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![Mere Marne Toh Baad Amrita Virk [ Official Video ] 2012 - Anand Music](http://web.archive.org./web/20121122030132im_/http://i.ytimg.com/vi/MhqSxcdKXZI/default.jpg "Join Facebook Page :- www.facebook.com Song :- Mere Marne Toh Baad Singer:- Amrita Virk Album :- Lyrics:- Geeta Diyalpura Music :- Label :- Anand Music Producer :- Mukesh Kumar Video:- Year :- 2012 www.anandmusic.net Punjabi Music Punjab, a beautiful tiny place on earth, lies in North-West India and North-East Pakistan. The culture of Punjab is very rich in every sense by the ages. Today the one of biggest trait of Punjab is music, Punjabi music. Punjabi folk music is highly rhythmic and very diverse. The contemporary Punjabi music not just enriched by mixing up new tunes and beats of foreign music to Punjabi music but it is extremely enriched by its origin. Though, new dimensions have been added to folk Punjabi music, in order to make Punjabi music an International music. Punjabi people are very hard working and possessive, Punjabi music artist and singers do hard work and researches on music.")
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Ain
Ain (French pronunciation: [ɛ̃]; Arpitan: En) is a department named after the Ain River on the eastern edge of France. Being part of the region Rhône-Alpes and bordered by the rivers Saône and Rhône, the department of Ain enjoys a privileged geographic situation. It has an excellent transport network (TGV, highways) and benefits from the proximity to the international airports of Lyon and Geneva.
Ain is composed of four geographically different areas (Bresse, Dombes, Bugey and Pays de Gex) which – each with its own characteristics – contribute to the diversity and the dynamic economic development of the department. In the Bresse agriculture and agro-industry are dominated by the cultivation of cereals, cattle breeding, milk and cheese production as well as poultry farming. In the Dombes, pisciculture assumes greater importance as does viticulture in the Bugey. The high diversification of the department's industry is accompanied by a strong presence of the plastics sector in and around Oyonnax (so-called "Plastics Valley").
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Aisne
Aisne (French pronunciation: [ɛːn]) is a department in the northern part of France, named after a river.
Aisne is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on 4 March 1790. It was created from parts of the former provinces of Île-de-France, Picardie, and Champagne.
Most of the old growth forests in the area were destroyed during battles in World War I. The French offensive against the Chemin des Dames in spring 1917 is sometimes referred to as the Second Battle of the Aisne.
Aisne borders the Ardennes Forest and Belgium to the northeast. The Aisne River crosses the area from east to west, where it joins the Oise River. The Marne forms part of the southern boundary of the department with the department of Seine-et-Marne. The southern part of the department is the geographical region known as la Brie poilleuse, a drier plateau known for its dairy products and Brie cheese.
The landscape is dominated by masses of rock which often have steep flanks. These rocks appear all over the region, but the most impressive examples are at Laon and the Chemin des Dames ridge.
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Allier
Allier (French pronunciation: [a.lje]; Occitan: Alèir) is a department in central France named after the river Allier.
Allier is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on 4 March 1790. It was created from parts of the former provinces of Auvergne and Bourbonnais.
In 1940, the government of Marshal Philippe Pétain chose the town of Vichy as its capital. Vichy also became the department's second sub-prefecture in 1940, since the department now found itself split by the demarcation line between the occupied and (relatively, at least initially) free zones of France.
The department belongs to the region Auvergne and is surrounded by the following French departments: Cher, Nièvre, Saône-et-Loire, Loire, Puy-de-Dôme, and Creuse.
The following rivers run through Allier:
Allier is the most productive agricultural area of the Auvergne. Vichy has long been known for its water, which is exported worldwide.
Montluçon, Vichy, and Moulins are the principal cities. The rest of the department consists of smaller towns, mostly along the rivers. In general, the department is sparsely populated. The population increased until the end of the 19th century because of the growth of industry in Montluçon and Moulins and development of the thermal resources at Vichy. At that time the department had over 420,000 inhabitants. After the losses of World War I, the population stagnated, with a small increase in the 1960s. Since then, it has decreased slightly from 386,533 in 1968 to 344,721 in 1999.
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Alpes-Maritimes
Alpes-Maritimes (French pronunciation: [alp.ma.ʁi.tim]; Occitan: Aups Maritims) is a department in the extreme southeast corner of France.
Alpes Maritimae was created by Octavian as a Roman military district in 14 BC, and became a full Roman province in the middle of the 1st century with its capital first at Cemenelum (today Cimiez, a neighbourghood in Nice) and subsequently at Embrun. At its greatest extent in AD 297, the province reached north to Digne and Briançon.
A first French département of Alpes-Maritimes existed in the same area from 1793 to 1814. Its boundaries differed from those of the modern department, however. In 1793 Alpes-Maritimes included Monaco and San Remo, but not Grasse which was then part of the départment of Var.
The department was reconstituted in 1860 when the county of Nice was annexed to France. It included the county of Nice as well as the previously (at least nominally) independent towns of Menton and Roquebrune, and the arrondissement of Grasse in the department of Var.
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Ardèche
Ardèche (French pronunciation: [aʁ.dɛʃ]; Occitan and Arpitan: Ardecha) is a department in south-central France named after the Ardèche River.
The area has been inhabited by humans at least since the Upper Paleolithic, as attested by the famous cave paintings at Chauvet Pont d'Arc. The plateau of the Ardeche River has extensive standing stones (dolmens and menhirs), erected thousands of years ago.[citation needed] The river is the largest natural canyon in Europe and the caves that dot the cliffs (which go as high as 300 m (1,000 feet) are known for signs of prehistoric inhabitants (arrowheads and flint knives are often found).
The Vivarais, as the Ardèche is still called, takes its name and coat-of-arms from Viviers, which was the capital of the Gaulish tribe of Helvii, part of Gallia Narbonensis, after the destruction of their previous capital at Alba-la-Romaine. Saint Andéol, a disciple of St Polycarp, is supposed to have evangelized the Vivarais during the reign of Emperor Septimius Severus, and was supposedly martyred in 208. (Legend tells of Andéol's burial by Amycia Eucheria Tullia.) Auxonius, in 430, transferred the see to Viviers as a result of the problems suffered at its previous site in Alba Augusta.
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Ariège
Ariège (French pronunciation: [aʁjɛʒ]; Occitan: Arièja) is a department in southwestern France named after the Ariège River.
Ariège is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on 4 March 1790. It was created from the counties of Foix and Couserans.
Foix is the administrative capital of the Ariège. It is an ancient medieval town with a fortress Chateau de Foix perched on a hill overlooking it. The fortress has been attacked many times without capture, including an attempt by Simon de Montfort. It has also been used as a prison, and the names of English Prisoners of War can still be seen on the cell walls. Another famous chateau in the Ariège is Montségur, located on a rocky outcrop at a height of 1200 metres (3,900 ft). During the Albigensian Crusade and siege of 1244 AD the chateau was largely destroyed, with more than two hundred Cathar priests burnt at the stake as heretics. The chateau was gradually rebuilt by Royalists over a period of the next three hundred years.
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Aube
Aube (French pronunciation: [ob]) is a department in the northeastern part of France named after the Aube River. In 1995, its population was 293,100 inhabitants.
Aube is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on 4 March 1790. It was created from part of the former province of Champagne.
The territory making up Aube was first attached to France in 843, following the Treaty of Verdun.
After the allied victory over Napoleon at Waterloo the department was occupied by Russian troops between June 1815 and November 1818.
In 1911, following the revolt of the Champagne producers, a series of major riots erupted in Aube. Dozens of serious injuries resulted.
In 1919, by a new decree, Aube wine producers were authorized to produce champagne.
Aube is perhaps best known for the 1932 visit of the late Turkish president Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, who signed a friendship treaty with France there on 4 July 1938.
The department is part of the current region of Champagne-Ardenne. It is surrounded by the departments of Marne, Haute-Marne, Côte-d'Or, Yonne, and Seine-et-Marne.
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Aude
Aude (French pronunciation: [od]; Occitan: Aude) is a department in south-central France named after the river Aude. The local council also calls the department "Cathar Country".
Aude is also a frequent feminine French given name in Francophone countries, deriving initially from Aude or Oda, a wife of Bertrand, Duke of Aquitaine, and mother of Saint Hubertus's brother Eudo. Aude was the name of Roland's fiancée in the chansons de gestes.
Human traces have been found in the department from 1,500,000 years BCE in the form of hammers and worked tools on the hill of Grazailles at Carcassonne. The most interesting discovery, however, is that of the skull of ‘Tautavel Man’ made by Henry de Lumley in the commune of Tautavel in the Pyrénées-Orientales. It is the oldest skull known in Europe. It dates from about 450,000 years BCE. It is likely that Tautavel Man lived in all of this region.
The Romans, led by the consul-general Domitius Ahenobarbus, installed themselves first of all at Narbonne in 118 BCE on the oppidum of Montlaurès, which became the provincial capital and a very active mercantile port. The position was strategically important since it stood at the cross roads of two Roman roads, the Via Aquitania and the Via Domitia, as well as by the sea and near the mouth of the River Aude. Carcassonne became Latin in 30 BCE with the creation of numerous grain farms. For almost two centuries, the Aude enjoyed peace and strong economic growth.
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Aveyron
Aveyron (French pronunciation: [avɛʁɔ̃]; Occitan: Avairon [avajˈɾu]) is a département in southern France named after the Aveyron River.
Aveyron is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on 4 March 1790.
The first known historical inhabitants of the region were the Rutenii tribe, but the area was inhabited previously to this, boasting many prehistoric ruins.
During the medieval and early modern periods, and until the 1790s, the territory covered by Aveyron was a province known as Rouergue.
In 1817, a local prosecutor Antoine Bernardin Fualdès was assassinated. The sordid circumstances of his death, following which his body was found floating in the Aveyron River, led to the matter becoming publicised as a cause célèbre. Recent studies have indicated that he met his end on the initiative of a right wing royalist organisation known as the Chevaliers de la Foi (Knights of the Faith).
The department is part of the current Midi-Pyrénées region. It is surrounded by the départements of Tarn, Tarn-et-Garonne, Lot, Hérault, Gard, Lozère, and Cantal.
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Bas-Rhin
Bas-Rhin (French pronunciation: [bɑ.ʁɛ̃]; Alsatian: Unterelsàss) is a department of France. The name means "Lower Rhine". It is the more populous and densely populated of the two departments of the Alsace region, with 1,079,013 inhabitants in 2006.
Bas-Rhin is one of the original 83 departments created on 4 March 1790, during the French Revolution.
In the mid-1790s, following the French occupation of the entire left bank of the Rhine, the northern boundary of the department was extended north beyond the Lauter to the Queich river to include the areas of Annweiler am Trifels, Landau in der Pfalz, Bad Bergzabern, and Wörth am Rhein. However, upon Napoleon's second defeat in 1815, the Congress of Vienna reassigned the areas north of the Lauter to Bavaria; and those territories are now presently located in the neighbouring German state of Rhineland-Palatinate.
The department has twice been incorporated into Germany: from 1871 (after France's defeat in the Franco-Prussian War) until the end of World War I in 1918, and again briefly during World War II (from 1940 to 1945) during the German occupation of France.
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Bouches-du-Rhône
Bouches-du-Rhône (French pronunciation: [buʃ.dy.ʁon]; Occitan: Bocas de Ròse, lit. "Mouths of the Rhône") is a department in the south of France named after the mouth of the Rhône River. It is the most populous department of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. Its INSEE and postal code is 13.
Bouches-du-Rhône is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on 4 March 1790. It was created from the western part of the former province of Provence and the principalities of Orange, Martigues, and Lambesc. It lost part of its territory in 1793, including Orange and Apt, when the Vaucluse department was created.
Following its creation, the department was immediately strongly and actively supportive of the French Revolution, containing 90 "Jacobin Clubs" by 1794. It was also noteworthy that more than 50% of the priests in the department accepted the Civil Constitution of the Clergy which in effect subordinated the church to the government. During the ascendancy of the Communist Party in the twentieth century election results indicated that support for left-wing politics remained relatively strong in the department, and especially in the northern suburbs of Marseille.
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Calvados
The French department of Calvados (pronounced: [kal.va.dos]) is part of the region of Basse-Normandie in Normandy. It takes its name from a cluster of rocks off the English Channel coast. The pronunciation varies: in French the final 's' is not mute; in English usually Calvadoss with stress on the first syllable.
Calvados is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on 4 March 1790. It was created from a part of the former province of Normandy. The name "Orne inférieure" was originally proposed for the department, but it was ultimately decided to call the area Calvados.
Its etymology is most likely derived from the Salvador, a ship from the Spanish Armada that sank by the rocks near Arromanches-les-bains in 1588. However, others insist that the name Calvados was derived from calva dorsa, meaning bare backs, in reference to two sparsely vegetated rocks off its shore.
After the allied victory at Waterloo the department was occupied by Prussian troops between June 1815 and November 1818.
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Cantal
Cantal (French pronunciation: [kɑ̃.tal]; Occitan: Cantal, Cantau, Chantal, Chantau) is a department in south-central France. It is named after the Cantal mountain range, a group of extinct, eroded volcanic peaks, which covers much of the department. Residents are known as Cantaliens or Cantalous.
Cantal is part of the current region of Auvergne. It borders the departments of Puy-de-Dôme, Haute-Loire, Aveyron, Lot, Lozère, and Corrèze. Its principal towns are Aurillac, Saint-Flour, and Mauriac. The highest point in Cantal is Le Plomb du Cantal at 1858 metres.
Cantal remains, with Lozère and Creuse, one of the most sparsely populated and geographically isolated French departments. Aurillac is the farthest removed departmental capital from a major motorway.
Cantal is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on 4 March 1790. It was created from a part of the former province of Auvergne, called Haute-Auvergne.
The Occitan language was historically dominant in Cantal.
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Champagne-Ardenne
Champagne-Ardenne (French pronunciation: [ʃɑ̃paɲ aʁdɛn]) is one of the 27 regions of France. It is located in the northeast of the country, bordering Belgium, and consists of four departments: Aube, Ardennes, Haute-Marne, and Marne. The region is famous for its sparkling white wine (champagne). Its rivers, most of which flow west, include the Seine, the Marne, and the Aisne. The Meuse flows north.
The rail network includes the Paris–Strasbourg line, which follows the Marne Valley and serves Épernay, Châlons-en-Champagne, and Vitry-le-François. The LGV Est TGV line also connecting Paris and Strasbourg opened in 2007 and serves Reims with a train station in the commune of Bezannes.
The region's canals include the Canal latéral à la Marne and Marne-Rhine Canal, the latter connecting to the Marne at Vitry-le-François. These are petit gabarit canals.
The Vatry International Airport, primarily dedicated to air freight, has a runway 3650 m long, yet it is often unused. The airport is in a sparsely populated area just 150 km from Paris. Some people say it is a good candidate for transformation into a third Parisian airport. Les verts (the French green party) supported such a move because the resulting noise pollution would affect fewer people than an airport closer to Paris.
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Charente
Charente (French pronunciation: [ʃa.ʁɑ̃t], Saintongeais: Chérente, Occitan: Charanta) is a department in southwestern France, in the Poitou-Charentes region, named after the Charente River, the most important river in the department, and also the river beside which the department's two largest towns, Angoulême and Cognac, are sited.
Charente is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on 4 March 1790. It was created from the former province of Angoumois, west and south of Saintonge.
