Filmfare Award for Best Actress in 2003 for her performance in the romantic drama Kal Ho Naa Ho. She went on to play the female role in two consecutive annual top-grossing films in India, the science fiction film Koi. Mil Gaya, which is her biggest commercial success, and the star-crossed romance Veer-Zaara and she was later noted for her portrayal of independent, modern Indian women in Salaam Namaste and Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna, top-grossing productions in overseas markets. These accomplishments have established her as an actress of Hindi cinema. Her first international role was in the Canadian film Heaven on Earth. In addition to acting in films, Zinta has written a series of columns for BBC News Online South Asia, is a social activist, a presenter. She is the founder of the production company PZNZ Media and, along with ex-boyfriend Ness Wadia and she is known in the Indian media for publicly speaking her mind and openly expressing her opinions, and consequently has sparked the occasional controversy. Zinta was born into a family from Rohru in Shimla district and her father, Durganand Zinta, was an officer in the Indian Army. He died in a car accident when she was 13 years old, the accident also involved her mother, Nilprabha, Zinta called the tragic accident and her fathers death a significant turning point in her life, which forced her to mature rapidly. She has two brothers, Deepankar and Manish, an older and a year younger respectively. Deepankar is an officer in the Indian Army, while Manish lives in California. Zinta, who describes herself as a tomboy as a child, has emphasised her fathers background as having a lasting impression on how family life was conducted. He asserted the importance of discipline and punctuality to the children and she studied at the Convent of Jesus and Mary boarding school in Shimla. Although she confesses to loneliness in the school, she noted that it was compensated by her finding a. perfect set of friends there. As a student, she developed a love for literature, particularly the works of William Shakespeare, according to Zinta, she enjoyed schoolwork and received good grades, in her free time she played sports, especially basketball. Upon graduating from the school in Sanawar at age 18
6.
Rani Mukerji
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Rani Mukerji is an Indian actress. Through her Bollywood career, she has one of the most high-profile celebrities in India, winning several awards. Her film roles have been cited as a significant departure from the portrayal of women in Bollywood. Although Mukerji was born into the Mukherjee-Samarth family, in which her parents and relatives were members of the Indian film industry and she then began a full-time career in film and gained recognition for a supporting role in the romance Kuch Kuch Hota Hai. After this initial success in her career, Mukerjis films fared poorly at the box office for the three years. Her career prospects improved when Yash Raj Films cast her as the star of the drama Saathiya, by 2004, Mukerji had established herself as a leading actress of Bollywood with roles in the romantic comedy Hum Tum and the dramas Yuva and Veer-Zaara. She achieved further success for portraying a deaf, blind and mute woman in the acclaimed drama Black, Mukerji then collaborated with Yash Raj Films on several unsuccessful films which led critics to criticise her for choosing poor roles and pairing with the same set of actors. In addition to acting in films, Mukerji is involved with humanitarian causes and is vocal about issues faced by women and children. She has participated in tours and stage shows, and featured as a talent judge for the 2009 reality show Dance Premier League. Though she is reticent to discuss her life in public. She is married to filmmaker Aditya Chopra, with whom she has a daughter, Rani Mukerji was born in Mumbai on 21 March 1978. Her father, Ram Mukherjee, is a film director. Her mother, Krishna Mukherjee, is a playback singer. Her elder brother, Raja Mukherjee, is a film producer and her maternal aunt, Debashree Roy, is a Bengali film actress and her paternal cousin, Kajol, is a Hindi film actress and her contemporary. Another paternal cousin, Ayan Mukerji, is a scriptwriter and film director, despite her parents and most of her relatives being members of the Indian film industry, Mukerji was uninterested in pursuing a career in film. She said, There were already too many actresses at home, Mukerji received her education at Maneckji Cooper High School in Juhu and graduated with a degree in Home Science from SNDT Womens University. She is a trained Odissi dancer and began learning the dance form while in the tenth grade, as part of an annual tradition, the Mukherjee family celebrates the festival of Durga Puja in the suburban neighbourhood of Santacruz every year. Mukerji, a practising Hindu, takes part in the festivities with her entire family, in 1994, director Salim Khan approached her to play the lead female role in his directorial, Aa Gale Lag Jaa
7.
Manoj Bajpayee
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Manoj Bajpayee, also credited as Manoj Bajpai, is an Indian film actor who predominantly works in Hindi cinema and has also done Telugu and Tamil language films. He is the recipient of two National Film Awards and three Filmfare Awards, Born in Belwa, a small village in Narkatiaganj, Bihar, Bajpayee aspired to become an actor since childhood. He relocated to Delhi at the age of seventeen, and applied for National School of Drama and he continued to do theatre while studying in the college. Bajpayee made his film debut with the one-minute role in Drohkaal. After few unnoticed roles, he played gangster Bhiku Mhatre in Ram Gopal Varmas 1998 crime drama Satya, Bajpayee received the National Film Award for Best Supporting Actor and Filmfare Critics Award for Best Actor for the film. He then acted in films like Kaun, and Shool, for the latter, he won his second Filmfare Critics Award for Best Actor. Bajpayee further played the role of a prince with two wives in Zubeidaa, a killer in Aks and a hitchhiker-turned-psychopath killer in Road. Bajpayee won the Special Jury National Award for Pinjar and this was followed by a series of brief, unnoticed roles in films that failed to propel his career forward. He then played a politician in the political thriller Raajneeti. In 2012, Bajpayee essayed the role of Sardar Khan in Gangs of Wasseypur and his next roles were of a naxalite in Chakravyuh, and a CBI officer in Special 26. In 2016, he portrayed professor Ramchandra Siras, in Hansal Mehtas biographical drama Aligarh, Bajpayee was born on 23 April 1969 in a small village called Belwa near the town Narkatiaganj in West Champaran, Bihar. He is the child among his five other siblings, and was named after actor Manoj Kumar. One of his younger sisters Poonam Dubey, is a designer in the film industry. His father was a farmer and mother was a housewife, as a son of a farmer, Bajpayee would do farming during their vacation. Since childhood, he wanted to become an actor and his father had difficulty collecting money for their education. He studied in a hut school till fourth standard, and later did his schooling in Bettiah. He completed his class 12th from Maharani Janaki College in Bettiah and he moved to New Delhi at the age of seventeen and went to Satyawati, then to Ramjas College, Delhi University. Bajpayee had heard about National School of Drama from actors like Om Puri, Naseeruddin Shah and he was rejected three times and wanted to commit suicide afterwards
8.
Divya Dutta
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Divya Dutta is an Indian film actress and model. She has established a career in Bollywood and Punjabi cinema. She is noted for playing a variety of roles in various film genres. The movie was a hit, and Dutta subsequently continued to act in supporting roles. Dutta continued to establish herself as one of the most sought-after actresses with roles in the 2011 film Stanley Ka Dabba and the 2012 drama Heroine. In 2013, she received attention for her performances in Gippi and the sports drama film Bhaag Milkha Bhaag, in which she played Ishri Kaur. For her role in the latter, she received awards and nominations. To date, she has acted in more than sixty films, including. She has also ventured into television, playing the role of Purnima Banerjee in the serial Samvidhaan, Dutta was born on 25 September 1974 in Ludhiana, Punjab, in a Punjabi Hindu family. Her mother, Dr. Nalini Dutta, is a government officer and doctor who raised Dutta, Dutta described her as fearless and professional and a fun mom at home. She took inspiration from her mother for her role as a single mother and she and her brother compiled a collection of their mothers poems and published them as a present to her. When Dutta was young, the Punjab insurgency began and Dutta described herself as hiding behind her mothers dupatta praying nobody shoots us, Dutta was educated at Sacred Heart Convent in Ludhiana. Before venturing into cinema, she modeled for regional television commercials in her state of Punjab. In 2001, she appeared in the music video Romeo by music duo Basement Jaxx, from London, Dutta made her film debut in 1994 with the film Ishq Mein Jeena Ishq Mein Marna. She followed this by playing the role of Bindiya in the 1995 film Surakshaa, alongside Suniel Shetty, Aditya Pancholi, Saif Ali Khan. The film performed well in the overseas markets, especially Norway. The same year, Dutta earned her first leading role opposite Salman Khan in the 1995 drama film Veergati, however, the film was declared a disaster at the box office. In 1997, she played roles in Raja Ki Aayegi Baraat, alongside Rani Mukerji, as Shardas sister and in Daava as Deepa, alongside Akshay Kumar
9.
Kirron Kher
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Kirron Anupam Kher is an Indian theatre, film and television actress, a TV talk show host and a member of the Bhartiya Janata Party. In May 2014, she was elected to the Lok Sabha, Kirron Kher was born on 14 June 1955 in a Jat Sikh family and grew up in Chandigarh. She was named Kiran by her parents and her name was Kiran Thakar Singh. During the period of her first marriage to Gautam Berry, she was known as Kiran Berry, when she married Anupam Kher, she resumed her maiden name and also added her latest husbands surname, being known as Kiran Thakar Singh Kher. Kirron has one brother and two sisters and her brother, the artist Amardeep Singh, died in 2003. One of her sisters is the Arjuna award-winning badminton player, Kanwal Thakar Kaur and her other sister, Sharanjit Kaur Sandhu, is the wife of a retired senior officer of the Indian Navy. Kirron completed her education in Chandigarh, and then graduated from the Department of Indian Theatre of Panjab University. She then married Gautam Berry, a rich Mumbai-based businessman, and had a son, in Mumbai, Kiran tried throughout the 1980s to get a foothold in the film industry, but without success. Anupam was also married to someone else. Moving in the theatre circles, they worked together in a play called Chandpuri Ki Champabai. In 1985, after Anupam had secured a break in films with Saaransh, he divorced his wife, Kirron divorced her husband and they now run a production house together. Kiran Kher made her debut in 1983 in the Punjabi feature film Aasra Pyar Da. After this, she took a hiatus from films, between 1983 and 1996, she appeared in exactly one film, Pestonjee, wherein she acted in a bit role alongside her second husband Anupam Kher. Her return to acting came in the mid-1990s, through theatre, with the play Saalgirah written by playwright Javed Siddiqui, Kiron Kher Today and Jagte Raho with Kiron Kher, before doing Hindi films. Her comeback film was by Shyam Benegal, Sardari Begum, which won her the Special Jury Award at the 1997 National Film Awards and she then appeared in film director Rituparno Ghoshs Bengali film Bariwali, to critical acclaim. Kirron refuted the charges claiming she spent hours rehearsing for her delivery. In 2002, Kirron appeared in Devdas, alongside Shahrukh Khan, Madhuri Dixit and Aishwarya Rai and it shows how her life changes dramatically when her son takes up Islamic extremism in 1979 during the rule of Zia-ul-Haq and his process of Islamization of Pakistan. The Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles 2004 paid tribute to Kirron during its annual festival, in October 2004 Kirron made a guest appearance, along with her husband, in the American TV series ER playing Parminder Nagras mother, Mrs. Rasgotra, in episode Damaged
10.
