Govind Nihalani
Born	(1940-08-19) 19 August 1940 (age 71) Karachi, British India
Occupation	Film director, film producer, screenwriter, cinematographer
Years active	1962 – present
Awards	2002 Padma Shri

Govind Nihalani (born 19 August 1940) is an Indian director, cinematographer, and also a screenwriter and film producer. He has been directing Hindi films since the late seventies, and worked in the television medium.

Biography[link]

Nihalani was born on 19 August 1940 in Karachi, Sindh province (now in Pakistan) and his family migrated to India during the partition of 1947. He started out as a cinematographer, graduating in cinematography from the Shree Jaya Chamrajendra polytechnic in Bangalore in 1962. He was an Assistant Cinematographer to the legendary V. K. Murthy.He was associated with all the earlier films of Shyam Benegal and with the cinematography of Richard Attenborough's Oscar-winning epic Gandhi. Nihalani and Benegal are well known for their socially relevant films.

His first directorial venture was Aakrosh starring Om Puri, Naseeruddin Shah, the late Smita Patil and the late Amrish Puri. This was based on a real story which was converted into a film script by the eminent Marathi playwright Vijay Tendulkar and it made a huge impact on audiences all over India. It shared the Golden Peacock for best film at the International Film Festival of India held in New Delhi in 1981. His film Ardh Satya, based on a story by S.D. Panwalkar, is still remembered by film lovers. It changed forever the way in which Indian cinema portrayed the police and it exposed in stark detail the police-politician-criminal nexus. Come 1997, and he adapted Bengali novelist, Mahasweta Devi's acclaimed novel by the same name to Hazaar Chaurasi Ki Maa ^[1]

Over the years he has directed many films which are known for the manner in which they grab the viewer's attention, and his most recent work is the 2004 film Dev.

Filmography[link]

• Aakrosh (1980) - Om Puri, Naseeruddin Shah, Smita Patil, Amrish Puri.
• Vijeta (1982) - Kunal Kapoor, Supriya Pathak, Shashi Kapoor, Rekha, Amrish Puri, Raja Bundela.
• Ardh Satya (1983) - Om Puri, Naseeruddin Shah, Smita Patil, Sadashiv Amrapurkar, Amrish Puri, Shafi Inamdar.
• Party (1984) - Rohini Hattangadi, Manohar Singh, Vijaya Metha, Om Puri, Naseeruddin Shah.
• Aghaat (1985) - Om Puri, Gopi, Naseeruddin Shah, Pankaj Kapoor.
• Tamas (1987) - TV serial based on a novel by Bhisham Sahni. Cinematography by V.K.Murthy.
• Drishti (1990) - Shekar Kapoor, Dimple Kapadia, Irfan Khan.
• Pita (1991)
• Rukmavati Ki Haweli (1991)
• Jazeere (TV series) (1991)
• Karm Yoddha (1992)
• Drohkaal (1994) - Om Puri, Naseeruddin Shah, Mita Vashishta, Annu Kapoor, Ashish Vidyarthi.
• Sanshodhan (1996)
• Kuruthipunal (Tamil) (1996) (story)
• Hazaar Chaurasi Ki Maa (1997) - Jaya Bachchan, Anupam Kher, Joy Sengupta, Nandita Sen, Seema Biswas, Milind Gunaji.
• Thakshak (2000) - Ajay Devgan, Rahul Bose, Tabu, Amrish Puri, Govind Namdeo, Nethra Raghuraman.
• Deham (2001) - Joy Sengupta, Kitu Gidwani, Surekha Sikri, Aly Khan.
• Dev (2004) - Amitabh Bachchan, Om Puri, Fardeen Khan, Kareena Kapoor, Rati Agnihotri.^[2][3]

Books[link]

• Encyclopaedia of Hindi Cinema, by Govind Nihalani, Saibal Chatterjee, Gulzar. Popular Prakashan, 2003. [1]

References[link]

1. ^ Through her writing, you get to hear the voice of a community that is otherwise voiceless' Rediff.com.
2. ^ Filmography New York Times.
3. ^ Govind Nihalani MSN Movies.