Prior to the creation of the department, the area was not a natural unit, but much of it was commercially prosperous thanks to traditional industries such as salt and cognac production. Although the river became silted up and was unnavigable for much of the twentieth century, in the eighteenth century it provided important links with coastal shipping routes both for traditional businesses and for newly evolving ones such as paper goods and iron smelting.
The accelerating pace of industrial and commercial development during the first half of the nineteenth century led to a period of prosperity, and the department's population peaked in 1851. During the second half of the nineteenth century Charente, like many of France's rural departments, experienced a declining population as the economic prospects available in the cities and in France's overseas empire attracted the working age generations away. Economic ruin came to many in the Charentais wine industry with the arrival in 1872 of phylloxera.
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Charente-Maritime
Charente-Maritime (French pronunciation: [ʃa.ʁɑ̃t ma.ʁi.tim]) is a department on the west coast of France named after the Charente River.
Previously a part of Saintonge, Charente-Inférieure was one of the 83 original departments created during the French Revolution on 4 March 1790. On 4 September 1941, it was renamed Charente-Maritime.
When first created, the commune of Saintes was assigned as the prefecture of the department (Saintes had previously been the capital of Saintonge). This changed in 1810 when Napoléon passed an imperial decree which moved the prefecture to La Rochelle.
During World War II, the department was invaded by the German army and became part of occupied France. To provide defence against a possible beach landing, the Organisation Todt constructed a number of sea defences in the area. Defences such as pillboxes are particularly noticeable on the beaches of the presqu'île d'Arvert and the island of Oléron.
At the end of the war there were only two pockets of German resistance: La Rochelle, in the north and Royan in the south. Despite being almost completely destroyed during an RAF bombing raid on 5 January 1945, the town of Royan wasn't liberated by the French resistance until April of the same year. La Rochelle was finally captured on 9 May 1945.
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Cher (department)
Cher (French pronunciation: [ʃɛʁ]; Berrichon: Char) is an administrative department located in the centre of France. It is named after the Cher River.
Cher is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on 4 March 1790. Most of it was created, along with the adjacent department of Indre from the former province of Berry. The south-eastern corner of the department was part of the Duchy of Bourbon, however.
The department is part of the current administrative region of Centre (Val de Loire). It is surrounded by the departments of Indre, Loir-et-Cher, Loiret, Nièvre, Allier, and Creuse.
The inhabitants of the department are called Berrichons from the former province of Berry.
The President of the General Council is Alain Rafesthain of the Socialist Party.
The Bourges Cathedral of St. Étienne is a major tourist attraction.
The historical languages are Berrichon and the northern version of Bourbonais. These are both dialects of French, or the Langues d'oïl. They are named respectively after the former Province of Berry and the former Duchy of Bourbon. Some 11 communes in the extreme South used to speak Occitan.
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Corrèze
Corrèze (French pronunciation: [kɔ.ʁɛːz]; Occitan: Corresa) is a department in south central France, named after the Corrèze River.
The inhabitants of the department are called Corréziens or Corréziennes according to gender.
Corrèze is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on 4 March 1790. It includes part of the former province of Limousin (the Bas-Limousin).
The 1851 census recorded a population of 320,866: this remained relatively constant for the rest of the nineteenth century. During the twentieth century, however, Corrèze shared the experience of many of the country's rural departments as the population fell steadily.
Within Corrèze the nineteenth-century railway planners, influenced in part by the department's topography, endowed Brive-la-Gaillarde with good connections and a major junction from which railway lines fanned out in six different directions. The railways arrived in 1860, at an opportune moment, directly after phylloxera had destroyed the local wine industry. The new railways enabled the farms in the area surrounding Brive to specialise in fruits and vegetables which they could now transport rapidly to the larger population centres of central and southern France. Locally, the new agriculture triggered the development, in the Brive basin, of related businesses and industries such as the manufacture of jams and liquors, as well as timber/paper-based packaging businesses.
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Corse-du-Sud
Corse-du-Sud (French pronunciation: [kɔʁs.dy.syd]; Corsican: Corsica suttana) (English: South Corsica) is a French département composed of the southern part of the island of Corsica.
The department was formed on 15 September 1975, when the corsican department was divided into Haute-Corse and Corse-du-Sud. Its boundaries correspond to the former department of Liamone, which existed from 1793 to 1811.
The department hit the head-lines at the end of the twentieth century with the assassination at Ajaccio of the prefect Claude Érignac on 6 February 1998.
The department is surrounded on three sides by the Mediterranean Sea and on the north by the department of Haute-Corse.
The entire island of Corsica is mountainous with many beautiful beaches.
The inhabitants of all of Corsica are called Corsicans.
Corsicans are a fiercely independent people. However, a 6 July 2003 referendum on increased autonomy was voted down by a very thin majority: 50.98 percent against to 49.02 percent for. This was a major setback for French Minister of the Interior Nicolas Sarkozy, who had hoped to use Corsica as the first step in his decentralization policies.
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Creuse
Creuse (French pronunciation: [kʁøz]; Occitan: Cruesa) is a department in central France named after the Creuse River.
Creuse is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on 4 March 1790. It was created from the former province of La Marche.
The County of Marche (Occitan: la Marcha) was a medieval French county, approximately corresponding to the modern département of Creuse. Marche first appeared as a separate fief about the middle of the 10th century, when William III, Duke of Aquitaine, gave it to one of his vassals named Boso, who took the title of count. In the 12th century, the countship passed to the family of Lusignan. They also were sometimes counts of Angoulême and counts of Limousin. With the death of the childless Count Guy in 1308, his possessions in La Marche were seized by Philip IV of France. In 1316 the king made La Marche an appanage for his youngest son the Prince, afterwards Charles IV. Several years later in 1327, La Marche passed into the hands of the House of Bourbon. The family of Armagnac held it from 1435 to 1477, when it reverted to the Bourbons. In 1527 La Marche was seized by Francis I and became part of the domains of the French crown. It was divided into Haute Marche and Basse Marche, the estates of the former continuing until the 17th century. From 1470 until the Revolution, the province was under the jurisdiction of the parlement of Paris.
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Côte-d'Or
Côte-d'Or (IPA: [kot dɔːʁ]; English: Golden Hillside) is a department in the eastern part of France.
Côte-d'Or is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on 4 March 1790. It was formed from part of the former province of Burgundy.
The department is part of the current region of Bourgogne. It is surrounded by the departments of Yonne, Nièvre, Saône-et-Loire, Jura, Aube, and Haute-Marne.
A chain of hills called the Plateau de Langres runs from north-east to south-west through the department to the north of Dijon and continues south-westwards as the Côte d'Or escarpment, which is named from the department's name. It is the south-east facing slope of the escarpment which is the site of the celebrated Burgundy vineyards. To the west of the Plateau de Langres, towards Champagne, lies the densely wooded district of Châtillonais. To the south-east of the plateau and escarpment, the department lies in the broad, flat-bottomed valley of the middle course of the Saône.
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Côtes-d'Armor
Côtes-d'Armor (French pronunciation: [kot.daʁ.mɔʁ]; Breton: Aodoù-an-Arvor) is a department in the north of Brittany, in northwestern France.
Côtes-du-Nord was one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on 4 March 1790. It was created from part of the former province of Brittany. Its name was changed in 1990 to Côtes-d'Armor (ar mor meaning the sea in Breton). The name also has a historical connotation recalling the Roman province of Armorica.
The present department corresponds to most of historical Trégor, part of Cornouaille, and most of Saint-Brieuc.
Côtes-d'Armor is part of the current administrative region of Brittany and is surrounded by the departments of Finistère, Morbihan, and Ille-et-Vilaine, with the English Channel to the north.
The inhabitants of the department are called Costarmoricains.
The Côtes-d'Armor has usually been a left-wing holdout in a historically strongly clerical and right-wing Brittany, due to the department's more anti-clerical nature, especially in the inland area around Guingamp, a former Communist stronghold.
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Deux-Sèvres
Deux-Sèvres (French pronunciation: [dø sɛvʁ]) is a French département. Deux-Sèvres literally means "two Sèvres": the Sèvre Nantaise and the Sèvre Niortaise are two rivers which have their sources in the department.
Deux-Sèvres was one of the 83 original départements created during the French Revolution on March 4, 1790.
Departmental borders were changed in 1973 when the inhabitants of the little commune of Puy-Saint-Bonnet became formally associated with the rapidly growing adjacent commune of Cholet. Cholet is in the neighbouring department of Maine-et-Loire: in order to avoid the associated communes being administered in separate departments, Puy-Saint-Bonnet was transferred into Maine-et-Loire.
The climate is mild, the annual temperature averaging 11 degrees Celsius.
The département remains rural: three-quarters of the area consists of arable land. Wheat and oats are the main products grown, as well as potatoes, apples, and walnuts. Niort is the center for growing vegetables and angelica. Some beetroot is grown in the district of Melle. Vineyards are numerous in the north (Vins du Haut-Poitou), and there are some in the south. The département is also well known for the breeding of cattle, mules, and horses. The Parthenais breed of cattle is named after the town of Parthenay in the north of the département. Also, dairy products are produced in significant quantities (butter in Échiré and goats' cheese).
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Dordogne
Dordogne (French pronunciation: [dɔʁ.dɔɲ]; Occitan: Dordonha) is a départment in south-west France. The départment is located in the region of Aquitaine, between the Loire valley and the High Pyrénées named after the great Dordogne River that runs through it. It roughly corresponds with the ancient county of Périgord.
The county of Périgord dates back to when the area was inhabited by the Gauls, it was home to four tribes, the name for "four tribes" in the Gaulish language was "Petrocore". The area eventually became known as the county of Le Périgord and its inhabitants became known as the Périgordins (or Périgourdins). There are four Périgords in the Dordogne: the "Périgord Vert" (Green Périgord) with its main town of Nontron, consists of verdant valleys in a region crossed by many rivers and streams; the "Périgord Blanc" (White Périgord) situated around the department's capital of Périgueux, is a region of limestone plateaux, wide valleys and meadows; the "Périgord Pourpre" (Purple Périgord) with its capital of Bergerac, is a wine region; and the "Périgord Noir" (Black Périgord) surrounding the administrative center of Sarlat, overlooks the valleys of the Vézère and the Dordogne, where the woods of oak and pine give it its name.
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Doubs
Doubs (French pronunciation: [du]; Arpitan: Dubs) is a department the Franche-Comté region of eastern France named after the Doubs River.
As early as the 13th century, inhabitants of the northern two-thirds of Doubs spoke the Franc-Comtois language, a dialect of Langue d'Oïl. Residents of the southern third of Doubs spoke a dialect of the Arpitan language. Both languages co-existed with French, the official language of law and commerce, and continued to be spoken frequently in rural areas into the 20th century. They are both still spoken today but not on a daily basis.
Doubs was important as a portal to Switzerland through the pass at Joux. Many famous people, including Mirabeau, Toussaint Louverture and Heinrich von Kleist, were imprisoned in the Château de Joux.
Doubs is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on 4 March 1790. It was created from part of the former province of Franche-Comté. The prefecture (capital) is Besançon.
In 1793, the republic of Mandeure was annexed by France and incorporated into the department. This district was passed between various territories and departments in the ensuing administrative reorganisations and wars, but was restored to Doubs in 1816 when the former principality of Montbéliard was also added to the department.
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Drôme
Drôme (French pronunciation: [dʁom]; Droma in Occitan, Drôma in Arpitan), a département in southeastern France, takes its name from the Drôme River.
St Vallier in Drôme, was the birthplace of one of France's most famous courtesans, the noble-born Diane de Poitiers (1499-1566), long-term mistress of King Henri II (1547-1559).
The French National Constituent Assembly set up Drôme as one of the original 83 departments of France on March 4, 1790, during the French Revolution. The territory formed part of the former French province of Dauphiné.
Drôme lies within the region of Rhône-Alpes (Rôno-Arpes) and is surrounded by the departments of Ardèche, Isère, Hautes-Alpes, Alpes-de-Haute-Provence and Vaucluse.
The boundaries of the department have changed several times with the incorporation of the Comtat Venaissin in 1792 and the creation of the department of Vaucluse in 1793. Drôme surrounds an enclave of the department of Vaucluse, the Canton of Valréas (Enclave des Papes).
The President of the General Council is Didier Guillaume of the Socialist Party.
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Essonne
Essonne (pronounced: [ɛ.sɔn]) is a French department in the region of Île-de-France. It is named after the Essonne River.
It was formed on 1 January 1968 when Seine-et-Oise was split into smaller departments.
The Essonne department was created on 1 January 1968, from the southern portion of the former department of Seine-et-Oise.
In June 1963 Carrefour S.A. opened the first hypermarket in the Paris region at Sainte-Geneviève-des-Bois (although the word "hypermarche" was first used only in 1966). Based on the ideas put forward by the American logistics pioneer Bernardo Trujillo, the centre offered on a single 2,500 m2 (26,909.78 sq ft) site a hitherto unknown combination of wide choice and low prices, supported by 400 car parking spaces.
In 1969, the communes of Châteaufort and Toussus-le-Noble were separated from Essonne and added to the department of Yvelines.
Essonne belongs to the region of Île-de-France.
It has borders with the departments of:
All of northern Essonne department belongs to the Parisian agglomeration and is very urbanized. The south remains rural.
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Eure
Eure (French pronunciation: [œʁ]) is a department in the north of France named after the river Eure.
Eure is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on 4 March 1790. It was created from part of the former province of Normandy.
After the allied victory at Waterloo, Eure was occupied by Prussian troops between June 1815 and November 1818.
In the wake of Louis-Napoléons December coup of 1851, Eure was one of the departments placed under a state of emergency in order to avert resistance to the post-republican régime. In the event fewer than 100 government opponents in Eure were arrested.
Eure is part of the current region of Haute-Normandie and is surrounded by the departments of Seine-Maritime, Oise, Val-d'Oise, Yvelines, Eure-et-Loir, Orne, and Calvados.
The department is a largely wooded plateau intersected by the valleys of the Seine River and its tributaries.
The altitude varies from sea level to 248 metres in the south.
The President of the General Council is Jean-Louis Destans of the Socialist Party.
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Eure-et-Loir
Eure-et-Loir (French pronunciation: [œ.r‿e.lwaʁ]) is a French department, named after the Eure and Loir rivers.
Eure-et-Loir is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on March 4, 1790 pursuant to the Act of December 22, 1789. It was created from parts of provinces of Orléanais (Beauce), Maine (Perche), but also Île-de-France (Drouais, Thimerais, Valley Avre Hurepoix).
The current department corresponds to the central part of the land of the Carnutes who had their capital at Autricum (Chartres). The Carnutes are known for their commitment, real or imagined, to the ancient Druidic religion. A holy place in the "Forest of the Carnutes" used to host the annual Druidic assembly. In the north of the department another pre-Roman people, the little-known Durocasses, had their capital at Dreux.
Eure-et-Loir comprises the main part of the region of Beauce, politically it belongs to the current region of Centre (Val de Loire) and is surrounded by the departments of Loir-et-Cher, Loiret, Essonne, Yvelines, Eure, Orne, and Sarthe.
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Finistère
Finistère (French pronunciation: [fi.nis.tɛʁ]; Breton: Penn-ar-Bed) is a département of France, in the extreme west of Brittany.