Boman Irani
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Boman Irani is an Indian film and theatre actor, voice artist and photographer. He is widely known for his comedic and villain roles in Bollywood films such as Don, Munna Bhai MBBS,3 Idiots, Happy New Year, PK, Irani was born on 2 December 1959, in Mumbai. He finished his schooling in St. Marys School, Mumbai and he is a graduate of Mithibai College in Mumbai. After his polytechnic diploma course, he joined the Taj Mahal Palace & Tower and worked there as a waiter, thereafter, he joined his mother to run their ancestral bakery shop between Novelty and Apsara Cinema in South Mumbai. Irani turned to photography in 1987 and continued until he became an actor, Irani began his acting career in theatre and moved to films in 2000. Irani gained attention for his role in the 2003 comedy Munna Bhai M. B. B. S, acting had been a passion to Irani during school and college days. He trained under acting coach Hansraj Siddhia from 1981 to 1983, Irani preferred British theatre, and he soon developed different accents. Iranis mentor was Alyque Padamsee — the veteran theatre actor best known for his role as Mohammad Ali Jinnah in Gandhi and he was introduced to Padamsee by Shiamak Davar. Iranis earliest theatrical appearance was in Roshni where he played a cameo at the Regional Theatre in Versova and he followed this up with serials like Family Ties and Mahatma vs Gandhi, playing Gandhi after the role was turned down by Darshan Jariwala. His most illustrious play till date has been I am not Bajirao which ran for 10 years, Irani started out in a number of advertisements like Fanta, Ceat and Krackjack biscuits. His small but significant role in Darna Mana Hai earned him acclaim, the film didnt fare too well, but his was one of the most remembered segments of the film along with Saif Ali Khan. His role as J. Asthana earned him a Filmfare Award nomination for Best Comedian and his comic as well as minor antagonist type role in 3 Idiots is also still remembered. Irani has appeared in many comedic, supporting, and negative roles and he acted in his first Telugu film Attharintiki Daaredhi as the grandfather of Pawan Kalyan. Irani hosted the IIFA Awards with actor Ritesh Deshmukh in 2008 in Bangkok,2009 Macau,2010 Colombo and 2011 in Toronto and he has been on Kaun Banega Crorepati with Sanjay Dutt. He also hosted the quiz show Bollywood Ka Boss, Irani featured in OneTouch Glucose Meters TV commercials in 2015 with Simone Singh. Boman Irani is an Irani and follows the religion of Zoroastrianism and he speaks English, Hindi, Gujarati, Bengali and Marathi fluently. Irani is a member of the Parsee Television Actors Community and is its secretary and he is married to Zenobia, with whom he has two sons, Danesh and Kayoze Irani. Boman Irani at the Internet Movie Database
11.
Anupam Kher
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Anupam Kher is an Indian actor who has appeared in over 400 films and many plays. Russells 2013 Oscar-winning Silver Linings Playbook, Kher has won the Filmfare Award for Best Performance in a Comic Role five times. For his performance in the 1988 film Vijay he won the Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actor and he has held the post of chairman of Central Board of Film Certification and National School of Drama in India. He is currently the chairman at Actor Prepares, the Government of India honoured him with the Padma Shri in 2004 and the Padma Bhushan in 2016 for his contribution in the field of cinema and arts. His wife, actress Kirron Kher, is a Member of the Indian Parliament from Chandigarh, Kher was born on 7 March 1955 in Shimla in a Kashmiri Pandit family. His father was a clerk and he had a modest upbringing, in his struggling days as an actor in Mumbai, he slept on railway platforms. He is an alumnus and a chairperson of the National School of Drama. Some of his roles were in plays performed at the Himachal Pradesh University. Kher made his debut in the 1982 Hindi movie Aagman. Then in 1984 came Saaransh, where 28-year-old Kher played a middle class Maharashtrian man who has lost his son. He has had many comic roles but has played the villain such as his acclaimed role as terrorist Dr. Dang in Karma. For his role in Daddy he received the Filmfare Critics Award for Best Performance and he has starred alongside Hindi Cinemas superstar Shahrukh Khan many times in films such as Darr, Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge, Chaahat, Kuch Kuch Hota Hai, Mohabbatein, Veer-Zaara and Happy New Year. He ventured into directing with Om Jai Jagadish and has been a producer and he produced and starred in the film Maine Gandhi Ko Nahin Mara. He received the Best Actor Award from the Karachi International Film Festival for his performance, the role of the Police Commissioner Rathor, played by him in critically and commercially acclaimed A Wednesday is also very much appreciated. Kher is known internationally for Bend It Like Beckham, Bride and Prejudice, Speedy Singhs, his appearance on the hit TV show ER, in 2012 he co-starred in the Academy Award-winning Silver Linings Playbook. Kher has written and starred in a play about his own life called Kucch Bhi Ho Sakta Hai, until recently he served as chairman of the Indian Film Censor Board. He is an alumnus of National School of Drama and was its director between 2001 and 2004, in 2007, Anupam Kher, with his batchmate of NSD, Satish Kaushik, started a film production company, Karol Bagh Productions. Their first film, Tere Sang, was directed by Satish Kaushik and he was appointed in 2010 as the goodwill ambassador of the Pratham Education Foundation, which strives to improve childrens education in India
12.
Amitabh Bachchan
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Amitabh Harivansh Rai Shrivastava Bachchan is an Indian film actor. He first gained popularity in the early 1970s for movies like Zanjeer and Deewaar, referred to as the Shahenshah of Bollywood, Star of the Millennium or Big B, he has since appeared in over 190 Indian films in a career spanning almost five decades. Bachchan is widely regarded as one of the greatest and most influential actors in the history of Indian cinema, so total was his dominance on the movie scene in the 1970s and 1980s that the French director François Truffaut called him a one-man industry. Bachchan has won accolades in his career, including four National Film Awards as Best Actor and many awards at international film festivals. He has won fifteen Filmfare Awards and is the performer in any major acting category at Filmfare. In addition to acting, Bachchan has worked as a singer, film producer. He has hosted several seasons of the show, Kaun Banega Crorepati, Indias version of the game show franchise. He also had a stint in politics in the 1980s, the Government of India honoured him with the Padma Shri in 1984, the Padma Bhushan in 2001 and the Padma Vibhushan in 2015 for his contributions to the arts. The Government of France honoured him with its highest civilian honour, Knight of the Legion of Honour, in 2007 for his career in the world of cinema. Bachchan made his Hollywood debut in 2013 with The Great Gatsby, Bachchan was born in Allahabad, Uttar Pradesh, in north central India. His ancestors hailed from a village called Babupatti in the Raniganj taluka of Pratapgarh district in Uttar Pradesh and his father Harivansh Rai Srivastava was a well-known Hindi poet and his mother Teji Bachchan was a Punjabi Sikh from Lyallpur, Punjab. Bachchan was initially named Inquilaab, inspired by the phrase Inquilab Zindabad popularly used during the Indian independence struggle, in English, Inquilab Zindabad means Long live the revolution. However, at the suggestion of fellow poet Sumitranandan Pant, Harivansh Rai changed the name to Amitabh. Although his surname was Shrivastava, Amitabhs father had adopted the pen name Bachchan and it is with this last name that Amitabh debuted in films and for all other practical purposes, Bachchan has become the surname for all of his immediate family. Bachchans father died in 2003, and his mother in 2007, Bachchan is an alumnus of Sherwood College, Nainital. He later attended Kirori Mal College, University of Delhi and he has a younger brother, Ajitabh. His mother had a keen interest in theatre and was offered a film role. Teji had some influence in Amitabh Bachchans choice of career because she insisted that he should take the centre stage
13.