External links[link]

• Nihalani's official site.
• Govind Nihalani at the Internet Movie Database
• A discussion between Nihalani and Rakesh Sharma (September 2005)
• Nihalani speaks on Dev. Interview by Taran Adarsh in indiafm.com (9 June 2004)
• Nihalani interviewed by Saibal Chatterjee in The Hindustan Times
• Zafar Anjum interviews Nihalani at Chowk.com (16 February 2003)
• Piroj Wadia interviews Nihalani for Screen (3 May 2002)
• Manjulaa Negi profiles Nihalani in The Hindustan Times
• Dhira Singh poses 10 questions to Nihalani in Outlook (12 March 2001)
• Sharmila Taliculam interviews Nihalani for rediff.com (1 December 1999)

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Om Puri
Puri at the 2010 Toronto International Film Festival
Born	Om Rajesh Puri (1950-10-18) 18 October 1950 (age 61) Ambala, Haryana, India
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1976 – present
Spouse	Seema Kapoor (1996–2009, divorced) Nandita Puri

Om Puri (Hindi: ओम पुरी born 18 October 1950) is an Indian actor who has appeared in both mainstream Indian films and art films. His credits also include appearances in British and American films. He has received an honorary OBE.

Early life[link]

Puri was born in Ambala, Haryana. He graduated from the Film and Television Institute of India. He is also an alumnus of the 1973 class of National School of Drama where Naseeruddin Shah was a co-student.^[1]

Career[link]

Puri has worked in numerous Indian films and in many films produced in the United Kingdom and the United States. He made his film debut in the 1976 film Ghashiram Kotwal, based on a Marathi play of the same name. He has claimed that he was paid "peanuts" for his best work.^[2] He has collaborated with Amrish Puri as well as Naseeruddin Shah, Shabana Azmi and Smita Patil in art films such as Bhavni Bhavai (1980), Sadgati (1981), Ardh Satya (1982), Mirch Masala (1986) and Dharavi (1992).

He has been active in cinema. He was critically acclaimed for his performances in many unconventional roles such as a victimized tribal in Aakrosh (1980) (a film in which he spoke only during flash-back sequences); Jimmy's manager in Disco Dancer (1982); a police inspector in Ardh Satya (1982), where he revolts against life-long social, cultural and political persecution and for which he got the National Film Award for Best Actor; the leader of a cell of Sikh militants in Maachis (1996); as a tough cop again in the commercial film Gupt in 1997; and as the courageous father of a martyred soldier in Dhoop (2003).

In 1999, Puri acted in a Kannada movie A.K. 47 as a strict police officer who tries to keep the city safe from the underworld — it became a huge commercial hit. Puri's acting in the movie is very memorable. He has rendered his own voice for the Kannada dialogues. In the same year, he starred in the successful British comedy film East is East, where he played a first-generation Pakistani immigrant in the north of England, struggling to come to terms with his far more westernised children.

Om Puri in 2009

Puri had a cameo in the highly acclaimed film Gandhi (1982, directed by Richard Attenborough). In the mid-1990s, he diversified to play character roles in mainstream Hindi cinema, where his roles are more tuned to mass audiences than film critics. He became known internationally by starring in many British films such as My Son the Fanatic (1997), East Is East (1999) and The Parole Officer (2001). He appeared in Hollywood films including City of Joy (1992), opposite Patrick Swayze; Wolf (1994) alongside Jack Nicholson; and The Ghost and the Darkness (1996) opposite Val Kilmer. In 2007, he appeared as General Zia-ul-Haq in Charlie Wilson's War, which stars Tom Hanks and Julia Roberts.

He has worked in Hindi television serials like Kakkaji Kaheen (1988) (roughly meaning "Uncle says") as a paan-chewing 'Kakkaji', which was a parody on politicians, and Mr. Yogi (1989) as a suave 'Sutradhaar' who enjoys pulling the protagonist's leg. These two serials underlined Om Puri's versatility as a comedian. He received critical acclaim for him performance in Govind Nihalani's television film Tamas (1987) based on a Hindi novel of the same name. He essayed comic roles in Hindi films like Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro which reached a cult status, followed by Chachi 420 (1997), Hera Pheri (2000), Chor Machaye Shor (2002) and Malamaal Weekly (2006).

His more recent Hindi film roles include Singh Is Kinng, Mere Baap Pehle Aap and Billu. Puri was seen in the role of Mohammad Ali Kasuri in Road to Sangam (2009). In 2010, he appeared in The Hangman. In 2011 he was in the Indian action movie Don 2.

He has also worked in Aahat TV Series in some episodes during second season which was aired between 2004-2005 on Sony channel.