The name Finistère derives from the Latin Finis Terræ, meaning end of the earth, and may be compared with Land's End on the opposite side of the English Channel. The Breton name for Finistère Penn ar Bedd translates as Head/End of the World and is cognate with the Cornish equivalent for Land's End Pen-an-Wlas (Head/End of the country). Finistère is not to be confused with Finisterre in Spain.
The present department consists of the historical region of Léon and parts of Cornouaille and Trégor.
The largest population center in Finistère is Brest. Other large towns in the department include Quimper (the capital), Morlaix, Carhaix, and Douarnenez. Finistère includes the island of Ushant (Eusa in Breton, Ouessant in French).
Finistère is the westernmost region of France (excluding the overseas departments). By several criteria, Finistère can also claim to be the most coastal department in Metropolitan France. Of its 283 communes, 118 are located on the coast. Its total coastline of approximately 1,250 km (776.71 mi) accounts for almost a quarter of the entire French coast-line.
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France
France (English
i/ˈfræns/ FRANSS or /ˈfrɑːns/ FRAHNSS; French: [fʁɑ̃s] (
listen)), officially the French Republic (French: République française [ʁepyblik fʁɑ̃sɛz]), is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea, and from the Rhine to the Atlantic Ocean. It is often referred to as l’Hexagone ("The Hexagon") because of the geometric shape of its territory. It is the largest western European country and it possesses the second-largest exclusive economic zone in the world, covering 11,035,000 km2 (4,260,000 sq mi), just behind that of the United States (11,351,000 km2 / 4,383,000 sq mi).
Over the past 500 years, France has been a major power with strong cultural, economic, military and political influence in Europe and around the world. During the 17th and 18th centuries, France colonised great parts of North America and Southeast Asia; during the 19th and early 20th centuries, France built the second largest colonial empire of the time, including large portions of North, West and Central Africa, Southeast Asia, and many Caribbean and Pacific Islands.
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Gard
Gard (French pronunciation: [ɡaʁ]; Occitan: Gard) is a département located in southern France in the Languedoc-Roussillon region.
The department is named after the River Gardon, and the Occitan name of the river has been replacing the French name of the department in recent decades, even among French speakers.
The Gard area was settled by the Romans in classical times. It was crossed by the Via Domitia, which was constructed in 118 BC.
Gard is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on March 4, 1790. It was created from the ancient province of Languedoc.
It was originally intended to include the canton of Ganges in the department which would have been geographically logical, but Ganges was transferred to the neighbouring department of Hérault at the outset. In return, Gard received from Hérault the fishing port of Aigues Mortes which gave the department its own outlet to the Gulf of Lion.
During the middle of the nineteenth century the prefecture, traditionally a centre of commerce with a manufacturing sector focused on textiles, was an early beneficiary of railway development, becoming an important railway junction. Several luxurious hotels were built, and the improved market access provided by the railways also encouraged, initially, a rapid growth in wine growing: however, many of the department's viticulturalists were ruined by the arrival in 1872 of phylloxera.
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Gers
The Gers (French: le Gers, Gascon: Gers, pronounced: [ʒɛʁs] or [ʒɛʁ]) is a department in the Midi-Pyrénées region in the southwest of France named after the Gers River.
Inhabitants are called les Gersois or Gersoises.
In the Middle Ages, the Lordship of L'Isle-Jourdain was nearby.
The Gers is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on March 4, 1790. It was created from parts of the former provinces of Guyenne and Gascony.
In 1808 it lost Lavit on its the north-eastern side to the newly created department of Tarn-et-Garonne.
The culture is largely agricultural, with great emphasis on the local gastronomical specialties such as:
Also, some prominent cultivated crops are corn, colza, sunflowers and grain.
The Gascon language is a dialect of Occitan, but it is not widely spoken.The department is characterised by sleepy bastide villages and rolling hills with the Pyrenees visible to the south.
Alexandre Dumas, père created the famous Gersois d'Artagnan, the fourth musketeer of The Three Musketeers. A museum to d'Artagnan is found in the Gersois village of Lupiac.
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Gironde
For the Revolutionary party, see Girondists.
Gironde (French pronunciation: [ʒiʁɔ̃d]; in Gascon Gironda) is a common name for the Gironde estuary, where the mouths of the Garonne and Dordogne rivers merge, and for a department in the Aquitaine region situated in southwest France. The Bordeaux wine region is in the Gironde.
Gironde is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on 4 March 1790. It was created from parts of the former provinces of Guyenne and Gascogne.
From 1793 to 1795, the department's name was changed to Bec-d'Ambès to avoid the association with the revolutionary party, the Girondists.
Gironde is part of the current region of Aquitaine and is surrounded by the departments of Landes, Lot-et-Garonne, Dordogne and Charente-Maritime and the Atlantic Ocean on the west. With an area of 10,000 km², Gironde is the largest department in metropolitan France. If overseas departments are included, however, Gironde's land area is dwarfed by the 83,846 km² of Guyane.
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Guadeloupe
Coordinates: 16°15′N 61°35′W / 16.25°N 61.583°W / 16.25; -61.583
Guadeloupe (
/ɡwɑːdəˈluːp/; French pronunciation: [ɡwadəlup]; Antillean Creole: Gwadloup) is a Caribbean island located in the Leeward Islands, in the Lesser Antilles, with a land area of 1,628 square kilometres (629 sq. mi) and a population of 400,000. It is an overseas region of France, consisting of a single overseas department. Its departmental code is "971". As the other overseas departments, Guadeloupe is also an integral part of the Republic. Besides Guadeloupe island, the smaller islands of Marie-Galante, La Désirade, and the Îles des Saintes are included in Guadeloupe.
As part of France, Guadeloupe is part of the European Union and the Eurozone; hence, as for all Eurozone countries, its currency is the euro. However, Guadeloupe is not part of the Schengen Area. The prefecture and the capital of Guadeloupe is Basse-Terre. Christopher Columbus named the island Santa María de Guadalupe in 1493 after the Virgin Mary, venerated in the Spanish town of Guadalupe, in Extremadura.
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Haut-Rhin
Haut-Rhin (French pronunciation: [oʁɛ̃]; Alsatian: Owerelsàss) is a département of the Alsace region of France, named after the Rhine river. Its name means Upper Rhine. Haut-Rhin is the smaller and less populated of the two departements of Alsace, although is still densely populated compared to the rest of France.
The department consists of the following arrondissements:
Haut-Rhin is one of the original 83 départements, created during the French Revolution, on 4 March 1790 through the application of the law of 22 December 1789 in respect of the southern half of the province of Alsace (Haute-Alsace).
Its boundaries have been modified many times:
Haut-Rhin is bordered by the Territoire de Belfort and Vosges départements and the Vosges Mountains to the west, the Bas-Rhin département to the North, Switzerland to the south and its eastern border with Germany is also the River Rhine. In the centre of the département lies a fertile plain. The climate is semi-continental.
Haut-Rhin is one of the richest French départements. Mulhouse is the home of a Peugeot automobile factory, manufacturing the 106 and 206 models. The lowest unemployment rate in France can be found in the Southern Sundgau region (approximately 2%). The countryside is marked by hills. Many Haut-Rhinois work in Switzerland, especially in the chemical industries of Basel, but prefer to commute from France where living cost are lower.
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Haute-Corse
Haute-Corse (French pronunciation: [ot.kɔʁs]; Corsican: Corsica suprana) (English: Upper Corsica) is a French department. It constitutes the northern part of the island of Corsica.
The department was formed on 15 September 1975, when the department of Corse was divided into Haute-Corse and Corse-du-Sud. The department corresponds exactly to the former department of Golo which existed between 1793 and 1811.
The department is surrounded on three sides by the Mediterranean Sea and on the south by the department of Corse-du-Sud.
The inhabitants of the entire island of Corsica are called Corsicans.
The Corsicans are a fiercely independent people. However, a 6 July 2003 referendum on increased autonomy was voted down by a very thin majority: 50.98 percent against to 49.02 percent for. This was a major setback for French Minister of the Interior Nicolas Sarkozy, who had hoped to use Corsica as the first step in his decentralization policies.
The President of the General Council is Paul Giacobbi, who has held the office since 1998.
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Haute-Garonne
Haute-Garonne (French pronunciation: [ot ɡaʁɔn]; Occitan: Nauta Garona; English: Upper Garonne) is a department in the southwest of France named after the Garonne river. Its main city is Toulouse.
Haute-Garonne is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on March 4, 1790. It was created from part of the former province of Languedoc.
The department was originally larger. The reduction in its area resulted from an imperial decree dated 21 November 1808 and which established the neighbouring department of Tarn-et-Garonne, to the north. The new department, created in response to the pleadings of various locally powerful politicians, took territory from five surrounding departments including Haute-Garonne. The districts lost to Tarn-et-Garonne in 1808 were those of Montech and Castelsarrasin.
Haute-Garonne is part of the current region of Midi-Pyrénées and is surrounded by the departments of Hautes-Pyrénées, Gers, Tarn-et-Garonne, Tarn, Aude, and Ariège. It also borders Spain in the south (province of Lleida and province of Huesca).
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Haute-Loire
Haute-Loire (French pronunciation: [ot lwaʁ]; Occitan: Naut Léger) is a department in south-central France named after the Loire River.
Haute-Loire is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on 4 March 1790. It was created from parts of the former provinces of Auvergne, Languedoc, and Lyonnais.
Haute-Loire is part of the current region of Auvergne and is surrounded by the departments of Loire, Ardèche, Lozère, Cantal, and Puy-de-Dôme.
The department covers the upper reaches of the Loire. Parts of the department belong to Parc naturel régional Livradois-Forez.
The inhabitants of the department are called Altiligériens.
The de Polignac family has its historic seat there, and various descendants of Lafayette were senators for this region in the nineteenth century.
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Haute-Marne
Haute-Marne (French pronunciation: [ot.maʁn]) is a department in the northeast of France named after the Marne River.
Haute-Marne is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on March 4, 1790. It was created from parts of the former provinces of Champagne, Burgundy, Lorraine and Franche-Comté
In March 1814 the departmental prefecture, Chaumont, was the unwitting witness to the end of the First Empire. On 1 March, Prussia, Russia, the United Kingdom and Austria signed an accord forbidding any individual peace deal with Napoleon I, and to fight until his final defeat.
During World War II, Haute-Marne was partitioned under German occupation. The canal which runs from the Marne to the Saône served as a border, dividing the department into east and west. The east was a "reserved zone", intended for the creation of a new German (Ripuarian) state, whereas to the west would be the traditional "occupied zone". Haute-Marne was finally liberated by the Allies, in the form of the division of General Leclerc, between August and September 1944.
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Haute-Savoie
Haute-Savoie ([ot savwa] ( listen); Arpitan : Savouè d’Amont / Hiôta-Savouè; English: Upper Savoy) is a department in the Rhône-Alpes region of eastern France, bordering both Switzerland and Italy. Its capital is Annecy. To the north is Lake Geneva and Switzerland; to the south and southeast are the Mont Blanc and Aravis mountain ranges. The French entrance to the Mont Blanc Tunnel to Italy is in Haute-Savoie. It is noted for winter sports; the first Winter Olympic Games were held at Chamonix in 1924.
Before 1860, the territory occupied by modern Haute-Savoie and the adjoining department of Savoie was part of the Kingdom of Sardinia since the Treaty of Utrecht in 1713. Annexation of the region by France was formalized in the Treaty of Turin on March 24, 1860.
From November 1942 to September 1943, Haute-Savoie was subjected to military occupation by Italy. The Maquis des Glières (a band of Free French Resistance fighters who opposed the Nazi, Vichy and Milice regimes during World War II) operated from Haute-Savoie.
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Haute-Saône
Haute-Saône (French pronunciation: [ot.soːn]; Arpitan: Hiôta-Sona) is a French department of the Franche-Comté (Franche-Comtât) région, named after the Saône River.
The department was created in the early years of the French Revolution through the application of a law dated 22 December 1789, from part of the former province of Franche-Comté. The frontiers of the new department corresponded approximately to those of the old Bailiwick of Amont.
Haute-Saône is part of the Franche-Comté region.
Neighbouring departments are Côte-d'Or to the west, Haute-Marne to the north-west, Vosges to the north, Territoire de Belfort to the east, Doubs to the south and east and Jura to south.
Haute-Saône is divided into 32 cantons
Te department can be presented as a transitional territory positioned between several of the more depressed departments of eastern France and the so called Blue Banana zone characterised, in recent decades by relatively powerful economic growth.
The department is overwhelmingly rural, despite the area having been at the forefront of industrialisation in the eighteenth century. The industrial tradition endures, but industrial businesses tend to be on a small scale. In 2006 employment by economic sector was reported as follows:
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Haute-Vienne
Haute-Vienne (French pronunciation: [ot vjɛn]) is a French department named after the Vienne River. It is one of three departments that together constitute the French region of Limousin.
The chief and largest city is Limoges. The other towns in the department each have fewer than 20,000 inhabitants.
The source of the Charente River is in the department, in the commune of Chéonnac, near Rochechouart.
The neighboring departments are: Creuse, Corrèze, Dordogne, Charente, Vienne and Indre.
The three arrondissements of the Haute-Vienne department are:
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Hautes-Alpes
Hautes-Alpes (French pronunciation: [ot.z‿alp]; Occitan: Auts Aups) is a department in southeastern France named after the Alps mountain range.
Hautes-Alpes is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on 4 March 1790. It consists of the southeast of the former province of Dauphiné and the north of Provence.
At the time when the department was created, the two mountain communes of La Grave and Villar-d'Arêne successfully campaigned to be included in Hautes-Alpes and not in the neighbouring department of Isère to which they had originally been assigned. This was because they hoped to benefit from the relative autonomy and certain fiscal privileges enjoyed by the region since the fourteenth century under the terms of the Statute of the Briançon Escartons.
Napoleon passed through Gap when he returned to reclaim France after his exile on Elba.
The department is surrounded by the following French departments: Alpes-de-Haute-Provence, Drôme, Isère, and Savoie. Italy borders it on the east.
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Hautes-Pyrénées
Hautes-Pyrénées (French pronunciation: [ot pi.ʁe.ne]) (Gascon: Nauts Pirenèus / Hauts Pirenèus) is a department in southwestern France. It is part of the Midi-Pyrénées region.
Historically the area broadly covered by the département was known as Bigorre, a territory at times independent but later part of Gascony province. Large parts of the area were held by the English after the Treaty of Brétigny, 1360. In the 16th century, it was part of the Huguenot domain of the monarchs of Navarre, brought to France by Henri IV. For its early history, see Bigorre and Gascony.
The département of Hautes-Pyrénées was created at the time of the French Revolution, on 4 March 1790, through the influence of Tarbes politician Bertrand Barère, a member of the Convention.
Hautes-Pyrénées consists of several distinct geographical areas. The southern portion, along the border with Spain, consists of mountains such as the Vignemale, the Pic du Midi de Bigorre, and the Neouvielle and Arbizon ranges. A second area consists of low-altitude rolling hills. The Northern part of the département consists of largely flat agricultural land. Hautes-Pyrénées has two small territorial exclaves -a remnant from the Middle Ages- located within the neighboring département of Pyrenees-Atlantiques
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Hauts-de-Seine
Hauts-de-Seine (pronounced: [o.də.sɛn]; literally "Seine Heights") is designated number 92 of the 101 départements in France. It is part of the Île-de-France region, and covers the western inner suburbs of Paris. It is small and densely populated and contains the modern office, theatre and shopping complex known as La Défense.