Hema Malini
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Hema Malini is an Indian actress, director, producer, dancer and politician. 1963 she made acting debut in Tamil film Ithu Sathiyam as a dancer resp, Malini first acted in main role in Sapno Ka Saudagar, and went on to feature in numerous Bollywood films, primarily as the lead actress. In most of her films, she starred opposite her husband, Dharmendra and with Rajesh Khanna, Malini was initially promoted as the Dream Girl, and in 1977 starred in a film of the same name. She has played both comic and dramatic roles, as well as being a dancer and she has appeared in more than 150 films. During her career, Malini received eleven nominations for the Filmfare Award for Best Actress, in 2000, Malini won the Filmfare Lifetime Achievement Award and also the Padma Shri, the fourth-highest civilian honour awarded by the Government of India. In 2012, the Sir Padampat Singhania University conferred an Honorary Doctorate on Malini in recognition of her contribution to Indian cinema, Malini served as chairperson of the National Film Development Corporation. In 2006, Malini received Sopori Academy of Music And Performing Arts Vitasta award from Bhajan Sopori in Delhi for her contribution and service to Indian culture, in 2013, she received the NTR National Award from Government of Andhra Pradesh for her contribution to Indian cinema. From 2003 to 2009, Malini was elected to the Rajya Sabha, in 2014, Malini was elected to the Lok Sabha. Malini has been involved with charitable and social ventures, currently, Malini is also a life member of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness. She was the top and successful actress of her time and she has been praised by critics for dancing and acting skills. Malini was the child born of a Tamil family to her mother Jaya Lakshmi Chakravarti. Malini attended the Andhra Mahila Sabha in Chennai where her favourite subject was History, Malini studied at DTEA Mandir Marg and in 12th Standard left to begin her acting career. Malinis first film with Dharmendra was Sharafat, and they got married in 1979, Dharmendra was already married at the time and had children, two of whom are Bollywood actors Sunny Deol and Bobby Deol. Malini converted to Islam and married Dharmendra and they have two children, Bollywood actress Esha Deol and Ahana Deol, an assistant director. Malinis niece is actress Madhoo who played the lead in Phool Aur Kaante, Roja. Malini was a supporting artiste in Idhu Sathiyam and portrayed a danseuse in Pandava Vanavasam, in 1968, Malini played opposite Raj Kapoor in Sapno Ka Saudagar. That was the beginning of her promotion as the Bollywood dream girl, in Johnny Mera Naam, Malini took a lead role and she took other challenging roles, for example, a young widow in Andaz and a poor woman in Lal Patthar. In 1972, Malini played opposite Dharmendra and Sanjeev Kumar in Seeta Aur Geeta, Malini received a Filmfare Best Actress Award for this film
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Akhilendra Mishra
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Akhilendra Mishra is an Indian film and television character actor best known for his role as Kroor Singh in the 1990s Doordarshan fantasy television series Chandrakanta. His other notable include the character of Mirchi Seth in the 1999 critically acclaimed film Sarfarosh. He also played the character of Arjan in the Academy Award nominated film Lagaan and he was born in Siwan, Bihar. Akhilendra completed his schooling and graduation in Saran and he played the demon king Ravana in the 2008 television adaptation of the Hindu epic Ramayana. Mishra played the antagonist opposite Salman Khan in Veergati released in 1995
15.
Tom Alter
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Thomas Beach Alter is an Indian actor of American descent. He is an actor, best known for his work in Bollywood. In 2008, he was awarded Padma Shri by the Indian government and his father was born in Sialkot, now in Pakistan. His elder sister Martha Chen has a PhD in South Asian Studies and his brother John is a poet, as a child, he studied Hindi and, consequently, he has occasionally been referred to as the Blue-eyed saheb with impeccable Hindi. He studied at the Film and Television Institute of India and his major inspiration to enter films was Rajesh Khanna. He confessed in an interview I still dream of being Rajesh Khanna. For me, in the early 1970s, he was the only hero — romantic to the core, not larger than life, so Indian and real — he was my hero and he is married, with two children, a son, Jamie, and daughter, Afshaan. He is a member of International Film And Television Club & International Film And Television Research Centre of Asian Academy of Film & Television. Alter taught at St. Thomas school in Jagadhri for $50 a month before taking to films and he worked as a sports teacher at the school. He used to coach cricket in the school and his crisp columns on sport have enthralled readers of popular newspapers and journals to which he contributed for ten years. He loved his job and the town of Jagadhri. In his own words, There was something very warm about Jagadhri, I remained a teacher there until the day I watched Rajesh Khanna romance Sharmila in Aradhana. That was the beginning of my addiction to cinema, Alter is fluent in Hindi, Urdu and knowledgeable of Indian culture. He has worked for noted filmmakers like Satyajit Ray in Shatranj Ke Khilari and is remembered for his role as a British officer in Kranti. In Sardar, the 1993 film biography of Indian leader Sardar Patel and he has also played Indian characters in Indian television series, such as the long-running Junoon, in which he was the sadistic mob lord Keshav Kalsi. He also acted in Hollywood movie One Night with the King with Peter OToole, Alter has written books including The Longest Race, Rerun at Rialto, and The Best in the World. He is also a sports journalist with a special interest in cricket and he plays cricket for a film industry team MCC, which includes Naseeruddin Shah, Satish Shah, Vishal Bhardwaj, Aamir Khan, Nana Patekar, Bhupinder Singh and Amarinder Sangha. He also wrote on cricket in Indian publications, in 1996, he was invited by friend Siraj Syed to Singapore, to do cricket commentary in Hindi, for Indian viewers, on the sports TV channel, ESPN
16.
Madan Mohan (director)
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Madan Mohan Kohli, better known as Madan Mohan, was an Indian music director of the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s. He is particularly remembered for the ghazals he composed for the film industry and he often worked with Lata Mangeshkar, Talat Mahmood and Mohammed Rafi. After 1932, his family returned to their town of Chakwal, then in Jhelum district of Punjab. He was left in the care of a grandparent while his father went to Bombay to seek business opportunities and he attended local school in Lahore for the next few years. During his stay at Lahore, he learnt the basics of music from one Kartar Singh for a very short period. Some time later, his family moved to Bombay where he completed his Senior Cambridge from St. Marys School in Byculla Mumbai, in Bombay, at the age of 11 years, he started performing in childrens programmes broadcast by All India Radio. At age 17, he attended the Colonel Brown Cambridge School in Dehradun where he completed a years training and he joined the Army as a Second Lieutenant in the year 1943. He served there for two years until end of World War II, when he left the Army and returned to Bombay to pursue his musical interests. In 1946, he joined the All India Radio, Lucknow as Programme Assistant, where he came in contact with artists such as Ustad Faiyaz Khan, Ustad Ali Akbar Khan, Begum Akhtar. During these days he would compose music for programmes to be broadcast on All India Radio. In 1947, he was transferred to All India Radio, Delhi where he worked for a short period. He was very fond of singing, and so in 1947 he got his first chance to record two ghazals penned by Behzad Lucknawi, Aane Laga Hai Koi Nazar Jalwa Gar Mujhe and Is Raaz Ko Duniya Jaanti Hai. Soon after, in 1948 he recorded two more private ghazals penned by Deewan Sharar, Wo Aaye To Mahfil Mein Ithlaate Huye Aaye, between 1948 and 1949, he assisted music composers S. D. Burman for Do Bhai, and Shyam Sundar in Actress and Nirdosh. He scored his first big break with the film Aankhen in 1950 and his next film was Adaa which saw the beginning of a long lasting collaboration with Lata Mangeshkar, who would go on to sing for many of his films. In addition, his other compositions like Wo Chup Rahen To from the film Jahan Ara, Madan did not usually employ Kishore Kumar. Madan often collaborated with lyricists Raja Mehdi Ali Khan, Kaifi Azmi, and Rajinder Krishan, Sahir Ludhianvi and Majrooh Sultanpuri for his movies. In addition to that, he had Lata sing Tu Pyaar Kare Ya Thukraaye and Meri Veena Tum Bin Roye numbers, once in an interview Manna Dey recalled that Madan Mohan asked him to take special care when singing Kaun Aaya Mere Man Ke Dwaare. A film scored by Madan was Chetan Anands Haqeeqat, starring Balraj Sahni and Dharmendra, in it, he used Rafi, who sang numbers like Kar Chale Hum Fida, Main Yeh Soch Kar
17.
Yash Raj Films
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Yash Raj Films is an Indian entertainment company established by Yash Chopra, an Indian film director and producer who was considered an entertainment mogul in India. His son Aditya Chopra also produces films under this banner and these were Dhool Ka Phool, Dharmputra, Waqt, Ittefaq and Aadmi Aur Insaan. He has wielded the baton, additionally, for 4 films made by film companies -Joshila, Deewaar, Trishul. Out of the films 52 produced by YRF till 2012, Yash Chopra directed only 13 films, darr, Dil To Pagal Hai, Veer-Zaara and Jab Tak Hai Jaan were his latter movies and all of them featured Shah Rukh Khan. Khan has played the role in nine movies produced by Yash Raj Films and remains their most illustrious collaborator. Yash Raj Films has launched its own label called Yash Raj Music and markets and distributes DVDs. YRF Home Entertainment has acquired the rights for films created by Raj Kapoor. Chopra and his production company B. R, in 2006, Yash Raj Films unveiled its new film studio. Since 2007, it has sold its music in digital format through the site along with DVDs and it has also started selling its music on iTunes. In May 2007, it linked with The Walt Disney Company to co-produce animated movies in India. In 2004, the Hollywood Reporter placed Yash Raj Films at number 27 in a survey of the Biggest Film Distribution Houses in the world, there are also offices in the United Kingdom, the United States, and the United Arab Emirates. Official website Yash Raj Films at the Internet Movie Database
18.
