Portal:Hindi cinema/Selected biography/1
Preity Zinta (born 31 January 1975) is an Indian film actress. She has appeared in Hindi- , Telugu-, Punjabi- and English-language films. After graduating with a degree in 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, and she was later recognised for her role as a teenage single mother in Kya Kehna (2000). She subsequently played a variety of character types; her film roles, along with her screen persona, contributed to a change in the concept of a Hindi film heroine. Zinta received a Filmfare Award for Best Actress in 2003 for her performance in the drama Kal Ho Naa Ho. She went on to play the lead female role in two consecutive annual top-grossing films in India: the science fiction film Koi... Mil Gaya (2003), her biggest commercial success, and the star-crossed romance Veer-Zaara (2004), which earned her critical acclaim. Her first international film role was in the Canadian film Heaven on Earth, for which she was awarded the Silver Hugo Award for Best Actress at the 2008 Chicago International Film Festival.
Portal:Hindi cinema/Selected biography/3
Ranveer Singh (born 6 July 1985) is an
Indian actor working in the
Hindi film industry. Born in
Mumbai, Singh intended to become an actor since childhood. However, during college he felt that the idea of acting was far-fetched and focused on
creative writing. While pursuing his
Bachelor of Arts degree from
Indiana University, Bloomington, Singh again became interested in acting and, after returning to India, started auditioning for lead roles in the Hindi film industry. In 2010, Singh auditioned for the lead role in the
Yash Raj Films venture
Band Baaja Baaraat, and was selected. The
romantic comedy was set in the world of
wedding planning and required Singh to portray a typical
Delhi youth named Bittoo Sharma. The director of the film,
Maneesh Sharma, sent him to the
Delhi University campus during the
recce of the film, and from there Singh drew his inspiration for the character. After its release,
Band Baaja Baaraat became a critical and commercial success, with Singh's portrayal of Bittoo being lauded by critics. He went on to win the
Best Male Debut award at the
56th Filmfare Awards. In 2011, he signed for his second film,
Ladies vs Ricky Bahl, produced by
Aditya Chopra and directed by Maneesh Sharma. It was a mild success.
Portal:Hindi cinema/Selected biography/4
Satyajit Ray (2 May 1921 – 23 April 1992) was an Indian
Bengali filmmaker. He is regarded as one of the greatest
auteurs of 20th century cinema. Ray was born in the city of
Kolkata into a
Bengali family prominent in the world of
arts and
literature. Starting his career as a commercial artist, Ray was drawn into
independent filmmaking after meeting French filmmaker
Jean Renoir and viewing the
Italian neorealist film
Bicycle Thieves of
Vittorio De Sica during a visit to
London. Ray directed thirty-seven films, including feature films,
documentaries and
shorts. He was also a fiction writer, publisher, illustrator, graphic designer and
film critic. Ray's first film,
Pather Panchali, won eleven international prizes, including
Best Human Documentary at the
Cannes film festival. It,
Aparajito, and
Apur Sansar form
The Apu Trilogy. Ray did the
scripting, casting,
scoring, and editing, and designed his own credit titles and publicity material. Ray received many
major awards in his career, including 32 Indian
National Film Awards, a number of awards at international
film festivals and award ceremonies, and an
Academy Honorary Award in 1992. That year the
Government of India honoured him with the
Bharat Ratna.
Portal:Hindi cinema/Selected biography/5
Genelia D'Souza (born 5 August 1987) is an Indian actress, model, and host. She has appeared in
Telugu-,
Hindi-,
Tamil-,
Kannada-, and
Malayalam-language films. After gaining wide attention in a
Parker Pen commercial with
Amitabh Bachchan, D'Souza began her film career with
Tujhe Meri Kasam in 2003. She was recognized for her role in
Boys the same year, and later established herself in
Telugu cinema by acting in several films between 2003 and 2005. D'Souza received her first
Filmfare Award in 2006 for her performance in the Telugu romantic film,
Bommarillu. In 2008, she gave critically acclaimed performances in
Santosh Subramaniam, a Tamil remake of
Bommarillu, and the
Bollywood movie
Jaane Tu... Ya Jaane Na. Having acted in several commercially successful movies in Telugu and Tamil, D'Souza has established herself as one of the leading actresses of the South Indian film industry. In addition to movie acting, D'Souza has hosted the television show
Big Switch, and is the brand ambassador of several foreign companies in India.