Hauts-de-Seine and two other small départements, Seine-Saint-Denis and Val-de-Marne, form a ring around Paris, known as the Petite Couronne (i.e. "little crown").
Hauts-de-Seine is made up of three departmental arrondissements and 36 communes:
The department of Hauts-de-Seine was created in 1968, from parts of the former départements of Seine and Seine-et-Oise. Its creation reflected the implementation of a law passed in 1964, and Nanterre had already been selected as the prefecture for the new department early in 1965.
In the 1990s and early 2000s, the Hauts-de-Seine received national attention as the result of a corruption scandal concerning the misuse of public funds provided for the department's housing projects. Implicated were former minister and former President of the general council of the Hauts-de-Seine, Charles Pasqua, and other personalities of the RPR party. (See corruption scandals in the Paris region.)
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Hérault
Hérault (French pronunciation: [eʁo]; Occitan: Erau) is a department in the south of France named after the Hérault river.
Hérault is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on 4 March 1790. It was created from part of the former province of Languedoc.
At the beginning of the 20th century, viticulture in the region was devastated by a slump in sales combined with disease affecting the vines, and thousands of small scale producers revolted. This revolt was suppressed very harshly by the government of Georges Clemenceau.
The catastrophic frost of the winter of 1956 damaged the olive trees, and the olive-growing regions did not recover until the late 1980s. Many of the olive-industry co-ops closed.
During the second half of the twentieth century the Montpellier basin underwent one of the most rapid population increases experienced anywhere in France.
Hérault is part of the current region of Languedoc-Roussillon and is surrounded by the departments of Aude, Tarn, Aveyron, Gard, and the Mediterranean (Gulf of Lion) on the south.
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Ille-et-Vilaine
Ille-et-Vilaine (French pronunciation: [i.l‿e.vi.lɛn]; Breton: Il-ha-Gwilen) is a department of France, located in the region of Brittany in the northwest of the country.
Ille-et-Vilaine is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on March 4, 1790. It was created from part of the province of Brittany.
Ille-et-Vilaine is a part of the current region of Brittany and is bordered by the departments of Manche to the north-east, Mayenne to the east, Maine-et-Loire to the south-east, Loire-Atlantique to the south, Morbihan to the south-west, and Côtes-d'Armor to the west and north-west. Also the English Channel (locally named la Manche in French) borders the department to the north.
The department is named after its two main rivers, the Ille and the Vilaine, whose confluence is in Rennes, the capital of the department and of the region. Other important rivers include :
The department is moderately elevated above the level of the sea, with many hills; however the central part has a dense network of many tributaries to the Ille or the Vilaine from all around the large basin of Rennes. The elevated hills bordering this basin are covered by several old forests now exploited by men for the production of wood. The basin itself is a rich agriculture area, as well as the north-west of the department near the Rance.
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Indre
Indre (French pronunciation: [ɛ̃dʁ]) is a department in the center of France named after the river Indre. The inhabitants of the department are called Indriens.
Indre is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on March 4, 1790. It was created from part of the former province of Berry.
Indre is part of the current region of Centre (Val de Loire) and is surrounded by the departments of Indre-et-Loire, Loir-et-Cher, Cher, Creuse, Vienne, and Haute-Vienne.
The President of the General Council is Louis Pinton of the Union for a Popular Movement.
The Indre has two villages classified among the most beautiful villages of France: Saint-Benoît-du-Sault and Gargilesse-Dampierre.
Media related to Indre (department) at Wikimedia Commons
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Indre-et-Loire
Indre-et-Loire (French pronunciation: [ɛ̃dʁ‿e lwaʁ]) is a department in west-central France named after the Indre and the Loire rivers.
Indre-et-Loire is one of the original 83 départements created during the French Revolution on 4 March 1790. It was created from the former province of Touraine.
Tours, the departmental prefecture, was a center of learning in the early Middle Ages.
After the creation of the department it remained politically conservative, as Honoré de Balzac recorded in several of his novels. Conservative Tours refused to welcome the railways which instead were obliged to route their lines by way of Saint-Pierre-des-Corps on the city's eastern edge. The moderate temper of the department's politics remained apparent after the trauma of 1870: sentiment remained pro-royalist during the early years of the Third Republic.
For most of the nineteenth century Indre-et-Loire was a rural department, but pockets of heavy-duty industrialisation began to appear towards century's end, accompanied by left-wing politics. 1920 saw the birth of the French Communist Party at the Congress of Tours. By 1920 Saint-Pierre-des-Corps had become a major railway junction and a centre of railway workshops: it had also acquired a reputation as a bastion of working class solidarity.
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Isère
Isère (pronounced: [izɛːʁ]; Arpitan: Isera, Occitan: Isèra) is a department in the Rhône-Alpes (Rôno-Arpes in Arpitan) region in the east of France named after the river Isère.
Isère is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on March 4, 1790. It was created from part of the former province of Dauphiné. Its area has been reduced twice, in 1852 and again in 1967, on both occasions losing territory to the department of Rhône.
In 1852 in response to rapid urban development round the edge of Lyon, the (hitherto Isère) communes of Bron, Vaulx-en-Velin, Vénissieux and Villeurbanne were transferred to Rhône. In 1967 the redrawing of local government frontiers led to the creation of the Urban Community of Lyon (more recently known simply as Greater Lyon / Grand Lyon). At that time intercommunal groupings of this nature were not permitted to straddle departmental frontiers, and accordingly 23 more Isère communes (along with 6 communes from Ain) found themselves transferred to Rhône. The affected Isère communes were Chaponnay, Chassieu, Communay, Corbas, Décines-Charpieu, Feyzin, Genas, Jonage, Jons, Marennes, Meyzieu, Mions, Pusignan, Saint-Bonnet-de-Mure, Saint-Laurent-de-Mure, Saint-Pierre-de-Chandieu, Saint-Priest, Saint-Symphorien-d'Ozon, Sérézin-du-Rhône, Simandres, Solaize, Ternay and Toussieu.
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Jura (department)
Jura (French pronunciation: [ʒyʁa]) is a department in the east of France named after the Jura mountains.
Historically, Jura belonged to the Free County of Burgundy, known in French as the Franche-Comté. Dole was the capital until the region was conquered by Louis XIV and it was moved to Besançon. It is now a sous-préfecture of Jura.
As early as the 13th century, inhabitants of the southern 2/3 of Jura spoke a dialect of Arpitan language. It continued to be spoken in rural areas into the 20th century.
Jura is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on March 4, 1790. It was created from part of the former province of Franche-Comté. The departments of Jura, Doubs, and Haute-Saône form the modern Franche-Comté region of France. The prefecture (capital) is Lons-le-Saunier.
Jura is one of four departments of the Franche-Comté region and is surrounded by the French departments of Doubs, Haute-Saône, Côte-d'Or, Saône-et-Loire, and Ain, as well as the Swiss canton of Vaud on the east.
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Landes (department)
Landes (French pronunciation: [lɑ̃d]; Gascon : Lanas or Lanes) is a département in southern France.
Landes is one of the original 83 départements that were created during the French Revolution on March 4, 1790. It was created from parts of the provinces of Guyenne and Gascony.
During the first part of the nineteenth century large parts of the department were covered with poorly drained heathland (lande in French) which is the origin of its name. The vegetation covered rich soil and was periodically burned off, leaving excellent pasturage for sheep, which around 1850 are thought to have numbered between 900,000 and 1,000,000 in this area. The sheep were managed by shepherds who moved around on stilts and became proficient at covering long distances thus supported. Most of the sheep departed during the second half of the nineteenth century when systematic development of large pine plantations transformed the landscape and the local economy.
The Nobel Prize winning novelist François Mauriac set his novels in the Landes.
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Loir-et-Cher
Loir-et-Cher (French pronunciation: [lwa.ʁ‿e.ʃɛʁ]) is a département in north-central France named after the rivers Loir and Cher.
Loir-et-Cher is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on 4 March 1790. It was created from parts of the former provinces of Orléanais and Touraine.
Loir-et-Cher is part of the modern region of Centre. Adjacent departments are Eure-et-Loir to the north, Loiret to the north-east, Cher to the south-east, Indre to the south, Indre-et-Loire to the south-west, and Sarthe to the west.
The department comprises 6,314 km2, which makes it the 31st largest of the French departments in terms of area. The line of the river Loire traverses the land, ensuring easy communication between its own capital, Blois, and the vibrant cultural and commercial centres of Tours to the west and the fringes of the Seine-Paris basin at Orléans to the east.
Its main rivers are the Loire, on which its prefecture (capital) Blois is situated, the Loir and the Cher.
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Loire
Loire (French pronunciation: [lwaʁ]; Arpitan: Lêre; Occitan: Léger) is an administrative department in the east-central part of France occupying the River Loire's upper reaches.
Loire was created in 1793 when after just 3½ years the young Rhône-et-Loire department was split into two. This was a response to counter-Revolutionary activities in Lyon which, by population, was the country's second largest city. By splitting Rhône-et-Loire the government sought to protect the French Revolution from the potential power and influence of counter revolutionary activity in the Lyon region.
The departmental capitals have been / are as follows:
Loire is part of the current administrative region of Rhône-Alpes and is surrounded by the departments of Rhône, Isère, Ardèche, Haute-Loire, Puy-de-Dôme, Allier, and Saône-et-Loire.
The River Loire traverses the department from south to north.
The Loire department is split into three arrondissements:
Parts of the department belong to Parc naturel régional Livradois-Forez.
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Loire-Atlantique
Loire-Atlantique (French pronunciation: [lwa.ʁat.lɑ̃.tik]; formerly Loire-Inférieure) is a department on the west coast of France named after the Loire River and the Atlantic Ocean.
Loire-Atlantique is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on March 4, 1790. Originally, it was named Loire-Inférieure, but its name was changed in 1957 to Loire-Atlantique.
The area is part of Brittany, and contains what many people still consider to be Brittany's capital, Nantes. There is a campaign to have it reintegrated in Brittany.
Loire-Atlantique is part of the current region of Pays-de-la-Loire and is surrounded by the department of Morbihan, Ille-et-Vilaine, Maine-et-Loire, and Vendée, with the Atlantic on the west.
Upper Brittany's indigenous language is Gallo, a romance language related to French. The number of Gallo language speakers has been in steady decline since the early 20th century. The language is neither official nor taught in primary or secondary education. The Breton language, a Celtic language, native to Lower Brittany, was historically spoken in the western area of Loire-Atlantique, and up to 1920 in Batz-sur-Mer. This area (Guérande, Le Croisic, and La Baule) has a rather Breton toponymy: for instance, Guérande originates from the Breton Gwenn Rann (white or pure place).
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Loiret
Loiret (French pronunciation: [lwaʁɛ]) is a department in north-central France
The department is named after the river Loiret, a tributary of the Loire. The Loiret is located wholly within the department.
Loiret is one of the original 83 departments that was created during the French Revolution on March 4, 1790. It was created from the former province of Orléanais.
Loiret is part of the current region of Centre and is surrounded by the departments of Essonne, Seine-et-Marne, Yonne, Nièvre, Cher, Loir-et-Cher, and Eure-et-Loir.
Orléans is a popular tourist destination, with its cathedral of Ste. Croix.
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Lot (department)
Lot (French pronunciation: [lɔt]; Occitan: Òlt) is a department in the southwest of France named after the Lot River.
Lot is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on March 4, 1790. It was created from part of the province of Languedoc. In 1808, some of the original southeastern cantons were separated from it to form the department of Tarn-et-Garonne. It originally extended much farther to the south and included the city of Montauban.
Lot is part of the region of Midi-Pyrénées and is surrounded by the departments of Corrèze, Cantal, Aveyron, Tarn-et-Garonne, Lot-et-Garonne, and Dordogne.
For a full list, see Communes of the Lot department. Settlements in the Lot include:
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Lot-et-Garonne
Lot-et-Garonne (French: [lɔt‿e ɡaʁɔn], Occitan: Òlt e Garona) is a department in the southwest of France named after the Lot and Garonne rivers.
Lot-et-Garonne is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on March 4, 1790. It was created from part of the provinces of Guyenne and Gascogne.
Several of the original southeastern cantons in the arrondissements of Agen and Villeneuve-sur-Lot were separated from it in 1808 to become a part of the newly ceated department of Tarn-et-Garonne.
Lot-et-Garonne is part of the current region of Aquitaine and is surrounded by the departments of Lot, Tarn-et-Garonne, Gers, Landes, Gironde, and Dordogne.
Food-processing, chemicals, and pharmaceuticals are all major industries of the department.
The inhabitants of the department are called Lot-et-Garonnais.
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Lozère
Lozère (French pronunciation: [lɔzɛʁ]; Occitan: Losera), is a department in southeast France near the Massif Central, named after Mont Lozère.
Lozère is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on March 4, 1790. It was created from part of the former province of Languedoc.
The Beast of Gévaudan was a creature that terrorized the general area of the former province of Gévaudan, with nearly identical borders to today's Lozère, in the Margeride Mountains, in the general timeframe of 1764 to 1767.
Pliny's Natural History praised the cheese of Lozère:
The geography of Lozère is complicated, covering four mountain ranges. In the north-west, the basalt plateau of Aubrac rises between 1,000 and 1,450m, with a cold humid climate influenced by the Atlantic. The north and north-east of the department contains the Margeride mountains, which are formed of granite, and have peaks between 1,000 and 1,550m. The climate here is also cold, but dryer than Aubrac, with less snow.
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Maine-et-Loire
Maine-et-Loire (French pronunciation: [mɛn.e.lwaʁ]) is a department in west-central France, in the Pays de la Loire region.
Maine-et-Loire is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on March 4, 1790. Originally it was called Mayenne-et-Loire, but its name was changed to Maine-et-Loire in 1791. It was created from part of the former province of Anjou. Its present name is drawn from the former province of Maine and the Loire River, which runs through it.
Maine-et-Loire is part of the current region of Pays-de-la-Loire and is surrounded by the departments of Ille-et-Vilaine, Mayenne, Sarthe, Indre-et-Loire, Vienne, Deux-Sèvres, Vendée, and Loire-Atlantique.
It has a varied landscape, with forested ranges of hills in the south and north separated by the valley of the Loire. The highest point is Colline des Gardes (689 feet/210m).
The area has many navigable rivers such as the Loire, Sarthe, Mayenne, Loir, and Authion.
The inhabitants of Maine-et-Loire are called Angevins, from the former province of Anjou.
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Manche
Manche (French pronunciation: [mɑ̃ʃ]) is a French department in Normandy named after La Manche ("the sleeve"), which is the French name for the English Channel.
Manche is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on March 4, 1790. It was created from part of the province of Normandie.
The first capital was Coutances until 1796, and it resumed that role after World War II because of the almost complete destruction of Saint-Lô during the D-Day invasion of Normandy. When Saint-Lô was rebuilt, it again became the capital.
The Department includes the Cotentin Peninsula down to the famous Mont St Michel; though not the off-shore Îles Anglo-Normandes, which are British Crown Dependencies. These islands are a wonderful example of when Normandy invaded England and vice-versa, and oaths of allegiance to new kings got mixed up. Other reefs and not quite islands such as the Minquiers are technically British, though they are annually contested in good fun by French and Channel Island fishermen. The coast is fantastic for sailing and boating though the unusually fast tidal races require a certain yachting skill to navigate safely.
