Saturday 7 January 2012

Amitabh Bachchan

Amitabh Bachchan, born Amitabh Harivansh Bachchan on 11 October 1942) is an Indian film actor. He first gained popularity in the early 1970s as the "angry young man" of Hindi cinema, and has since appeared in over 180 Indian films in a career spanning more than four decades. Bachchan is regarded as one of the greatest and most influential actors in the history of Indian cinema.
Bachchan has won numerous major awards in his career, including four National Film Awards, three of which are in the Best Actor category, and fourteen Filmfare Awards. He is the most-nominated performer in any major acting category at Filmfare, with 36 nominations overall. In addition to acting, Bachchan has worked as a playback singer, film producer and television presenter, and was an elected member of the Indian Parliament from 1984 to 1987.
Born in Allahabad, Uttar Pradesh, Amitabh Bachchan hails from a Hindu Kayastha family. His father, Dr. Harivansh Rai Bachchan was a well-known Hindi poet, while his mother, Teji Bachchan was a Sikh-Punjabi from Faisalabad (now in Pakistan). Bachchan was initially named Inquilaab, inspired from the famous phrase Inquilab Zindabad, during the Indian independence struggle. However, at the suggestion of fellow poet Sumitranandan Pant, Harivansh Rai changed the name to Amitabh which means, "the light that would never go off." Though his surname was Shrivastava, his father had adopted the pen-name Bachchan (meaning child-like in colloquial Hindi), under which he published all his works. It is with this last name that Amitabh debuted in films, and, for all public purposes, it has become the surname of all members of his family. Bachchan's father died in 2003, and his mother in 2007.
Amitabh is the eldest of Harivansh Rai Bachchan's two sons, the second being Ajitabh. His mother had a keen interest in theatre and had been offered a role in a film, but preferred her domestic duties. She had some degree of influence in Bachchan's choice of career because she always insisted that he should take the centre stage. He attended Allahabad's Jnana Prabodhini and Boys' High School (BHS), followed by Nainital's Sherwood College, where he majored in the art stream. He later went on to study at Kirori Mal College of the University of Delhi and completed a Bachelor of Science degree. In his twenties, Bachchan gave up a job as freight broker for the shipping firm, Bird and Co., based in Calcutta now known as Kolkata, to pursue a career in acting.
Bachchan made his film debut in 1969 as a voice narrator in Mrinal Sen's National Award winning film Bhuvan Shome. Thereafter he got his first acting role as one of the seven protagonists in Saat Hindustani, a film directed by Khwaja Ahmad Abbas and featuring Utpal Dutt, Madhu and Jalal Agha. Though the film was not a financial success, Bachchan won his first National Film Award for Best Newcomer.
Anand (1971) followed, where he starred alongside Rajesh Khanna. Bachchan's role as a doctor with a cynical view of life garned him his first Filmfare Best Supporting Actor Award. He then played his first negative role as an infatuated lover-turned-murderer in Parwaana (1971). This was followed by several films including Reshma Aur Shera (1971). During this time, he made a guest appearance in the film Guddi which starred his future wife Jaya Bhaduri. He narrated part of the film Bawarchi. In 1972, he made an appearance in the road action comedy Bombay to Goa, directed by S. Ramanathan. Many of his films during this early period did not do well, but that was about to change.


