Bollywood is the informal term popularly used for the Hindi-language film industry based in Mumbai (formerly known as Bombay), Maharashtra, India. The term is often incorrectly used to refer to the whole of Indian cinema; it is only a part of the total Indian film industry, which includes other production centers producing films in regional languages. Bollywood is the largest film producer in India and one of the largest centers of film production in the world.

Bollywood is formally referred to as Hindi cinema. There has been a growing presence of Indian English in dialogue and songs as well. It is common to see films that feature dialogue with English words (also known as Hinglish), phrases, or even whole sentences.

Etymology

The name "Bollywood" is derived from Bombay (the former name for Mumbai) and Hollywood, the center of the American film industry. However, unlike Hollywood, Bollywood does not exist as a physical place. Though some deplore the name, arguing that it makes the industry look like a poor cousin to Hollywood, it has its own entry in the ''Oxford English Dictionary''.

The naming scheme for "Bollywood" was inspired by "Tollywood", the name that was used to refer to the cinema of West Bengal. Dating back to 1932, "Tollywood" was the earliest Hollywood-inspired name, referring to the Bengali film industry based in Tollygunge, whose name is reminiscent of "Hollywood" and was the center of the cinema of India at the time. It was this "chance juxtaposition of two pairs of rhyming syllables," Holly and Tolly, that led to the name "Tollywood" being coined. The name "Tollywood" went on to be used as a nickname for the Bengali film industry by the popular Kolkata-based ''Junior Statesman'' youth magazine, establishing a precedent for other film industries to use similar-sounding names, eventually leading to the term "Bollywood" being coined.

The term "Bollywood" itself has origins in the 1970s, when India overtook America as the world's largest film producer. Credit for the term has been claimed by several different people, including the lyricist, filmmaker and scholar Amit Khanna, and the journalist Bevinda Collaco.

History

''Raja Harishchandra'' (1913), by Dadasaheb Phalke, was 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 Irani's ''Alam Ara'' (1931), was a major commercial success. There was clearly a huge market for talkies and musicals; Bollywood and all the regional film industries quickly switched to sound filming.

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, or used the struggle for Indian independence as a backdrop for their plots.

In 1937, Ardeshir Irani, of ''Alam Ara'' fame, made the first colour film in Hindi, ''Kisan Kanya''. The next year, he made another colour film, a version of ''Mother India''. However, colour did not become a popular feature until the late 1950s. At this time, lavish romantic musicals and melodramas were the staple fare at the cinema.

Golden Age

Following India's independence, the period from the late 1940s to the 1960s is regarded by film 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'' (1957) and ''Kaagaz Ke Phool'' (1959) and the Raj Kapoor films ''Awaara'' (1951) and ''Shree 420'' (1955). These films expressed social themes mainly dealing with working-class urban life in India; ''Awaara'' presented the city as both a nightmare and a dream, while ''Pyaasa'' critiqued the unreality of city life. Some of the most famous epic films of Hindi cinema were also produced at the time, including Mehboob Khan's ''Mother India'' (1957), which was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film, and K. Asif's ''Mughal-e-Azam'' (1960). ''Madhumati'' (1958), directed by Bimal Roy and written by Ritwik Ghatak, popularized the theme of reincarnation in Western popular culture. Other acclaimed mainstream Hindi filmmakers at the time included Kamal Amrohi and Vijay Bhatt. Successful actors at the time included Dev Anand, Dilip Kumar, Raj Kapoor and Guru Dutt, while successful actresses included Nargis, Vyjayanthimala, Meena Kumari, Nutan, Madhubala, Waheeda Rehman and Mala Sinha.

While commercial Hindi cinema was thriving, the 1950s also saw the emergence of a new Parallel Cinema movement. Though the movement was mainly led by Bengali cinema, it also began gaining prominence in Hindi cinema. Early examples of Hindi films in this movement include Chetan Anand's ''Neecha Nagar'' (1946) and Bimal Roy's ''Two Acres of Land'' (1953). Their critical acclaim, as well as the latter's commercial success, paved the way for Indian neorealism and the ''Indian New Wave''. Some of the internationally acclaimed Hindi filmmakers involved in the movement included Mani Kaul, Kumar Shahani, Ketan Mehta, Govind Nihalani, Shyam Benegal and Vijaya Mehta.

Ever since the social realist film ''Neecha Nagar'' won the Grand Prize at the first Cannes Film Festival, Hindi films were frequently in competition for the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival throughout the 1950s and early 1960s, with some of them winning major prizes at the festival. Guru Dutt, while overlooked in his own lifetime, had belatedly generated international recognition much later in the 1980s. Dutt is now regarded as one of the greatest Asian filmmakers of all time, alongside the more famous Indian Bengali filmmaker Satyajit Ray. The 2002 ''Sight & Sound'' critics' and directors' poll of greatest filmmakers ranked Dutt at #73 on the list. Some of his films are now included among the greatest films of all time, with ''Pyaasa'' (1957) being featured in Time magazine's "All-TIME" 100 best movies list, and with both ''Pyaasa'' and ''Kaagaz Ke Phool'' (1959) tied at #160 in the 2002 ''Sight & Sound'' critics' and directors' poll of all-time greatest films. Several other Hindi films from this era were also ranked in the ''Sight & Sound'' poll, including Raj Kapoor's ''Awaara'' (1951), Vijay Bhatt's ''Baiju Bawra'' (1952), Mehboob Khan's ''Mother India'' (1957) and K. Asif's ''Mughal-e-Azam'' (1960) all tied at #346 on the list.

Modern cinema

In the late 1960s and early 1970s, romance movies and action films starred actors like Rajesh Khanna, Dharmendra, Sanjeev Kumar and Shashi Kapoor and actresses like Sharmila Tagore, Mumtaz and Asha Parekh. In the mid-1970s, romantic confections made way for gritty, violent films about gangsters (see Indian mafia) and bandits. Amitabh Bachchan, the star known for his "angry young man" roles, rode the crest of this trend with actors like Mithun Chakraborty and Anil Kapoor, which lasted into the early 1990s. Actresses from this era included Hema Malini, Jaya Bachchan and Rekha.

Some Hindi filmmakers such as Shyam Benegal continued to produce realistic Parallel Cinema throughout the 1970s, alongside Mani Kaul, Kumar Shahani, Ketan Mehta, Govind Nihalani and Vijaya Mehta. However, the 'art film' bent of the Film Finance Corporation came under criticism during a Committee on Public Undertakings investigation in 1976, which accused the body of not doing enough to encourage commercial cinema. The 1970s thus saw the rise of commercial cinema in the form of enduring films such as ''Sholay'' (1975), which solidified Amitabh Bachchan's position as a lead actor. The devotional classic ''Jai Santoshi Ma'' was also released in 1975. Another important film from 1975 was ''Deewar'', directed by Yash Chopra and written by Salim-Javed. A crime film pitting "a policeman against his brother, a gang leader based on real-life smuggler Haji Mastan", portrayed by Amitabh Bachchan, it was described as being “absolutely key to Indian cinema” by Danny Boyle. The most internationally acclaimed Hindi film of the 1980s was Mira Nair's ''Salaam Bombay!'' (1988), which won the Camera d'Or at the 1988 Cannes Film Festival and was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film.

During the late 1980s and early 1990s, the pendulum swung back toward family-centric romantic musicals with the success of such films as ''Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak'' (1988), ''Maine Pyar Kiya'' (1989), ''Hum Aapke Hain Kaun'' (1994) and ''Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge'' (1995), making stars out of a new generation of actors (such as Aamir Khan, Salman Khan and Shahrukh Khan) and actresses (such as Sridevi, Madhuri Dixit, Juhi Chawla and Kajol). In that point of time, action and comedy films were also successful, with actors like Govinda and actresses such as Raveena Tandon and Karisma Kapoor appearing in popular comedy films, and stunt actor Akshay Kumar gaining popularity for performing dangerous stunts in action films. Furthermore, this decade marked the entry of new performers in arthouse and independent films, some of which succeeded commercially, the most influential example being ''Satya'' (1998), directed by Ram Gopal Varma and written by Anurag Kashyap. The critical and commercial success of ''Satya'' led to the emergence of a distinct genre known as ''Mumbai noir'', urban films reflecting social problems in the city of Mumbai. This led to a resurgence of Parallel Cinema by the end of the decade. These films often featured actors like Nana Patekar, Manoj Bajpai, Manisha Koirala, Tabu and Urmila Matondkar, whose performances were usually critically acclaimed.

The 2000s saw a growth in Bollywood's popularity in the world. This led the nation's filmmaking to new heights in terms of quality, cinematography and innovative story lines as well as technical advances in areas such as special effects, animation, and so on. Some of the largest production houses, among them Yash Raj Films and Dharma Productions were the producers of new modern films. The opening up of the overseas market, more Bollywood releases abroad and the explosion of multiplexes in big cities, led to wider box office successes in India and abroad, including ''Lagaan'' (2001), ''Devdas'' (2002), ''Koi... Mil Gaya'' (2003), ''Kal Ho Naa Ho'' (2003), ''Veer-Zaara'' (2004), ''Rang De Basanti'' (2006), ''Lage Raho Munnabhai'' (2006), ''Krrish'' (2006), ''Dhoom 2'' (2006), ''Om Shanti Om'' (2007), ''Chak De India'' (2007), ''Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi'' (2008), ''Ghajini'' (2008), ''3 Idiots'' (2009), ''My Name is Khan'' (2010),''Dabangg'' (2010) and ''The Dirty Picture delivering a new generation of popular actors (Hrithik Roshan, Abhishek Bachchan) and actresses (Aishwarya Rai, Preity Zinta, Rani Mukerji, Kareena Kapoor, Priyanka Chopra and Vidya Balan), and keeping the popularity of actors of the previous decade. Among the mainstream films, ''Lagaan'' won the Audience Award at the Locarno International Film Festival and was nominated for Best Foreign Language Film at the 74th Academy Awards, while ''Devdas'' and ''Rang De Basanti'' were both nominated for the BAFTA Award for Best Foreign Language Film.

The Hindi film industry has preferred films that appeal to all segments of the audience (see the discussion in Ganti, 2004, cited in references), and has resisted making films that target narrow audiences. It was believed that aiming for a broad spectrum would maximise box office receipts. However, filmmakers may be moving towards accepting some box-office segmentation, between films that appeal to rural Indians, and films that appeal to urban and overseas audiences.

Influences for Bollywood

Gokulsing and Dissanayake identify six major influences that have shaped the conventions of Indian popular cinema:

The ancient Indian epics of ''Mahabharata'' and ''Ramayana'' which have exerted a profound influence on the thought and imagination of Indian popular cinema, particularly in its narratives. Examples of this influence include the techniques of a side story, back-story and story within a story. Indian popular films often have plots which branch off into sub-plots; such narrative dispersals can clearly be seen in the 1993 films ''Khalnayak'' and ''Gardish''. Ancient Sanskrit drama, with its highly stylized nature and emphasis on spectacle, where music, dance and gesture combined "to create a vibrant artistic unit with dance and mime being central to the dramatic experience." Sanskrit dramas were known as ''natya'', derived from the root word ''nrit'' (dance), characterizing them as specacular dance-dramas which has continued Indian cinema. The theory of ''rasa'' dating back to ancient Sanskrit drama is believed to be one of the most fundamental features that differentiate Indian cinema, particularly Hindi cinema, from that of the Western world. The traditional folk theatre of India, which became popular from around the 10th century with the decline of Sanskrit theatre. These regional traditions include the Yatra of Bengal, the Ramlila of Uttar Pradesh, and the Terukkuttu of Tamil Nadu. The Parsi theatre, which "blended realism and fantasy, music and dance, narrative and spectacle, earthy dialogue and ingenuity of stage presentation, integrating them into a dramatic discourse of melodrama. The Parsi plays contained crude humour, melodious songs and music, sensationalism and dazzling stagecraft." Hollywood, where musicals were popular from the 1920s to the 1950s, though Indian filmmakers departed from their Hollywood counterparts in several ways. "For example, the Hollywood musicals had as their plot the world of entertainment itself. Indian filmmakers, while enhancing the elements of fantasy so pervasive in Indian popular films, used song and music as a natural mode of articulation in a given situation in their films. There is a strong Indian tradition of narrating mythology, history, fairy stories and so on through song and dance." In addition, "whereas Hollywood filmmakers strove to conceal the constructed nature of their work so that the realistic narrative was wholly dominant, Indian filmmakers made no attempt to conceal the fact that what was shown on the screen was a creation, an illusion, a fiction. However, they demonstrated how this creation intersected with people's day to day lives in complex and interesting ways." Western musical television, particularly MTV, which has had an increasing influence since the 1990s, as can be seen in the pace, camera angles, dance sequences and music of 2000s Indian films. An early example of this approach was in Mani Ratnam's ''Bombay'' (1995).