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Marne
Marne (French pronunciation: [maʁn]) is a department in north-eastern France named after the river Marne (Matrona in Roman times) which flows through the department. The prefecture (capital) of Marne is Châlons-en-Champagne (formerly known as Châlons-sur-Marne). The subprefectures are Épernay, Reims, Sainte-Menehould, and Vitry-le-François.
The Champagne vineyards producing the world-famous sparkling wine are located within Marne.
Marne is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on March 4, 1790. It was created from the province of Champagne.
Marne has a long association with the French Army. The training ground of the Camp Militaire de Mailly straddles the border with the département of Aube in the south while that of the Camp de Mourmelon occupies a large area north of Châlons-en-Champagne. The smaller Camp de Moronvilliers lies to the east of Reims and the Camp Militaire de Suippes lies to the east of that. These are all on the chalk of the Champagne plateau, a feature comparable in geology but not size, with the British military training ground on Salisbury Plain.
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Martinique
Martinique (French pronunciation: [maʁtinik]) is an island in the Lesser Antilles in the eastern Caribbean Sea, with a land area of 1,128 km2 (436 sq mi). Like Guadeloupe, it is an overseas region of France, consisting of a single overseas department. To the northwest lies Dominica, to the south St Lucia, and to the southeast Barbados. As with the other overseas departments, Martinique is one of the twenty-seven regions of France (being an overseas region) and an integral part of the Republic. The first European to encounter the island was Christopher Columbus in 1502.
As part of France, Martinique is part of the European Union, and its currency is the Euro. Its official language is French, although many of its inhabitants also speak Antillean Creole (Créole Martiniquais).
The island was occupied first by Arawaks, then by Caribs. It was charted by Columbus in 1493, but Spain had little interest in the territory. It was claimed by France in 1635 and, despite several interludes of British occupation, once during the Seven Years' War and twice during the Napoleonic Wars, has remained a French possession. In 1946, the French National Assembly voted unanimously to transform the colony into an overseas department.
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Mayenne
Mayenne (French pronunciation: [majɛn]) is a department in northwest France named after the Mayenne River.
Mayenne is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on March 4, 1790. The northern two thirds correspond to the western part of the former province of Maine. The southern third of Mayenne corresponds to the northern portion of the old province of Anjou.
After the Coalition's victory at Waterloo, between June 1815 and November 1818, Mayenne was occupied by Prussian troops.
Mayenne is part of the current region of Pays de la Loire and is surrounded by the departments of Manche, Orne, Sarthe, Maine-et-Loire, and Ille-et-Vilaine.
The inhabitants of the department are called Mayennais. This demonym is not the source of the word mayonnaise.
The town is featured as a level in the World War II video game Call of Duty 3.
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Mayotte
Mayotte (French: Mayotte, pronounced: [majɔt]; Shimaore: Maore, IPA: [maˈore]; Malagasy: Mahori) is an overseas department and region of France consisting of a main island, Grande-Terre (or Mahoré), a smaller island, Petite-Terre (or Pamanzi), and several islets around these two. The archipelago is located in the northern Mozambique Channel in the Indian Ocean, namely between northwestern Madagascar and northeastern Mozambique. Mayotte's area is 374 square kilometres (144 sq mi), and with its estimated 194,000 people is very densely populated (520 /km2 or 1,300 /sq mi). Its biggest city and prefecture is Mamoudzou. The territory is geographically part of the Comoro Islands, but has been politically separate since a 1974 referendum in which it elected to remain under French rule. The territory is also known as Mahoré, the native name of its main island, especially by advocates of its inclusion in the Union of Comoros. In a 2009 referendum, the population overwhelmingly approved accession to status of department (95.2% voted in favour of departmental status). On March 31, 2011, Mayotte became an overseas department.
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Meurthe-et-Moselle
Meurthe-et-Moselle (French pronunciation: [mœʁte mɔzɛl]) is a department in the Lorraine region of France, named after the Meurthe and Moselle rivers.
Meurthe-et-Moselle was created in 1871 at the end of the Franco-Prussian War from the parts of the former departments of Moselle and Meurthe which remained French territory.
The current boundary between Meurthe-et-Moselle and Moselle was the border between France and Germany from 1871 to 1919 and again between 1940 and 1944. The only subsequent change took place in 1997 and involved the incorporation, for administrative reasons, of the little commune of Han-devant-Pierrepont which had previously fallen within the Meuse department.
Meurthe-et-Moselle is part of the region of Lorraine and is surrounded (counter-clockwise) by the departments of Meuse, Vosges, Bas-Rhin, and Moselle; and by the nations of Luxembourg and Belgium. Parts of Meurthe-et-Moselle belong to Parc naturel régional de Lorraine.
Its extends from north to south for 130 kilometers and between 7 and 103 kilometers from west to east.
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Meuse
Meuse (French pronunciation: [møz]) is a department in northeast France, named after the River Meuse.
Meuse is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on March 4, 1790. It was created from the former provinces of Barrois (area of Bar-le-Duc) and Three Bishoprics (area of Verdun).
The department was one of the great battlefields of World War I; an important battle was fought in 1916 at Verdun.
Meuse is part of the current region of Lorraine and is surrounded by the French departments of Ardennes, Marne, Haute-Marne, Vosges, Meurthe-et-Moselle, and Belgium on the north. Parts of Meuse belong to Parc naturel régional de Lorraine.
The important rivers are the following:
The population has decreased sharply since the 19th century, with the rural exodus to the cities.
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Morbihan
Morbihan (French pronunciation: [mɔʁbi.ɑ̃]; Breton: Mor-Bihan) is a department in Brittany, situated in the northwest of France. It is named after the Morbihan (small sea in Breton), the enclosed sea that is the principal feature of the coastline. It is famous for the Carnac stones, which are more extensive and predates the more familiar Stonehenge.
Morbihan is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on March 4, 1790. It was created from a part of the Duchy of Brittany. It is the only French department which has no French name; the word Morbihan is Breton. It is also the only department in France which has kept its original name.
Morbihan is part of the current region of Brittany and is surrounded by the departments of Finistère, Côtes-d'Armor, Ille-et-Vilaine, and Loire-Atlantique, and the Atlantic Ocean on the southwest.
The Gulf of Morbihan has many islands: 365 according to legend, but, in reality, between 30 and 40, according to how they are counted. There are also many islets which are too small to be built on. Of these islands, all but two are private: l'Île aux Moines and l'Île D'Arz. The others are privately owned, some by movie stars or fashion designers.
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Moselle
Moselle (French pronunciation: [mɔ.zɛl]) is a department in the east of France named after the river Moselle.
Moselle is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on March 4, 1790. It was created from the former province of Lorraine.
In 1793, the foreign enclaves of Manderen, Lixing-lès-Rouhling, Momerstroff, and Créhange (Kriechingen), all possessions of princes of the German Holy Roman Empire, were annexed by France and incorporated into the Moselle département.
By the Treaty of Paris of 1814 following the first defeat and abdication of Napoleon, France had to surrender almost all its conquests since 1792. On the northeastern border, France was not restored to its 1792 borders, but a new border was established to put an end to the convoluted nature of the border, with all its enclaves and exclaves. As a result, the French exclave of Tholey (now in Saarland, Germany) as well as a few communes near Sierck-les-Bains (both territories until then part of the Moselle département) were ceded to Austria. On the other hand, the French annexations of 1793 were confirmed, and furthermore, the south of the Napoleonic département of Sarre was ceded to France, including the town of Lebach, the city of Saarbrücken, and the rich coal basin nearby. France was thus a net beneficiary of the Treaty of Paris, all the new territories ceded to her being far larger and more strategic than the few territories ceded to Austria. All these new territories were incorporated into the Moselle department, and so Moselle had now a larger territory than ever since 1790.
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Nièvre
Nièvre (IPA: [njɛvʁ]) is a department in the centre of France named after the Nièvre River.
Nièvre is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on March 4, 1790. It was created from the former province of Nivernais.
Nièvre is part of the current region of Burgundy, although historically it was not part of the province of Burgundy, and it is surrounded by the departments of Yonne, Côte-d'Or, Saône-et-Loire, Allier, Cher, and Loiret. The département is crossed by the Loire river, the longest river in France.
Nièvre is a rural department with about 50 inhabitants / km². The main cities are : Nevers, Cosne-sur-Loire, Varennes-Vauzelles, Marzy, Decize, Imphy and La Charité. Only three cities reach 10 000 inhabitants. It indicates the characteristic of the département, which is predominantly rural.
Nièvre is also well known for its white wine, Pouilly Fumé. The vineyards are scattered around villages including Pouilly-Sur-Loire, which lends its name to the appellation, Tracy sur Loire, Boisgibault, Saint Andelain. The word fumé is French for "smoky", and it's said the name comes from the smoky or flinty quality of these wines. The only grape allowed in the Pouilly-Fumé AC is Sauvignon Blanc, which produces wines that are generally crisp, tart, and somewhat grassy.
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Oise
Oise (French pronunciation: [waz]) is a department in the north of France. It is named after the river Oise.
Oise is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on March 4, 1790. It was created from part of the province of Île-de-France and Picardy.
After the coalition victory at Waterloo, the department was occupied by British troops between June 1815 and November 1818.
Oise is part of the current region of Picardie and is situated 35 km north of Paris. It is surrounded by the departments of Somme, Aisne, Seine-et-Marne, Val-d'Oise, Eure, and Seine-Maritime.
Natives of the department are called Isariens.
The major tourist attraction of the department is the Parc Astérix, which opened in 1989. Another very interesting site is Beauvais Cathedral. Also to be seen is the Chateau de Pierrefonds, restored by Viollet-le-Duc.
Oise is twinned with Bedfordshire. One of the villages along the river Oise is Auvers-sur-Oise, famous for having been visited by several impressionist artists. This is where Vincent Van Gogh spent his last 70 days and it is his and his brother Theo's resting place.
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Orne
Orne (French pronunciation: [ɔʁn]) is a department in the northwest of France, named after the river Orne.
Orne is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution, on March 4, 1790. It was created from parts of the former provinces of Normandy and Perche.
Orne is in the region of Basse-Normandie neighbouring Eure, Eure-et-Loir, Sarthe, Mayenne, and Calvados. It is the only department of Basse Normandie and Haute Normandie to be landlocked.
The largest town by a considerable margin is the prefecture, Alençon which is an administrative and commercial centre for what is still an overwhelmingly rural department. There are no large industrial centres: agriculture remains the economic focus of Orne.
The inhabitants of the department are called Ornais.
The recorded population level peaked at 443,688 in 1836. Declining farm incomes and the lure of better prospects in the overseas empire led to a sustained reduction in population levels in many rural departments, and by the time of the 1936 census the recorded population stood at just 269,331. Once motor car ownership started to surge in the 1960s employment opportunities became less restricted and by 2008 the population level had recovered a little to 292,282.
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Pas-de-Calais
Pas-de-Calais (French pronunciation: [pɑ d(ə) kalɛ]) is a department in northern France. Its name is the French equivalent of the Strait of Dover, which it borders.
Inhabited since prehistoric times, the Pas-de-Calais region was populated in turn by the Celtic Belgae, the Romans, the Germanic Franks and the Alemanni. During the fourth and fifth centuries, the Roman practice of coopting Germanic tribes to provide military and defense services along the route from Boulogne to Cologne created a Germanic-Romance linguistic border in the region that persisted until the eighth century.
Saxon colonization into the region from the fifth to the eighth centuries likely extended the linguistic border somewhat south and west so that by the ninth century most inhabitants north of the line between Béthune and Berck spoke a dialect of Middle Dutch, while the inhabitants to the south spoke Picard, a variety of Romance dialects.
This linguistic border is still evident today in the toponyms and patronyms of the region. Beginning in the ninth century, the linguistic border began a steady move to north and the east, and by the end of the 15th century Romance dialects had completely displaced those of Dutch.
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Puy-de-Dôme
Puy-de-Dôme (French pronunciation: [pɥi də dom]; lo Puèi de Doma / lo Puèi Domat in the Auvergnat dialect of the Occitan language) is a department in the centre of France named after the famous dormant volcano, the Puy-de-Dôme.
Inhabitants were called Puydedomois until December 2005. With effect from Spring 2006, in response to a letter writing campaign, the name used for the inhabitants was change by the departmental General Council to Puydômois, and this is the name that has since then been used in all official documents and publications.
Puy-de-Dôme is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on March 4, 1790. It was created from the former province of Auvergne. Originally, the department was to be called Mont-d'Or ("Golden Mountain"), but this was changed to Puy-de-Dôme following the intervention of Jean-François Gaultier de Biauzat, a local deputy, because of a concern that the name originally chosen risked attracting excessive unwelcome attention from the national taxation authorities.
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Pyrénées-Atlantiques
Pyrénées-Atlantiques (French pronunciation: [pi.ʁe.ne.at.lɑ̃.tik]; Gascon: Pirenèus-Atlantics; Basque: Pirinio-Atlantiarrak or Pirinio-Atlantikoak) is a department in the southwest of France which takes its name from the Pyrenees mountains and the Atlantic Ocean.
Basses-Pyrénées is one of the original 83 departments of France created during the French Revolution, on March 4, 1790. It was created from parts of the former provinces of Guyenne, Béarn, and Gascony and included the three traditional provinces of the northern Basque Country: Labourd, Soule, and Basse-Navarre. It also included two tiny exclaves of Bigorre which were located within Béarn.
The previous history of the region, under the Ancien Régime, can be found at those individual articles.
On October 10, 1969, Basses-Pyrénées was renamed Pyrénées-Atlantiques.
Pyrénées-Atlantiques is part of the Aquitaine region of Southwest France. It is bordered by the Landes, Hautes-Pyrénées, Gers departments and the Bay of Biscay.
Principal settlements include Pau, Oloron-Sainte-Marie, Orthez, Biarritz, Bayonne, Anglet, Urrugne, Saint-Jean-de-Luz and Hendaye.
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Pyrénées-Orientales
Pyrénées-Orientales (French pronunciation: [pi.ʁe.ne.ɔ.ʁjɑ̃.tal]; English: Eastern Pyrenees; Catalan: Pirineus Orientals; Occitan: Pirenèus Orientals) is a department of southern France adjacent to the northern Spanish frontier and the Mediterranean Sea. It also surrounds the tiny Spanish enclave of Llívia, and thus has two distinct borders with Spain.
Prior to the Treaty of the Pyrenees in 1659, most of the present department was part of the former Principality of Catalonia, within the Kingdom of Spain, so the majority of it has historically been Catalan-speaking, and it is still sometimes referred to as Northern Catalonia.
The modern department was created early during the French Revolution on 4 March 1790, through the application of a law dated 22 December 1789. Pyrénées-Orientales corresponds almost exactly to the pre-Revolutionary province of Roussillon, but it also includes Fenolheda, a small piece of territory which had formerly been on the southern edge of Languedoc. See also: French Cerdagne.
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Rhône (department)
Rhône (French pronunciation: [ʁon]; Franco-Provençal : Rôno) is a French department located in the central Eastern region of Rhône-Alpes. It is named after the Rhône River.
The Rhône department was created on August 12, 1793 when the former département of Rhône-et-Loire was split into two departments: Rhône and Loire.