Controversy[link]

A breach of privilege notice was issued against Om Puri in the Parliament of India for allegedly making derogatory remarks against the politicians during the fast carried out by Anna Hazare for Jan Lokpal Bill at Ramlila Maidan in New Delhi in August 2011.^[3]

Partial filmography[link]

Awards and nominations[link]

Wins

• 1981: Filmfare Best Supporting Actor Award for Aakrosh
• 1982: National Film Award for Best Actor for Arohan
• 1984: National Film Award for Best Actor for Ardh Satya
• 1984: Karlovy Vary International Film Festival Best Actor for Ardh Satya
• 1998: Brussels International Film Festival Best Actor for My Son the Fanatic
• 1990: Padmashri, India's fourth highest civilian award
• 1998: Grand Prix Special des Amériques Montréal World Film Festival for exceptional contribution to the cinematographic art
• 2004: Honorary Officer of the Order of the British Empire for services to The British Film Industry
• 2009: Filmfare Lifetime Achievement Award

Nominations

• 1990: Filmfare Best Supporting Actor Award for Ghayal
• 1997: Filmfare Best Supporting Actor Award for Maachis
• 1998: Filmfare Best Supporting Actor Award for Gupt: The Hidden Truth
• 1999: Filmfare Best Supporting Actor Award for Pyaar To Hona Hi Tha
• 2000: BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role for East Is East

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Om Puri

• Om Puri at the Internet Movie Database

The neutrality of this article is disputed. Please see the discussion on the talk page. Please do not remove this message until the dispute is resolved. (April 2010)

Ila Arun in 2011

Ila Arun is a popular Indian actress, TV personality and a Rajasthani folk/folk-pop singer with a unique, husky voice and a penchant for folk-pop fusion. Her daughter is Ishita Arun.

Early life[link]

She was born and brought up in the state capital of Jaipur. She graduated from Maharani Girls college in Jaipur, India.

Career[link]

As Reality Shows Judge[link]

In the Sony Entertainment Television show Fame Gurukul, she was the headmistress of the school where the contestants of the show trained for the reality singing show. She also appeared in NDTV Imagine's reality show Junoon - Kuchh Kar Dikhaane Ka as a judge for the folk-singers team Maati ke laal

Playback Singing[link]

Arun has sung numerous film songs in Hindi and quite a few in South Indian languages like Tamil and Telugu. Her most famous film song till date has been Choli Ke Peeche sung along with Alka Yagnik for the film Khalnayak for which they won the Filmfare Award for Best Female Playback Singer.^[1] She also is well known for her song, "Morni baaga ma bole" accompanied with Lata, in the movie Lamhe starring Sridevi. She has also sung Tamil song Muthu Muthu Mazhai under the composition of A. R. Rahman for the soundtrack to the film Mr. Romeo. Her most recent super hit song is also for A. R. Rahman composed internationally acclaimed Slumdog Millionaire. The song she recorded is Ringa Ringa along with Alka Yagnik .

Singles/Albums[link]

She has produced several successful singles such as "Vote for Ghagra", which sold more than 100,000^{[citation needed]} copies had some memorable numbers as Morni, Main ho gayi sawa lakh ki, Mera Assi Kali ka Ghagra, Darudi, Bichuda,Main Raatan Jagi etc.^[vague]. Her fans await her comeback as she left after her album Haule Haule protesting music piracy and remixes and sexual content in songs. She herself accepted that she is all set to return with an album which is ready.. She recently sang the promotional song Halla Bol for the Rajasthan Royals team in the IPL which became an instant hit. She hails from Rajasthan and sings lots of Rajasthani songs in all her albums and movies.

Acting[link]

She has recently delivered an electrifying performance in the 2008 hit Jodhaa Akbar as Maham Anga, Akbar's wet nurse, who is also like Akbar's mother. She has also acted in critically acclaimed films such as China Gate, Chingari, Well Done Abba, Welcome to Sajjanpur and the most recent West is West'Ghatak'. She has also been a part of the early Indian TV Industry, acting in the 1980s Bharat ek Khoj.

Her brothers Piyush Pandey and Prasoon Pandey are ad-makers while her sister Rama Pandey is a BBC journalist and a DD newsreader and Tripti Pandey is a cultural activist, a tourism expert, deputy director, Rajasthan Tourism in Rajasthan.

