Manoj Tiwari
Born	1 February 1971 Atarwalia, Bihar, India
Other names	Mridul[1]
Occupation	Actor, singer, director, television presenter
Years active	1983 – present
Spouse	Rani Tiwari[2][clarification needed]
Children	One daughter[3]

Manoj Kumar Tiwari (born 1 February 1971)^[3] is a singer, actor, television presenter and music director^{[clarification needed]} from Bihar, India. He has acted in the Bhojpuri genre of the Indian film industry and in 2005 was reported to be one of the two leading male stars of that genre.

Early life[link]

Manoj Tiwari was born on 1 February 1971, one of the six children of Chandra Deo Tiwari and Lalita Devi.^[3] His birthplace was Atarwalia, a small village in Kaimur district of Bihar.^[4]

Career[link]

Prior to Tiwari's involvement in cinema, he had spent ten years working as a singer.^[5]

In 2003, he took a role in the film Sasura Bada Paise Wala. The BBC reported that the production costs of US$ 65,000 were turned into takings of US$ 3 million, while The Hindu reported a 35,000–40,000 lakh cost resulting in takings of 4.5 crore. Indian Express reported a figure of 6.5 crore as the takings. The Bihar Jharkhand Motion Picture Association saw this production as being a turning point for Bhojpuri cinema.^[6][7] He followed this with the successful films Daroga Babu I Love You and Bandhan Toote Na.^[5] Tiwari is reported to have said in 2005 that although the Bhojpuri genre had generally kept to its traditional storylines, "Gone are the double entendres, thin story lines and poor technical quality. Films have been slick and producers are willing to put in close to Rs 80 lakh in a film because the returns are not bad,"^[5]

The BBC reported in 2005 that Tiwari and Ravi Kishan were the biggest male stars in the flourishing Bhojpuri cinema market and that Tiwari was able to charge US$ 90,000 per film.^[6]

In 2010, Tiwari was a contestant in the fourth season of reality television show Bigg Boss.^[8] He was reported by Rediff to say that his wife, Rani, "is angry with me" because she suspected him of having an affair with a fellow contestant, Shweta Tiwari, and that "Arbaaz Khan tweeted and asked people to vote for Ashmit [Patel]. I felt little bad about this because his brother is the host of the show and he is asking people to vote. I somehow didn't understand that angle." When asked whether he thought that the votes were manipulated, he said "I am bound by my contract so I can't comment on this. But it is little hard to believe that I got lesser votes than Ashmit. I guess viewers enjoy watching Veena Malik and Ashmit's fake romance. I really don't understand why the channel is still keeping them inside the house."^[9] NDTV reported a similar story, adding that he had been separated from his wife and child for some months.^[10] Tiwari had previously worked with Shweta Tiwari in two films, Kab Aibu Anganwa Hamaar and Ae Bahuji ke Sister.^[2] By mid-2011 he and his wife, were involved in divorce proceedings regarding their eleven year marriage.^[2]

Tiwari continues to record music and release new albums. He performs around the world in concert.^[11] He released an album, Hey Mahadev, in 2009 that fused traditional music with contemporary genres.^[12] He is listed as being music director for numerous releases.^[13]

Politics[link]

In 2009, Tiwari contested elections for the 15th Lok Sabha as a candidate for the Samajwadi Party in the Gorakhpur constituency. He had been offered a choice of three constituencies and Zeenews reported him as saying that he was not "a political person but was concerned for the development of Poorvanchal region of Uttar Pradesh." His interest was in developing that region and he had "submitted my development proposals to industrialist Anil Ambani".^[14] He lost to Adityanath Yogi.^[15]

His house in Mumbai was allegedly attacked in November 2009 by a group of people angry with remarks that they claimed he had made about Shiv Sena. Tiwari denied having made any comment on the matter, which revolved around a dispute between the Shiv Sena leader, Bal Thackeray, and the Indian cricketer Sachin Tendulkar.^[16]