Portal:Hindi cinema/Selected biography/6
Kamal Haasan (born 7 November 1954) is an Indian
film actor,
screenwriter,
producer and
director, considered to be one of the leading
method actors of
Indian cinema. He is widely acclaimed known for his versatility in acting. Kamal Haasan has won several Indian film awards, including four
National Film Awards and numerous
Filmfare Awards, and is known for having starred in the largest number of films submitted by India in contest for the
Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. After several projects as a child artist, Kamal Haasan's breakthrough into lead acting came with his role in the 1975
drama Apoorva Raagangal. He was particularly noted for his performance in
Mani Ratnam's
Godfatheresque Tamil film
Nayagan (1987), which was ranked by
Time magazine as one of the best films of all time. In 1990, he was awarded the
Padma Shri for his contributions to Indian cinema. His film production company,
Rajkamal International, has produced several of his films. In 2009, he became one of very few
Indian actors to have completed 50 years in cinema. Since then he has gone on to appear in other notable films.
Portal:Hindi cinema/Selected biography/7
R. Madhavan (born 1 June 1970) is an Indian actor, writer,
film producer and television host. He has been described as one of the few actors in
India who is able to achieve pan-Indian appeal, appearing in films from eight different languages. Madhavan began his acting career with television guest appearances, including a role on the
Zee TV prime-time soap opera
Banegi Apni Baat in 1996. After appearing in commercials and in small roles, he later gained recognition in
Mani Ratnam's romantic film
Alaipayuthey (2000). In the mid 2000s Madhavan also pursued a career in
Hindi films, writing the dialogue for the comedy
Ramji Londonwaley, before appearing in supporting roles in two big-budget productions,
Rang De Basanti and
Guru. He also played a critically acclaimed role in the
Rajkumar Hirani's 2009 blockbuster,
3 Idiots. Madhavan has been a brand ambassador appearing in many commercials, whilst he has also played television hosts to Hindi television programmes, most notably
Deal Ya No Deal in 2006. He is married to Sarita Birje and has a young son. He has supported
PETA in India and has appeared in events organised for the group's promotion. Madhavan owns a production company named
Leukos Films, which produced his 2007 film
Evano Oruvan.
Portal:Hindi cinema/Selected biography/8
Riya Sen (born 24 January 1981) is an Indian film actress and model. Riya, who comes from a family of actors including her grandmother Suchitra Sen, mother Moon Moon Sen and sister Raima Sen, began her acting career in 1991 as a child actress in the film Vishkanya. Her first commercially successful role was in N. Chandra's Style, a low-budget Hindi sex comedy released in 2001. Some of her other films include producer Pritish Nandy's musical, Jhankaar Beats (2003) in Hinglish, Shaadi No. 1 (2005) and the Malayalam horror film Anandabhadram (2005). Riya was first recognised as a model when she performed in Falguni Pathak's music video Yaad Piya Ki Aane Lagi at the age of sixteen. Since then, she has appeared in music videos, commercials, fashion shows, and on magazine covers. Riya has worked as an activist and appeared in an AIDS awareness video with the aim of dispelling common myths about the disease. She has also helped raise funds for pediatric eye-care. Riya has faced controversies such as an MMS clip with actor Ashmit Patel, her semi-nude photograph on Dabboo Ratnani's annual calendar and her on-screen kisses in a conservative Indian film industry.
Portal:Hindi cinema/Selected biography/10
Shriya Saran (born 11 September 1982), also known by the
mononym Shriya, is an Indian film actress and model. She has worked in several of the regional industries of
Indian cinema, having acted in
Telugu-,
Tamil-,
Malayalam- and
Hindi-language films, as well as a few films in
English. Saran made her film debut in 2001 with the Telugu film
Ishtam, and had her first commercial success with
Santhosham (2002). She subsequently appeared in several more Telugu films, while making in-roads in the Hindi and Tamil film industries. In 2007, Saran starred in
Sivaji: The Boss, the highest grossing Tamil film at that time. She also gained critical acclaim for her role in the 2007 Bollywood film
Awarapan. In 2008, Saran played the lead role in her first English film, the American-Indian co-production
The Other End of the Line. Her following projects included popular films such as
Kanthaswamy (2009) in Tamil, and
Pokkiri Raja (2010) in Malayalam, her roles in which have established her as one of the leading actresses in the South Indian film industries. Apart from her work in films, Saran has been the brand ambassador for several stores across India, endorsing beauty and health products.