Originally, the eastern border of Rhône was the city of Lyon itself, so that the communes immediately east of Lyon belonged to neighboring department. With the growth of Lyon and the spilling of the urban area over the suburban communes of Lyon, the limits of the department were judged impractical as they left the suburbs of Lyon outside of Rhône . Thus, Rhône was enlarged several times to incorporate into it the suburbs of Lyon from neighboring department:
With these enlargements, the area of the Rhône department increased from 2,791 km² to the current 3,249 km² (16.4% larger). At the 1999 French census, the original Rhône department would have had only 1,071,288 inhabitants, which means that the population in the territories added in the last two centuries was 507,581 inhabitants in 1999.
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Réunion
Réunion (French: La Réunion, IPA: [la 'ʁeynjɔ̃] ( listen); previously Île Bourbon) is a French island with a population of about 800,000 located in the Indian Ocean, east of Madagascar, about 200 kilometres (120 mi) south west of Mauritius, the nearest island.
Administratively, Réunion is one of the overseas departments of France. Like the other overseas departments, Réunion is also one of the 27 regions of France (being an overseas region) and an integral part of the Republic with the same status as those situated on the European mainland.
Réunion is an outermost region of the European Union and, as an overseas department of France, is part of the Eurozone.
Before the arrival of the Portuguese in the early sixteenth century, there is little to Réunion's recorded history. Arab traders were familiar with it by the name Dina Morgabin,. The island possibly features on a map from 1153 AD by Al Sharif el-Edrisi. The island may also have been visited by Swahili or Malay sailors.
The first European discovery of the area was made around 1507 by Portuguese explorers, but the specifics are unclear. The uninhabited island may have been first sighted by the expedition led by Don Pedro Mascarenhas, who gave his name to the island group around Réunion, the Mascarenes. Réunion itself was dubbed Santa Apolonia after a favorite saint, which suggests that the date of the Portuguese discovery may have been February 9, her saint day. Diego Lopes de Sequeira is claimed to have landed on the island in 1509.
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Salisbury Plain
Coordinates: 51°09′18″N 1°48′32″W / 51.155°N 1.809°W / 51.155; -1.809
Salisbury Plain is a chalk plateau in central southern England covering 300 square miles (780 km2). It is part of a system of chalk downlands throughout eastern and southern England formed by the rocks of the Chalk Group and largely lies within the county of Wiltshire, with a little in Hampshire. The plain is famous for its rich archaeology, including Stonehenge, one of England's best known landmarks. Largely as a result of the establishment of the Army Training Estate Salisbury Plain (ATE SP), the plain is sparsely populated and is the largest remaining area of calcareous grassland in north-west Europe. Additionally the plain has arable land, and a few small areas of beech trees and coniferous woodland.
The boundaries of Salisbury Plain have never been truly defined, and there is some difference of opinion as to its exact area. The river valleys surrounding it, and other downs and plains beyond them loosely define its boundaries. To the north the scarp of the downs overlooks the Vale of Pewsey, and to the north west the Bristol Avon. The River Wylye runs along the south west, and the Bourne runs to the east. The Avon runs through the eastern half of the plain and to the south the plain peters out as the river valleys close together before meeting at Salisbury. From here the Avon continues south to the English Channel at Christchurch. The Hampshire Downs and the Berkshire Downs are chalk downland to the east and north of Salisbury Plain, and the Dorset Downs and Cranborne Chase are to the south west. In the west and north west the geology is mainly of the clays and limestones of the Blackmore Vale, Avon Vale and Vale of Wardour.
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Sarthe
Sarthe (French pronunciation: [saʁt]) is a French department, named after the Sarthe River.
The department was created during the French Revolution on March 4, 1790, pursuant to the law of December 22, 1789, starting from a part of the province of Maine which was divided into two departments, Sarthe to the east and Mayenne to the west.
In Roman Times, this province contained the city of Mans, and many of its ruins are still left standing. The Thermal Bathhouse attracts many tourists, as does the Theater of Aubigné-Racan, both located on the outskirts of Anjou, Maine, and Touraine.
Marin Mersenne, perhaps the most important scientific figure in the early 1600s, was born in the vicinity of Sarthe.
The department of Sarthe is at the north end of the administrative region of Pays-de-la-Loire. This places it south of Basse-Normandie and on the south edge of the Armorican Massif. It is bordered by the departments of Orne, Eure-et-Loir, Loir-et-Cher, Indre-et-Loire, Maine-et-Loire and Mayenne.
Approximately 300,000 people, comprising more than half of the department's population, live in Le Mans, its conurbation or the essentially urban communes close by. The rest of the department retains its rural character, however, being dominated economically by agriculture.
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Savoie
Savoie (pronounced: [sa.vwa]; Arpitan: Savouè d’Avâl, Italian: Savoia, pronounced [saˈvɔja], English: Savoy, /səˈvɔɪ/) is a French department located in the Rhône-Alpes region in the French Alps.
Together with the Haute-Savoie, Savoie is one of the two departments of the historic region of Savoy that was annexed by France on June 14, 1860, following the signature of the Treaty of Turin on March 24, 1860. For history before 1860, details of the annexation, and modern regionalism, see Savoy.
It is widely accepted that Savoie takes its name from the Latin Sapaudia or Sabaudia, meaning land covered in fir trees.
Savoie was long part of the states of Savoy, though it was occupied many times by France starting in the 16th century. It was integrated into the Mont-Blanc department from 1792 to 1815 (and partially into the Léman department from 1798 to 1814). The province was annexed by France in 1860. The former Duchy of Savoy became the two departments of Savoie and Haute-Savoie.
Moûtiers, capital of the former province of Tarentaise Valley (French: Vallée de la Tarentaise) ceased to be the county seat after a law passed on September 10, 1926.
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Saône-et-Loire
Saône-et-Loire (French pronunciation: [soː.n‿e.lwaʁ]; Arpitan: Sona-et-Lêre) is a French department, named after the Saône and the Loire rivers between which it lies.
When it was formed during the French Revolution, as of March 4, 1790 in fulfillment of the law of December 22, 1789, the new department combined parts of the provinces of southern Burgundy and Bresse, uniting lands that had no previous common history nor political unity and which have no true geographical unity. Thus its history is that of Burgundy, and is especially to be found in the local histories of Autun, Mâcon, Chalon-sur-Saône, Charolles and Louhans.
Saône-et-Loire is the seventh largest department of France and the most densely populated in the region of Bourgogne. In the east the department is composed of the hills of the Autunois, the region around Autun, of the Charollais and of the Mâconnais. In the centre it is traversed from north to south by the Saône in its wide plain; the Saône is a tributary of the River Rhône that joins it at Lyon and thus is connected to the Mediterranean Sea. The Loire makes its way in the opposite direction, draining into the Atlantic Ocean. The Canal du Centre links the Saône to the Loire between Chalon-sur-Saône and Digoin, thereby linking the Mediterranean Sea to the Atlantic ocean. In the east the department occupies the northern part of the plain of Bresse. In the west its industrial heart is in Le Creusot and Montceau-les-Mines.
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Seine-et-Marne
Seine-et-Marne (French pronunciation: [sɛn e maʁn]) is a French department, named after the Seine and Marne rivers, and located in the Île-de-France region.
Seine-et-Marne is one of the original 83 departments, created on March 4, 1790 during the French Revolution in application of the law of December 22, 1789. It had previously belonged to the former province of Île-de-France.
Seine-et-Marne forms a part of the Île-de-France region; the department covers 49% of the region's land area. It is bordered by Val-d'Oise, Seine-Saint-Denis, Val-de-Marne, Essonne to the West; Loiret and Yonne to the South; Aube and Marne to the East; and Aisne and Oise to the North.
The department has many natural reserves, notably Brie and Gâtinais.
Principal Towns include: Chelles, Torcy, Pontault-Combault, Lagny-sur-Marne, Coulommiers, Champs-sur-Marne, Nemours, Meaux, Melun, Montereau-Fault-Yonne, Brie-Comte-Robert, Provins, Fontainebleau as well as the new towns of Marne-la-Vallée and Sénart.
The highest point of the département is Saint-George’s Hill (215 m).
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Seine-Maritime
Seine-Maritime (French pronunciation: [sɛn.ma.ʁi.tim]) is a French department in the Haute-Normandie region in northern France. It is situated on the northern coast of France, at the mouth of the Seine, and includes the cities of Rouen and Le Havre. Until 1955 it was named Seine-Inférieure.
The department can be split into three main areas:
The département was created in 1790 as Seine-Inférieure, one of five departements that replaced the former province of Normandy. In 1800 five arrondissements were created within the département, namely Rouen, Le Havre, Dieppe, Neufchatel and Yvetot, although the latter two were disbanded in 1926. On 18 January 1955 the name of the département was changed to Seine-Maritime, in order to provide a more positive-sounding name and in-keeping with changes made in a number of other French departements.
In 1843 the railway from Paris reached the region. The département is connected to the adjacent Eure department via the Tancarville and Pont de Normandie bridge crossings of the Seine.
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Seine-Saint-Denis
Seine-Saint-Denis (French pronunciation: [sɛn.sɛ̃.də.ni]) is a French department located in the Île-de-France region. In local slang, it is known as "quatre-vingt treize" (i.e. "ninety-three") or "neuf trois" (i.e. "nine three"), after the official administrative number of the department, 93. The inhabitants are called Séquano-Dionysiens.
Seine-Saint-Denis is located to the northeast of Paris. It has a surface area of only 236 km², making it one of the smallest departments in France. Seine-Saint-Denis and two other small departments, Hauts-de-Seine and Val-de-Marne, form a ring around Paris, known as the Petite Couronne ("little crown"). They form, together with Paris and four other departments, the region of Île-de-France.
Seine-Saint-Denis is made up of 3 departmental arrondissements and 40 communes:
Seine-Saint-Denis was created in January 1968, through the implementation of a law passed in July 1964. It was formed from the part of the (hitherto larger) Seine department to the north and north-east of the Paris ring road (and the line of the old city walls), together with a small slice taken from Seine-et-Oise.
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Somme
Somme (French pronunciation: [sɔm]) is a department of France, located in the north of the country and named after the Somme river. It is part of the Picardy region of France.
The north central area of the Somme département was the site of a series of battles through the Great War. Particularly significant was the 1916 Battle of the Somme. As a result of this and other battles fought in the area the department is home to many military cemeteries and several major monuments commemorating the many soldiers from various countries who died on its battlefields.
At the beginning of the First World War, during the September 1914 Race to the Sea, the Somme became the site of the Battle of Albert. The battle was a five day engagement between the 25th and 29 September, with the French Tenth Army attacking at Albert and pushing toward Bapaume, and the German Sixth Army counter-attacking back towards Albert. The line settled around the town of Thiepval and remained there until July 1916, when the Battle of the Somme would be fought on and around the same ground.
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Tarn (department)
Tarn (French pronunciation: [taʁn]; Occitan: Tarn) is a department of 5,758 km2 in the Midi-Pyrénées region in the southwest of France, named after the Tarn River. It was formed in 1790 of the three dioceses of Albi, Castres and Lavaur, belonging to the province of Languedoc. In 1906, the population was 330,533. In 1999, it stood at 343,402.
Of particular note in the department are Albi (the capital), Castres, Gaillac, Lavaur, Mazamet and Cordes.
Other places of interest are:
Tarn is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on 4 March 1790, through application of the Law of 22 December 1789. It was created from part of the former province of Languedoc, and comprised the dioceses of Albi and Castres (which found themselves merged in 1817).
By the law of 28 Pluviôse, Year 5, the departments of Hérault and of Tarn exchanged the canton of Anglès (which had been part of the diocese of Saint-Pons, but which has remained in Tarn) for that of Saint-Gervais-sur-Mare (which had been part of the diocese of Castres, but which today remains in Hérault ).
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Tarn-et-Garonne
Tarn-et-Garonne (French pronunciation: [taʁn‿e ɡa.ʁɔn]) is a French department in the southwest of France. It is traversed by the Rivers Tarn and Garonne, from which it takes its name.
The department was created on November 4, 1808 during the First French Empire by a decision of Napoleon I. It was formed out of territories belonging to neighboring areas. More than half of the territory was taken from the Lot (including Montauban and Moissac), over one-third was taken from Haute-Garonne (including Castelsarrasin), and the rest from the departments of Lot-et-Garonne, Gers, and Aveyron.
Tarn-et-Garonne constitutes part of the Midi-Pyrénées region. It borders the departments of Lot, Aveyron, Tarn, Haute-Garonne, Gers, and Lot-et-Garonne.
The highest point in the department, at 510 m, is the Pech Maurel, situated in the commune of Castanet.
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Val-d'Oise
Val-d'Oise (French pronunciation: [val dwaz]) is a French department, created in 1968 after the split of the Seine-et-Oise department and located in the Île-de-France region. In local slang, it is known as "quatre-vingt quinze" (i.e. "ninety-five") or "neuf cinq" (i.e. "nine five"). It gets its name from the Oise River, a major tributary of the Seine, which crosses the region after having started in Belgium and flowed through north-eastern France. Paris-Charles de Gaulle Airport, France's main international airport is partially located in Roissy-en-France, a commune of Val d'Oise.
Val-d'Oise was created when the former departments Seine and Seine-et-Oise were broken up into six departments in 1968.
In descending order, the largest communes (over 25,000 population as of the 1999 census) are: Argenteuil, Sarcelles, Cergy, Garges-lès-Gonesse, Franconville, Ermont, Pontoise, Goussainville, Bezons, Villiers-le-Bel, Taverny, and Sannois.
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Val-de-Marne
Val-de-Marne (French pronunciation: [val.də.maʁn]) is a French department, named after the Marne River, located in the Île-de-France region. The department is situated to the southeast of the city of Paris.
Val-de-Marne is, together with Seine-Saint-Denis and Hauts-de-Seine, one of three small departments in Île-de-France that form a ring around Paris, known as the Petite Couronne (i.e. "inner ring").
Val-de-Marne is made up of 3 departmental arrondissements and 47 communes:
Val-de-Marne was created in January 1968, through the implementation of a law passed in July 1964. Positioned to the south-east of the Paris ring road (and the line of the old city walls), it was formed from the southern-eastern part of the (previously much larger) Seine department, together with a small portion taken from the broken-up department of Seine-et-Oise.
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Var (department)
The Var (French pronunciation: [vaʁ]) is a French department in the region Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur in Provence, in southeast France. It takes its name from the river Var, which used to flow along its eastern boundary, but the boundary was moved in 1860. The Var is bordered on the east by the department of Alpes-Maritimes; to the west by Bouches-du-Rhône to the north of the Verdon River by the department of Alpes-de-Haute-Provence, and to the south by the Mediterranean Sea.
Toulon is the largest city and administrative capital of the Var. Other important towns in the Var include Fréjus, Saint-Raphael, Draguignan, Brignoles and Hyères.
The Var is known for the harbour of Toulon, the main port of the French Navy; for its seaside resorts, the most famous of which is Saint-Tropez; for some fine examples of Romanesque and medieval architecture, such as the Le Thoronet Abbey and Fréjus Cathedral; and for its wines, particularly the wines of Bandol.
The Department of the Var was created at the time of the French Revolution, on March 4, 1790, from a portion of the former Royal province of Provence. Its capital was originally Toulon, but this was moved to Grasse in 1793 to punish the Toulonnais for having handed the town to British in 1793. The capital was moved to Brignoles in 1795, then to Draguignan in 1797. It was not returned to Toulon until 1974.