In January 2011 Mid-Day reported that the BJP might invite him to join their party and that the association with him would assist their electoral efforts among North Indians. Tiwari dismissed the story as being hypothetical, although he would consider his options should an invitation emerge. He had been seen with BJP leaders at an event and had expressed admiration for Shatrughan Sinha, the BJP MP for Patna.^[17]

Tiwari was among the first celebrities to make an appearance in support of Ramdev's hunger strike at the Ramlila Ground protests on 4 June 2011. He sang various patriotic songs to the gathered protestors and claimed that he had ceased filming for a month in order to join the protest.^[18] In August of that year he was involved in protests surrounding the arrest of Anna Hazare, of whose popular anti-corruption movement he approved.^[19]

Support for cricket[link]

Tiwari is a keen supporter of cricket and played the sport at Benares Hindu University. He has tried to buy the franchise for an Indian Premier League team in order to boost the sport in his home region and is also involved with Kirti Azad's Association of Bihar Cricket, a body that is campaigning to be recognised by the BCCI as the official organisation for Bihar cricket.^[1]

In July 2011, Tiwari announced that he was going to build a 3 crore "temple" to the Indian cricketers Sachin Tendulkar and Mahendra Singh Dhoni on land owned by him in his home village. The "temple" would recognise the India cricket team that had won the 2011 Cricket World Cup and would be named after it. He intends to incorporate training facilities to assist in the development of young cricketers from Bihar, Jharkhand and Uttar Pradesh, as well as a "world-class" cricket stadium.^[1][4] The "temple" is expected to open in January 2012 and at that time discussions were under way regarding staging international matches at the 40 acres (16 ha) site that he had bought for construction of the stadium.^[20]

Selected filmography[link]

Actor[link]

• Daroga Babu I Love You^[5]
• Bandhan Toote Na^[5]
• Kab Aibu Anganwa Hamaar^[2]
• Ae Bahuji ke Sister^[2]
• Deshdrohi^[21]
• 2006 – Ganga
• 2008 – Bhole Shankar
• 2010 – Hello Darling (Hindi)
• 2011 – Insaaf^[22]
• 2012 – Hello (Hindi)

Television[link]

• Bigg Boss 4 (2010) – Himself
• Sur Sangram (season 1 & 2) – Host^[12]
• Nehle pe Dehla – Host

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official website
• Manoj Tiwari at the Internet Movie Database

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (February 2010)

Manoj Kumar (born Harikrishna Giri Goswami^[1] on 24 July 1937) is an award-winning Indian actor and director in the Bollywood film industry. He is known for acting in and directing films with patriotic themes, and has been given the nickname "Mr Bharat" (Bhaarat is the Hindi term for India). In 1992, he was honoured with the Padma Shri by the Government of India.

Early life[link]

Manoj Kumar was born in Abbottabad, a town of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, then part of India. Abbottabad is now located within the borders of Pakistan. His original name was Harikishan Giri Goswami. When he was 10, his Gosain Hindu family had to move to Delhi owing to partition. His family lived as refugees in Vijay Nagar, Kingsway Camp and later moved to Patel Nagar area of New Delhi.

After graduating from Hindu College, University of Delhi, he decided to enter the film industry.

Career[link]

As a youth, he admired Bollywood superstar Dilip Kumar, and decided to name himself Manoj Kumar after Dilip's character in Shabnam (1949).^[1]

After making a little-noticed début in Fashion in 1957, Manoj landed his first leading role in Kaanch Ki Gudia (1960) opposite Sayeeda Khan. Piya Milan Ki Aas and Reshmi Roomal followed, setting the stage for the Vijay Bhatt-directed Hariyali Aur Raasta (1962) opposite Mala Sinha. Kumar then appeared with Sadhana in Raj Khosla's Woh Kaun Thi (1964), and reunited with Vijay Bhatt and Mala Sinha in Himalaya Ki God Mein (1965).