Influence of Bollywood

In the 2000s, Bollywood began influencing musical films in the Western world, and played a particularly instrumental role in the revival of the American musical film genre. Baz Luhrmann stated that his musical film ''Moulin Rouge!'' (2001) was directly inspired by Bollywood musicals. The film incorporated an Indian-themed play based on the ancient Sanskrit drama ''The Little Clay Cart'' and a Bollywood-style dance sequence with a song from the film ''China Gate''. The critical and financial success of ''Moulin Rouge!'' renewed interest in the then-moribund Western musical genre, and subsequently films such as ''Chicago, The Producers, Rent'', ''Dreamgirls'', ''Hairspray'', ''Sweeney Todd'', ''Across the Universe'', ''The Phantom of the Opera'', ''Enchanted'' and ''Mamma Mia!'' were produced, fueling a renaissance of the genre.

A. R. Rahman, an Indian film composer, wrote the music for Andrew Lloyd Webber's ''Bombay Dreams'', and a musical version of ''Hum Aapke Hain Koun'' has played in London's West End. The Bollywood musical ''Lagaan'' (2001) was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film, and two other Bollywood films ''Devdas'' (2002) and ''Rang De Basanti'' (2006) were nominated for the BAFTA Award for Best Foreign Language Film. Danny Boyle's ''Slumdog Millionaire'' (2008), which has won four Golden Globes and eight Academy Awards, was also directly inspired by Bollywood films, and is considered to be a "homage to Hindi commercial cinema". The theme of reincarnation was also popularized in Western popular culture through Bollywood films, with ''Madhumati'' (1958) inspiring the Hollywood film ''The Reincarnation of Peter Proud'' (1975), which in turn inspired the Bollywood film ''Karz'' (1980), which in turn influenced another Hollywood film ''Chances Are'' (1989). The 1975 film ''Chhoti Si Baat'' is believed to have inspired ''Hitch'' (2005), which in turn inspired the Bollywood film ''Partner'' (2007).

The influence of Bollywood ''filmi'' music can also be seen in popular music elsewhere in the world. In 1978, technopop pioneers Haruomi Hosono and Ryuichi Sakamoto of the Yellow Magic Orchestra produced an electronic album ''Cochin Moon'' based on an experimental fusion between electronic music and Bollywood-inspired Indian music. Devo's 1988 hit song "Disco Dancer" was inspired by the song "I am a Disco Dancer" from the Bollywood film ''Disco Dancer'' (1982). The 2002 song "Addictive", sung by Truth Hurts and produced by DJ Quik and Dr. Dre, was lifted from Lata Mangeshkar's "Thoda Resham Lagta Hai" from ''Jyoti'' (1981). The Black Eyed Peas' Grammy Award winning 2005 song "Don't Phunk with My Heart" was inspired by two 1970s Bollywood songs: "Ye Mera Dil Yaar Ka Diwana" from ''Don'' (1978) and "Ae Nujawan Hai Sub" from ''Apradh'' (1972). Both songs were originally composed by Kalyanji Anandji, sung by Asha Bhosle, and featured the dancer Helen. Also in 2005, the Kronos Quartet re-recorded several R. D. Burman compositions, with Asha Bhosle as the singer, into an album ''You've stolen my heart - Songs From R D Burman's Bollywood'', which was nominated for "Best Contemporary World Music Album" at the 2006 Grammy Awards. ''Filmi'' music composed by A. R. Rahman (who would later win two Academy Awards for the ''Slumdog Millionaire'' soundtrack) has frequently been sampled by musicians elsewhere in the world, including the Singaporean artist Kelly Poon, the Uzbek artist Iroda Dilroz, the French rap group La Caution, the American artist Ciara, and the German band Löwenherz, among others. Many Asian Underground artists, particularly those among the overseas Indian diaspora, have also been inspired by Bollywood music.

Genre conventions

Bollywood films are mostly musicals, and are expected to contain catchy music in the form of song-and-dance numbers woven into the script. A film's success often depends on the quality of such musical numbers. Indeed, a film's music is often released before the movie itself and helps increase the audience.

Indian audiences expect full value for their money, with a good entertainer generally referred to as ''paisa'' ''vasool'', (literally, "money's worth"). Songs and dances, love triangles, comedy and dare-devil thrills are all mixed up in a three-hour-long extravaganza with an intermission. Such movies are called ''masala'' films, after the Hindi word for a spice mixture. Like ''masalas'', these movies are a mixture of many things such as action, comedy, romance and so on. Most films have ''heroes'' who are able to fight off villains all by themselves. Bollywood plots have tended to be melodramatic. They frequently employ formulaic ingredients such as star-crossed lovers and angry parents, love triangles, family ties, sacrifice, corrupt politicians, kidnappers, conniving villains, courtesans with hearts of gold, long-lost relatives and siblings separated by fate, dramatic reversals of fortune, and convenient coincidences.

There have always been Indian films with more artistic aims and more sophisticated stories, both inside and outside the Bollywood tradition (see Parallel Cinema). They often lost out at the box office to movies with more mass appeal. Bollywood conventions are changing, however. A large Indian diaspora in English speaking countries, and increased Western influence at home, have nudged Bollywood films closer to Hollywood models.

Film critic Lata Khubchandani writes,"..our earliest films...had liberal doses of sex and kissing scenes in them. Strangely, it was after Independence the censor board came into being and so did all the strictures." Plots now tend to feature Westernised urbanites dating and dancing in clubs rather than centering on pre-arranged marriages. Though these changes can widely be seen in contemporary Bollywood, traditional conservative ways of Indian culture continue to exist in India outside the industry and an element of resistance by some to western-based influences. Despite this, Bollywood continues to play a major role in fashion in India. Indeed some studies into fashion in India have revealed that some people are unaware that the changing nature of fashion in Bollywood films which are presented to them are often influenced by globalisation and many consider the clothes worn by Bollywood actors as authentically Indian.

Cast and crew

:''for further details see Indian movie actors, Indian movie actresses, Indian film directors, Indian film music directors and Indian playback singers'' Bollywood employs people from all parts of India. It attracts thousands of aspiring actors and actresses, all hoping for a break in the industry. Models and beauty contestants, television actors, theatre actors and even common people come to Mumbai with the hope and dream of becoming a star. Just as in Hollywood, very few succeed. Since many Bollywood films are shot abroad, many foreign extras are employed too.

Stardom in the entertainment industry is very fickle, and Bollywood is no exception. The popularity of the stars can rise and fall rapidly. Directors compete to hire the most popular stars of the day, who are believed to guarantee the success of a movie (though this belief is not always supported by box-office results). Hence many stars make the most of their fame, once they become popular, by making several movies simultaneously.

Only a very few non-Indian actors are able to make a mark in Bollywood, though many have tried from time to time. There have been some exceptions, one recent example is the hit film ''Rang De Basanti'', where the lead actress is Alice Patten, an Englishwoman. ''Kisna'', ''Lagaan'', and ''The Rising: Ballad of Mangal Pandey'' also featured foreign actors. There is also Emma Brown Garett, an Australian born actress, who is starring in a few Indian films.

Bollywood can be very clannish, and the relatives of film-industry insiders have an edge in getting coveted roles in films or being part of a film's crew. Industry connections are no guarantee of a long career: competition is fierce and if film industry scions do not succeed at the box office, their careers will falter. Some of the biggest stars, such as Dharmendra, Amitabh Bachchan, and Shahrukh Khan have succeeded despite total lack of show business connections. For film clans, see List of Bollywood film clans.

Sound

Sound in Bollywood films is rarely recorded on location (otherwise known as sync sound). Therefore, the sound is usually created (or re-created) entirely in the studio, with the actors reciting their lines as their images appear on-screen in the studio in the process known as "looping in the sound" or ADR—with the foley and sound effects added later. This creates several problems, since the sound in these films usually occurs a frame or two earlier or later than the mouth movements or gestures. The actors have to act twice: once on-location, once in the studio—and the emotional level on set is often very difficult to re-create. Commercial Indian films, not just the Hindi-language variety, are known for their lack of ambient sound, so there is a silence underlying everything instead of the background sound and noises usually employed in films to create aurally perceivable depth and environment.

The ubiquity of ADR in Bollywood cinema became prevalent in the early 1960s with the arrival of the Arriflex 3 camera, which required a blimp (cover) in order to shield the sound of the camera, for which it was notorious, from on-location filming. Commercial Indian filmmakers, known for their speed, never bothered to blimp the camera, and its excessive noise required that everything had to be re-created in the studio. Eventually, this became the standard for Indian films.

The trend was bucked in 2001, after a 30-year hiatus of synchronized sound, with the film ''Lagaan'', in which producer-star Aamir Khan insisted that the sound be done on location. This opened up a heated debate on the use and economic feasibility of on-location sound, and several Bollywood films have employed on-location sound since then.

Bollywood song and dance

Bollywood film music is called filmi music (from Hindi, meaning "of films"). Songs from Bollywood movies are generally pre-recorded by professional playback singers, with the actors then lip synching the words to the song on-screen, often while dancing. While most actors, especially today, are excellent dancers, few are also singers. One notable exception was Kishore Kumar, who starred in several major films in the 1950s while also having a stellar career as a playback singer. K. L. Saigal, Suraiyya, and Noor Jehan were also known as both singers and actors. Some actors in the last thirty years have sung one or more songs themselves; for a list, see Singing actors and actresses in Indian cinema.

Playback singers are prominently featured in the opening credits and have their own fans who will go to an otherwise lackluster movie just to hear their favourites. Going by the quality as well as the quantity of the songs they rendered, most notable singers of Bollywood are Lata Mangeshkar, Asha Bhosle, Geeta Dutt, Shamshad Begum and Alka Yagnik among female playback singers; and K. L. Saigal, Talat Mahmood, Mukesh, Mohammed Rafi, Manna Dey, Hemant Kumar, Kishore Kumar, Kumar Sanu, Udit Narayan and Sonu Nigam among male playback singers. Mohammed Rafi is often considered arguably the finest of the singers that have lent their voice to Bollywood songs, followed by Lata Mangeshkar, who, through the course of a career spanning over six decades, has recorded thousands of songs for Indian movies. The composers of film music, known as music directors, are also well-known. Their songs can make or break a film and usually do. Remixing of film songs with modern beats and rhythms is a common occurrence today, and producers may even release remixed versions of some of their films' songs along with the films' regular soundtrack albums.

The dancing in Bollywood films, especially older ones, is primarily modelled on Indian dance: classical dance styles, dances of historic northern Indian courtesans (tawaif), or folk dances. In modern films, Indian dance elements often blend with Western dance styles (as seen on MTV or in Broadway musicals), though it is usual to see Western pop ''and'' pure classical dance numbers side by side in the same film. The hero or heroine will often perform with a troupe of supporting dancers. Many song-and-dance routines in Indian films feature unrealistically instantaneous shifts of location or changes of costume between verses of a song. If the hero and heroine dance and sing a duet, it is often staged in beautiful natural surroundings or architecturally grand settings. This staging is referred to as a "picturisation".

Songs typically comment on the action taking place in the movie, in several ways. Sometimes, a song is worked into the plot, so that a character has a reason to sing. Other times, a song is an externalisation of a character's thoughts, or presages an event that has not occurred yet in the plot of the movie. In this case, the event is often two characters falling in love. The songs are also often referred to as a "dream sequence", and anything can happen that would not normally happen in the real world.

Previously song and dance scenes often used to be shot in Kashmir, but due to political unrest in Kashmir since the end of the 1980s, those scenes have since then often been shot in Western Europe, particularly in Switzerland and Austria.

Bollywood films have always used what are now called "item numbers". A physically attractive female character (the "item girl"), often completely unrelated to the main cast and plot of the film, performs a catchy song and dance number in the film. In older films, the "item number" may be performed by a courtesan (''tawaif'') dancing for a rich client or as part of a cabaret show. The actress Helen was famous for her cabaret numbers. In modern films, item numbers may be inserted as discotheque sequences, dancing at celebrations, or as stage shows.

For the last few decades Bollywood producers have been releasing the film's soundtrack, as tapes or CDs, before the main movie release, hoping that the music will pull audiences into the cinema later. Often the soundtrack is more popular than the movie. In the last few years some producers have also been releasing music videos, usually featuring a song from the film. However, some promotional videos feature a song which is not included in the movie.

Dialogues and lyrics

The film script or lines of dialogue (called "dialogues" in Indian English) and the song lyrics are often written by different people.

Dialogues are usually written in an unadorned Hindi that would be understood by the largest possible audience. Some movies, however, have used regional dialects to evoke a village setting, or old-fashioned, courtly, Persian-influenced Urdu in Mughal era historical films. Jyotika Virdi, in her book ''The cinematic imagiNation'' (sic), wrote about the presence of Urdu in Hindi films: "Urdu is often used in film titles, screenplay, lyrics, the language of love, war, and martyrdom." However, she further discussed its decline over the years: "The extent of Urdu used in commercial Hindi cinema has not been stable... the decline of Urdu is mirrored in Hindi films... It is true that many Urdu words have survived and have become part of Hindi cinema's popular vocabulary. But that is as far as it goes." Contemporary mainstream movies also make great use of English. According to ''Bollywood Audiences Editorial'', "English has begun to challenge the ideological work done by Urdu." Some movie scripts are first written in Latin script. Characters may shift from one language to the other to express a certain atmosphere (for example, English in a business setting and Hindi in an informal one).