Portal:Hindi cinema/Selected biography/11
Ravi Shankar (1920 – 2012), often referred to by the title
Pandit, was an Indian musician and composer who played the
sitar. He has been described as the most known contemporary Indian musician. Shankar was born in
Varanasi and spent his youth touring Europe and India with the dance group of his brother,
Uday Shankar. He gave up dancing in 1938 to study the sitar, playing under court musician
Allauddin Khan. After finishing his studies in 1944, Shankar worked as a composer, creating the music for the
Apu Trilogy by
Satyajit Ray; he also served as music director of
All India Radio in
New Delhi from 1949 to 1956. In 1956, he began to tour Europe and America playing
Indian classical music and increased its popularity there through his teaching, performing, and association with violinist
Yehudi Menuhin and
rock artist
George Harrison of
The Beatles. Shankar engaged Western music by writing concerti for the sitar and orchestra and toured the world in the 1970s and 1980s. From 1986 to 1992, he served as a nominated member of the
upper chamber of the
Parliament of India. Shankar was awarded India's highest civilian honour, the
Bharat Ratna, in 1999, and has received three
Grammy Awards. He continued to perform in the 2000s, often with his daughter
Anoushka.
Portal:Hindi cinema/Selected biography/12
Rani Mukerji (born 21 March 1978) is an Indian
film actress who works in
Hindi movies. Born to the
Mukherjee-Samarth family, she made her acting debut with a
cameo appearance in the
Bengali film Biyer Phool (1996), on the insistence of her mother. The following year, Mukerji made her Hindi film debut with
Raja Ki Aayegi Baraat, and subsequently had her first - and largest - commercial success with
Karan Johar's romance
Kuch Kuch Hota Hai (1998), which won her a
Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actress. She later starred in several films that underperformed, before featuring in the critically acclaimed drama
Saathiya, for which she won her first
Filmfare Critics Award for Best Actress. She later received unanimous praise for her portrayal of a blind, deaf and mute woman in
Black (2005), for which she garnered two more Filmfare Awards: Best Actress and Actress - Critics. She then played a series of roles, a majority of which were under the
Yash Raj Films banner, that typecasted her as a weepy, sacrificing woman. None of these films performed well at the box office. However, in 2011, she earned praise for her portrayal of a headstrong, independent woman in the semi-biographic thriller
No One Killed Jessica.
Portal:Hindi cinema/Selected biography/13
Ram Narayan (born 25 December 1927), often referred to with the title
Pandit, is an
Indian musician who popularized the bowed instrument
sarangi as a solo concert instrument in
Hindustani classical music and became the first internationally successful
sarangi player. Narayan was born in
Udaipur and learned to play the
sarangi at an early age. He studied under
sarangi players and singers and, as a teenager, worked as a music teacher and traveling musician.
All India Radio,
Lahore, hired Narayan as an accompanist for vocalists in 1944. He moved to
Delhi following the
partition of India in 1947, but wishing to go beyond accompaniment and frustrated with his supporting role, Narayan moved to
Mumbai in 1949 to work in
Indian cinema. After an unsuccessful attempt in 1954, Narayan became a concert solo artist in 1956, and later gave up accompaniment. He recorded solo albums and began to tour America and Europe in the 1960s. Narayan taught Indian and foreign students and performed, frequently outside of India, into the 2000s. He was awarded India's second highest civilian honor, the
Padma Vibhushan, in 2005.
Portal:Hindi cinema/Selected biography/14
Kajol (born 5 August 1974) is an Indian actress appearing in
Hindi and
Tamil films. Born to actress
Tanuja and film director
Shomu Mukherjee, Kajol made her acting début with
Bekhudi (1992) while still in school. She quit her studies to pursue acting, and had her first commercial success with
Baazigar (1993), opposite
Shahrukh Khan. She subsequently featured with Khan in several
blockbusters, including
Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge (1995),
Kuch Kuch Hota Hai (1998), and
Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham... (2001). Her performances in these films met with wide public recognition and earned her three Filmfare Awards in the Best Actress category. After shooting for
Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham... in 2001, Kajol took a sabbatical from full-time acting for five years in order to focus on her marriage. She made a comeback with the
romantic thriller,
Fanaa (2006), for which she received a fourth Filmfare Award for Best Actress. She continued working infrequently through the rest of the decade, playing leading roles in such films as
U Me Aur Hum (2008),
We Are Family and
My Name Is Khan (both 2010). Her performance in the latter earned her a fifth Best Actress award at Filmfare. Kajol is a social activist and is noted for her work with widows and children, for which she received the Karmaveer Puraskaar in 2008. Kajol has been in a relationship with actor
Ajay Devgn since 1995. In 1999, they married, and she gave birth to their daughter, Nysa, in 2003 and their son, Yug, in 2010.