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Vaucluse
The Vaucluse (French pronunciation: [vokˈlyz]; Occitan: Vauclusa in classical norm or Vau-Cluso in Mistralian norm) is a department in the southeast of France, named after the famous spring, the Fontaine-de-Vaucluse.
Vaucluse was created on 12 August 1793 out of parts of the departments of Bouches-du-Rhône, Drôme, and Basses-Alpes (later renamed Alpes-de-Haute-Provence). The then rural department was, like the nearby city of Lyon, a hotbed of the French Resistance in World War II.
Vaucluse is bordered by the Rhône to the west and the River Durance to the south. Mountains occupy a significant proportion of the eastern half of the department, with Mont Ventoux (1,912 m), also known as "the Giant of Provence", dominating the landscape. Other important mountain ranges include the Dentelles de Montmirail, the Monts de Vaucluse, and the Luberon. Fruit and vegetables are cultivated in great quantities in the lower-lying parts of the department, on one of the most fertile plains in southern France. The Vaucluse département has a rather large exclave within the Drôme department, the canton of Valréas (Enclave des Papes).
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Vendée
The Vendée (French pronunciation: [vɑ̃.de]) is a department in the Pays-de-la-Loire region in west central France, on the Atlantic Ocean. The name Vendée is taken from the Vendée river which runs through the south-eastern part of the department.
The area today called the Vendée was originally known as the Bas-Poitou and is part of the former province of Poitou. In the south-east corner, the village of Nieul-sur-l'Autise is believed to be the birthplace of Eleanor of Aquitaine (1122–1204) and was part of her kingdom. Eleanor's son, Richard I of England (the Lionheart) often had his base in Talmont. The Hundred Years' War (1337–1453) turned much of the Vendée into a battleground.
Since the Vendée held a considerable number of influential Protestants, including control by Jeanne d'Albret, the region was greatly affected by the French Wars of Religion which broke out in 1562 and continued until 1598. Eventually King Henri IV issued the Edict of Nantes and the Wars came to an end. The revocation of the Edict of Nantes in 1685 caused many Huguenots to flee from the Vendée.
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Vienne
Vienne (French pronunciation: [vjɛn]) is the northernmost département of the Poitou-Charentes region of France, named after the river Vienne.
Vienne is one of the original 83 departments, established on March 4, 1790 during the French Revolution. It was created from parts of the former provinces of Poitou, Touraine, and Berry. The original Acadians who settled in Nova Scotia and what is today other maritime provinces of Canada, left Vienne for North America after 1604.
Goat cheese making is an important industry of Vienne.
The most famous tourist sites include the Futuroscope theme park, Poitiers (city of Art and History), the Abbey Church of Saint-Savin-sur-Gartempe, a UNESCO world heritage site, the animal parks of Monkey's Valley in Romagne & the Crocodile Planet in Civaux.
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Vosges
Vosges (French pronunciation: [voʒ]) is a French department, named after the local mountain range. It contains the hometown of Joan of Arc, Domrémy.
The Vosges department is one of the original 83 departments of France, created on February 9, 1790 during the French Revolution. It was made of territories that had been part of the province of Lorraine. In German it is referred to as Vogesen.
In 1793 the independent principality of Salm-Salm (town of Senones and its surroundings), enclosed inside the Vosges department, was annexed to France and incorporated into Vosges. In 1795 the area of Schirmeck was detached from the Bas-Rhin department and incorporated into the Vosges department. The Vosges department had now an area of 6,127 km² (2,366 sq. miles) which it kept until 1871.
In 1794 the Vosges was the site of a major battle between the forces of Revolutionary France and the Allied Coalition. See Battle of the Vosges.
The Place des Vosges in Paris was so renamed in 1799 when the department became the first to pay the new Revolutionary taxes.
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Yonne
Yonne (French pronunciation: [jɔn]) is a French department named after the Yonne River. It is one of the four constituent departments of Burgundy in eastern France and its prefecture (capital) is Auxerre. Its official number is 89.
It elects three members of parliament to the National Assembly - in the 2002-7 parliamentary term, all three are drawn from the right-wing Union for a Popular Movement (UMP). Its two senators also represent the UMP.
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Yvelines
Yvelines (French pronunciation: [ivlin]) is a French department in the region of Île-de-France.
Yvelines was created from the western part of the defunct department of Seine-et-Oise on 1 January 1968 in accordance with a law passed on 10 January 1964 and a décret d'application (a decree specifying how a law should be enforced) from 26 February 1965.
It gained the communes of Châteaufort and Toussus-le-Noble from the adjacent department of Essonne in 1969.
The departmental capital, Versailles, which grew up around Louis XIV's château, was also the French capital for more than a century under the Ancien Régime and again between 1871 and 1879 during the early years of the Third Republic. Since then the château has continued to welcome the parlement when called upon to sit in a congressional sitting, jointly with the upper house in order to enact constitutional changes or, as happened most recently in June 2009, to listen to a formal declaration by the president.
Yvelines is bordered by the departments of Val-d'Oise on the north, Hauts-de-Seine on the east, Essonne on the southeast, Eure-et-Loir on the southwest, and Eure on the west.
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A. R. Rahman
Allah Rakha Rahman (born 6 January 1966 as A. S. Dileep Kumar) is an Indian composer, singer-songwriter, music producer, musician, multi-instrumentalist and philanthropist. Described as the world's most prominent and prolific film composer by Time, his works are notable for integrating eastern classical music with electronic music sounds, world music genres and traditional orchestral arrangements. He has won two Academy Awards, two Grammy Awards, a BAFTA Award, a Golden Globe, four National Film Awards, fifteen Filmfare Awards, thirteen Filmfare Awards South in addition to numerous other awards and nominations. His extensive body of work for film and the stage earned him the nickname “the Mozart of Madras” and several Tamil commentators and fans have coined him the nickname Isai Puyal (English: Music Storm). In 2009, Time placed Rahman in its list of World's Most Influential People. The UK based World Music magazine Songlines named him one of 'Tomorrow's World Music Icons' in August 2011.
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A.R.Rahman
Allah Rakha Rahman (born 6 January 1966 as A. S. Dileep Kumar) is an Indian composer, singer-songwriter, music producer, musician, multi-instrumentalist and philanthropist. Described as the world's most prominent and prolific film composer by Time, his works are notable for integrating eastern classical music with electronic music sounds, world music genres and traditional orchestral arrangements. He has won two Academy Awards, two Grammy Awards, a BAFTA Award, a Golden Globe, four National Film Awards, fifteen Filmfare Awards, thirteen Filmfare Awards South in addition to numerous other awards and nominations. His extensive body of work for film and the stage earned him the nickname “the Mozart of Madras” and several Tamil commentators and fans have coined him the nickname Isai Puyal (English: Music Storm). In 2009, Time placed Rahman in its list of World's Most Influential People. The UK based World Music magazine Songlines named him one of 'Tomorrow's World Music Icons' in August 2011.
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Aadesh Shrivastava
Aadesh Shrivastava (born 6 June 1966) is an Indian composer and singer. He was born in a Hindi Kayastha family in Jabalpur. Over the course of his career, he has composed the music for over 100 Hindi films. His wife Vijeta Pandit is a former Bollywood actress and the sister of the composer duo Jatin Lalit. Shrivastava also serves as the vice president of the Music Composers Association of India.
Shrivastava wanted to become a doctor, but his passion for music was so strong that he decided to make his career as a composer.[citation needed] He learned to play the drums, and shifted to Mumbai where met composers Sapan-Jagmohan. He then proceeded to gain a foothold in the industry by playing drums for music directors such as O. P. Nayyar, Shankar Jaikishan and Salil Chowdhury.[citation needed] He assisted Laxmikant-Pyarelal for almost a decade before taking the responsibility of a professional composer.
Shrivastava got his first big break with film Kanyadaan in the year 1993. Among the singers who sang in this movie, there was Lata Mangeshkar who sang his first song. But the film did not release, and the songs went unnoticed. The same thing happened with Jaane Tamanna, but he bounced back with Aao Pyaar Karen. One track, Haathon mein jo aa gaya jo kal was a hit. His other films are Salma Pe Dil Aa Gaya and Shastra. The chart buster Kya ada kya jalwe tere Paro from the film Shastra got him in the limelight once again. In 1998, his music in the film Angaarey became a hit.
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Aditya Narayan
Aditya Narayan Jha (Hindi: आदित्य नारायण झा), born 6 August 1987, in Mumbai, India, commonly known as Aditya Narayan, is an actor, television host and music composer. He is the only child of Indian playback singer Udit Narayan and Deepa Narayan.
Aditya Narayan Jha is the son of Udit And Deepa Narayan Jha. His grandfather is HareKrishna Jha and Grandmother Bhuvaneshwari Devi. Aditya was born and grew up in Mumbai, India.
Narayan completed his schooling from Utpal Shanghvi school in 2003, his junior college from Mitthibai College of Commerce. He graduated from Tech School of Music in London where he did a one-year course in English contemporary music. he completed his graduation in commerce through correspondence.
Aditya Narayan Jha was 5 years old when he started his musical career. His first playback song for the movie Akele Hum Akele Tum along with his father, Udit Narayan. He also was in the movie Jab Pyaar Kisise Hota Hai as Salman Khan's son. He has sung many songs with singers like Asha Bhosle and father, Udit Narayan.His famous song ‘chhota bachha jaankey humko’ from Masoom(1996 film) was a nationwide hit. He sung for A.R. Rahman in the Hindi movie Rangeela. in 2006 he completed a diploma in English contemporary music at Tech Music Schools, in London. On his return to India, he was called to audition for Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Challenge 2007. after his successful triumph over many singers in the running to host the coveted music reality show, he became a household name and the show went on to become one of the most successful reality shows in the history of Indian television.
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Ajay Devgan
Ajay Devgan (Hindi: अजय देवगन), born Vishal 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.
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Ajay-Atul
Ajay-Atul is the music alias of Indian music directors-composer brother duo of Ajay and Atul Gogavale. In 2008, Ajay-Atul won the Best Music Direction award at the 56th National Film Awards by the Government of India for contributing music to the Marathi film Jogwa.
Atul Gogavale & Ajay Gogavale Maratha family are the sons of Mr. Ashok Gogavale who works in Revenue Department Alandi in Pune. Both were born in Pune and brought up in several villages in western Maharashtra, including Rajgurunagar, Junnar, Shirur, as his father had transferable job . Atul was born on 11 September 1974 and Ajay, his younger brother was born on 21 August 1976 in Pune.
During childhood they were not much attracted towards studies. But instead interest in music was developed during school days. Around this time, they started experimenting with music. During NCC Competition Ajay played different composition than precomposed one, but they won the prize for experimented one & this instance inspired them for there music potential.[non-primary source needed] They had sung “Powada" in one occasion where Shivsena supremo Bal Thackeray and Marathi Comedy Actor, Producer Dada Kondke was the Chief Guests.[citation needed]
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Ajoy Chakrabarty
Pandit Ajoy Chakrabarty (Bengali: অজয় চক্রবর্তী; born 1953) is an Indian Hindustani classical vocalist. He belongs to the Patiala gharana.
Chakrabarty was born in Kolkata, Bengal to Ajit Chakrabarty in a Hindu Brahmin family. They moved to India from his homeland, Bangladesh during the partition and raised his two sons in Shyamnagar. His younger brother, Sanjay Chakrabarty is a noted composer and music therapist.
Chakrabarty was a disciple of Ustad Munawar Ali Khan. He is also a first class graduate from the Rabindra Bharati University.
Chakrabarty showed extraordinary promise in vocal music and at the age of three, began taking lessons from his father Ajit Chakrabarty. He then learnt from Pannalal Samanta and Kanai Das Bairagi and later became a student of Padma Bhushan Pandit Jnan Prakash Ghosh. In 1969, his training took a decisive turn as he became a disciple of Ustad Munawar Ali Khan, son of the legendary maestro of the Patiala-Kasur gharana (school), Ustad Bade Ghulam Ali Khan. He is notable for imagination and sensitivity to lyrics, coupled with his uncanny sense of rhythm.
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Alisha Chinai
Alisha Chinai (Hindi: अलीशा चिनॉय; born 18 March 1965) is an Indian pop singer known for her albums as well as playback singing in Hindi cinema.
Alisha's initial albums include Jadoo, Baby Doll, Aaah Alisha and Made in India. Alisha was introduced to Hindi film music by the veteran music director and composer Bappi Lahiri. They had many disco hits together in many films in the 1980s including "Tarzan", Dance Dance, Commando, Guru, Love Love Love etc. When she started her career with him, she was doing playback singing for many actresses, such as Smita Patil, Mandakini, Sridevi, Juhi Chawla, Madhuri Dixit and Divya Bharati etc. In 1985, Alisha sang with Remo Fernandes in the album Old Goan Gold. She also recorded a song for Pankuj Parashar's film Jalwa (1987), composed by Anand-Milind. One of her biggest hits during the 80s was "Kaate Nahin Katte" (Mr. India) in 1987, which she recorded with Kishore Kumar under the music direction of Laxmikant-Pyarelal. Another successful track in 1989 was "Raat Bahr Jaam Se" from the film Tridev, which had music by Kalyanji-Anandji and Viju Shah.
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Alka Yagnik
Alka Yagnik (born March 20, 1966 in Kolkata, West Bengal, India) is an Indian singer. Among the best-known playback singers of Hindi cinema, she is a record seven-time winner of the Filmfare Award for Best Female Playback Singer from a record of 35 nominations, a two-time recipient of the National Film Award as well as several other music awards listed below. Further, as many as 20 of her tracks feature in BBC's "Top 40 Bollywood Soundtracks of all time" review.
Alka Yagnik was born in Kolkata on March 20, 1966. Her mother Shubha Yagnik was a singer of Indian classical music. She received her school education from Modern High School for Girls. At the age of 6, she started singing for Akashvani (All India Radio), Calcutta. At age 10, her mother brought her to Bombay as a child singer. She was advised to wait until her voice matured, but her mother remained determined. On a subsequent visit, Alka got a letter of introduction to Raj Kapoor from his Kolkata distributor. Kapoor heard the girl and sent her with a letter to noted music director Laxmikant. Impressed, Laxmikant gave her two alternatives — an immediate start as a dubbing artist or a later break as a singer; they settled for the latter.
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Amit Kumar
Amit Kumar (born 3 July 1952) is an Indian film playback singer, actor, director, and music director. He is the son of the famous singer and actor Kishore Kumar and the Bengali singer and actress Ruma Guha Thakurta. Like his father, Amit loved singing and from childhood used to sing during Durga Pooja functions in Kolkata. Once when he was performing on stage in a Durga Pooja function arranged by Bengali actor Uttam Kumar, people kept requesting more songs and this information reached his mother. She complained to Kishore Kumar that his son was singing "filmy" songs. Hearing this Kishore Kumar decided to bring him to Bombay.
Before this, Kishore Kumar had cast Amit as his son in two critically acclaimed films that he produced himself, Door Gagan Ki Chhaon Mein (the well known song "Aa chalke tujhe, mein leke chaloon" was filmed with Kishore Kumar singing to his eleven-year-old son) and Door Ka Raahi (with Amit as a teenager).
He has sung many popular Bollywood and regional film songs since the 1970s. Apart from Hindi songs, he sang several songs in Bangla, Bhojpuri, Oriya, Assamese, Marathi, Konkani.
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Anand Bakshi
Anand Bakshi (21 July 1920 – 30 March 2002) was a popular Indian poet and lyricist.