Cinematic language, whether in dialogues or lyrics, is often melodramatic and invokes God, family, mother, duty, and self-sacrifice liberally. Song lyrics are often about love. Bollywood song lyrics, especially in the old movies, frequently use the poetic vocabulary of court Urdu, with many Persian loanwords. Another source for love lyrics is the long Hindu tradition of poetry about the amours of Krishna, Radha, and the gopis, as referenced in films such as ''Jhanak Jhanak Payal Baje'' and ''Lagaan''.

Music directors often prefer working with certain lyricists, to the point that the lyricist and composer are seen as a team. This phenomenon is compared to the pairings of American composers and songwriters that created old-time Broadway musicals.

Finances

Bollywood films are multi-million dollar productions, with the most expensive productions costing up to 100 crores rupees (roughly USD 20 million). The latest Science fiction movie Ra.One was made at an immense budget of 135 crores (roughly USD 27 million), making it the most expensive movie ever produced in Bollywood. Sets, costumes, special effects, and cinematography were less than world-class up until the mid-to-late 1990s, although with some notable exceptions. As Western films and television gain wider distribution in India itself, there is an increasing pressure for Bollywood films to attain the same production levels, particularly in areas such as action and special effects. Recent Bollywood films have employed international technicians to improve in these areas, such as ''Krrish'' (2006) which has action choreographed by Hong Kong based Tony Ching. The increasing accessibility to professional action and special effects, coupled with rising film budgets, has seen an explosion in the action and sci-fi genres.

Sequences shot overseas have proved a real box office draw, so Mumbai film crews are increasingly filming in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, the United States, continental Europe and elsewhere. Nowadays, Indian producers are winning more and more funding for big-budget films shot within India as well, such as ''Lagaan'', ''Devdas'' and other recent films.

Funding for Bollywood films often comes from private distributors and a few large studios. Indian banks and financial institutions were forbidden from lending money to movie studios. However, this ban has now been lifted. As finances are not regulated, some funding also comes from illegitimate sources, such as the Mumbai underworld. The Mumbai underworld has been known to be involved in the production of several films, and are notorious for their patronisation of several prominent film personalities; On occasion, they have been known to use money and muscle power to get their way in cinematic deals. In January 2000, Mumbai mafia hitmen shot Rakesh Roshan, a film director and father of star Hrithik Roshan. In 2001, the Central Bureau of Investigation seized all prints of the movie ''Chori Chori Chupke Chupke'' after the movie was found to be funded by members of the Mumbai underworld.

Another problem facing Bollywood is widespread copyright infringement of its films. Often, bootleg DVD copies of movies are available before the prints are officially released in cinemas. Manufacturing of bootleg DVD, VCD, and VHS copies of the latest movie titles is a well established 'small scale industry' in parts of South Asia and South East Asia. The Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) estimates that the Bollywood industry loses $100 million annually in loss of revenue from pirated home videos and DVDs. Besides catering to the homegrown market, demand for these copies is large amongst some sections of the Indian diaspora, too. (In fact, bootleg copies are the only way people in Pakistan can watch Bollywood movies, since the Government of Pakistan has banned their sale, distribution and telecast). Films are frequently broadcast without compensation by countless small cable TV companies in India and other parts of South Asia. Small convenience stores run by members of the Indian diaspora in the US and the UK regularly stock tapes and DVDs of dubious provenance, while consumer copying adds to the problem. The availability of illegal copies of movies on the Internet also contributes to the piracy problem.

Satellite TV, television and imported foreign films are making huge inroads into the domestic Indian entertainment market. In the past, most Bollywood films could make money; now fewer tend to do so. However, most Bollywood producers make money, recouping their investments from many sources of revenue, including selling ancillary rights. There are also increasing returns from theatres in Western countries like the United Kingdom, Canada, and the United States, where Bollywood is slowly getting noticed. As more Indians migrate to these countries, they form a growing market for upscale Indian films.

For a comparison of Hollywood and Bollywood financial figures, see chart. It shows tickets sold in 2002 and total revenue estimates. Bollywood sold 3.6 billion tickets and had total revenues (theatre tickets, DVDs, television and so on.) of US$1.3 billion, whereas Hollywood films sold 2.6 billion tickets and generated total revenues (again from all formats) of US$51 billion.

Advertising

Many Indian artists used to make a living by hand-painting movie billboards and posters (The well-known artist M.F. Hussain used to paint film posters early in his career). This was because human labour was found to be cheaper than printing and distributing publicity material. Now, a majority of the huge and ubiquitous billboards in India's major cities are created with computer-printed vinyl. The old hand-painted posters, once regarded as ephemera, are becoming increasingly collectible as folk art.

Releasing the film music, or music videos, before the actual release of the film can also be considered a form of advertising. A popular tune is believed to help pull audiences into the theaters.

Bollywood publicists have begun to use the Internet as a venue for advertising. Most of the better-funded film releases now have their own websites, where browsers can view trailers, stills, and information about the story, cast, and crew.

Bollywood is also used to advertise other products. Product placement, as used in Hollywood, is widely practiced in Bollywood.

Bollywood movie stars appear in print and television advertisements for other products, such as watches or soap (see Celebrity endorsement). Advertisers say that a star endorsement boosts sales.

Awards

The Filmfare Awards ceremony is one of the most prominent film events given for Hindi films in India. The Indian screen magazine ''Filmfare'' started the first Filmfare Awards in 1954, and awards were given to the best films of 1953. The ceremony was referred to as the ''Clare Awards'' after the magazine's editor. Modelled after the poll-based merit format of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, individuals may submit their votes in separate categories. A dual voting system was developed in 1956. Like the Oscars, the Filmfare awards are frequently accused of bias towards commercial success rather than artistic merit.

As the Filmfare, the National Film Awards were introduced in 1954. Since 1973, the Indian government has sponsored the National Film Awards, awarded by the government run Directorate of Film Festivals (DFF). The DFF screens not only Bollywood films, but films from all the other regional movie industries and independent/art films. These awards are handed out at an annual ceremony presided over by the President of India. Under this system, in contrast to the National Film Awards, which are decided by a panel appointed by Indian Government, the Filmfare Awards are voted for by both the public and a committee of experts.

Additional ceremonies held within India are:

Screen Awards

Stardust Awards

Ceremonies held overseas are:

Bollywood Movie Awards - Long Island, New York, United States

Global Indian Film Awards - (different country each year)

International Indian Film Academy Awards (IIFA) - (different country each year)

Zee Cine Awards- (different country each year)

Most of these award ceremonies are lavishly staged spectacles, featuring singing, dancing, and numerous celebrities.

Film education

Film and Television Institute of India

Satyajit Ray Film and Television Institute

Asian Academy of Film & Television

Popularity and appeal

Besides being popular among the India diaspora, such far off locations as Nigeria to Egypt to Senegal and to Russia generations of non-Indian fans have grown up with Bollywood during the years, bearing witness to the cross-cultural appeal of Indian movies. Over the last years of the twentieth century and beyond, Bollywood progressed in its popularity as it entered the consciousness of Western audiences and producers.

Africa

Historically, Hindi films have been distributed to some parts of Africa, largely by Lebanese businessmen. ''Mother India'' (1957), for example, continued to be played in Nigeria decades after its release. Indian movies have also gained ground so as to alter the style of Hausa fashions, songs have also been copied by Hausa singers and stories have influenced the writings of Nigerian novelists. Stickers of Indian films and stars decorate taxis and buses in Northern Nigeria, while posters of Indian films adorn the walls of tailor shops and mechanics' garages in the country. Unlike in Europe and North America where Indian films largely cater to the expatriate Indian market yearning to keep in touch with their homeland, in West Africa, as in many other parts of the world, such movies rose in popularity despite the lack of a significant Indian audience, where movies are about an alien culture, based on a religion wholly different, and, for the most part, a language that is unintelligible to the viewers. One such explanation for this lies in the similarities between the two cultures. Other similarities include wearing turbans; the presence of animals in markets; porters carrying large bundles, chewing sugar cane; youths riding Bajaj motor scooters; wedding celebrations, and so forth. With the strict Muslim culture, Indian movies were said to show "respect" toward women, where Hollywood movies were seen to have "no shame". In Indian movies women were modestly dressed, men and women rarely kiss, and there is no nudity, thus Indian movies are said to "have culture" that Hollywood films lack. The latter choice was a failure because "they don't base themselves on the problems of the people," where the former is based socialist values and on the reality of developing countries emerging from years of colonialism. Indian movies also allowed for a new youth culture to follow without such ideological baggage as "becoming western."

Bollywood is also popular among Somalis and the Somali diaspora, where the emerging Islamic Courts Union found a bête noire. Chad and Ethiopia have also shown an interest in the movies.

Several Bollywood personalities have avenued to the continent for both shooting movies and off-camera projects. The film ''Padmashree Laloo Prasad Yadav'' (2005) was one of many movies shot in South Africa. ''Dil Jo Bhi Kahey'' (2005) was shot almost entirely in Mauritius, which has a large ethnically Indian population.

Ominously, however, the popularity of old Bollywood versus a new, changing Bollywood seems to be diminishing the popularity on the continent. The changing style of Bollywood has begun to question such an acceptance. The new era features more sexually explicit and violent films. Nigerian viewers, for example, commented that older films of the 1950s and 1960s had culture to the newer, more westernized picturizations. The old days of India avidly "advocating decolonization ... and India's policy was wholly influenced by his missionary zeal to end racial domination and discrimination in the African territories" were replaced by newer realities. The emergence of Nollywood, Africa's local movie industry has also contributed to the declining popularity of Bollywood films. A greater globalised world worked in tandem with the sexualisation of Indian films so as to become more like American films, thus negating the preferred values of an old Bollywood and diminishing Indian soft power.

Asia

Bollywood films are widely watched in South Asian countries, including Bangladesh, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.

Many Pakistanis watch Bollywood films, as they understand Hindi (due to its linguistic similarity to Urdu). Pakistan banned the legal import of Bollywood movies in 1965. However, trade in pirated DVDs and illegal cable broadcasts ensured the continued popularity of Bollywood releases in Pakistan. Exceptions were made for a few films, such as the 2006 colorized re-release of the classic ''Mughal-e-Azam'' or the 2006 film ''Taj Mahal''. Early in 2008, the Pakistani government eased the ban and allowed the import of even more movies; 16 were screened in 2008. Continued easing followed in 2009 and 2010. The new policy is opposed by nationalists and representatives of Pakistan's small film industry but is embraced by cinema owners, who are making profits after years of low receipts.

Bollywood movies are popular in Afghanistan due to the country's proximity to the Indian subcontinent and cultural perspectives present in the movies. A number of Bollywood movies were filmed inside Afghanistan while some dealt with the country, including ''Dharmatma'', ''Kabul Express'', ''Khuda Gawah'' and ''Escape From Taliban''. Hindi films have been popular in Arab countries, including Palestine, Jordan, Egypt and the Gulf countries. Imported Indian films are usually subtitled in Arabic upon the film's release. Since the early 2000s, Bollywood has progressed in Israel. Special channels dedicated to Indian films have been displayed on cable television. Bollywood films are popular in Southeast Asia (particularly in Maritime Southeast Asia) and Central Asia (particularly in Uzbekistan and Tajikistan).

Some Hindi movies had success in the China in the 1940s and 1950s. The most popular Hindi films in that country were ''Dr. Kotnis Ki Amar Kahani'' (1946), ''Awaara'' (1951) and ''Two Acres of Land'' (1953). Raj Kapoor was a famous movie star in China, and the song "Awara Hoon" ("I am a Tramp") was popular in the country. Since then, Hindi films significantly declined in popularity in China, until the Academy Award nominated ''Lagaan'' (2001) became the first Indian film to have a nation-wide release there in decades. The Chinese filmmaker He Ping was impressed by ''Lagaan'', especially its soundtrack, and thus hired the film's music composer A. R. Rahman to score the soundtrack for his film ''Warriors of Heaven and Earth'' (2003). Several older Hindi films have a cult following in Japan, particularly the films directed by Guru Dutt.

Indian films are the most popular foreign films in Tajikistan, and Hindi-Urdu departments are very large in the country.

Europe

The awareness of Hindi cinema is substantial in the United Kingdom, where they frequently enter the UK top ten. Many films, such as ''Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham'' (2001) have been set in London. Bollywood is also appreciated in France, Germany, the Netherlands, and the Scandinavian countries. Various Bollywood movies are dubbed in German and shown on the German television channel RTL II on a regular basis.

Bollywood films are particularly popular in the former Soviet Union. Bollywood films have been dubbed into Russian, and shown in prominent theatres such as Mosfilm and Lenfilm.

Ashok Sharma, Indian Ambassador to Suriname, who has served three times in the Commonwealth of Independent States region during his diplomatic career said: }}

The film ''Mera Naam Joker'' (1970), sought to cater to such an appeal and the popularity of Raj Kapoor in Russia, when it recruited Russian actress Kseniya Ryabinkina for the movie. In the contemporary era, ''Lucky: No Time for Love'' (2005) was shot entirely in Russia. After the collapse of the Soviet film distribution system, Hollywood occupied the void created in the Russian film market. This made things difficult for Bollywood as it was losing market share to Hollywood. However, Russian newspapers report that there is a renewed interest in Bollywood among young Russians.