Portal:Hindi cinema/Selected biography/15
Farhan Akhtar (born 9 January 1974) is an Indian film director, screenwriter, producer, actor,
playback singer, lyricist and television host, who works primarily in
Bollywood. Born in Mumbai to screenwriters
Javed Akhtar and
Honey Irani, he grew up under the influence of the film industry. After completing his schooling in Maneckji Cooper School, he studied a degree of commerce in
HR College, before dropping out, and began his career in films by working as an assistant director in
Lamhe (1991) and
Himalay Putra (1997). Akhtar, after establishing a production company named
Excel Entertainment along with
Ritesh Sidhwani, made his directorial début with
Dil Chahta Hai (2001) and received critical acclaim for portraying modern youth. Following it, he made
Lakshya (2004) and had his Hollywood début through the soundtrack of
Bride and Prejudice (2004), for which he wrote the lyrics. He had his first commercial success with
Don (2006), though failing to receive critical acclaim for it. He started his acting career with
Rock on!! (2008), for which he won a second National Award for Best Feature Film in Hindi as producer, and indulged in further experimentation before he acted in, produced and wrote the dialogues for the critical and commercial success
Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara (2011), which also won two National awards. In the same year, he directed a sequel to
Don titled
Don 2 (2011), which remains as his highest-grossing film till date.
Portal:Hindi cinema/Selected biography/16
Vidya Balan (born 1 January 1979) is an Indian film actress, who appears in Hindi, Bengali and Malayalam language films. At age sixteen, Balan landed her first acting role in the sitcom Hum Paanch (1995). After making several unsuccessful attempts to start a career in film, she acted in television commercials and music videos. In 2003, she made her feature film debut with the independent Bengali drama Bhalo Theko. In 2005, Balan garnered praise for her first Hindi film, Parineeta, and followed it with a leading role in the blockbuster Lage Raho Munna Bhai (2006). Her subsequent portrayal of glamorous characters in the films Heyy Babyy (2007) and Kismat Konnection (2008) met with negative comments from film critics. 2009, however, marked the beginning of the most successful period in Balan's career as she portrayed five consecutive roles to wide critical acclaim in Paa (2009), Ishqiya (2010), No One Killed Jessica (2011), The Dirty Picture (2011), and Kahaani (2012). These roles have fetched her the tag of a "female hero" and established her as a leading contemporary actress of Hindi cinema. Balan has received one National Film Award, five Filmfare Awards and five Screen Awards. She is a social activist and supports the cause of women empowerment. She initially drew criticism for her weight and dressing sense, but was later credited in the media for retaining her individuality and breaking stereotypes of a Hindi film heroine. She is married to film producer Siddharth Roy Kapur.
Portal:Hindi cinema/Selected biography/17
Imran Khan (born
Imran Pal 13 January 1983) is an Indian film actor who appears in Bollywood films. He is the nephew of actor
Aamir Khan and director-producer
Mansoor Khan, and the grandson of director-producer
Nasir Hussain. He appeared as a child actor in the films
Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak (1988) and
Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikander (1992). Khan made his adult acting debut in 2008 with the romantic comedy
Jaane Tu... Ya Jaane Na, which was a critical and commercial success. His performance in the film won him the
Filmfare Award for Best Male Debut. After the failure of his next two films, Khan was written off by the media, calling him a "one film wonder". He then starred in a number of commercially successful films like
I Hate Luv Storys (2010),
Delhi Belly (2011),
Mere Brother Ki Dulhan (2011) and
Ek Main Aur Ekk Tu (2012). Khan is regarded as one of the most popular, good-looking and stylish celebrities in India. He is a social activist, and has written columns for
The Hindustan Times. He is a supporter of
PETA, having appeared in events organised for the group. He married Avantika Malik in January 2011, after a ten-year relationship.
Portal:Hindi cinema/Selected biography/18
Priyanka Chopra (born 18 July 1982) is an Indian film actress and singer, and was the winner of the
Miss World pageant of 2000. Through her successful film career, Chopra has become one of
Bollywood's highest-paid actresses and one of the most popular celebrities in India. She has received
numerous awards and nominations. Although Chopra at one time aspired to study engineering or
psychiatry, she accepted offers to join the Indian film industry, which came as a result of her pageant wins, making her acting debut in the
Tamil film
Thamizhan (2002). The following year, she starred in
The Hero, her first
Hindi film release, and followed it with the box-office hit
Andaaz. She subsequently earned wide critical recognition for her role in
Aitraaz (2004). By 2006, Chopra had established herself as a leading actress of Hindi cinema with starring roles in the highly successful films
Krrish and
Don. After receiving mixed reviews for a series of unsuccessful films, she received critical acclaim for her portrayal of unconventional characters in films like
Fashion,
Kaminey,
7 Khoon Maaf and
Barfi!. In addition to acting in films, she participates in stage shows and has written columns for newspapers. Chopra has engaged in philanthropic activities, and was appointed as a
UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador for Child Rights. In 2012, she released her first
single "
In My City".
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