Hindustani language
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Hindustani, historically also known as Hindavi, Dehlvi and Rekhta, is the lingua franca of North India and Pakistan. It is an Indo-Aryan language, deriving primarily from the Khariboli dialect of Delhi, before the Partition of the British Indian Empire, the terms Hindustani, Urdu, and Hindi were synonymous, all covered what would be called Urdu and Hindi today. Hindustani is also spoken by a number of people in Mauritius. Early forms of present-day Hindustani developed from the Middle Indo-Aryan apabhramsha vernaculars of present-day North India in the 7th–13th centuries. Amir Khusro, who lived in the 13th century CE during the Delhi Sultanate period in North India, used these forms in his writings, the Delhi Sultanate, which comprised several Turkic and Afghan dynasties that ruled from Delhi, was succeeded by the Mughal Empire in 1526. The basis in general for the introduction of Persian language into the subcontinent was set, from its earliest days, by various Persianised Central Asian Turkic, the term Hindustani was the name given to that variant of Khariboli. For socio-political reasons, though essentially the variant of Khariboli with Persian vocabulary, the more highly Persianised version later established as a language of the court was called Rekhta, or mixed. As an emerging common dialect, Hindustani absorbed large numbers of Persian, Arabic, and Turkic words and its development was centred on the poets of the Mughal courts of cities in Uttar Pradesh such as Delhi, Lucknow, and Agra. He continued, But it has all the magnitude and importance of separate language and it is linguistic result of Mohammedan invasions of eleventh & twelfth centuries and is spoken by many Hindus in North India and by Musalman population in all parts of India. Next to English it was the language of British Indian Empire, was commonly written in Arabic or Persian characters. When the British colonised the Indian subcontinent from the late 18th through to the late 19th century, they used the words Hindustani, Hindi and they developed it as the language of administration of British India, further preparing it to be the official language of modern India and Pakistan. However, with independence, use of the word Hindustani declined, being replaced by Hindi and Urdu. It has a literature of 500 years, with prose, poetry, religion & philosophy, under the Bahmani Kings and it is a living language, still prevalent all over the Deccan Plateau. Note that the term Hindustani has generally fallen out of usage in modern India, except to refer to Indian as a nationality. The term used to refer to it is Hindi or Urdu, depending on the religion of the speaker, in common usage in India, the term Hindi includes all these dialects except those at the Urdu end of the spectrum. Urdu is the language of Pakistan and an officially recognised regional language of India. It is also a language in the Indian states of Jammu and Kashmir, National Capital Territory of Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar. In a specific sense, Hindustani may be used to refer to the dialects and varieties used in speech, in contrast with the standardised Hindi
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Hindi
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Hindi, or Modern Standard Hindi is a standardised and Sanskritised register of the Hindustani language. Along with the English language, Hindi written in the Devanagari script, is the language of the Government of India. It is also one of the 22 scheduled languages of the Republic of India, Hindi is the lingua franca of the so-called Hindi belt of India. Outside India, it is a language which is known as Fiji Hindi in Fiji, and is a recognised regional language in Mauritius, Trinidad and Tobago, Guyana. Hindi is the fourth most-spoken first language in the world, after Mandarin, apart from specialized vocabulary, Hindi is mutually intelligible with Standard Urdu, another recognized register of Hindustani. Part XVII of the Indian Constitution deals with Official Language, under Article 343, official language of the Union has been prescribed, which includes Hindi in Devanagari script and English. Gujarat High Court, in 2010, has observed that there was nothing on record to suggest that any provision has been made or order issued declaring Hindi as a language of India. Article 343 of the Indian constitution states The official language of the Union shall be Hindi in Devanagari script, the form of numerals to be used for the official purposes of the Union shall be the international form of Indian numerals. It was envisioned that Hindi would become the working language of the Union Government by 1965. Each may also designate a co-official language, in Uttar Pradesh, for instance, depending on the formation in power. Similarly, Hindi is accorded the status of language in the following Union Territories, Andaman & Nicobar Islands, Chandigarh, Dadra & Nagar Haveli, Daman & Diu. National-language status for Hindi is a long-debated theme, an Indian court clarified that Hindi is not the national language of India because the constitution does not mention it as such. Outside Asia, Hindi is a language in Fiji as per the 1997 Constitution of Fiji. It is spoken by 380,000 people in Fiji, Hindi is also spoken by a large population of Madheshis of Nepal. Hindi is quite easy to understand for some Pakistanis, who speak Urdu, apart from this, Hindi is spoken by the large Indian diaspora which hails from, or has its origin from the Hindi Belt of India. Like other Indo-Aryan languages, Hindi is considered to be a descendant of an early form of Sanskrit, through Sauraseni Prakrit. It has been influenced by Dravidian languages, Turkic languages, Persian, Arabic, Portuguese, Hindi emerged as Apabhramsha, a degenerated form of Prakrit, in the 7th century A. D. By the 10th century A. D. it became stable, Braj Bhasha, Bhojpuri, Awadhi, Khari Boli etc. are the dialects of Hindi
20.
Urdu
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Urdu is a persianized standard register of the Hindustani language. It is the language and lingua franca of Pakistan. It is also one of the 22 official languages recognized in the Constitution of India, hyderabad, Rampur, Bhopal and Lucknow are noted Urdu-speaking cities of India. Urdu is historically associated with the Muslims of the northern Indian subcontinent, apart from specialized vocabulary, Urdu is mutually intelligible with Standard Hindi, another recognized register of Hindustani. Urdu, like Hindi, is a form of Hindustani, Urdu developed under the influence of the Persian and Arabic languages, both of which have contributed a significant amount of vocabulary to formal speech. Around 99% of Urdu verbs have their roots in Sanskrit and Prakrit, Urdu words originating from Chagatai and Arabic were borrowed through Persian and hence are Persianized versions of the original words. For instance, the Arabic ta marbuta changes to he or te, nevertheless, contrary to popular belief, Urdu did not borrow from the Turkish language, but from Chagatai. Urdu and Turkish borrowed from Arabic and Persian, hence the similarity in pronunciation of many Urdu, Arabic influence in the region began with the late first-millennium Arab invasion of India in the 7th century. The Persian language was introduced into the subcontinent a few centuries later by various Persianized Central Asian Turkic and Afghan dynasties including that of the Delhi Sultanate. With the advent of the British Raj, Persian was no longer the language of administration but Hindustani, still written in the Persian script, the name Urdu was first used by the poet Ghulam Hamadani Mushafi around 1780. From the 13th century until the end of the 18th century Urdu was commonly known as Hindi, the language was also known by various other names such as Hindavi and Dehlavi. The communal nature of the language lasted until it replaced Persian as the language in 1837 and was made co-official. Urdu was promoted in British India by British policies to counter the previous emphasis on Persian and this triggered a Brahman backlash in northwestern India, which argued that the language should be written in the native Devanagari script. At independence, Pakistan established a highly Persianized literary form of Urdu as its national language, English has exerted a heavy influence on both as a co-official language. Owing to interaction with other languages, Urdu has become localized wherever it is spoken, similarly, the Urdu spoken in India can also be distinguished into many dialects like Dakhni of South India, and Khariboli of the Punjab region since recent times. Because of Urdus similarity to Hindi, speakers of the two languages can understand one another if both sides refrain from using specialized vocabulary. The syntax, morphology, and the vocabulary are essentially identical. Thus linguists usually count them as one language and contend that they are considered as two different languages for socio-political reasons
21.
India
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India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and it is bounded by the Indian Ocean on the south, the Arabian Sea on the southwest, and the Bay of Bengal on the southeast. It shares land borders with Pakistan to the west, China, Nepal, and Bhutan to the northeast, in the Indian Ocean, India is in the vicinity of Sri Lanka and the Maldives. Indias Andaman and Nicobar Islands share a border with Thailand. The Indian subcontinent was home to the urban Indus Valley Civilisation of the 3rd millennium BCE, in the following millennium, the oldest scriptures associated with Hinduism began to be composed. Social stratification, based on caste, emerged in the first millennium BCE, early political consolidations took place under the Maurya and Gupta empires, the later peninsular Middle Kingdoms influenced cultures as far as southeast Asia. In the medieval era, Judaism, Zoroastrianism, Christianity, and Islam arrived, much of the north fell to the Delhi sultanate, the south was united under the Vijayanagara Empire. The economy expanded in the 17th century in the Mughal empire, in the mid-18th century, the subcontinent came under British East India Company rule, and in the mid-19th under British crown rule. A nationalist movement emerged in the late 19th century, which later, under Mahatma Gandhi, was noted for nonviolent resistance, in 2015, the Indian economy was the worlds seventh largest by nominal GDP and third largest by purchasing power parity. Following market-based economic reforms in 1991, India became one of the major economies and is considered a newly industrialised country. However, it continues to face the challenges of poverty, corruption, malnutrition, a nuclear weapons state and regional power, it has the third largest standing army in the world and ranks sixth in military expenditure among nations. India is a constitutional republic governed under a parliamentary system. It is a pluralistic, multilingual and multi-ethnic society and is home to a diversity of wildlife in a variety of protected habitats. The name India is derived from Indus, which originates from the Old Persian word Hindu, the latter term stems from the Sanskrit word Sindhu, which was the historical local appellation for the Indus River. The ancient Greeks referred to the Indians as Indoi, which translates as The people of the Indus, the geographical term Bharat, which is recognised by the Constitution of India as an official name for the country, is used by many Indian languages in its variations. Scholars believe it to be named after the Vedic tribe of Bharatas in the second millennium B. C. E and it is also traditionally associated with the rule of the legendary emperor Bharata. Gaṇarājya is the Sanskrit/Hindi term for republic dating back to the ancient times, hindustan is a Persian name for India dating back to the 3rd century B. C. E. It was introduced into India by the Mughals and widely used since then and its meaning varied, referring to a region that encompassed northern India and Pakistan or India in its entirety
22.