North America

Bollywood has experienced a marked growth in revenue in North American markets, and is particularly popular amongst the South Asian communities in large cities as Chicago, Toronto and New York City. Yash Raj Films, one of India's largest production houses and distributors, reported in September 2005 that Bollywood films in the United States earn around $100 million a year through theater screenings, video sales and the sale of movie soundtracks. In other words, films from India do more business in the United States than films from any other non-English speaking country. Numerous films in the mid-1990s and onwards have been largely, or entirely, shot in New York, Los Angeles, Vancouver and Toronto. Bollywood's immersion in the traditional Hollywood domain was further tied with such films as ''The Guru'' (2002) and ''Marigold: An Adventure in India'' (2007) trying to popularise the Bollywood-theme for Hollywood.

Oceania

Bollywood is not as successful in the Oceanic countries and Pacific Islands such as New Guinea. However, it ranks second to Hollywood in countries such as Fiji, with its large Indian minority, Australia and New Zealand.

Australia is one of the countries where there is a large South Asian Diaspora. Bollywood is popular amongst non-Asians in the country as well. Since 1997 the country has provided a backdrop for an increasing number of Bollywood films. Indian filmmakers have been attracted to Australia's diverse locations and landscapes, and initially used it as the setting for song-and-dance sequences, which demonstrated the contrast between the values. However, nowadays, Australian locations are becoming more important to the plot of Bollywood films. Hindi films shot in Australia usually incorporate aspects of Australian lifestyle. The Yash Raj Film ''Salaam Namaste'' (2005) became the first Indian film to be shot entirely in Australia and was the most successful Bollywood film of 2005 in the country. This was followed by ''Heyy Babyy'' (2007) ''Chak De! India'' (2007) and ''Singh Is Kinng'' (2008) which turned out to be box office successes. Following the release of ''Salaam Namaste'', on a visit to India the then Prime Minister John Howard also sought, having seen the film, to have more Indian movies shooting in the country to boost tourism, where the Bollywood and cricket nexus, was further tightened with Steve Waugh's appointment as tourism ambassador to India. Australian actress Tania Zaetta, who co-starred in ''Salaam Namaste'', among other Bollywood films, expressed her keenness to expand her career in Bollywood.

South America

Bollywood movies are not influential in many countries of South America, though Bollywood culture and dance is recognised. However, due to significant South Asian diasporic communities in Suriname and Guyana, Hindi language movies are popular. In 2006, ''Dhoom 2'' became the first Bollywood film to be shot in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

In January 2012, it was announced that UTV Motion Pictures would be releasing movies in Peru, starting with ''Guzaarish''.

Plagiarism

Constrained by rushed production schedules and small budgets, some Bollywood writers and musicians have been known to resort to plagiarism. Ideas, plot lines, tunes or riffs have been copied from other Indian film industries or foreign films (including Hollywood and other Asian films) without acknowledgement of the original source. This has led to criticism towards the film industry.

Before the 1990s, this could be done with impunity. Copyright enforcement was lax in India and few actors or directors ever saw an official contract. The Hindi film industry was not widely known to non-Indian audiences (excluding the Soviet states), who would not even be aware that their material was being copied. Audiences may also not have been aware of the plagiarism since many audiences in India were unfamiliar with foreign films and music. While copyright enforcement in India is still somewhat lenient, Bollywood and other film industries are much more aware of each other now and Indian audiences are more familiar with foreign movies and music. Organizations like the India EU Film Initiative seek to foster a community between film makers and industry professional between India and the EU.

One of the common justifications of plagiarism in Bollywood in the media is that producers often play a safer option by remaking popular Hollywood films in an Indian context. Screenwriters generally produce original scripts, but due to financial uncertainty and insecurity over the success of a film many were rejected. Screenwriters themselves have been criticised for lack of creativity which happened due to tight schedules and restricted funds in the industry to employ better screenwriters. Certain filmmakers see plagiarism in Bollywood as an integral part of globalisation where American and western cultures are firmly embedding themselves into Indian culture, which is manifested, amongst other mediums, in Bollywood films. Vikram Bhatt, director of films such as ''Raaz'', a remake of ''What Lies Beneath'', and ''Kasoor'', a remake of ''Jagged Edge'', has spoken about the strong influence of American culture and desire to produce box office hits based along the same lines in Bollywood. He said, "Financially, I would be more secure knowing that a particular piece of work has already done well at the box office. Copying is endemic everywhere in India. Our TV shows are adaptations of American programmes. We want their films, their cars, their planes, their Diet Cokes and also their attitude. The American way of life is creeping into our culture." Mahesh Bhatt has said, "If you hide the source, you're a genius. There's no such thing as originality in the creative sphere".

There have been very few cases of film copyright violations taken to court because of serious delays in the legal process, and due to the long time they take to decide a case. There have been some notable cases of conflict though. The makers of ''Partner'' (2007) and ''Zinda'' (2005) have been targeted by the owners and distributors of the original films, ''Hitch'' and ''Oldboy''. American Studio Twentieth Century Fox brought the Mumbai-based B.R. Films to court over its forthcoming ''Banda Yeh Bindaas Hai'', allegedly an illegal remake of its 1992 film ''My Cousin Vinny''. B.R. Films eventually settled out of court by paying the studio at a cost of about $200,000, paving the way for the film's release. Some on the other hand do comply with copyright law, with Orion Pictures in 2008 securing the rights to remake the Hollywood film ''Wedding Crashers''.

See also

List of Bollywood films

List of highest-grossing Bollywood films

Cinema of India

Cinema of the world

Bollywood songs

Hindi dance songs

List of Bollywood film clans

Central Board of Film Certification

Film City

List of Hollywood-inspired nicknames

Kohinoor Film Company

References

Further reading

External links

IMDB - A database of top Hindi movies

Cinema India by Victoria and Albert Museum

National Geographic Magazine: Welcome to Bollywood

Bollywood Fifty Films - by BBC Asian Network

Sexy Bollywood Stars - slideshow by ''Life magazine''

Bollywood Cinema up to 1949 by BBC

Category:Cinema of India Category:Hindi-Urdu Category:Film production districts

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name	Ajay Devgan
birth date	April 02, 1969
birth place	New Delhi, India
yearsactive	1991–present
occupation	Film actor, Director, Producer
spouse	Kajol(m.1999–present; 2 children)
birthname	Vishal Veeru Devgan
othername	Ajay Devgan
website	ajaydevgn.com }}

Ajay Devgan (), born Vishal Veeru Devgan on 2 April 1969, is an Indian film actor, director, and producer. He made his film debut with ''Phool Aur Kaante'' in 1991 and received a Filmfare Award for Best Male Debut for his performance in the film. He then starred in films such as ''Jigar'' (1992), ''Dilwale'' (1994), ''Suhaag'' (1994), ''Naajayaz'' (1995), ''Diljale'' (1996) and ''Ishq'' (1997). In 1999, Devgan received his first National Film Award for Best Actor for his performance in Mahesh Bhatt's drama ''Zakhm''. Some of his later films of the decade are ''Pyaar To Hona Hi Tha'', ''Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam'' and ''Kachche Dhaage''. In the early 2000s, he starred in ''Lajja'' (2001) and ''Company'' (2002). In 2003, he won his second National Film Award for Best Actor for his portrayal of Bhagat Singh in Rajkumar Santoshi's biopic ''The Legend of Bhagat Singh''. Throughout his career he has given many critically and commercially successful films including ''Raincoat'' (2004), ''Yuva'' (2004), ''Omkara'' (2006), ''Golmaal: Fun Unlimited'' (2006), ''Golmaal Returns'' (2008), ''All the Best: Fun Begins'' (2009), ''Once Upon a Time in Mumbaai'' (2010), ''Golmaal 3'' (2010), ''Raajneeti'' (2010), and ''Singham'' (2011). Having done so, he has established himself as one of the leading actors of Bollywood. In 2008, he debuted as a film director with his starrer ''U Me Aur Hum'' which proved to be an moderate success at the box office. He then established the production house, ''Ajay Devgn Films''.

Biography

Devgan was born in Mumbai. His father Veeru Devgan, is originally Punjabi from Amritsar, Punjab. Veeru Devgan, is a stunt choreographer, and his mother Veena Devgan, has produced one film. Anil Devgan, his brother, is a Hindi film director. He is a graduate of Silver Beach High School in Juhu and Mithibai College. On 24 February 1999, he married Hindi film actress Kajol. The venue for the wedding was changed from a Sikh Gurdwara at Andheri in northwest Mumbai to the Devgan residence, after a newspaper revealed the location. The couple have two children. Their daughter Nysa was born 20 April 2003 and their son Yug was born 13 September 2010. In August 2009, Devgan changed his last name to Devgn on the request of his family. He became the first Bollywood personality to acquire a private jet for transport to shooting locations, promotions and personal trips.

Career

1990s

Ajay Devgan debuted in ''Phool Our Kaantee'' in 1991 which grossed 11,000,000 Indian rupees () and earned him Filmfare Award for Best Newcomer. In 1992, he starred in ''Jigar'' alongside Karisma Kapoor, which grossed 7,00,00,000. In 1993, he worked with director Deepak Bahry in the action film ''Ek Hi Raasta'', and with Deepak Pawar in ''Platform''. In 1994, Devgn worked in Harry Baweja's ''Dilwale'', ''Suhaag'' and ''Vijaypath". In 1995, he appeared in Mahesh Bhatt's ''Naajayaz'', for which he was nominated for "filmfare best actor award". In 1996, he continued with "Diljale". Devgn began starring in comedy films, such as ''Ishq'' in 1997. In 1998, he starred in ''Major Saab'' and ''Pyaar To Hona Hi Tha''. He next starred in Mahesh Bhatt's ''Zakhm''. He won several awards for his performance, including the National Film Award for Best Actor and the Star Screen Award for Best Actor Devgn's 1999 work included Sanjay Leela Bhansali's ''Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam'' as well as ''Hindustan ki kasam'' and ''Kachche dhage''.

2000s

In 2000, he worked in Harry Baweja's ''Deewane''. In this film, he essayed the role of two persons, where one is thief and another is police officer. The film was a flop at the box office. In the same year, he starred in his first home production ''Raju Chacha'' opposite wife Kajol. The film also bombed at the box office.

In 2001, he starred in ''Yeh Raaste Hain Pyaar Ke'' co-starring Madhuri Dixit and Preity Zinta. This film was an average grosser at the box office. His next release ''Lajja'', alongside Manisha Koirala, Madhuri Dixit, Jackie Shroff and Anil Kapoor, earned him a nomination for the "Filmfare Best Supporting Actor Award". The film did not perform as expected at the box office. He then worked in Mahesh Manjrekar's ''Tera Mera Saath Rahen''.

In 2002, he featured in Ram Gopal Varma's fictional expose of Mumbai underworld ''Company''. He was nominated for Filmfare Best Actor Award and won Filmfare Critics Award for Best Actor. The film fared well at the box office. His next release was ''Hum Kisi Se Kum Nahin'' alongside Amitabh Bachchan, Sanjay Dutt and Aishwarya Rai.

In the same year, he starred in Rajkumar Santoshi's biopic ''The Legend of Bhagat Singh''. The film didn't fare well at the box office. However, he won his second National Film Award for Best Actor for his performance. He then starred in Anees Bazmee's ''Deewangee''. The film was partially inspired by William Diehl's English language novel ''Primal Fear''. He won several awards for his negative role including, "Filmfare Best Villain Award", "Star Screen Award for Best Villain" and "Zee Cine Award for Best Actor in a Negative Role". This film was a success at the box office.

In 2003, he starred in Ram Gopal Verma's ''Bhoot'' opposite Urmila Matondkar. The film was appreciated critically & performed very well at the box office. He then starred in action thriller ''Qayamat: City Under Threat'' opposite debutante Neha Dhupia which was huge commercial success. He then worked in Milan Luthria's romantic film ''Chori Chori'' opposite Rani Mukherji and Sonali Bendre. This film did not succeed at the box office.

In that same year he featured in Prakash Jha's ''Gangaajal'', for which he was nominated for "Filmfare Best Actor Award". He then worked in Rohit Shetty's directional debut ''Zameen'', which grossed 16,00,00,000 and J. P. Dutta's war film ''LOC Kargil''.

In 2004 he was cast along with Amitabh Bachchan, Aishwarya Rai and Akshay Kumar in Rajkumar Santoshi's ''Khakee'' which grossed 36,25,00,000.The film had a bumper opening and was declared success in one week. He then appeared in director Indra Kumar's ''Masti: Sanam Teri Kasam''. The movie has average performance. Then he starred in critically acclaimed movies such as ''Yuva'' (his role was appreciated), and Rituparno Ghosh's ''Raincoat''. He then had cameo appearance in ''Taarzan: The Wonder Car''.