Wednesday 4 January 2012

Madhuri Dixit

Madhuri Dixit (born Madhuri Shankar Dixit on 15 May 1967) is an Indian film actress who has appeared in Hindi films. Often cited by the media as one of the best actresses in Bollywood, Dixit made her film debut in Abodh (1984) and received wider public recognition with Tezaab (1988). She went on to establish herself as one of Hindi cinema's leading actresses, acknowledged for several of her performances, her beauty, and her accomplished dancing.
Some of her proceeding films include such box-office hits as Dil (1990), Saajan (1991), Beta (1992), Hum Aapke Hain Kaun...! (1994) and Raja (1995). After a relatively low phase, she reinvented herself with the romance Dil To Pagal Hai and subsequently received critical acclaim for her work in films like Mrityudand (1997), Pukar (2000), Lajja (2001), Devdas (2002). In 2002, she retired from films in order to raise her children, and made a comeback with the musical Aaja Nachle in 2007.
Dixit has won five Filmfare Awards, four for Best Actress and one for Best Supporting Actress. She holds the record for the highest number of Best Actress nominations at Filmfare, with 13. In 2008, she was awarded the Padma Shri, India's fourth-highest civilian award by the Government of India. She is married to Dr Shriram Madhav Nene, with whom she has two children. The couple resided in the United States, before moving to India in 2011.
Madhuri Dixit is a native of Mumbai, India. She was born Madhuri Shankar Dixit to Shankar and Snehlata Dixit, of a Marathi Brahmin family. Dixit attended Divine Child High School and Mumbai University and studied to be a microbiologist. She is a trained Kathak dancer and a great admirer of it.
Madhuri Dixit made her acting debut in Rajshri Productions' movie Abodh in 1984. The film failed but minor and supporting roles continued to follow. She attained stardom after she landed the lead female role in N. Chandra's blockbuster Tezaab (1988), for which she received her first Filmfare nomination. In the following year, she starred in a number of important films that included Ram Lakhan, Parinda and Tridev.
In 1990, Dixit starred in Indra Kumar's romantic-drama Dil. She played the role of a rich and arrogant girl who falls in love with a poorer boy and later leaves her house to marry him. The film became the biggest box-office hit of the year in India and Dixit's performance earned her the first Filmfare Best Actress Award of her career.
Post the success of Dil she starred in several successful movies like Saajan (1991), Beta (1992), Khalnayak (1993), Hum Aapke Hain Kaun...! (1994), and Raja (1995). Dixit's performance in Beta, that of a woman married to an illiterate, well-meaning man who exposes her scheming mother-in-law, won her a second Filmfare Award for Best Actress. Hum Aapke Hain Kaun...! (1994) became one of the biggest hits in the history of Hindi cinema. Dixit's role of a modern yet family-oriented young girl fetched her the third Filmfare Best Actress Award of her career.
Post Raja, Dixit's career went into a slump during 1996 and much of 1997. However, she bounced back commercially with Yash Chopra's Dil To Pagal Hai (1997) for which she won a fourth Filmfare Best Actress Award. In that same year, Dixit starred in Prakash Jha's critically acclaimed Mrityudand. Dixit's performance in the film landed her the Best Actress award at the annual Star Screen Awards.
Madhuri Dixit has been the muse for the famous Indian painter M.F. Husain. He was so fascinated by Madhuri Dixit in Hum Aapke Hain Kaun...! that he watched the film 67 times and booked an entire theatre to see her comeback movie Aaja Nachle in 2007. He made a film named Gaja Gamini (2000) starring her, which was intended as a tribute to Dixit herself.
In 2002, she starred in Sanjay Leela Bhansali's Devdas. Her performance earned her a Filmfare Best Supporting Actress Award. The film was featured at the Cannes Film Festival. The following year a film named after her, Main Madhuri Dixit Banna Chahti Hoon, was released in which a woman (played by Antara Mali) aspires to become the new Madhuri Dixit by trying her luck in Bollywood.
On 7 December 2006, Dixit returned to Mumbai with her husband and sons to start filming for Aaja Nachle (2007). The film released in November 2007 and, despite the critics panning it, Dixit's performance was highly appreciated, with the New York Times commenting about her that "she's still got it".
On Women's International Day in 2007, Dixit topped Rediff's list of the Best Bollywood Actresses Ever. In May 2008, she was given a tribute by Indian Film Festival at Los Angeles. In March 2010, The Economic Times named Madhuri Dixit in the list of the "33 women who made India proud". She also received a Filmfare Special Award in honor of her 25 years in the Bollywood industry. In 2011, Rediff.com listed her in top 10 "Readers Choice: The Greatest Actresses of all time".
read more on http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page