Romantic drama
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Romance films make the romantic love story or the search for strong and pure love and romance the main plot focus. Occasionally, romance lovers face obstacles such as finances, physical illness, various forms of discrimination, as in all quite strong, deep, and close romantic relationships, tensions of day-to-day life, temptations, and differences in compatibility enter into the plots of romantic films. In romantic television series, the development of romantic relationships may play out over many episodes. Historical romance - A romantic story with a period setting and this includes films such as Gone with the Wind, Doctor Zhivago and Titanic. Romantic drama usually revolves around an obstacle which prevents deep and true love between two people. Music is often employed to indicate the mood, creating an atmosphere of greater insulation for the couple. The conclusion of a romantic drama typically does not indicate whether a final union between the two main characters will occur. Chick flick is a term associated with romance films as many are targeted to a female audience. As such, the terms cannot be used interchangeably, films of this genre include Dirty Dancing, The Notebook, Dear John, A Walk to Remember, and Romeo + Juliet. Romantic comedies are films with light-hearted, humorous plotlines, centered on romantic ideals such as true love is able to surmount most obstacles. Humour in such films tends to be of a verbal, low-key variety or situational, films within this genre include Four Weddings and a Funeral, Love Actually, Moonstruck, As Good as It Gets, Somethings Gotta Give, It Happened One Night, When Harry Met Sally. Romantic fantasies describe fantasy stories using many of the elements and conventions of the romance genre, romantic action comedies are films that blend romantic comedy and action. Examples include Killers, Knight and Day, Mr. & Mrs. Smith, This Means War, romantic thriller is a genre of film which has a storyline combining elements of the romance film and the thriller genre. Some examples of romantic thriller films are The Adjustment Bureau, The Phantom of the Opera, The Tourist, The Bodyguard, Unfaithful, and Wicker Park
23.
Indo-Pakistani wars and conflicts
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The Partition of British India came about in the aftermath of World War II, when both Great Britain and British India were dealing with the economic stresses caused by the war and its demobilisation. It was the intention of those who wished for a Muslim state to come from British India to have a partition between independent and equal Pakistan and Hindustan once independence came. As the Hindu and Muslim populations were scattered unevenly in the whole country, nearly one third of the Muslim population of British India remained in India. Inter-communal violence between Hindus, Sikhs and Muslims resulted in between 500,000 and 1 million casualties, princely-ruled territories, such as Kashmir and Hyderabad, were also involved in the Partition. Rulers of these territories had the choice of joining India or Pakistan, both India and Pakistan laid claim on Kashmir and thus it became the main point of conflict. The ruler of Kashmir, which had a Muslim majority population, the war, also called the First Kashmir War, started in October 1947 when Pakistan feared that the Maharajah of the princely state of Kashmir and Jammu would accede to India. Following partition, states were left to choose whether to join India or Pakistan or to remain independent, Jammu and Kashmir, the largest of the princely states, had a predominantly Muslim population ruled by the Hindu Maharaja Hari Singh. The UN Security Council passed the Resolution 47 on 22 April 1948, the fronts solidified gradually along what came to be known as the Line of Control. A formal cease-fire was declared at 23,59 on the night of 1 January 1949, India retaliated by launching a full-scale military attack on West Pakistan. The seventeen-day war caused thousands of casualties on both sides and witnessed the largest engagement of armored vehicles and the largest tank battle since World War II. The hostilities between the two ended after a ceasefire was declared following diplomatic intervention by the Soviet Union and USA. Both India and Pakistan claimed victory and this would culminate in the declaration of Independence of Bangladesh from the state system of Pakistan. Following Operation Searchlight and the 1971 Bangladesh atrocities, about 10 million Bengalis in East Pakistan took refuge in neighbouring India, India intervened in the ongoing Bangladesh liberation movement. After a large scale pre-emptive strike by Pakistan, full-scale hostilities between the two countries commenced, Pakistan attacked at several places along Indias western border with Pakistan, but the Indian Army successfully held their positions. The Indian Army quickly responded to the Pakistan Armys movements in the west and made initial gains. In the words of one Pakistani author, Pakistan lost half its navy, a quarter of its air force, commonly known as the Kargil War, this conflict between the two countries was mostly limited. During early 1999, Pakistani troops infiltrated across the Line of Control, India responded by launching a major military and diplomatic offensive to drive out the Pakistani infiltrators. Two months into the conflict, Indian troops had slowly retaken most of the ridges that were encroached by the infiltrators, according to official count, an estimated 75%–80% of the intruded area and nearly all high ground was back under Indian control
24.
Indian Air Force
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The Indian Air Force is the air arm of the Indian armed forces. It is the fourth largest air force in terms of both personnel and aircraft. Its primary responsibility is to secure Indian airspace and to conduct aerial warfare during a conflict and it was officially established on 8 October 1932 as an auxiliary air force of the British Empire and the prefix Royal was added in 1945 in recognition of its services during World War II. After India became independent from the United Kingdom in 1947, the Royal Indian Air Force served the Dominion of India, since independence, the IAF has been involved in four wars with neighbouring Pakistan and one with the Peoples Republic of China. Other major operations undertaken by the IAF include Operation Vijay, Operation Meghdoot, Operation Cactus, apart from conflicts, the IAF has been an active participant in United Nations peacekeeping missions. The President of India serves as Supreme Commander of the IAF, the Chief of Air Staff, an air chief marshal, is a four-star officer and commands the Air Force. There is never more than one serving ACM at any time in the IAF. The IAF provides close air support to the Indian Army troops in the battlefield and also provides strategic, IAF also provides infantry and artillery transportations or secondary Airlift for the Indian Army. The IAF provided extensive assistance to relief operations during natural calamities such as the Gujarat cyclone in 1998, the IAF also provides assistance to other countries during relief activities such as Operation Rainbow in Sri Lanka. On 1 April 1933, the IAF commissioned its first squadron, No.1 Squadron, with four Westland Wapiti biplanes, the Indian pilots were led by RAF Commanding officer Flight Lieutenant Cecil Bouchier. During World War II, the IAF played a role in blocking the advance of the Japanese army in Burma. It also carried out missions against the Japanese airbases at Mae Hong Son, Chiang Mai. The IAF was mainly involved in Strike, Close Air Support, Aerial reconnaissance, Bomber Escort, RAF Pilots were embedded in IAF units and vice versa to gain combat experience. IAF pilots participated in air operations in Europe as part of the RAF, during the war, the IAF went through a phase of steady expansion. New aircraft, including the US built Vultee Vengeance, Douglas DC-3, in recognition of the services rendered by the IAF, King George VI conferred the prefix Royal in 1945. Thereafter the IAF was referred to as the Royal Indian Air Force, in 1950, when India became a republic, the prefix was dropped and it reverted to being the Indian Air Force. After it became independent from the British Empire in 1947, British India was partitioned into the new states of the Dominion of India, along the lines of the geographical partition, the assets of the air force were divided between the new countries. The RIAF Roundel was changed to an interim Chakra roundel derived from the Ashoka Chakra, around the same time, conflict broke out between them over the control of the princely state of Jammu & Kashmir
25.
Lahore
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Lahore is the capital city of the Pakistani province of Punjab. It is the second most populous city in Pakistan and the 32nd most populous city in the world, the city is located in the north-eastern end of Pakistans Punjab province, near the border with the Indian state of Punjab. Lahore is ranked as a world city, and is one of Pakistans wealthiest cities with an estimated GDP of $58.14 billion as of 2014. Lahore is the cultural centre of the Punjab region, and is the largest Punjabi city in the world. The city has a history, and was once under the rule of the Hindu Shahis, Ghaznavids, Ghurids. Lahore reached the height of its splendour under the Mughal Empire, the city was captured by the forces of Persian Safavid Emperor Nader Shah during his invasion of the Mughal Empire. The city was contested between different powers before it became capital of the Sikh Empire, and then the capital of the Punjab under British rule. Following the independence of Pakistan in 1947, Lahore became the capital of Pakistans Punjab province, Lahore is one of Pakistans most liberal, and cosmopolitan cities. It exerts a strong influence over Pakistan. Lahore is a centre for Pakistans publishing industry, and remains the foremost centre of Pakistans literary scene. The city is also a centre of education in Pakistan. Lahore is also home to Pakistans film industry, Lollywood, and is a centre of Qawwali music. The city is much of Pakistans tourist industry, with major attractions including the old Walled City. Lahore is also home to the UNESCO World Heritage Sites of Lahore Fort, the etymology of Lahore is uncertain, but according to legend the city was once known as Lavapura, in honour of Prince Lava of the Hindu epic poem, the Ramayana. Lahore Fort also contains a vacant Lava temple, dedicated to the founder of the city. Lahore was called by different names throughout history, to date there is no conclusive evidence as to when it was founded. Lahore is described as a Hindu principality in the Rajput accounts, keneksen, the founder of Suryavansha, is believed to have migrated out from the city. The Solanki tribe, belonging to Amukhara Pattan, which included the Bhatti Rajputs of Jaisalmer, Lahore appears as the capital of the Punjab for the first time under Anandapala – the Hindu Shahi king who is referred to as the ruler of –after leaving the earlier capital of Waihind
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Bollywood
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Bollywood is the sobriquet for Indias Hindi language film industry, based in the city of Mumbai, Maharashtra. It is more formally referred to as Hindi cinema, Bollywood is also one of the largest centers of film production in the world. Furthermore, Bollywood is one of the biggest film industries in the world in terms of the number of people employed, according to Matusitz, J. & Payano, P. In 2011, over 3.5 billion tickets were sold across the globe which in comparison is 900,000 tickets more than Hollywood, Bollywood produced 252 films in 2014 out of a total of 1969 films produced in Indian cinema. The name Bollywood is a derived from Bombay, India, and Hollywood, California. Bollywood does not exist as a physical place, some deplore the name, arguing that it makes the industry look like a poor cousin to Hollywood. The naming scheme for Bollywood was inspired by Tollywood, the name that was used to refer to the cinema of West Bengal and it was this chance juxtaposition of two pairs of rhyming syllables, Holly and Tolly, that led to the portmanteau name Tollywood being coined. However, Tollywood is now used popularly to refer to the Telugu Film Industry in Telangana & Andhra Pradesh, the term Bollywood itself has origins in the 1970s, when India overtook America as the worlds largest film producer. Credit for the term has been claimed by different people, including the lyricist, filmmaker and scholar Amit Khanna. Raja Harishchandra, by Dadasaheb Phalke, is known as the first silent feature film made in India, by the 1930s, the industry was producing over 200 films per annum. The first Indian sound film, Ardeshir Iranis Alam Ara, was a commercial success. There was clearly a huge market for talkies and musicals, Bollywood, the 1930s and 1940s were tumultuous times, India was buffeted by the Great Depression, World War II, the Indian independence movement, and the violence of the Partition. Most Bollywood films were unabashedly escapist, but there were also a number of filmmakers who tackled tough social issues, in 1937, Ardeshir Irani, of Alam Ara fame, made the first colour film in Hindi, Kisan Kanya. The next year, he made another film, a version of Mother India. However, colour did not become a feature until the late 1950s. At this time, lavish romantic musicals and melodramas were the fare at the cinema. Following Indias independence, the period from the late 1940s to the 1960s is regarded by historians as the Golden Age of Hindi cinema. Some of the most critically acclaimed Hindi films of all time were produced during this period, examples include the Guru Dutt films Pyaasa and Kaagaz Ke Phool and the Raj Kapoor films Awaara, Shree 420 and Dilip Kumars Aan
27.