2005 was less successful for him as he starred in a series of flop movies like ''Insan'', ''Blackmail'', ''Main Aisa Hi Hoon'', ''Tango Charlie'' and ''Shikhar'' whilst ''Kaal'' and ''Apaharan'' succeeded at the Box Office. For his performance in Apaharan the Superstar was nominated National Film Award for Best Actor and Filmfare Best Actor Award. For his villanous performance in ''Kaal'' he was nominated Filmfare Best Villain Award

2006 was a remarkable year in his career as he starred in two of his famous films ''Golmaal'' and ''Omkara''. ''Omkara'' was a critical and a commercial hit in which he was cast in the title role and ''Golmaal'' was a sleeper hit and which was later followed by two super hit sequels ''Golmaal Returns'' and ''Golmaal 3''. He is also featured in a short documentary about Mumbai floods of 2005 named ''The Awakening''.

2007 was again disappointing for him as he starred only in 2 movies, one of which was Anubhav Sinha's action thriller ''Cash'' in which he was cast along with Sunil Shetty. The movie did a below average collection at the box-office and the other was ''Ram Gopal Varma Ki Aag'' which was a remake of the 1975 classic] ''Sholay''. The film received extremely poor reception from critics, and is currently placed at number 14 on the bottom 100 movies on Imdb. The film is considered as a benchmark for bad movies.

In 2008 he worked with Rajkumar Santoshi and was cast with Pankaj Kapoor and Vidya Balan in Halla Bol. He then starred in director Rohit Shetty's third film ''Sunday'', before directing his first movie with wife Kajol and himself in lead roles. The film, titled ''U, Me aur Hum'', was an average success. He also had a cameo appearance in his brother Anil Devgan's film ''Haal–e–dil''. He starred with long-time friend Sanjay Dutt and actress Manisha Koirala in Afzal Khan's ''Mehbooba''. He then re-teamed with Rohit Shetty for the sequel of his hit film ''Golmaal: Fun Unlimited'', ''Golmaal Returns'' which was a blockbuster hit.

In 2009 he produced his third film ''All the Best'' also directed by Rohit Shetty. The film did good business and was a semi-hit. Later in the year he starred in Vipul Shah's ''London Dreams'' with Salman Khan and Tamil film star Asin. The film did not succeed and was declared a flop.

2010s

In the beginning of 2010 he worked with actors Amitabh Bachchan and Ben Kingsley in Leena Yadav's ''Teen Patti''. He starred in the comedy ''Atithi Tum Kab Jaoge?'' alongside Paresh Rawal and Konkona Sen Sharma which was a success. He followed this with Prakash Jha's ''Raajneeti'' and Milan Luthria's ''Once Upon a Time in Mumbai''. Both movies were among the top grossers of 2010. Then he worked alongside Akshaye Khanna in Priyadarshan's rough adaptation of ''Mississippi Burning'', ''Aakrosh''. He again teamed up with Rohit Shetty for ''Golmaal 3''. The movie was a super hit and the fourth highest grossing movie in Bollywood history as it received mixed to good reviews. Then he starred in the animated film ''Toonpur Ka Super Hero''. In 2011 he again teamed up with Emraan Hashmi in Madhur Bhandarkar's comedy ''Dil Toh Baccha Hai Ji'' which also starred Omi Vaidya and the film became a moderate success. He was a narrator in ''Yamla Pagla Deewana''. He also did a cameo role in the 2011 Salman Khan-starrer ''Ready''. Devgn's next film, ''Singham'', proved to be a milestone for him. The film grossed 100 crores net in India, making it the 7th film to do so. His latest film is ''Rascals'' which opened to mainly negative reviews, and was a box office flop. Devgn also established his own production house in his name, ''Ajay Devgn Films''.

Awards and honours

Among other awards and nominations, Devgan has won two National Film Awards and three Filmfare Awards.

Filmography

Actor

''Jigar'' ''Dil Hai Betaab'' ''Divya Shakti'' ''Platform (1993 film) ''Sangram (1993 film) ''Shaktiman (1993 film) ''Ek Hi Raasta (1993 film) ''Bedardi'' ''Dhanwan (1993 film) ''Dilwale ''Kanoon'' ''Vijaypath'' ''Suhaag (1994 film) ''Naajayaz'' ''Hulchul (1995 film) ''Gundaraj'' ''Haqeeqat'' ''Jung (1996 film) ''Jaan (film) ''Diljale'' ''Itihaas (film) ''Ishq (1997 film) ''Major Saab'' ''Pyaar To Hona Hi Tha'' ''Sar Utha Ke Jiyo (film) ''Zakhm'' ''Dil Kya Kare'' ''Kachche Dhaage'' ''Hogi Pyaar Ki Jeet'' ''Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam'' ''Hindustan Ki Kasam (1999 film) ''Gair'' ''Thakshak'' ''Deewane'' ''Raju Chacha'' ''Yeh Raaste Hain Pyaar Ke'' ''Lajja (film) ''Tera Mera Saath Rahen'' ''Company (film) ''Hum Kisi Se Kum Nahin'' ''The Legend of Bhagat Singh'' ''Deewangee'' ''Bhoot'' ''Qayamat: City Under Threat'' ''Chori Chori (2003 film) ''Gangaajal'' ''Parwana (2003 film) ''Zameen (2003 film) ''LOC Kargil'' ''Khakee'' ''Masti (2004 film) ''Yuva'' ''Taarzan: The Wonder Car'' ''Raincoat (film) ''Insan'' ''Blackmail (2005 film) ''Zameer: The Fire Within'' ''Tango Charlie'' ''Kaal'' ''Main Aisa Hi Hoon'' ''Apaharan'' ''Shikhar (film) ''Dharti Kahe Pukar Ke (2006 film) ''Golmaal: Fun Unlimited'' ''Omkara (film) ''The Awakening (2006 film) ''Cash (2007 film) ''Ram Gopal Varma Ki Aag'' ''Halla Bol (film) ''Sunday (2008 film) ''U Me Aur Hum'' ''Mehbooba (2008 film) ''Golmaal Returns'' ''All the Best: Fun Begins'' ''London Dreams'' ''Atithi Tum Kab Jaoge?'' ''Teen Patti (film) ''Raajneeti'' ''Once Upon a Time in Mumbaai'' ''Aakrosh (2010 film) ''Golmaal 3'' ''Toonpur Ka Super Hero'' ''Dil Toh Baccha Hai Ji'' ''Yamla Pagla Deewana'' ''Ready (2011 film) ''Singham'' ''Rascals (film) ''Tezz'' ''Bol Bachchan'' ''Power (2012 film) ''S.O.S.-Son Of Sardar'' ''Singham 2''

Year !! Film !! Role !! class="unsortable"	Notes
1991	''Phool Aur Kaante''	Ajay
1992	|	Raj "Raju" Verma
1993	|	Ajay
1993	|	Prashant Varma
1993	Platform'' ||	Rajoo
1993	Sangram'' ||	Raja S. Singh Kanwar
1993	Shaktiman'' ||	Amar
1993	Ek Hi Raasta'' ||	Karan Singh
1993	|	Vijay Saxena
1993	Dhanwaan'' ||	Kashinath
1994	|	Arun Saxena
1994	|	Vishal
1994	|	Karan
1994	Suhaag'' ||	Ajay R. Sharma/Malhotra
1995	|	Jay Bakshi	Nominated—Filmfare Award for Best Actor
1995	Hulchul'' ||	Deva
1995	|	Ajay Chauvan
1995	|	Shiva/Ajay
1996	Jung'' ||	Ajay Bahadur Saxena
1996	Jaan'' ||	Karan
1996	|	Shyam
1997	Itihaas'' ||	Karan
1997	Ishq'' ||	Ajay Rai
1998	|	Virendra Pratap Singh
1998	|	Shekhar
1998	Sar Utha Ke Jiyo'' ||		Special appearance
1998	|	Ajay R. Desai	National Film Award for Best ActorNominated—Filmfare Award for Best Actor
1999	|	Anand Kishore
1999	|	Aftab
1999	|	Raju
1999	|	Vanraj	Nominated—Filmfare Award for Best Actor
1999	Hindustan Ki Kasam'' ||	Ajay/Tauheed
1999	|	Vijay Kumar/Dev
1999	|	Ishaan Singh
2000	|	Vishal/Arun
2000	|	Shekhar/Raju Chacha
2001	|	Vicky/Rohit Verma
2001	Lajja'' ||	Bulwa	Nominated—Filmfare Best Supporting Actor Award
2001	|	Raj Dixit
2002	Company'' ||	Malik	Filmfare Critics Award for Best ActorNominated—Filmfare Award for Best Actor
2002	|	Raja
2002	|	Sardar Bhagat Singh	Filmfare Critics Award for Best ActorNational Film Award for Best Actor
2002	|	Tarang Bharadwaj	Filmfare Best Villain Award
2003	|	Vishal
2003	|	Rachit
2003	Chori Chori'' ||	Ranbir Malhotra
2003	|	S.P. Amit Kumar	Nominated—Filmfare Award for Best Actor
2003	Parwana'' ||	Parwana
2003	Zameen'' ||	Col. Ranveer Ranawat
2003	|	Capt. Manoj Pandey
2004	|	Yashwant Angre	Nominated—Filmfare Best Villain Award
2004	Masti'' ||	Inspector Sikander
2004	|	Michael Mukherjee
2004	|	Deven Chaudhary	Cameo
2004	Raincoat'' ||	Manoj
2005	|	DCP Jai Prakash Phaswan
2005	Blackmail'' ||	Shekhar Mohan
2005	|	Suraj Chauhan
2005	|	Havaldar Mohammed Ali
2005	|	Kali Pratap Singh	Nominated—Filmfare Best Villain Award
2005	|	Neel
2005	|	Ajay Shastri	Nominated—Filmfare Award for Best Actor
2005	Shikhar'' ||	Gaurav Gupta
2006	Dharti Kahe Pukar Ke'' ||	SP Kunal Singh	Bhojpuri Film
2006	|	Gopal
2006	Omkara'' ||	Omkara "Omi" Shukla
2006	The Awakening'' ||		Short Film
2007	Cash'' ||	Karan/Doc
2007	|	Hirendra Chavan (Heero)
2008	Halla Bol'' ||	Ashfaq Khan/Sameer Khan
2008	Sunday'' ||	ACP Rajveer Randhawa
2008	|	Ajay Malhotra
2008	Mehbooba'' ||	Karan
2008	|	Gopal
2009	|	Prem Chopra
2009	|	Arjun
2010	|	Puneet
2010	Teen Patti ||	Sunny	Special appearance
2010	|	Sooraj
2010	|	Sultan Mirza	Nominated—Filmfare Award for Best Actor
2010	Aakrosh'' ||	Pratap Kumar
2010	|	Gopal
2010	|	Aditya
2011	|	Naren
2011	|	Narrator
2011	Ready'' ||	Raju	Cameo appearance
2011	|	Bajirao Singham	Nominated—Filmfare Award for Best Actor
2011	Rascals'' ||	Bhagat
2012	|	Aakash Rehna
2012	|		Filming
2012	Power ||		Filming
2013	|		Filming
2013	|	Bajirao Singham	Pre-Production

Producer

Year !! Film !! Other notes
2000	''Raju Chacha''
2008	''U Me Aur Hum''
		2009	''All the Best: Fun Begins''
2012	''Bol Bachchan''
2013	''S.O.S.-Son Of Sardar''

Director

Year !! Film !! Other notes
2008	''U Me Aur Hum''

References

External links

Ajay Devgn's Official Site

Category:Indian actors Category:Indian film actors Category:1969 births Category:Living people Category:National Film Award winners Category:Filmfare Awards winners Category:People from Delhi Category:Indian film producers Category:Indian film directors Category:Hindi-language film directors Category:Hindi film actors Category:Punjabi people Category:People from Mumbai Category:Mithibai College alumni

de:Ajay Devgan es:Ajay Devgan fr:Ajay Devgan hi:अजय देवगन it:Ajay Devgn kn:ಅಜಯ್ ದೇವ್ ಗನ್ ml:അജയ് ദേവഗൺ mr:अजय देवगण pl:Ajay Devgan ru:Девган, Аджай so:Ajay Devgan fi:Ajay Devgan sv:Ajay Devgan ta:அஜய் தேவ்கான் tg:Аҷай Девган tr:Ajay Devgan

name	Akshaye Khanna
birth date	March 28, 1975
birth place	Mumbai, Maharashtra, India
yearsactive	1997–present
occupation	Actor

Akshaye Khanna () (born 28 March 1975) is an Indian film actor who works in Hindi cinema.

Background

Akshaye Khanna was born in Mumbai in 1975. He is the middle son of Bollywood actor and politician Vinod Khanna, and the younger brother of actor Rahul Khanna.

Career

After studying in Kishore Namit Kapoor Acting Institute in Mumbai, Khanna made his acting debut in Bollywood in 1997 with the movie ''Himalay Putra'', which went without much success at box office. His performance in his next release, J. P. Dutta-directed ''Border'' (1997), earned him the Filmfare Best Debut Award and a nomination for Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actor in 1998. After that a string of unsuccessful films followed such as ''Mohabbat'' (1997), ''Kudrat'' (1998), ''Laawaris'' (1999), ''Love You Hamesha'' (1999) and ''Dahek: A Burning Passion'' (1999).