The patriotic hero[link]

Kumar's image as the patriotic hero started with the 1965 film Shaheed,^[2] based on the life of Bhagat Singh, a martyr in the struggle for India's freedom. After the Indo-Pakistani War of 1965, Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri asked him to create a film based on the popular slogan Jai Jawan Jai Kissan (hail the soldier, hail the farmer).^[1]

The result was Kumar's magnum opus and his directorial debut, Upkaar (1967). In it, he played both a soldier and a farmer. The film was also noted for the famous song Mere Desh Ki Dharti, written by Gulshan Bawra, composed by Kalyanji-Anandji and sung by Mahendra Kapoor. Upkaar was a hit and won Kumar his first Filmfare Best Director Award.

After dabbling in various roles in the late 1960s, Manoj returned to patriotic themes in Purab Aur Paschim (1970), in which life in the East and West are juxtaposed. In 1972, he starred in Be-Imaan (for which he won the Filmfare Best Actor Award) and directed and starred in Shor (1972). The latter, opposite Nanda, was not a huge box office success, but it did feature the memorable song Ek Pyar Ka Nagma Hai, a duet by Lata Mangeshkar and Mukesh, which was composed by Laxmikant Pyarelal.

Later career[link]

The mid-1970s saw Kumar star in three hit films: Roti Kapda Aur Makaan (1974) was a social commentary featuring an all-star cast including Zeenat Aman, Shashi Kapoor and Amitabh Bachchan that won him his second Filmfare Award for Best Director; Sanyasi (1975) had Kumar and Hema Malini in the lead roles of a religious-themed comedy; and Dus Numbri (1976) also gave Kumar and Hema top billing. In 1981, Kumar reached the peak of his career when he got the opportunity to direct his idol, Dilip Kumar, as well as star in Kranti, a story about the struggle for Indian independence in the 19th century. Kranti was the last notable successful film in his career. He also starred in the hit Punjabi film Jat Punjabi.

After Kranti, Kumar's career began to decline in the 1980s as all of his films failed at the box office. In 1989 he cast Pakistani actors Mohammad Ali and Zeba in his film Clerk which was considered to be a groundbreaking event. He quit acting after his appearance in the 1995 film Maidan-E-Jung. His son, Kunal Goswami, tried to revive the patriotic theme and was directed by Kumar in the 1999 film Jai Hind which was a flop. Kumar was awarded the Filmfare Lifetime Achievement Award that same year.

His trademark hand-covering-the-face was very popular and continues to be the butt of jokes of latter day stand-up comedians. In 2007, the Shah Rukh Khan film Om Shanti Om featured the lead character pretending to be Manoj Kumar so as to sneak into a movie premiere, by holding his hand over his face. Kumar filed a lawsuit, which was settled out of court.^[3]

Politics[link]

Like many other Bollywood stars, Kumar decided to enter politics following his retirement. Before the 2004 general election in India, it was announced that he had officially joined the ranks of the Shiv Sena.

Personal life[link]

Kumar is married to Shashi Goswami (originally from Jodhkan, Sirsa district, Haryana). He has two sons, Vishal and Kunal, Vishal tried his skills as a singer and Kunal as an actor. His brother, Rajiv Goswami, also entered the film industry, but none were able to gain any footing in Bollywood.

Awards[link]

[edit] Civilian award

• 1992 - Padma Shri by the Government of India

[edit] National Film Awards

• 1968 - National Film Award for Second Best Feature Film for Upkaar

[edit] Filmfare Awards

Winner

• 1968 - Filmfare Best Movie Award for Upkaar
• 1968 - Filmfare Best Director Award for Upkaar ^[4]
• 1968 - Filmfare Best Story Award for Upkaar
• 1968 - Filmfare Best Dialogue Award for Upkaar
• 1972 - Filmfare Best Actor Award for Beimaan
• 1975 - Filmfare Best Director Award for Roti Kapda Aur Makaan
• 1999 - Filmfare Lifetime Achievement Award