Discography[link]

• Vote for Ghagra
• Main ho gayi Sawa Lakh ki
• Banjaran
• Choli Ke Peeche Vol 2
• Best of Ila
• Khichdi
• Haule Haule
• Nigodi Kaisi Jawani Hai
• Ila Arun Pop Hits
• Chhappan Chhuri
• Mare hiwda ma

Filmography[link]

As Actress[link]

• 2010 - West Is West - Basheera Khan
• 2010 - Well Done Abba - Salma Ali
• 2008 - Jodhaa Akbar - Maham Anga
• 2008 - Welcome to Sajjanpur - Ramsakhi Pannawali
• 2006 - Chingaari - Padmavati
• 2005 - Bose - The Forgotten Hero - Ranu
• 1998 - China Gate - Mrs. Gopinath
• 1996 - Ghatak - Mrs. Malti Sachdev
• 1994 - Droh Kaal - Zeenat
• 1990 - Police Public - Laxmi, deaf servant
• 1985 - Trikal - Cook
• 1983 - Ardh Satya - Sneha Bajpai
• 1983 - Mandi - Bordello girl

References[link]

1. ^ Award

• Exclusive Ila Arun interview DESIblitz.com

Her first movie was Mandi (1983).

External links[link]

• Ila Arun at the Internet Movie Database

This biographical article needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately, especially if potentially libelous or harmful. (August 2009)

David Dhawan
Born	Rajinder Dhawan (1960-08-16) 16 August 1960 (age 51)[1] Jalandhar, Punjab, India
Occupation	Film director

David Dhawan (born Rajinder Dhawan in Jalandhar, Punjab, India) is an Indian film director. He has studied at the Film and Television Institute of India, Pune.

Career[link]

Dhawan started off as an editor and then took the plunge into directing. He specializes in directing comedy films,^[2] most of which have featured either Govinda, Salman Khan, Anil Kapoor or Sanjay Dutt in lead roles, along with Raveena Tandon, Karisma Kapoor and Juhi Chawla playing the leading actresses. Kader Khan, Shakti Kapoor, Johnny Lever and Paresh Rawal appear in his films playing supporting roles. His biggest success to date is the 1993 film Aankhen, starring Govinda and Chunkey Pandey.^[2] His film, Partner (2007) also became a big success at the box office.^[3] Dhawan is considered one of the most successful directors in Bollywood,^[2] but he has been at many times blamed for copying Hollywood and South Indian films. He once had two of his films released on the same date and both did well. Dhawan is on the board of Asian Academy Of Film & Television and Asian School Of Media Studies where he has been honoured with an Academy Award by Sandeep Marwah. He was also a Judge on the Star Plus show Nach Baliye 3 in 2008 and on the show Hans Baliye.

Personal life[link]

Dhawan is married to Karuna Dhawan and has two children, Rohit and Varun. Rohit has debuted as a director with the film Desi Boyz, while Varun will be launched as an actor in Karan Johar's film Student Of The Year. Dhawan's brother is actor Anil Dhawan.

Filmography[link]

As director[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

• David Dhawan at the Internet Movie Database

Anil Ambani
Ambani in 2009
Born	(1959-06-04) 4 June 1959 (age 53) Mumbai, Maharashtra, India
Residence	Mumbai, Maharashtra, India
Nationality	Indian
Alma mater	University of Mumbai The Wharton School
Occupation	Chairman of Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group
Net worth	$7.8 billion (2012)[1]
Religion	Hinduism
Spouse	Tina Munim
Children	3[2]
Parents	Dhirubhai Ambani Kokilaben Ambani
Relatives	Mukesh Ambani (Brother)
Website
Anil Ambani

Anil Dhirubhai Ambani (Gujarati: અનીલ ધીરુભાઈ અંબાની) (born 4 June 1959) is an Indian business magnate. He is the chairman of Reliance Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group, one of the largest private conglomerates. Anil's elder brother Mukesh Ambani, who heads as the chairman of Reliance Industries.^[3] The Ambani family is the richest family in India and one of the richest in the world, their wealth inherited from Dhirubhai Ambani, founder of largest Indian conglomerate Reliance Group.^[4]

He is a member of the Board of Overseers at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. He is also the member of the Board of Governors of the Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur; Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad.^{[citation needed]} He is a member of the Central Advisory Committee, Central Electricity Regulatory Commission. In March 2006, he resigned. He is also the Chairman of Board of Governors of DA-IICT, Gandhinagar.^[5]

Career[link]