In 1999, he starred in Rishi Kapoor's ''Aa Ab Laut Chalen''; though the film did average business, he was praised for his acting in this film. He next starred in the 1999 release of Subhash Ghai's ''Taal'' opposite Aishwarya Rai. The film became a critical and commercial success.

In 2001, Khanna appeared in Farhan Akhtar's cult classic ''Dil Chahta Hai'' which turned out to be a turning point in his career; the film was a commercial and critical success and Khanna's performance was particularly applauded, later validated by first Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actor in 2002. Also, the film launched both Akshaye Khanna and Saif Ali Khan's careers. In 2002, Khanna appeared in a Abbas-Mustan thriller ''Humraaz''; his role as a convincing con-artist in this film earned him much critical acclaim, and a nomination for a Filmfare Award for Best Performance in a Negative Role. Khanna then plunged into the comedy genre with Priyadarshan’s ''Hungama'' (2002) and ''Hulchul'' (2004) that became box office hits.

After acting in a string of unsuccessful and lukewarm box-office films like ''Shaadi Se Pehle'' (2006), ''Aap Ki Khatir'' (2006), ''Salaam-e-Ishq: A Tribute to Love'' (2007), ''Mere Baap Pehle Aap'' (2008), ''Gandhi, My Father'' (2007), and ''Naqaab'' (2007), Khanna appeared in the 2008 release ''Race''. The Abbas-Mustan’s thriller was the fourth highest-grossing Bollywood film in 2008 and Khanna's performance in a negative role brought him couple of awards in the Best Villain category. However, Khanna’s portrayal of Harilal Gandhi, Mahatma Gandhi's eldest son, in the critically acclaimed 2007 film ''Gandhi, My Father'' that is unanimously acknowledged his best performance yet as an actor.

In 2010, he starred in Anees Bazmee's ''No Problem'', co-starring with Sanjay Dutt, Anil Kapoor and Kangna Ranaut. His later releases did not fare well at the box office but his performances in ''Aakrosh'' (2010) and ''Tees Maar Khan'' (2010) were well-received by critics and audiences alike.

Awards and nominations

Filmfare Award for Best Male Debut Filmfare Awards Screen Awards Filmfare Awards Screen Awards Screen Awards Zee Cine Awards Screen Awards Filmfare Awards Screen Awards Zee Cine Awards IIFA Awards Australian Indian Film Festival Screen Awards Screen Awards IIFA Awards

Year !! Award !! Category !! Film !! Result
1998	Filmfare Awards	Best Debut - Male ||	Border (1997 film)>Border''
1998	|	Filmfare Best Supporting Actor Award>Best Supporting Actor	''Border''
1998	|	Star Screen Award Most Promising Newcomer - Male>Most promising Newcomer - Male	''Himalay Putra''
2002	|	Best Supporting Actor	''Dil Chahta Hai''
2002	|	Special Jury Award	''Dil Chahta Hai''
2002	|	Star Screen Award Best Supporting Actor>Best Supporting Actor	''Dil Chahta Hai''
2002	|	Zee Cine Award Best Actor in a Supporting Role- Male>Best Supporting Actor - Male	''Dil Chahta Hai''
2003	|	Star Screen Award Best Actor>Best Actor	''Deewangee''
2003	|	Filmfare Award for Best Performance in a Negative Role>Best Negative Role	''Humraaz''
2003	|	Star Screen Award Best Villain>Best Villain	''Humraaz''
2003	|	Zee Cine Award for Best Actor in a Negative Role>Best Actor in Negative Role	''Humraaz''
2003	|	IIFA Best Villain Award>Best Villain	''Humraaz''
2007	|	Best Performance Award	''Gandhi, My Father''
2007	|	Star Screen Award Best Actor>Best Actor	''Gandhi, My Father''
2009	|	Star Screen Award Best Villain>Best Villain	Race (2008 film)>Race''
2009	|	Best Villain	''Race''

Filmography

''Doli Saja Ke Rakhna'' ''Aa Ab Laut Chalen'' ''Dil Chahta Hai'' ''Humraaz'' ''Hungama'' ''Deewaar (2004 film) ''Shaadi Se Pehle'' ''Salaam-e-Ishq: A Tribute to Love'' ''Race (2008 film) ''Luck by Chance'' ''Aakrosh (2010 film) ''Delhi Safari'' ''Gali Gali Chor Hai''

Year !! Film !! Role !! Notes
rowspan="4"	1997	''Himalay Putra''	Abhay
''Border (1997 film)	Border''	Dharamvir
''Mohabbat (1997 film)	Mohabbat''	Rohit Malhotra/Tony Braganza
''Bhai Bhai''
rowspan="2"	1998	|	Inderjit Bansal
''Kudrat''	Vijay
rowspan="4"	1999	|	Rohan Khanna
''Laawaris (1999 film)	Laawaris''	Captain Dada/Vijay
''Taal (film)	Taal''	Manav Mehta
''Dahek''	Sameer B. Roshan
rowspan="2"	2001	|	Siddharth Sinha	Winner, Filmfare Best Supporting Actor Award
''Love You Hamesha''	Shaurat
rowspan="3"	2002	|	Karan Malhotra	Nominated, Filmfare Best Villain Award
''Deewangee''	Raj Goyal
''Bollywood/Hollywood''	Himself
rowspan="3"	2003	|	Jeetu
''LOC Kargil''	Lt. Balwan Singh, 18 Grenadiers
''Border Hindustan Ka''	Mobarak
rowspan="2"	2004	Deewaar'' ||	Gaurang Kaul
''Hulchul (2004 film)	Hulchul''	Jai A. Chand
rowspan="3"	2006	|	Ashish Khanna
''36 China Town''	Chief Police Inspector Karan
''Aap Ki Khatir (2006 film)	Aap Ki Khatir''	Aman Mehra
rowspan="4"	2007	|	Shiven Dungarpur
''Naqaab''	Vicky Malhotra
''Gandhi, My Father''	Harilal Gandhi
''Aaja Nachle''	MP/ Raja Uday Singh
rowspan="2"	2008	Race'' ||	Rajiv Singh
''Mere Baap Pehle Aap''	Gaurav J. Rane
rowspan="2"	2009	|	Himself	Cameo
''Shortkut - The Con is On''	Shekhar Giriraj
rowspan="3"	2010	Aakrosh'' ||	Siddhant Chaturvedi
''No Problem (film)	No Problem''	Raj Ambani
''Tees Maar Khan''	Aatish Kapoor
rowspan="1"	2011	|	Alex (voice)	3D Animation film
rowspan="2"	2012	|	Bharat

References

External links

Category:1975 births Category:Indian film actors Category:Living people Category:Indian actors Category:Indian voice actors Category:People from Mumbai Category:Filmfare Awards winners Category:Hindi film actors

ar:أكشاي خانا de:Akshaye Khanna fr:Akshaye Khanna hi:अक्षय खन्ना it:Akshaye Khanna ml:അക്ഷയ് ഖന്ന mr:अक्षय खन्ना pl:Akshaye Khanna ta:அக்சய் கண்ணா zh:阿克夏·卡納

name	Bipasha Basu
birth date	January 07, 1979
birth place	New Delhi, Delhi, India
yearsactive	2001–present
domesticpartner	Dino Morea (1996–2002) John Abraham (2002–2011) Rana Daggubati (2012 - Present)
occupation	Film actress, model
website	BipashaBasunet.com
signature	BipashaBasu Autograph.jpg ‎ }}

Bipasha Basu (, ; born 7 January 1979) is an Indian actress who appears in Hindi language films. She has also worked in Telugu, Bengali and Tamil language films. She is a former model who had a successful modeling career before venturing into films.

She debuted in a negative role in ''Ajnabee'' (2001) which earned her the Filmfare Award for Best Female Debut. Her first commercial success was ''Raaz'' (2002). She was then noticed for her bold role in the erotic thriller film, ''Jism'' (2003). She starred in top grossing films like 2005's biggest hit – ''No Entry'', ''Phir Hera Pheri'' (2006), ''Dhoom 2'' (2006) – her biggest commercial success till date and ''Race'' (2008). Her performances in ''Apharan'' (2005), ''Corporate'' (2006), ''Bachna Ae Haseeno'' (2008) and ''Lamhaa'' (2010) won her multiple nominations for several awards. She is frequented in the media as a "sex symbol".

She has been nominated for the Filmfare Award for Best Actress and the Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actress twice each along with one nomination for the Filmfare Award for Best Performance in a Negative Role. Roles apart, she is also renowned for her item songs like "Phoonk De" in ''No Smoking'' (2007), and "Beedi" and "Namak Ishq Ka" in ''Omkara'' (2006). Basu is slated to make her international film debut with the 2012 Australian film ''Singularity''.

Early life and modeling career

Basu was born in Delhi to a Bengali Hindu family. She is the second of three sisters, the elder one being Bidisha and the younger one, Bijayeta. She lived in Delhi till the age of eight in Pampoosh Enclave, Nehru Place and studied at Apeejay High School. Her family then moved to Kolkata where she studied science till 12th standard at Bhavan's Gangabux Kanoria Vidyamandir. Basu, who describes herself as a tomboy, was pampered as a kid and was very naughty. She was fondly called 'Lady Don' in her school as everyone was scared of her and she was short and round.

Basu moved to the commerce stream after 10th standard, studying at Bhawanipur Education Society College in preparation for the 12th standard board exams. At this time, she began doing ramp shows and modeling part-time. In 1996, she won both the Godrej Cinthol Supermodel Contest and the Ford Models Supermodel of the World contest. Basu was flown to New York by the Ford Company and began her successful modelling career at the age of 17. She then appeared in the Calida commercial along with her then-boyfriend Dino Morea which was controversial for picturising them sultrily. She had some protesters outside her house after that. She has appeared on over 40 magazine covers.

Acting career

Debut and Breakthrough (2001–02)

One of the judges of the Godrej Cinthol Supermodel Contest in which Basu participated, Vinod Khanna, wanted to launch her alongside his son Akshaye Khanna in ''Himalay Putra'', but she felt she was too young and declined the role which eventually went to Anjala Zaveri. After returning home, she was convinced by another judge, Jaya Bachchan, to play the role of a village belle opposite her son Abhishek Bachchan in J. P. Dutta’s ''Aakhari Mughal''. However the film was cancelled, and Dutta instead changed the script and made ''Refugee'' with Kareena Kapoor. Basu was also offered a role in ''Refugee'' opposite Sunil Shetty, which she declined.

In 2001, Basu finally made her debut opposite Akshay Kumar in Vijay Galani’s ''Ajnabee''. The film, directed by Abbas-Mustan, was inspired by the American film ''Consenting Adults''. It was a moderate box-office success and attracted unfavorable reviews from critics. However, Basu’s performance in a negative role was appreciated by critics and won her the Filmfare Award for Best Female Debut.

In 2002, Basu starred in the year’s most successful thriller, ''Raaz''. Directed by Vikram Bhatt, the film established Basu in the Hindi film industry. Her portrayal of a woman who is pursued by a spirit received positive reviews. One review in The Tribune noted, "...it is Bipasha Basu who steals the show with her fine performance." She was nominated for the Filmfare Award for Best Actress for ''Raaz''. She then appeared in supporting roles in Sanjay Gadhvi’s ''Mere Yaar Ki Shaadi Hai'' and David Dhawan’s ''Chor Machaaye Shor'', both of which failed critically and commercially. She also appeared in a supporting role opposite Mahesh Babu and Lisa Ray in the Telugu film, ''Takkari Donga'' as a mischievous thief, Panasa. ''Gunaah'', which released later that year, was also a box-office failure. She played the role of a cop who loves a convict and tries to reform him. Derek Elley of ''Variety'' observed that Basu was a miscast as the "idealistic cop".

Initial success and struggle phase (2003–05)

In 2003, Basu starred in Pooja Bhatt’s thriller, ''Jism'', which was well received by critics and fared well at the box office. She essayed the role of seductive, ambitious wife of a millionaire who indulges in an extra-marital affair with an alcoholic lawyer and plots to kill her husband. The film ranked 92 in the top 100 sexiest movie scenes poll conducted by Channel 4. Film critic Taran Adarsh of Bollywood Hungama commented, "...the real show stealer is Bipasha Basu ; her sexy look and seductive deep voice, in contrast with her cold and calculating personality, makes her the most impressive femme fatale since Zeenat Aman and Parveen Babi." She received a Filmfare Best Villain Award nomination for ''Jism''. Her next release, ''Zameen'', failed to make impact among audience.

Basu had four releases in 2004, all of which performed moderately and drew mixed reviews. She collaborated for the second time with Vikram Bhatt in her first release ''Aetbaar''. She played the role of a young girl who falls in love with a psychopath. Rediff.com noted that "...The characters are not convincing, the plot is not fast-paced or interesting." Her next film was Mani Shankar’s ''Rudraksh'' which was based on the Indian epic ''Ramayana''. The film was a disaster at the box-office and was panned by the critics. She then starred in ''Rakht'' as a tarot card reader trying to solve a murder mystery. Critic Shruti Bhasin of Planetbollywood wrote, "Bipasha Basu impresses in a different look and role." Her final release that year was Anil Sharma’s ''Madhoshi'' opposite John Abraham. Her performance of a mentally unstable girl was generally well received.