Javed Akhtar
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Javed Akhtar born 17 January 1945) is an Indian poet, lyricist and screenwriter. Akhtar is a writer and some of his most successful work was carried out with Salim Khan as half of the script-writing duo credited as Salim-Javed between 1971 and 1982. He is a recipient of the Padma Shri, Padma Bhushan, Javed Akhtar was born in 1945 in Gwalior. His father Jan Nisar Akhtar was a Bollywood film songwriter and Urdu poet, Javed Akhtars original name was Jadoo, taken from a line in a poem written by his father, Lamha, lamha kisi jadoo ka fasana hoga. He was given the name of Javed since it was the closest to the word jadoo. He spent most of his childhood and was schooled in Lucknow and he graduated from Saifiya College in Bhopal. Initially in the 1970s there was no concept of having the same writer for the screenplay, story, rajesh Khanna is credited with giving Salim Khan and Javed Akhtar their first chance to become screenplay writers by offering them work in Haathi Mere Saathi. But the film was a remake and the script of the original was far from being satisfactory and he told us that if we could set right the script, he would make sure we got both money and credit. Salim-Javed were hired by G. P. Sippys Sippy Films as resident screenwriters and produced the screenplays for films like Andaz, Seeta Aur Geeta, Sholay. Their first big success was the script for Andaz, followed by Adhikar and they also had hits in Yaadon Ki Baaraat, Zanjeer, Haath Ki Safai, Deewaar, Sholay, Chacha Bhatija, Don, Trishul, Dostana, Kranti, Zamana and Mr. India. They have worked together in 24 films including two Kannada films – Premada Kanike and Raja Nanna Raja, of the 24 films they wrote 20 were hits. The scripts they wrote but which were not successful at box office include Aakhri Dao, Immaan Dharam, Kaala Patthar, though they split in 1982, due to ego issues, some of the scripts they wrote were made into hit films later like Zamana and Mr. India. Salim-Javed, many a time described as the most successful scriptwriters of all-time, are noted to be the first scriptwriters in Indian cinema to achieve star status. Akhtar was nominated to the Parliament upper house Rajya Sabha on 16 November 2009, Akhtar was a Muslim but later became Atheist. He has brought up his children Farhan and Zoya Akhtar also as atheists, Akhtar was married to Honey Irani, with whom he had two children, Farhan Akhtar and Zoya Akhtar, both film directors and actors. The father-and-son duo have worked together in such as Dil Chahta Hai, Lakshya, Rock On. Farhan was married to Adhuna Akhtar, a hair stylist, Javed divorced Irani and later married Shabana Azmi, the daughter of eminent Urdu poet, Kaifi Azmi. Akhthar was awarded the honour of Padma Shri by the Government of India in 1999
28.
Zohra Sehgal
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Zohra Sehgal was an Indian actress, dancer, and choreographer. Sehgal started her career as a dancer in Uday Shankars troupe, performing in countries like the United States and she went on to appear in numerous Bollywood films as a character actress with a career-span of over 60 years. The famous films she was part of, include Neecha Nagar, Afsar, Bhaji on the Beach, The Mystic Masseur, Bend It Like Beckham, Saawariya and Cheeni Kum, and the TV series, The Jewel in the Crown, Tandoori Nights, Amma and Family. At the age of 90, she played the character in the 2002 film Chalo Ishq Ladaaye. Considered the doyenne of Indian theatre, she acted with Indian Peoples Theatre Association and she has also acted in English-speaking films such as Bend It Like Beckham. She was awarded the Padma Shri in 1998, Kalidas Samman in 2001, and in 2004, Indias National Academy for Music, Dance and Drama presented her with its highest award, the Sangeet Natak Akademi Fellowship for lifetime achievement. She received the Padma Vibhushan, Indias second-highest civilian honor, in 2010 and she died in a New Delhi hospital on 10 July 2014 due to cardiac arrest. She was third of seven children – Zakullah, Hajrah, Ikramullah, Uzra, Anna and Sabira – and grew up in Chakrata and she was a tomboy fond of climbing trees and playing games. Zohra lost vision in her eye as she contracted glaucoma at the age of one year. She was referred to a hospital in Birmingham where she was treated at a cost of £300 and she lost her mother while still young. In accordance with their mothers wishes, she and her sister were sent to Queen Mary College, strict purdah was observed there and the few males invited to speak did so from behind a screen. As a result of seeing her sisters failed marriage, she decided to pursue a career, rather than get married, upon graduating, her maternal uncle, Sahebzada Saeeduzzafar Khan, who was based in Edinburgh, arranged for her to apprentice under a British actor. They started from Lahore by car and, en route, crossed Iran, Palestine, before reaching Damascus, Syria, then they traveled into Egypt and caught a boat to Europe in Alexandria. In Europe, her aunt Dicta took her to try in the Mary Wigmans ballet school in Dresden, Germany, nevertheless, she got admission and became the first Indian to study at the institution. She stayed in Dresden for the three years studying modern dance, while living in the house of Countess Liebenstein. She happened to watch the Shiv-Parvati ballet by Uday Shankar who was touring Europe. This was to change her forever as, impressed by the performance, she went back stage to meet Uday Shankar. While still in Europe, she received a telegram from Uday Shankar, on 8 August 1935, she joined his troupe and danced across Japan, Egypt, Europe and the US, as a leading lady, along with French dancer, Simkie
29.
Kiratpur Sahib
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Kiratpur also known as Kiratpur Sahib is a town in Rupnagar district, Punjab, India. The town is the location of the Gurdwara Patal Puri where Sikhs take ashes of their dead, Kiratpur Sahib was established in 1627 by the 6th Sikh Guru, Guru Hargobind Sahib ji, who bought the land from Raja Tara Chand of Kehloor through his son, Baba Gurditta. The place is associated with the memory of a Muslim saint. It is situated on the bank of the Sutlej about 10 km south of Anandpur and it is a sacred place for the Sikhs. Guru Nanak Dev is said to have visited this place when it was more than a wilderness. Guru Hargobind, the sixth Guru spent the last few years of his life here, both Guru Har Rai and Guru Harkrishan were also born at this place and they received the Gurgadi at this place. There is a reference to this place in the hit film, zohra Sehgal, plays a character in this movie whose last wish is that her ashes should be immersed in Kiratpur. Kiratpur Sahib was founded by the sixth Guru Sri Hargobind Sahib, here the seventh and eighth Gurus were born and brought up. It was here that Guru Gobind Singh along with his followers received the head of the ninth Guru Sri Tegh Bahadur, brought from Delhi with great devotion. The particular spot associated with and sanctified by it, is known as Gurudwara Babangarh Sahib, the tenth Guru took the sacred head of his father in a procession to Anandpur Sahib for cremation. A great deed he enacted in the age of kala, the area is also associated with the memory of a Muslim saint, Pir Buddan Shah who was gifted with a very long life. The Gurdwara is situated on the bank of the river Sutlej about 10 km south of Anandpur and it is on the Nangal-Rupnagar-Chandigarh road. The city and its many Gurdwaras are sacred places for the Sikhs as several of the Sikh Gurus visited, were born, the ashes of several Gurus were immersed in the nearby Sutlej River. Even today many Sikhs come here to spread the ashes of their loved ones in the River, member of Parliament, Former Leader of Bahujan Samaj Party Dr. Rattan Chand, IAS, Senior Bureaucrat, Government of India. This Gurdwara, on the banks of the Sutlej, is situated near the tracks and is the place where many Sikhs take the ashes of their dead to be immersed in the river. Guru Hargobind in 1644 as well as Guru Har Rai ji in 1661 were cremated here, the ashes of Guru Harkrishan were brought from Delhi and immersed here in 1664. Bhai Jaita, in defiance of the Mughal authorities had managed to escape with the head of the 9th Guru Sri Guru Tegh Bahadur from Delhi after his martyrdom in 1675. From Gurdwara Teer Sahib the 6th Guru had revealed Gurdwara Patal-Puri by shooting an arrow, the 7th Guru was created at Patal Puri and ashes of the 8th Guru were immersed in river Satluj nearby
30.