Nominated

• 1968 - Filmfare Best Actor Award for Upkaar
• 1969 - Filmfare Best Supporting Actor Award for Aadmi
• 1973 - Filmfare Best Director Award for Shor
• 1975 - Filmfare Best Movie Award for Roti Kapda Aur Makaan
• 1975 - Filmfare Best Actor Award for Roti Kapda Aur Makaan
• 1976 - Filmfare Best Actor Award for Sanyasi

Honours[link]

• 2008 - National Kishore Kumar Award by the Government of Madhya Pradesh.^[5]
• 2009 - Phalke Ratna Award by the Dadasaheb Phalke Academy.^[6]
• 2010 - National Raj Kapoor Award by the Government of Maharashtra.^[7][8]

Other Awards[link]

• 1968 - BFJA Awards: Best Dialogue for Upkaar^[9]
• 2001 - Kalakar Awards for Lifetime Achievement^{[citation needed]}
• 2008 - Star Screen Lifetime Achievement Award
• 2010 - Lifetime Achievement Award at the 12th Mumbai Film Festival.^[10]
• 2012 - Lifetime Achievement Award at the Apsara Awards.^[11]
• 2012 - Lifetime Achievement Award at the Nashik International Film Festival.^[12]

Special Honour[link]

In the honour of devotion of Manoj Kumar towards Shri Sai Baba; Shri Saibaba Sansthan Trust, Shirdi has renamed "Pimpalwadi Road" in Shirdi, as "Manojkumar Goswami Road".^[13]

Selected filmography[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Manoj Kumar: Bollywood's Own Mr Bharat
• Showbiz Legends: Manoj Kumar
• Manoj Kumar at the Internet Movie Database

Deeksha Seth is an Indian film actress and model. A finalist in Femina Miss India in 2009, she made her acting debut in the Telugu drama film Vedam (2010).^[4]

Career[link]

Deeksha was born in Delhi. Since her father was working for ITC Limited and was often transferred, her family has been shifting regularly and living in various parts of India, including Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh as well as in Kathmandu, Nepal.^[2] She finished her nursery and schooling up to third class in Chennai,^[5] and enrolled at a college in Mumbai. She has one elder sister, who is currently living and working in Mumbai.^[2] She cites that she wanted to become an underwater archaeologist.^[2] During her first year at college in 2009, she was spotted by a Femina Miss India contest scout during an during an NSS event, who persuaded her into modeling and to participate at the beauty pageant.^[6] She created a portfolio with the help of a friend of her father, and competed in the contest. In spite of her inexperienceness in modeling, she was selected under the Top 10 finalists, while winning the Fresh Face title.^[6]

During a modeling assignment in Hyderabad, the casting director of the Telugu film Vedam by Krish, had spotted her. She was casted for the role of Pooja, the rich girlfriend of the lead character Cable Raju (Allu Arjun),^[4] after 70 girls were rejected by the makers, citing that she "loved the script and decided to give it a shot".^[6] Vedam, an anthology drama film, opened to high critical acclaim, winning accolades at various award functions. In quick succession, she signed two more films, with the Ravi Teja-starrer Mirapakaay releasing next,^[7] which emerged a high commercial success.^[8][9] Two weeks later after Mirapakaay, the action drama Wanted with Gopichand, which constituted her debut as a lead female character,^[10] released and ended up as a box office bomb.^[11] She has been signed for three more Telugu projects, Rebel alongside Prabhas and Anushka Shetty,^[12] Nippu opposite Ravi Teja again,^[13] and the socio-fantasy film Uu Kodathara? Ulikki Padathara?.^[14] She was also been roped in for two Tamil films, Suseenthiran's Rajapattai with Vikram,^[15] as well as the Silambarasan-starrer Vettai Mannan, scheduled to release in 2012.^[16]

Filmography[link]

References[link]