In 2005, she appeared in the love triangle ''Barsaat'' alongside Bobby Deol and Priyanka Chopra. Taran Adarsh commented, "...As an actor, she [Bipasha Basu] does show sparks only towards the end." She also starred in the Tamil film, ''Sachein'' which was a hit and then in Prakash Jha’s ''Apaharan'', which won the National Film Award for Best Screenplay. In this period, she refused to act in art-films due to salary problems. Besides acting, Basu did the video "Tu" for Sonu Nigam's album, ''Kismat''. She made a guest appearance in Jay Sean's music video ''Stolen''.

Success (2005–2009)

After a slow start, Basu established herself as a successful actress with the success of ''No Entry'', ''Corporate'' and ''Dhoom 2''. ''No Entry'' grossed 71 crore at the box-office and was the highest grossing film of 2005. Basu essayed the role of a bargirl who acts as wife of two men. She earned Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actress nomination for the film. 2006 was equally successful for her with her four major releases, ''Phir Hera Pheri'', ''Corporate'', ''Omkara'' and ''Dhoom 2'', performing well critically and commercially. ''Phir Hera Pheri'' became the ninth highest grossing film of the year. She was featured in a bit but significant role of a con woman who steals a sum of 10 million from the protagonists. In Madhur Bhandarkar’s ''Corporate'', she gave up her glamorous look for the role of a businesswoman who has no qualms in taking advantage of her sexuality to con the CEO of a rival company. She won accolades from critics for her performance. Critic Aparna wrote, "[...] she has done a fabulous job as an ambitious woman. The kind of shrewdness in a woman that she essays has never been seen before in India films." She was nominated for the second time for Filmfare Best Actress Award.

In Vishal Bharadwaj’s adaptation of Othello, ''Omkara'', Basu essayed the role of Bianca. She caught the attention of public with her dance number ''Beedi'' which was highly popular in India and overseas. Critic Rajeev Masand of CNN-IBN wrote, "...Bipasha Basu is brought in to lend oomph and she succeeds in doing just that." Basu became the talk of the town for donning a bikini in Aditya Chopra’s ''Dhoom 2''. She reportedly ate only oranges for three days and trained hard to shoot the scene. Nikhat Kazmi of The Times of India commented, "Aah Bipasha! Looks great, brings back the bikini to Bollywood, and gently slips into the shadows as a pretty accessory."

In 2007, Ronnie Screwvala’s ''Dhan Dhana Dhan Goal'' performed below average at the box-office. The song picturised on John Abraham and Basu, "Billo Rani", became quite popular and earned her the nickname "Billo Rani", though equal credit must be given to ''Omkara'' in which her name was Billo Chanambahar. In 2008, she teamed up once again with Abbas-Mustan for ''Race''. She played the role of Sonia who is stuck in a love-triangle between two brothers (played by Saif Ali Khan and Akshaye Khanna) and through the course, she murders one of them. The film grossed 68 crores at the box office and was the fourth-biggest hit that year in India and performed good enough overseas as well. Her performance was appreciated by critics with Taran Adarsh citing it as "her best work so far. She’s superb". Basu’s work in Siddharth Anand’s ''Bachna Ae Haseeno'' as a successful supermodel who finds it hard to forgive her ex-lover for betraying her earned her a second nomination for Filmfare Best Supporting Actress Award. She completed 2008 by appearing during the song "Phir Milenge Chalte Chalte" in ''Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi''.

Her first release in 2009, ''Aa Dekhen Zara'' failed to do well at the box-office. Rohit Shetty’s ''All The Best: Fun Begins'' performed well and her comic role was appreciated by fans. Later that year, Basu surprised everybody with Rituparno Ghosh’s Bengali film, ''Shob Charitro Kalponik''. "I love saris and I'm wearing a lot of them in Ritu's film," she said. She gave up her glamorous look and was praised by critics for her performance. Critic Subhash K Jha spoke high of her. He said, "...Bipasha [Basu] pulls out all stops to deliver her career’s best performance. Her moments of anguish before and after her screen-husband’s death are expressed in tones of cathartic conviction that we never knew existed within Bipasha." He also compared her with the multiple award winning actress, Shabana Azmi, commenting that Basu’s anguished portrayal of bereavement can be equaled by Azmi only.

Recent Work (2010–present)

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With the 2010 film Pankh, Basu returned with her alluring image as an imaginary character who exists in the protagonist’s mind. She was then featured as a Kashmiri girl in Rahul Dholakia’s ''Lamhaa'' which explored socio-political problems in Kashmir. Principal photography of Lamhaa was disrupted many times by the locals in Kashmir due to the controversial theme. During the shooting of ''Lamhaa'', she left the sets at Anantnag and headed back to Mumbai citing she was afraid of the crowd there. Producer Bunty Walia thought of replacing her with Vidya Balan but she returned for the shoot later with necessary security arrangements. NDTV Movies wrote, "Bipasha sinks herself into her character imparting a dramatic resonance into the role without resorting to stock expressions. The sequence where she gets mauled by militant women is as traumatic to watch as it must have been for Bipasha to shoot." Basu then appeared as the wife of a ruthless cop in Priyadarshan’s ''Aakrosh'' who helps the police with investigation on honor killings in their village. She met with mixed reviews for the film. Nikhat Kazmi of Times of India commented, "Bipasha actually doesn't have much to do and does seem to be miscast as the much-abused, bruised and battered wife of Paresh Rawal."

Her only release in 2011 was ''Dum Maaro Dum'' which performed reasonably well at the box-office and met with good reviews from critics. Talking of the film, she said, "My next release is DMD [''Dum Maaro Dum''], in which I play a lively, colourful, happy-go-lucky girl called Zoey, who is the representation of Goa as we see it." Basu collaborated with Abbas-Mustan for the third time in ''Players'' which became the first release of 2012. The film was an official remake of ''The Italian Job''. ''Players'' was heavily compared to ''The Italian Job'' and was criticized for its execution and performances, including that of Basu. She made her English language debut with Roland Joffé’s epic drama ''Singularity'' which will be premiered at the Cannes Film Festival in May 2012. She plays the role of a Maratha warrior Taluja Naik in the film. Basu is also signed by Vikram Bhatt for the third time for ''Raaz 3D'', the third film in the ''Raaz'' series. Principal photography of the film began in January, 2012. She will also be seen in a guest appearance reprising her role of ''Race'' in the upcoming film by Abbas-Mustan, ''Race 2''.

Personal life

Basu was in a relationship with her ''Raaz'' co-star Dino Morea since 1996 till they broke up in 2002. Soon afterwards during the filming of ''Jism'', Basu began to date her co-star John Abraham, and they were in a relationship till early 2011 when the couple officially broke off. While together, the two were often referred to as a supercouple in the Indian media. Basu has been in the limelight since her bold role in ''Jism''. She ranked 8 in Times 50 most desirable Women in 2011 and ranked 13 in 2012. UK magazine ''Eastern Eye'' named her the "Sexiest Woman in Asia" twice in 2005 and 2007.

Basu is an advocate of physical fitness. Apart from films, she released a fitness DVD called ''Love Yourself'', which emphasized on being strong, healthy, and loving one’s self. She was also the brand ambassador of Sugar Free, which helped her promoting the DVD. Hiren Gada, director of Shemaroo Entertainment said, "A celebrity like Bipasha Basu, genuinely believes in staying healthy. She is also passionate about fitness." She had previously worked on another fitness video called ''Bollywood Bodies'' with John Abraham.

Filmography

''Takkari Donga'' ''Raaz (2002 film) ''Aankhen (2002 film) ''Mere Yaar Ki Shaadi Hai'' ''Chor Machaaye Shor'' ''Gunaah (2002 film) ''Tujhe Meri Kasam'' ''Jism (film) ''Footpath (2003 film) ''Rules: Pyaar Ka Superhit Formula'' ''Zameen (film) ''Ishq Hai Tumse'' ''Aetbaar'' ''Rudraksh (film) ''Rakht'' ''Madhoshi'' ''Chehraa'' ''Sachein'' ''Viruddh... Family Comes First'' ''Barsaat (2005 film) ''No Entry'' ''Apaharan'' ''Shikhar (film) ''Hum Ko Deewana Kar Gaye'' ''Darna Zaroori Hai'' ''Phir Hera Pheri'' ''Alag'' ''Corporate (film) ''Omkara (film) ''Jaane Hoga Kya'' ''Dhoom 2'' ''Nehlle Pe Dehlla'' ''No Smoking (2007 film) ''Om Shanti Om'' ''Dhan Dhana Dhan Goal'' ''Race (2008 film) ''Bachna Ae Haseeno'' ''Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi'' ''Aa Dekhen Zara'' ''All The Best: Fun Begins'' ''Shob Charitro Kalponik'' ''Pankh (film) ''Lamhaa'' ''Aakrosh (2010 film) ''Dum Maro Dum (film) ''Players (2011 film) ''Jodi Breakers'' ''Singularity (film) ''Kyaa Super Kool Hain Hum'' ''Raaz 3D'' ''Race 2''

Year	! Film	! Role	! Notes
2001	Ajnabee (2001 film)>Ajnabee''	Sonia/Neeta
2002	|	Panasa	Telugu language>Telugu film
2002	Raaz'' ||	Sanjana Dhanraj	Nominated—Filmfare Award for Best Actress
2002	Aankhen'' ||	Raina
2002	|	Ria
2002	|	Ranjita
2002	Gunaah'' ||	Prabha Narayan
2003	|	Herself	Special appearance
2003	Jism'' ||	Sonia Khanna	Nominated—Filmfare Award for Best Performance in a Negative Role
2003	Footpath'' ||	Sanjana Rai Shingla Khan
2003	|		Special appearance
2003	Zameen'' ||	Nandini
2004	|	Kushboo
2004	|	Ria Malhotra
2004	Rudraksh'' ||	Gayetri
2004	|	Drishti
2004	|	Anupama Kaul
2005	|	Megha
2005	|	Manju	Tamil language>Tamil film
2005	|		Special appearance
2005	Barsaat'' ||	Anna
2005	|	Bobby	Nominated—Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actress
2005	|	Megha
2005	Shikhar'' ||	Natasha
2006	|	Sonia Berry
2006	|	Varsha
2006	|	Anuradha
2006	|		Special appearance in song "Sabse Alag"
2006	Corporate'' ||	Nishigandha Dasgupta	Nominated—Filmfare Award for Best Actress
2006	Omkara'' ||	Billo Chamanbahar
2006	|	Aditi
2006	|	ACP Shonali Bose/ Monali Bose
2007	|	Pooja
2007	No Smoking'' ||		Special appearance in song "Phoonk De"
2007	|	Herself	Special appearance
2007	|	Rumana
2008	Race'' ||	Sonia
2008	|	Radhika/Shreya Rathod	Nominated—Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actress
2008	|		Special appearance in song "Phir Milenge Chalte Chalte"
2009	|	Simi Chatterjee
2009	|	Jhanvi Chopra
2009	|	Radhika	Bengali language>Bengali film
2010	Pankh'' ||	Nandini (Alter-ego)
2010	|	Aziza
2010	Aakrosh'' ||	Geeta
2011	Dum Maro Dum'' ||	Zoey
2012	Players'' ||	Riya
2012	|	Sonali Agnihotri
2012	Singularity'' ||	Tulaja Naik	English film
2012	|		Filming
2012	|	Shanaya	Filming
2012	|	Sonia	Guest appearance

See also

List of Indian film actresses

References

External links

Category:1979 births Category:Living people Category:Indian film actors Category:Bengali people Category:Bengali actors Basu,Bipasha Category:Indian female models Category:Apeejay School alumni Category:Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan schools alumni Category:Bhawanipur Education Society College alumni Category:Hindi film actors Category:Indian Hindus Category:People from Kolkata Category:Filmfare Awards winners Category:People from Mumbai

bn:বিপাশা বসু de:Bipasha Basu el:Μπιπάσα Μπάσου es:Bipasha Basu fr:Bipasha Basu hi:बिपाशा बसु it:Bipasha Basu jv:Bipasha Basu kn:ಬಿಪಾಶಾ ಬಸು ml:ബിപാഷ ബസു mr:बिपाशा बासू nl:Bipasha Basu ja:ビパシャ・バスー pl:Bipasha Basu pt:Bipasha Basu ru:Бипаша Басу simple:Bipasha Basu fi:Bipasha Basu sv:Bipasha Basu ta:பிபாசா பாசு uk:Біпаша Басу wuu:Bipasha Basu zh:比帕莎·巴蘇

name	Juhi Chawla
birth date	November 13, 1967
birth place	Ludhiana, Punjab, India
yearsactive	1986–present
spouse	Jay Mehta (1997–present)
occupation	Film actress, producer, television presenter
birth name	Juhi Chawla }}

Juhi Chawla ( born 13 November 1967) is an Indian actress, film producer and television presenter.