Sutlej
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The Sutlej River is the longest of the five rivers that flow through the historic crossroads region of Punjab in northern India and Pakistan. The Sutlej River is also known as Satadree and it is the easternmost tributary of the Indus River. The waters of the Sutlej are allocated to India under the Indus Waters Treaty between India and Pakistan, and are mostly diverted to canals in India. There are several hydroelectric projects on the Sutlej, including the 1,000 MW Bhakra Dam, the 1,000 MW Karcham Wangtoo Hydroelectric Plant. The Upper Sutlej Valley, called Langqên Zangbo in Tibet, was known as the Garuda Valley by the Zhangzhung. The Garuda Valley was the centre of their empire, which stretched many miles into the nearby Himalayas, the Zhangzhung built a towering palace in the Upper Sutlej Valley called Kyunglung, the ruins of which still exist today near the village of Moincêr, southwest of Mount Kailash. Eventually, the Zhangzhung were conquered by the Tibetan Empire, the boundaries of Greater Nepal extended westward to beyond Satluj River until the tide turned in 1809 and Kangra king repulsed Gorkha army eastward with help from Maharaja Ranjit Singh. Today, the Sutlej Valley is inhabited by descendants of the Zhangzhung. The Sutlej was the medium of transportation for the kings of that time. In the early 18th century, it was used to transport devdar woods for Bilaspur district, Hamirpur district, of four rivers mythically flowing out of holy Lake Manasarovar, the Sutlej is actually connected by channels that are dry most of the time. The source of the Sutlej is west of Lake Rakshastal in Tibet, Rakshastal in turn is ephemerally connected by Ganga Chhu to sacred Lake Manasarovar about 4 KM further east. The nascent river flows at first west-northwest for about 260 kilometres under the Tibetan name Langqên Zangbo to the Shipki La pass and it then turns slightly, heading west-southwest for about 360 kilometres to meet the Beas River near Makhu, Firozpur district, Punjab state. North western part of Panchkula district in Haryana state is located in the Sutlej river basin, thus Haryana is also a riparian state of Indus river basin. The area to the southeast on the Pakistani side of the Indian border is called the Cholistan Desert and, on the Indian side, during floods, Indus river water flows in to Indian part of Great Rann of Kutch. Thus Gujarat state of India is also a state of Indus river as Rann of Kutch area lying west of Kori Creek in the state is part of the Indus River Delta. The Sutlej, along all of the Punjab rivers, is thought to have drained east into the Ganges prior to 5 mya. Geologists believe that tectonic activity created elevation changes which redirected the flow of Sutlej from the southeast to the southwest, however, the Sutlej may have already been captured by the Indus thousands of years earlier. There is some evidence that the rate of erosion caused by the modern Sutlej River has influenced the local faulting
31.
Lohri
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Lohri is a popular winter time Punjabi folk festival, celebrated primarily by Sikhs and Hindus from the Punjab region of Indian subcontinent. The significance and legends about the Lohri festival are many and these link the festival to the Punjab region, many people believe the festival commemorates the passing of the winter solstice. Lohri marks the end of season, and is a traditional welcome of longer days and suns journey to the northern hemisphere by Sikhs. It is observed the night before Makar Sankranti, also known as Maghi, Lohri is an official gazetted holiday in the state of Punjab, but it is not a holiday in Punjab. It is, however, observed by Sikhs and some Punjabi Muslims, Lohri is linked to the Bikrami calendar, and is celebrated the day before the festival of Maghi celebrated in India as Makar Sankranti. Lohri falls in the month of Paush and is set by the part of the lunisolar Indian calendar. Makara sankranti marks beginning of the solar maagha masa, for the general latitude and longitude of Punjab,13 January represents the day after which sunrise occurs progressively earlier in the morning, till about 10–12 June. After these days in June, sunrise begins to occur later in the morning till about 10–12 January. Therefore, the celebration of lohri on 13 January every year signifies the shift to longer days, there are many folklores about Lohri. Lohri is the celebration of the arrival of longer days after the winter solstice, according to folklore, in ancient times Lohri was celebrated at the end of the traditional month when winter solstice occurs. It celebrates the days getting longer as the sun proceeds on its northward journey, the day after Lohri is celebrated as Maghi Sangrand. In its origins, Lohri is an ancient mid winter Hindu festival, after the night of bonfire celebrations, the Hindu would mark Makar Sankranti and go to a sacred water body such as a river or lake to bathe. However, instead of celebrating Lohri on the eve of when winter solstice actually occurs, Lohri commemorates the passing of the winter solstice. The ancient significance of the festival is both as a crop season celebration and a remembrance of the Sun deity. Lohri songs mention the Indian Sun god asking for heat and thanking him for his return, another legend explains the celebration as a folk reverence for fire. Yet another folklore links Lohri to the tale of Dulla Bhatti, the central theme of many Lohri songs is the legend of Dulla Bhatti, whose real name was Abdullah Bhatti and lived in Punjab during the reign of Mughal Emperor Akbar. He was regarded as a hero in Punjab, for rescuing Punjabi girls from being taken to be sold in slave market of the Middle East. Amongst the were two girls he saved were Sundri & Mundri, who gradually became theme of Punjab folklore, as a part of Lohri celebrations, children go around homes singing the traditional folk songs of Lohri with Dulla Bhatti name included
32.
Muslim
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A Muslim is someone who follows or practices Islam, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion. Muslims consider the Quran, their book, to be the verbatim word of God as revealed to the Islamic prophet. They also follow the teachings and practices of Muhammad as recorded in traditional accounts, Muslim is an Arabic word meaning one who submits. Most Muslims will accept anyone who has publicly pronounced Shahadah as a Muslim, the shahadah states, There is no god but the God and Muhammad is the last messenger of the God. The testimony authorized by God in the Quran that can found in Surah 3,18 states, There is no god except God, which in Arabic, is the exact testimony which God Himself utters, as well as the angels and those who possess knowledge utter. The word muslim is the active participle of the verb of which islām is a verbal noun, based on the triliteral S-L-M to be whole. A female adherent is a muslima, the plural form in Arabic is muslimūn or muslimīn, and its feminine equivalent is muslimāt. The Arabic form muslimun is the stem IV participle of the triliteral S-L-M, the ordinary word in English is Muslim. It is sometimes transliterated as Moslem, which is an older spelling, the word Mosalman is a common equivalent for Muslim used in Central Asia. Until at least the mid-1960s, many English-language writers used the term Mohammedans or Mahometans, although such terms were not necessarily intended to be pejorative, Muslims argue that the terms are offensive because they allegedly imply that Muslims worship Muhammad rather than God. Other obsolete terms include Muslimite and Muslimist, musulmán/Mosalmán is a synonym for Muslim and is modified from Arabic. In English it was sometimes spelled Mussulman and has become archaic in usage, the Muslim philosopher Ibn Arabi said, A Muslim is a person who has dedicated his worship exclusively to God. Islam means making ones religion and faith Gods alone. The Quran states that men were Muslims because they submitted to God, preached His message and upheld His values. Thus, in Surah 3,52 of the Quran, Jesus disciples tell him, We believe in God, and you be our witness that we are Muslims. In Muslim belief, before the Quran, God had given the Tawrat to Moses, the Zabur to David and the Injil to Jesus, who are all considered important Muslim prophets. The most populous Muslim-majority country is Indonesia, home to 12. 7% of the worlds Muslims, followed by Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Egypt. About 20% of the worlds Muslims lives in the Middle East and North Africa, Sizable minorities are found in India, China, Russia, Ethiopia. The country with the highest proportion of self-described Muslims as a proportion of its population is Morocco
33.
Islam
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Islam is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion which professes that there is only one and incomparable God and that Muhammad is the last messenger of God. It is the worlds second-largest religion and the major religion in the world, with over 1.7 billion followers or 23% of the global population. Islam teaches that God is merciful, all-powerful, and unique, and He has guided mankind through revealed scriptures, natural signs, and a line of prophets sealed by Muhammad. The primary scriptures of Islam are the Quran, viewed by Muslims as the word of God. Muslims believe that Islam is the original, complete and universal version of a faith that was revealed many times before through prophets including Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses. As for the Quran, Muslims consider it to be the unaltered, certain religious rites and customs are observed by the Muslims in their family and social life, while social responsibilities to parents, relatives, and neighbors have also been defined. Besides, the Quran and the sunnah of Muhammad prescribe a comprehensive body of moral guidelines for Muslims to be followed in their personal, social, political, Islam began in the early 7th century. Originating in Mecca, it spread in the Arabian Peninsula. The expansion of the Muslim world involved various caliphates and empires, traders, most Muslims are of one of two denominations, Sunni or Shia. Islam is the dominant religion in the Middle East, North Africa, sizable Muslim communities are also found in Horn of Africa, Europe, China, Russia, Mainland Southeast Asia, Philippines, Northern Borneo, Caucasus and the Americas. Converts and immigrant communities are found in almost every part of the world, Islam is a verbal noun originating from the triliteral root s-l-m which forms a large class of words mostly relating to concepts of wholeness, submission, safeness and peace. In a religious context it means voluntary submission to God, Islām is the verbal noun of Form IV of the root, and means submission or surrender. Muslim, the word for an adherent of Islam, is the active participle of the verb form. The word sometimes has connotations in its various occurrences in the Quran. In some verses, there is stress on the quality of Islam as a state, Whomsoever God desires to guide. Other verses connect Islām and dīn, Today, I have perfected your religion for you, I have completed My blessing upon you, still others describe Islam as an action of returning to God—more than just a verbal affirmation of faith. In the Hadith of Gabriel, islām is presented as one part of a triad that also includes imān, Islam was historically called Muhammadanism in Anglophone societies. This term has fallen out of use and is said to be offensive because it suggests that a human being rather than God is central to Muslims religion
34.
Wagah
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The border is located 24 kilometres from Lahore and 32 kilometres from Amritsar. It is also 3 kilometres from the village of Attari. Wagah, named Wahga in Pakistan, is a village near which the accepted Radcliffe Line, the village lies 600 meters west of the border. At the time of independence in 1947, the migrants from the Indian parts of the subcontinent entered the present day Pakistan through this border crossing, the Wagah railway station lies 400 meters to the south and only 100 meters from the border. Indian side it is known as Atari and it is particularly known for the elaborate Wagah border ceremony that happens at the border gate, two hours before sunset each day. Sanjeev Bhaskar at the India-Pakistan border ceremony on the Indian side, pictures of independences 60th anniversary celebration at Wagah Border
35.