Tuesday 3 January 2012

Shahrukh Khan

Shahrukh Khan ( born 2 November 1965), often credited as Shah Rukh Khan, is an Indian film actor, producer and television host. Often referred to as "the King of Bollywood", Khan has acted in over 70 Hindi films. Khan has won fourteen Filmfare Awards for his work in Indian films, eight of which are in the Best Actor category (a record). In 2005, the Government of India honoured him with the Padma Shri for his contributions towards Indian Cinema.
Khan began his career appearing in theatre and several television serials in the late 1980s. He made his film debut in Deewana (1992). Since then, he has been part of numerous commercially successful films and has earned critical acclaim for many of his performances. Globally, Khan is considered to be one of the biggest movie stars, with a fan following claimed to number in the billions. In 2008, Newsweek named him one of the 50 most powerful people in the world.
Eleven of the films he has acted in have accumulated worldwide gross earnings of over 1 billion. Khan's films such as Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge (1995), Kuch Kuch Hota Hai (1998), Devdas (2002), Chak De! India (2007), Om Shanti Om (2007) and Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi (2008) remain some of Bollywood's biggest hits, while films like Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham... (2001), Kal Ho Naa Ho (2003), Veer-Zaara (2004), Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna (2006), My Name Is Khan (2010) and Ra.One (2011) have been top-grossing Indian productions in the overseas markets, thus making him one of the most successful leading actors of India.
In addition to movie acting, Khan is a social activist, a television presenter, and a regular stage performer. He is the founder/owner of two production companies, Dreamz Unlimited and Red Chillies Entertainment and, along with actress Juhi Chawla and her husband Jay Mehta, owns the Indian Premier League cricket team Kolkata Knight Riders
Khan was born in 1965 to Muslim parents of Pathan descent in New Delhi, India. His father, Taj Mohammed Khan, was an Indian independence activist from Peshawar, British India. According to Khan, his paternal grandfather was originally from Afghanistan. His mother, Lateef Fatima, was the adopted daughter of Major General Shah Nawaz Khan of the Janjua Rajput clan, who served as a General in the Indian National Army of Subash Chandra Bose. Khan's father came to New Delhi from Qissa Khawani Bazaar in Peshawar before the partition of India, while his mother's family came from Rawalpindi, British India. Khan has an elder sister named Shehnaz. He was given the birth name Shahrukh (meaning "Face of the King"), but prefers his name to be written as Shah Rukh Khan, and is also commonly referred to as SRK.
Growing up in Rajendra Nagar neighbourhood, Khan attended St. Columba's School where he was accomplished in sports, drama, and academics. He won the Sword of Honour, an annual award given to the student who best represents the spirit of the school. Khan later attended the Hansraj College (1985–1988) and earned his Bachelors degree in Economics (honors). Though he pursued a Masters Degree in Mass Communications at Jamia Millia Islamia, he later opted out to make his career in Bollywood.
After the death of his parents, Khan moved to Mumbai in 1991. In that same year, before any of his films were released, he married Gauri Chibber, a Hindu, in a traditional Hindu wedding ceremony on 25 October 1991. They have two children, son Aryan (b. 1997) and daughter Suhana (b. 2000). According to Khan, while he strongly believes in Allah, he also values his wife's religion. At home, his children follow both religions, with the Qur'an being situated next to the Hindu deities.
In 2005, Nasreen Munni Kabir produced a two-part documentary on Khan, titled The Inner and Outer World of Shah Rukh Khan. Featuring his 2004 Temptations concert tour, the film contrasted Khan's inner world of family and daily life with the outer world of his work. The book Still Reading Khan, which details his family life, was released in 2006. Another book by Anupama Chopra, King of Bollywood: Shahrukh Khan and the seductive world of Indian cinema, was released in 2007. It describes the world of Bollywood through Khan's life. Khan's net worth is estimated at over 2,500 crore (US$475 million).
Khan studied acting under celebrated Theatre Director Barry John at Delhi's Theatre Action Group (TAG). In 2007, John commented thus on his former pupil, "The credit for the phenomenally successful development and management of Shahrukh's career goes to the superstar himself." Khan started shooting for Lekh Tandon's television series Dil Dariya, but its delay meant that he made his acting debut with the 1988 television series, Fauji, playing the leading role of Commando Abhimanyu Rai. He went on to appear in other television serials, such as the 1989 serial, Aziz Mirza's Circus, which depicted the life of circus performers. The same year, Khan also had a minor role in the made-for-television English-language film, In Which Annie Gives it Those Ones, which was based on life at Delhi University and was written by Arundhati Roy. When Khan appeared in those teleserials, people found in him some resemblance with actor Dilip Kumar and also compared his acting style with the latter's.