Ambani joined Reliance Industries, the company founded by his late father Dhirubhai Ambani, in 1983 as Co-Chief Executive Officer and is credited with having pioneered many financial innovations in the Indian capital markets.^{[citation needed]} For example, he led India's first forays into overseas capital markets with international public offerings of global depositary receipts, convertibles and bonds. He directed Reliance in its efforts to raise, since 1991, around US$2 billion from overseas financial markets; with a 100-year Yankee bond issue in January 1997 being the high point, after which people regarded him as a financial wizard^{[citation needed]}. He along with his brother, Mukesh Ambani, has steered the Reliance Group to its current status as India's leading textiles, petroleum, petrochemicals, power, and telecom company.^{[citation needed][citation needed]} He is a close friend of movie star Amitabh Bachchan and Subrata Roy. One of his major achievements in the entertainment industry is the takeover of Adlabs, the movie production to distribution to multiplex company that owns India's only dome theatre and the recently announced joint venture worth US$ 825 million with Steven Spielberg.^{[citation needed]}

He has been embroiled in a dispute with his brother, Mukesh Ambani, over the supply of gas from the latter's KG basin.^{[citation needed]}

He recently topped Business Sheet's "world's biggest loser" list of business leaders who lost money in the late 2000s recession,^[6] losing $32.5 billion in 2008, which brought him out of the top ten list to number 34 in 2009.

Assassination attempt[link]

On the evening of 22 April 2009, mud, gravel and pebbles were found in the gearbox of his 13-seat helicopter VT-RCL's (a Bell 412).^[7] Despite the gearbox being located at a height of 10 feet from the ground, the gravel and pebbles were put in the filler cap in the gear box. A senior pilot of Reliance Transport and Travels Pvt. Ltd., Captain RN Joshi, filed a complaint with the Mumbai Police Commissioner's office, Maharashtra Chief Minister's office, Maharashtra Home Minister's office, Chief Secretary's office, Joint Commissioner of Police's office and also at the Santa Cruz Police Station.^{[citation needed]}

The helicopter was standing outside a hangar at the Mumbai Airport when the sabotage was found by Bharat Borge, a technician for Air Works. Borge was found dead on April 28, 2009 on Mumbai's suburban railway tracks between Vile Parle and Andheri. A letter was also found with him. Railway Police believes that he might have been run over by the Churchgate-bound fast-local. "Borge's mysterious death created a flutter, lending credence to Anil Ambani's charge that certain 'rival business groups were trying to eliminate him'."^[8][9]

The post-mortem conducted on Bharat Borge revealed that he died of shock due to multiple fractures, resulting in brain haemorrhage.^[10] There was also a letter found in his pocket written in Marathi saying "I haven't done anything wrong. That day, some Reliance people came and spoke to me. I didn't tell them anything. One of them took my number and said that he'll talk to me later. I felt they were using me. I am writing this letter after thinking all night. It looks like the blame will be on me. I think the investigation is on the right track and truth will emerge soon."^[10]

Investigators later said that Borge's death was an accident and not suicide.^[11] Air Works, the company that maintains the helicopter, was questioning its employees in the case.^[12]

Awards and recognition[link]

• Voted the 3rd most powerful person in India in the 2009 India Today Power List, in March.^[13]
• Voted Businessman of the Year 2006 by Times of India-TNS poll^[14]
• Adjudged as the CEO of the Year at the prestigious Platts Global Energy Awards for 2004.
• Voted as 'MTV Youth Icon of the Year for 2003' in September 2003.
• Conferred 'The Entrepreneur of the Decade Award' by the Bombay Management Association, October 2002.^{[citation needed]}
• Awarded the First Wharton Indian Alumni Award by the Wharton India Economic Forum (WIEF) in recognition of his contribution to the establishment of Reliance as a global leader in many of its business areas, December 2001.
• Conferred the 'Businessman of the Year 1997' award by India's leading business magazine Business India, December 1997.^{[citation needed]}

Personal life[link]

Anil Ambani is Gujarati Indian. He is married to Indian Bollywood Actress Tina Munim and has two sons Zahir and Jai Anshul. He has taken part in the Mumbai Marathon race. Ambani is also a fan of Premier League club, Newcastle United and was extremely close to buying the club in September 2008. In June 2004, Anil was elected as an Independent Member of the Rajya Sabha - upper house of the Parliament of India. He is a vegetarian.^[15]

English Premier League[link]

Ambani was in talks in September 2008 with Everton officials over a deal to take over the club.^[16][17]

Bibliography[link]

• Yogesh Chabria, Happionaire's Cash The Crash. CNBC - Network18. ISBN 978-81-906479-5-3 - 2009

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Anil Ambani

• Profile at Reliance ADAG
• Profile at Forbes
• Anil Ambani collected news and commentary at The New York Times
• Anil Ambani collected news and commentary at The Wall Street Journal
• Anil Ambani collected news and commentary at The Guardian
• Anil Ambani: collected news and commentary at The Times of India