Manish Arora
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Manish Arora is an Indian fashion designer based in New Delhi. In early 2011, he was appointed director of the womenswear collection of the French fashion house Paco Rabanne. Born and brought up in Mumbai, Manish was studying to graduate in Commerce and he graduated in 1994 after winning the Best Student Award. In 1997 Manish Arora launched his own label Manish Arora and started retailing in India, three years later, Manish participated in the first-ever India Fashion Week held in New Delhi and represented India at the Hong Kong Fashion Week. Arora launched his label, Fish Fry, in 2001. This colorful, sportswear-styled line was created in association with the athletic apparel manufacturer Reebok, during 2002 Manish opened his first flagship store, Manish Arora Fish Fry, in New Delhi and in the following year opened a second store in Mumbai. Another successful showing at India Fashion Week led to a deal with the fashion house Maria Luisa. During 2004 he was awarded the Best Womens Prêt Designer at the first ever Indian Fashion Awards 2004 held in Bombay, the following year Manish participated in the Miami Fashion Week in May 2005 where he was presented with the designers choice for Best Collection Award. He had a debut at the London Fashion Week in September 2005. He opened a new store at Lodhi Colony Market in New Delhi in December 2005, Arora exhibited some of his work at the Victoria & Albert Museum in London for an exhibition called Global Local in association with the British Council, India. A fashion jury in a leading Indian publication Outlook designated him Best Indian Fashion Designer, Manish opened his first Manish Arora franchise store in Villa Moda, Kuwait and another Manish Arora Fish Fry store at Crescent at The Qutub, New Delhi in 2006. In 2007 the first Fish Fry for Reebok concept store opened at the Garden of Five Senses, New Delhi and he has also collaborated with Swatch for a limited edition of watches. In 2008, once again, Reebok launched the RBK Fish Fry Collection 2008, Indian by Manish Arora, a brand designed for the growing Indian market for womens wear, is licensed to another fashion company. Manish was invited to show his collection at the “Fashion in Motion” exhibition held at Victoria and Albert Museum, by 2009 Manish owned four stores in India and sold his collections to more than 80 retailers worldwide. The designer has also entered into a joint venture with BIBA Apparels Pvt. Ltd. to further expand the label, in 2012, Arora previewed his jewellery line in association with label Amrapali comprising a range of hand jewellery, neckpieces and pendants. Some of his work was displayed at the Victoria and Albert Museum and he is known for a rich palette of psychedelic colours and kitsch motifs in garments that combine traditional Indian crafts like embroidery, appliqué and beading with Western silhouettes
36.
Film soundtrack
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In movie industry terminology usage, a sound track is an audio recording created or used in film production or post-production. Initially the dialogue, sound effects, and music in a film each has its own track, and these are mixed together to make what is called the composite track. A dubbing track is later created when films are dubbed into another language. This is also known as a M & E track containing all sound elements minus dialogue which is supplied by the foreign distributor in the native language of its territory. The contraction soundtrack came into public consciousness with the advent of so-called soundtrack albums in the late 1940s and these phrases were soon shortened to just original motion picture soundtrack. More accurately, such recordings are made from a music track, because they usually consist of the isolated music from a film, not the composite track with dialogue. The soundtrack to the 1937 Walt Disney film Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs was the first commercially issued film soundtrack. It was released by RCA Victor Records on multiple 78 RPM discs in January 1938 as Songs from Walt Disneys Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs and has since seen numerous expansions and reissues. The first live-action musical film to have a commercially issued soundtrack album was MGM’s 1946 film biography of Show Boat composer Jerome Kern, the album was originally issued as a set of four 10-inch 78-rpm records. Only eight selections from the film were included in this first edition of the album, in order to fit the songs onto the record sides the musical material needed editing and manipulation. Needless to say, it was several generations removed from the original, the playback recordings were purposely recorded very dry, otherwise it would come across as too hollow sounding in large movie theatres. This made these albums sound flat and boxy, the phrase is also sometimes incorrectly used for Broadway cast recordings. While it is correct in some instances to call a soundtrack a cast recording it is never correct to call a cast recording a soundtrack, contributing to the vagueness of the term are projects such as The Sound of Music Live. Which was filmed live on the set for an NBC holiday season special first broadcast in 2013, film score albums did not really become popular until the LP era, although a few were issued in 78-rpm albums. Like the 1967 re-release of the film, this version of the score was artificially enhanced for stereo, in recent years, Rhino Records has released a 2-CD set of the complete Gone With the Wind score, restored to its original mono sound. One of the film scores of all time was John Williams music from the movie Star Wars. Many film score albums go out-of-print after the films finish their theatrical runs, in a few rare instances an entire film dialogue track was issued on records. The 1968 Franco Zeffirelli film of Romeo and Juliet was issued as a 4-LP set, as a single LP with musical and dialogue excerpts, and as an album containing only the films musical score
37.
Record producer
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A record producer or music producer oversees and manages the sound recording and production of a band or performers music, which may range from recording one song to recording a lengthy concept album. A producer has many roles during the recording process, the roles of a producer vary. The producer may perform these roles himself, or help select the engineer, the producer may also pay session musicians and engineers and ensure that the entire project is completed within the record companies budget. A record producer or music producer has a broad role in overseeing and managing the recording. Producers also often take on an entrepreneurial role, with responsibility for the budget, schedules, contracts. In the 2010s, the industry has two kinds of producers with different roles, executive producer and music producer. Executive producers oversee project finances while music producers oversee the process of recording songs or albums. In most cases the producer is also a competent arranger, composer. The producer will also liaise with the engineer who concentrates on the technical aspects of recording. Noted producer Phil Ek described his role as the person who creatively guides or directs the process of making a record, indeed, in Bollywood music, the designation actually is music director. The music producers job is to create, shape, and mold a piece of music, at the beginning of record industry, producer role was technically limited to record, in one shot, artists performing live. The role of producers changed progressively over the 1950s and 1960s due to technological developments, the development of multitrack recording caused a major change in the recording process. Before multitracking, all the elements of a song had to be performed simultaneously, all of these singers and musicians had to be assembled in a large studio and the performance had to be recorded. As well, for a song that used 20 instruments, it was no longer necessary to get all the players in the studio at the same time. Examples include the rock sound effects of the 1960s, e. g. playing back the sound of recorded instruments backwards or clanging the tape to produce unique sound effects. These new instruments were electric or electronic, and thus they used instrument amplifiers, new technologies like multitracking changed the goal of recording, A producer could blend together multiple takes and edit together different sections to create the desired sound. For example, in jazz fusion Bandleader-composer Miles Davis album Bitches Brew, producers like Phil Spector and George Martin were soon creating recordings that were, in practical terms, almost impossible to realise in live performance. Producers became creative figures in the studio, other examples of such engineers includes Joe Meek, Teo Macero, Brian Wilson, and Biddu
38.
LP record
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The LP is an analog sound storage medium, a vinyl record format characterized by a speed of 33 1⁄3 rpm, a 12 or 10 inch diameter, and use of the microgroove groove specification. Introduced by Columbia in 1948, it was adopted as a new standard by the entire record industry. Apart from a few relatively minor refinements and the important later addition of stereophonic sound, the new product was a 12- or 10-inch fine-grooved disc made of vinyl and played with a smaller-tipped microgroove stylus at a speed of 33 1⁄3 rpm. Each side of a 12-inch LP could play for more than 20 minutes, although the LP was suited to classical music because of its extended continuous playing time, it also allowed a collection of ten or more pop music recordings to be put on a single disc. The use of the word album persisted for the one-disc LP equivalent, the prototype of the LP was the soundtrack disc used by the Vitaphone motion picture sound system, developed by Western Electric and introduced in 1926. For soundtrack purposes, the less than five minutes of playing time of side of a conventional 12-inch 78 rpm disc was not acceptable. The sound had to play continuously for at least 11 minutes, long enough to accompany a full 1, the disc diameter was increased to 16 inches and the speed was reduced to 33 1⁄3 revolutions per minute. Unlike their smaller LP descendants, they were made with the same large standard groove used by 78s, unlike conventional records, the groove started at the inside of the recorded area near the label and proceeded outward toward the edge. Like 78s, early soundtrack discs were pressed in an abrasive shellac compound, syndicated radio programming was distributed on 78 rpm discs beginning in 1928. The desirability of a longer continuous playing time soon led to the adoption of the Vitaphone soundtrack disc format, 16-inch 33 1⁄3 rpm discs playing about 15 minutes per side were used for most of these electrical transcriptions beginning about 1930. Transcriptions were variously recorded inside out like soundtrack discs or with an outside start, some transcriptions were recorded with a vertically modulated hill and dale groove. This was found to allow deeper bass and also an extension of the frequency response. Neither of these was necessarily an advantage in practice because of the limitations of AM broadcasting. Today we can enjoy the benefits of those higher-fidelity recordings, even if the radio audiences could not. Initially, transcription discs were pressed only in shellac, but by 1932 pressings in RCA Victors vinyl-based Victrolac were appearing, by the late 1930s, vinyl was standard for nearly all kinds of pressed discs except ordinary commercial 78s, which continued to be made of shellac. Use of the LPs microgroove standard began in the late 1950s, the King Biscuit Flower Hour is a late example, as are Westwood Ones The Beatle Years and Doctor Demento programs, which were sent to stations on LP at least through 1992. RCA Victor introduced a version of a long-playing record for home use in September 1931. These Program Transcription discs, as Victor called them, played at 33 1⁄3 rpm and used a somewhat finer and they were to be played with a special Chromium Orange chrome-plated steel needle