After being crowned as the winner of the Miss India beauty contest in 1984, Chawla pursued an acting career. She went on to become one of the top leading actresses of Bollywood and starred in films ranging from the romances ''Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak'' (1988) and ''Darr'' (1993) to ''Hum Hain Rahi Pyar Ke'' (1993), which earned her the Filmfare Best Actress Award, to ''Yes Boss'' (1997) and ''Ishq'' (1997). Chawla has been mostly recognised for her comic timing in films as well as her vivacious screen persona.

During the 2000s, after having starred in over 70 mainstream Hindi films, Chawla started acting in art and independent films. She appeared in films in her native tongue of Punjabi, and has been mostly working in parallel cinema. She gained critical recognition for her performances in films like ''Jhankaar Beats'' (2003), ''3 Deewarein'' (2003), ''My Brother Nikhil'' (2005), ''Bas Ek Pal'' (2006) and ''I Am'' (2011). Since 2000, Chawla branched out into film production and television presenting as well.

Early life and background

Juhi Chawla was born in Ambala, Haryana, India. She is the first child born to Dr. S. Chawla and Mona Chawla.

She completed her schooling from Ludhiana before the family moved over to Mumbai. She graduated from Sydenham College, Mumbai with a specialisation in HR. She was the winner of Miss India title in 1984; later she won Best Costume Award for the Miss Universe contest in 1984. She is also a very good dancer. In a Baaje Payal (a film based on a collection of interviews for dancers/actresses) interview, she mentioned having learnt Kathak for three (3) years and regretted giving it up as it could have helped her in her career as an actress. She is also an accomplished classical singer and has been training for the last 6 years.

Career

Film

1980s

Chawla ventured into films with the 1986 ''Sultanat''. She also acted in Kannada classic Premaloka directed by Ravichandran in 1987. Her first major role in Bollywood was in ''Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak'' in 1988, in which she starred with Aamir Khan. The film, a modern-day adaption of Shakespeare's ''Romeo and Juliet'', became both a major critical and commercial success. It won the Filmfare Best Movie Award, and Chawla won the Filmfare Lux New Face Award and received her first nomination for Filmfare Best Actress Award. The film subsequently received classic status.

1990s

In 1990, she starred in such films as ''Pratibandh'', which was a box office success and for which she was nominated the Filmfare Best Actress Award, and ''Swarg''. In 1992, she was nominated for a Filmfare for ''Bol Radha Bol'' which performed well commercially.

In 1993 she starred in the moderately successful project ''Aaina'', and ''Lootere'' opposite Sunny Deol and Mahesh Bhatt's hit ''Hum Hain Rahi Pyaar Ke''. She followed it with a leading role in Yash Chopra's thriller ''Darr'', which went on to become the third top-grossing film of the year in India. She won the Filmfare Best Actress Award for her performance in ''Hum Hain Rahi Pyar Ke''. Most of Chawla's films of 1994–6 were unsuccessful, though she received a Filmfare nomination for her performance as a battered wife in ''Daraar''. She had a revival in 1997 with such romantic comedies as ''Yes Boss'', ''Deewana Mastana'' and ''Ishq''. ''Ishq'' became one of the top-earners of the year, and Chawla received her sixth Filmfare nomination for her portrayal of a model in ''Yes Boss''.

Chawla's pairing with Aamir Khan and their on-screen chemistry was often cited by the media as successful. She has also teamed up with Shahrukh Khan in several movies, including ''Raju Ban Gaya Gentleman'', ''Darr'', ''Duuplicate'' and ''Yes Boss''.

2000s

Through the 2000s, Chawla started appearing in independent and art films, and her work in the genre included the critically acclaimed films ''3 Deewarein'', ''7½ Phere'' and ''My Brother Nikhil'', which Taran Adarsh termed as "amongst the finest in her career" and Khalid Mohamed praised as "perfect," stating that "her effortless blend of conflicting emotions is what A-class acting is all about. Ms Chawla is a diamond in this little gem of a movie." She won a Star Screen Award for Best Supporting Actress for ''3 Deewarein''.

She was seen in Nikhil Advani's ''Salaam-e-Ishq: A Tribute To Love'' for which she received good reviews. She starred with Urmila Matondkar in ''Bas Ek Pal'' (2006) and with Manoj Bajpai in ''Swami''. Juhi's latest releases include Ravi Chopra's ''Bhoothnath'' with Amitabh Bachchan, in which she made her singing debut with the song "Chalo Jaane Do". Another film called ''Krazzy 4'' with Irfan Khan and Arshad Warsi was released in 2008. In 2009, she appeared in a guest appearance in ''Luck By Chance'' to play a comic part for which she dyed her hair blonde. The film got extremely positive reviews and has got a good opening at the box office.

Chawla has appeared in several non-Hindi language films. She has appeared in various Punjabi films: ''Shaheed Uddham Singh'' (2000), ''Des Hoyaa Pardes'' (2004), ''Waris Shah: Ishq Daa Waris'' (2006) and "Sukhmani:hope for life" (2010). Her first Malayalam film was ''Harikrishnans'', which also starred actors Mohanlal and Mammootty. In the beginning of her career she acted in Kannada films, which include the successful ''Premaloka'' and unsuccessful films like ''Shanthi Kranthi'' and ''Kindara Jogi''. She acted with popular Kannada actor Ravichandran in all these three films.

2010s

Her most recent release was Onir's critically acclaimed feature ''I Am'' (2011). Unfolded in several chapters, the film starred Chawla alongside Manisha Koirala in an episode named ''I Am Megha''. She played the title role of which film critic Taran Adarsh commented, "It's a delight to watch Juhi and Manisha, after a hiatus. Both deliver striking performances – even getting the language right." For her performance, Chawla was awarded the Best Actress award at the 13th London Asian Film Festival.

Television

During the 2000s, Chawla has also been presenter and host of numerous television shows, particularly award ceremonies, including the Filmfare Awards and the Zee Cine Awards. Chawla has been a judge for the entertainment show Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa alongside Saroj Khan and Vaibhavi Merchant during the show's third season.

Producer

Juhi later turned producer and became the co-owner of a production company called ''Dreamz Unlimited'' with Shahrukh Khan and director Aziz Mirza. The first two films produced by the production company were ''Phir Bhi Dil Hai Hindustani'' and ''Asoka''. Their third film, ''Chalte Chalte'' was the first success for the company.

Personal life

Juhi Chawla is married to industrialist Jai Mehta. The couple have two children; a daughter Jhanvi born in 2001, and a son Arjun born in 2003. Her mother died in a car accident in Prague during the shooting of the movie ''Duplicate'' in 1998. Jai Mehta and Juhi Chawla are the co-owners of the Indian Premier League team Kolkata Knight Riders in partnership with Shahrukh Khan under their company Red Chillies Entertainment.

Awards and nominations

Filmography

As actress

! Year	! Film	! Role	! Other notes
1986	''Sultanat''	Zarina
1987	''Premaloka''	Shashikala	Kannada Film
1988	''Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak''	Rashmi Singh	Filmfare Lux New Face AwardNominated—Filmfare Best Actress Award
1988	''Paruva Ragam''	Shashikala
1989	''Chandni''	Devika	Cameo
1989	''Kindari Jogi''	Ganga	Kannada Film
1989	''Vicky Dada''	Shyamalee
1989		Reema Goswami
1989		Sangeeta Kalekar
1990	''Kaafila''	Kalpana Awasti
1990	''Swarg''	Jyoti
1990	''Prathibandh''	Shanti	Nominated—Filmfare Best Actress Award
1990	''Tum Mere Ho''	Paro / Nagin
1990	''Zahreelay''
1990	''Shandaar''	Tulsi
1990		Inspector Raksha Sharma
1991	''Shanti Kranti''	Jyothi
1991	''Shanthi Kranti''	Jyothi	Kannada Film
1991	''Nattukku Oru Nallavan''	Jyothi
1991	''Benaam Badsha''	Jyoti
1991	''Karz Chukana Hai''	Radha
1991
1992	''Bol Radha Bol''	Radha	Nominated—Filmfare Best Actress Award
1992	''Radha Ka Sangam''
1992	''Raju Ban Gaya Gentleman''	Renu
1992	''Mere Sajana Saath Nibhana''
1992	''Bewafa Se Wafa''	Ruksaar
1992	''Daulat Ki Jung''	Asha Agrawal
1993	''Lootere''
1993	''Shatranj''
1993	''Izzat Ki Roti''
1993	''Pehla Nasha''
1993	''Tadipar''		Cameo
1993		Reema Mathur
1993	''Darr''	Kiran Awasti
1993	''Hum Hain Rahi Pyaar Ke''	Vyaijanti Iyer	Filmfare Best Actress Award
1993	''Kabhi Haan Kabhi Na''		Guest appearance
1994	''Eena Meena Deeka''	Meena
1994	''The Gentleman''
1994		Saraswati
1994	''Andaz Apna Apna''	Herself	Guest appearance
1994	''Ghar Ki Izzat''	Geeta
1994	''Bhagyavan''	Geeta
1994	''Pramaatma''
1994	''Saajan Ka Ghar''	Laxmi
1995	''Ram Jaane''	Bela
1995		Kajal Sahay
1995	''Naajayaz''	Inspector Sandhya
1995	''Aatank Hi Aatank''	Neha
1996	''Talaashi''
1996		Kiran Mathur
1996	''Bandish''	Kanta
1996	''Daraar''	Priya Bhatia	Nominated—Filmfare Best Actress Award
1997	''Yes Boss''	Seema Kapoor	Nominated—Filmfare Best Actress Award''
1997		Madhu
1997	''Mr. and Mrs. Khiladi''	Shalu
1997	''Deewana Mastana''	Dr Neha Sharma
1998	''Saat Rang Ke Sapne''	Jalima
1998	''Harikrishnans''	Mira Varma	Malayalam Film
1998		Sonia Kapoor
1998	''Jhooth Bole Kauwa Kaate''	Urmila Abhyankar
1999	''Safari''	Anjali Agarwal
1999	''Arjun Pandit''	Nisha Chopra
1999	''Shaheed Uddham Singh''	Noor Jehan
2000		Sanam
2000	''Karobaar: The Business of Love''	Seema Saxena
2000	''Phir Bhi Dil Hai Hindustani''	Ria Banerjee
2001	''One 2 Ka 4''	Geeta Chowdhary
2001	''Ek Rishtaa''	Priti Kapoor
2001	''Aamdani Atthani Kharcha Rupaiyaa''	Jhoomri
2003	''3 Deewarein''	Chandrika
2003	''Jhankaar Beats''	Shanti
2004	''Des Hoya Pardes''	Jassi
2005	''My Brother Nikhil''	Anamika
2005	''Paheli''	Gajrobai
2005	''Khamosh: Khauf Ki Khaufnak Raat''	Dr Sakshi Saagar
2005	''Home Delivery: Aapko... Ghar Tak''	Parvati Kakkar
2005	''7½ Phere''	Asmi Ganatra
2005	''Dosti: Friends Forever''	Aditi
2006	''Bas Ek Pal''	Ira Malhotra
2006	''Waris Shah-Ishq Da Waaris''	Bhaagbhari
2007	''Salaam-e-Ishq: A Tribute To Love''	Seema
2007		Radha
2007	''Om Shanti Om''	Herself	Special appearance in the song "Deewangi Deewangi"
2008	''Bhootnath''	Anjali Sharma
2008	''Krazzy 4''	Dr Sonali
2008	''Kismat Konnection''	Haseena Bano Jaan
2009	''Luck By Chance''	Minty
2009	''Kal Kissne Dekha''		Special appearance
2010	''Sukhmani - Hope for Life''	Kuldeep Singh's wife
2010	''Ramayana: The Epic''	Sita
2011		Megha	Nominated—Filmfare Best Supporting Actress Award
2012	''Main Krishna Hoon''
2012	''S.O.S.-Son Of Sardar''

As producer

2000 – ''Phir Bhi Dil Hai Hindustani''

2001 – ''Asoka''

2003 – ''Chalte Chalte''

See also

List of Indian film actresses

References

External links

Category:1967 births Category:Femina Miss India winners Chawla,Juhi Category:Living people Category:Miss Universe 1984 contestants Category:People from Punjab, India Category:Filmfare Awards winners Category:People from Ludhiana Category:Indian film actors Category:Hindi film actors Category:Kannada film actors Category:Indian Hindus Category:Indian Premier League franchise owners Category:Indian film producers Category:Indian television presenters Category:Punjabi people Category:People from Mumbai Category:Non Malayali actors acted in Malayalam-language films

ar:جوهي تشاولا az:Cuhi Çavla bn:জুহি চাওলা bg:Джухи Чаула da:Juhi Chawla de:Juhi Chawla es:Juhi Chawla fr:Juhi Chawla hi:जूही चावला id:Juhi Chawla it:Juhi Chawla he:ג'והי צ'אולה jv:Juhi Chawla kn:ಜೂಹಿ ಚಾವ್ಲಾ ml:ജൂഹി ചാവ്‌ല mr:जुही चावला ms:Juhi Chawla nl:Juhi Chawla ja:ジューヒー・チャーウラー ps:جوهي چاولا pl:Juhi Chawla ru:Чавла, Джухи si:ජුහි චව්ලා fi:Juhi Chawla sv:Juhi Chawla ta:ஜூஹி சாவ்லா zh:菊希·曹拉