Anand Bakshi was born in Rawalpindi, now in Pakistan, in 1920. His ancestors were from Kurree, near Rawalpindi, and had origins in Kashmir. His mother, Sumitra, died 1940, when he was 20. Bakshi's family migrated to India (Lucknow) on 2 October 1947, in the aftermath of the partition, when he was 27 years old.
Before he established himself as a lyrics writer for Hindi film songs, he served for 2 years in the Royal Indian Navy, (Karachi) and after partition he served 6 years in the Indian Army, based at Jabalpur, with The Corps of Signals, and later with the E.M.E., Infantry.
While in the Army, The Corps of Signals, he wrote an "Aim in Life" for himself. – “Every one in this world, rich or poor should have a definite aim in life. A man without any fixed purpose in life is like a ship without rudder, at the mercy of the winds, powerless to control its course. So a person having no aim in life has nothing by which to guide his actions, or regulate his conduct. I, the undersigned, Anand Prakash Bakshi (AZAD.), intend to study music. For it is my aim in life to become an artist. And to achieve this, I must join films, radio, or theatre, and become a singer, songs composer, music director, director, etc.,.”[citation needed]
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Anand Bhate
Anand Bhate (born 1971) is a Hindustani classical vocalist from the Kirana Gharana. He is popular for his classical singing of songs from the Marathi film Balgandharva (2011).
Anand Bhate was born in Pune, India in 1971, in a family active in classical music. He inherited the singing tradition from his great grandfather Bhate Buva, who was a well known vocalist for Thumri and Natya Sangeet in the 19th century. By the age of 10, he had started systematic training in classical singing from Chandrashekhar Deshpande. He began his training under Yashwantbua Marathe, who introduced him to some of the intricacies of Khayal gayaki. Later he became a disciple of late Bhimsen Joshi, with whom he trained for 15 years.
His first public appearance came in 1981, when he performed Balgandharva's gayaki on All India Radio, Doordarshan and had a tour in the USA. It was a series of successful performances that fetched him the title "Anand Gandharva".
He has recently sung all the tracks for the lead character of a Marathi bio-pic of Balgandharva. He received the National Film Award for Best Male Playback Singer for this film.
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Anand Raj Anand
Anand Raj Anand is an Indian music director, composer, lyricist and playback singer in the Hindi film industry.
Anand was born in Delhi to a family of jewellers. In 1992, he left his family business and came to Mumbai to pursue musical career.
In 1995 his first private album came "Babu Tiptop" in Time music.which was a superb and hit in this album "jhanjharia aise chhanak gayi" later used in film Krishna by Time Audio (also known as Time Magnetics). He has started his work in 1996 when he wrote, composed and sang the songs for the film Masoom in 1996 where the song Chhota Bachcha Jaan Ke became an instant hit along with Kale Libaas Mein and Tukur Tukur Dekhte Ho Kya. The Hit parade continued with the success of the title track of Ghoonghat. Since then, he has been the music director and composer of over 60 films, the lyricist of over 20 soundtracks, and he did playback singing for over 20 films. Some of his most famous work includes Masoom, Pardesi Babu, Had Kar Di Aapne, Jis Desh Mein Ganga Rahta Hai, Kaante, Musafir and recently released Welcome. The Kaante album was a chartbuster of its time.
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Anand-Milind
Anand and Milind are an Indian music directors duo consisting of Anand Shrivastav and his younger brother Milind. They have composed music for over 200 Bollywood films and are the sons of 60s music director, Chitragupta.
Anand-Milind debuted in Ab Aayega Mazaa (1984) and rose to fame after the success of Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak (1988). The film's successful songs include "Papa Kehte Hain","Ghazab Ka Hai Din", and "Akele Hai To Kya Gham Hai". The music for "Akele Hain To Kya Gum Hai" is an exact reproduction of the instrumental number Return to the Alamo by the band The Shadows. The same year also saw the moderate success of the horror flick Woh phir Aayegi.
Lal Dupatta Malmal Ka stormed the music stands in 1989 and the music of this telefilm proved to be a classic, staying popular even today. The film also strengthened their work-relationship with music baron Gulshan Kumar of T-Series. The duo then composed the songs for Salman Khan's film, Baaghi: A Rebel for Love. Baaghi was followed by a series of box office hits like Dil, Beta (1992). Love (1991), starring Salman Khan and Revathy, boasted of chartbusting-music, popular even today, despite the film's failure at the box office. It also marked the debut of the southern nightingale Chitra, into Bollywood and Hindi films. In 1994 they also composed, now famous music for Rahul Rawail's Anjaam which starred Madhuri Dixit and Shahrukh Khan. Suhaag (1994), starring Ajay Devgun, Akshay Kumar, Karishma Kapoor and Naghma, is another film that sold huge units that year. One of their best albums in 1994 was the highly ignored Vikram Bhatt directed romantic film Madhosh, which launched Aamir Khan's brother Faisal Khan.
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Anil Kapoor
Anil Kapoor (Hindi: अनिल कपूर; Punjabi: ਅਨਿਲ ਕਪੂਰ; born 24 December 1959) is an Indian actor, producer and director who has appeared in many Bollywood films and more recently international films.
He won his first Filmfare Award, in the Best Supporting Actor category, for his role in Yash Chopra's Mashaal (1984). Kapoor earned his first Filmfare Best Actor Award for his performance in N. Chandra's Tezaab (1988) and later again for his perfornance in Indra Kumar's Beta (1992). He also starred in many other critically and commercially successful films, including Woh Saat Din (1983), Meri Jung (1985), Janbaaz (1986), Karma (1986), Mr. India (1987), Virasat (1997) for which he won the Filmfare Critics Award for Best Actor, Biwi No.1 (1999), Taal (1999) for which he won his second Filmfare Best Supporting Actor Award, Pukar (2000) for which he won his first National Film Award for Best Actor, No Entry (2005), and Welcome (2007).
Kapoor's first role in an international film was in Danny Boyle's 2008 Academy Award-winning film Slumdog Millionaire, for which he shared the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture. His performance in the eighth season of the action series 24 generated rave reviews from the American press. Globally, Anil Kapoor is one of the most recognised Indian actors. He has also appeared in the 2011 film Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol.
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Anu Malik
Anu Malik (Hindi: अनु मलिक) (born 2 November 1960), born Anwar Sardaar Malik, is a music director in the Hindi film industry. Son of veteran music director Sardar Malek, Anu Malik made his debut as a music composer in the year 1977. In the 90's Anu had hits like 'Phir Teri Kahani Yaad Aayee', 'Baazigar' and 'Jaanam'.
The beginning of the millennium saw him winning the National Award for his music for J.P. Dutta's 'Refugee', and also the Filmfare Special Jury Award for his outstanding music in the film. He has also won the Filmfare Best Music Director Award for 'Main Hoon Na' and 'Baazigar'. He was nominated 14 times for the Filmfare Award for Best Music Director.
Anu Malik has been judging the television phenomenon 'Indian Idol' for the last three seasons and continues to be a member of the jury for the fourth season as well. He has also rendered many of his own compositions like Garam Chaye Ki Pyali, Gori Gori and the recent Meri Jane Jigar.
The son of veteran composer Sardar Malik, brother of Abu Malik and Daboo Malik, Anu Malik learnt music from Pandit Ram Prasad Sharma (Babaji)[citation needed]. He made his debut in Hunterwali in 1977. He composed for various famous films like Sohni Mahiwal, Mard, Ganga Jamuna Saraswathi and Jeete Hain Shaan Se got recognition for them, but still throughout the 1980s he could not get much of the work as there were so many established music directors like R.D. Burman, Laxmikant-Pyarelal, Kalyanji-Anandji and Bappi Lahiri. One of the only producers that always returned to him were FC Mehra's Eagle Films. Other early films were:
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Anuradha Paudwal
Anuradha Paudwal is a popular playback singer in Bollywood in India. She has sung songs in Hindi, Marathi, Oriya, and Nepali.
She studied at Xavier's College in Mumbai. She was married to the late Arun Paudwal, who worked with music director S. D. Burman as his assistant. Her singing career started in 1973 with the movie, Abhimaan, (starring Amitabh Bachchan and Jaya Bachchan) in which she sang a Shloka (a Sanskrit verse). In the same year she also made her Marathi film debut with "Yashoda" (music by Datta Davjekar). In 1974, she brought out a record of Non-film Marathi songs or "bhav geeten" which became very popular.
In 1976, she got her break as a playback singer in Hindi films with Kalicharan (starring Shatrughan Sinha and Reena Roy). Her first solo was in the movie, Aap Beati, (starring Hema Malini and Shashi Kapoor). Laxmikant-Pyarelal were the music-composer duo for that movie. She also occasionally sang songs for composers Rajesh Roshan (Des Pardes), Jaidev (Dooriyan, Laila Majnu), Kalyanji Anandji (Kalaakar, Vidhaata), and Usha Khanna (Souten, Sajan Bina Suhagan).
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Arun Paudwal
Arun Paudwal (died 1 November 1991) was a famous music composer in Bollywood in India. He was married to Anuradha Paudwal, a well known singer from Bollywood. He worked with music director S. D. Burman for some time.
Paudwal composed music for several movies including Marathi and Hindi Films. He is well known for his compositions in movies like Meera Ka Mohan (1992) and Marathi movies such as Ashi Hi Banwa Banwi (1988). In early days of his career, he worked as a music assistant or music conductor for over 30 hit movies. Movies such as Sharmeelee (1971), Abhimaan (1973), Sharaabi (1984) etc.
In earlier years, he composed music with Anil Mohile as a duo 'Anil-Arun'.
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Asha Bhosle
Asha Bhosle (born September 8, 1933) is an Indian singer. She is best-known as a playback singer in Hindi cinema, although she has a wider repertoire. Bhosle's career started in 1943 and has spanned over six decades. She has done playback singing for over a thousand Bollywood movies. In addition, she has recorded several private albums and participated in numerous solo concerts in India and abroad. Bhosle is the sister of playback singer Lata Mangeshkar.
Renowned for her voice range and often credited for her versatility, Bhosle's work includes film music, pop, ghazals, bhajans, traditional Indian classical music, folk songs, qawwalis, and Rabindra Sangeets. Apart from Hindi, she has sung in over 20 Indian and foreign languages. In 2006, Asha Bhosle stated that she had sung over 12,000 songs, a figure repeated by several other sources. The World Records Academy, an international organization which certifies world records, recognised her as the "Most Recorded Artist" in the world, in September 2009. In 2011 she was officially acknowledged by the Guinness Book of World Records as the most recorded artist in music history. The Government of India honoured her with the Dadasaheb Phalke Award in 2000 and the Padma Vibhushan in 2008.
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Ashutosh Gowariker
Ashutosh Gowariker (Marathi: आशुतोष गोवारिकर) (born 15 February 1964) is an Indian film director, actor, writer and producer. He is known for directing the films Lagaan (2001), Swades (2004), Jodhaa Akbar (2008), What's Your Raashee (2009) and Khelein Hum Jee Jaan Sey (2010). He was nominated for an Academy Award and European Film Award, and has won a number of other awards, including a National Film Award, five Filmfare Awards, and seven international film festival awards. He also became a voting member for the Academy Awards in 2005.
Ashutosh Gowariker was born in a Maharashtrian family. He belongs to a Maratha family of Ashok Gowariker (father) and Kishori Gowariker (mother). He is married to Sunita and they have two sons - Konark & Vishwang.
Ashutosh Gowariker started his career as an actor, making his debut in 1984 in director Ketan Mehta's movie, Holi. On the Holi sets, Ashutosh met Aamir Khan. After that, he acted in several television serials, including Kachchi Dhoop (1987), Circus (1989), C.I.D. (1998) and several films, including Naam (1986), Chamatkar (1992), and Kabhi Haan Kabhi Naa (1993).
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Auto Shankar
Auto Shankar (January 21, 1954 – April 27, 1995) is the nickname of an Indian serial killer.
Shankar and his gang[clarification needed] were found guilty of six murders, committed over a period of two years in 1988–1989. They were tried for the murders of Lalitha, Sudalai, Sampath, Mohan, Govindaraj and Ravi. The bodies of the victims were either burnt or buried inside residential houses.
In late 1988, over a period of approximately six months, nine teenage girls from the Thiruvanmiyur section of Chennai disappeared. In the beginning, investigators believed that the girls had been sold into prostitution by families unable to afford wedding dowries, but the consistent denials by their kin forced them to seek another explanation.[citation needed]
Late in December, a schoolgirl named Subalakshmi claimed that an auto rickshaw driver had attempted to abduct her in front of a wine shop. Working undercover in the local wine shop back-rooms, detectives learned of a rumour that an auto driver called Shankar was behind the crimes, disposing of the bodies by cremating them and pouring the remains into the Bay of Bengal. The following morning, the police picked up the suspect who overnight became known to the nation as "Auto Shankar".[citation needed]
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Bappi Lahiri
Bappi Lahiri or Alokesh Lahiri (Bengali: বাপ্পী লাহিড়ী), born 27 November 1952, is a music director in the Hindi film industry. He popularized the use of synthesized disco music in Indian cinema and sang some of his own compositions. He was popular in the 1980s with filmi soundtracks like Disco Dancer, Namak Halaal and Sharaabi among others.
Bappi D. Lahiri was born in Calcutta, West Bengal into a family with a rich tradition in classical music. His father, Aparesh Lahiri, was a famous Bengali singer and his mother, Bansari Lahiri, was a musician and a singer who was well-versed in classical music and Shyama Sangeet. He is their only child.
At a very early age, he had the ambition to become internationally famous. He began to play the tabla at the age of three. His maternal relatives include Kishore Kumar and the S. Mukherjee clan. Initially he was trained by his parents, after which he received his first opportunity in a Bengali film, Daadu (1972) at the age of 19.
He moved to Mumbai when he was 19. The first Hindi film for which he composed music was Nanha Shikari (1973). The turning point of his career was Tahir Husain's Hindi film, Zakhmee (1975), for which he composed music and doubled as a playback singer. He sang a duet with Mohammed Rafi and Kishore Kumar called "Nothing Is Impossible" for the same film. The songs of his next film, Chalte Chalte (1976), became hits. With Ravikant Nagaich's Surakksha his singing and music became even more popular.
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Bhupen Hazarika
Dr. Bhupen Hazarika (Assamese:ড: ভূপেন হাজৰিকা) (1926–2011) was an Indian lyricist, musician, singer, poet and film-maker from Assam. He belonged to Dom, the untouchable caste. His songs, written and sung mainly in the Assamese language by himself, are marked by humanity and universal brotherhood; and have been translated and sung in many languages, most notable in Bengali, and Hindi. Known for writing bold lyrics with themes of communal amity, universal justice and empathy, his songs have become popular among all sections of ethnic and religious communities in Assam, besides West Bengal and Bangladesh. He is acknowledged widely in the Hindi film industry for introducing Hindi film to the sounds and folk music of Assam and Northeast India. He received the National Film Award for Best Music Direction in the year 1975. Winner of Padmashri (1997), Padmabhushan (2001), Sangeet Natak Akademi Award (1987), Sangeet Natak Akademi Fellowship (2008) and the prestigious Dada Saheb Phalke Award in the year 1992, Dr. Hazarika was posthumously awarded the Padma Vibhushan, India's second highest civilian award in the year 2012. The Government of Assam honoured him with the title Asom Ratna, the highest Civilian Award in the state of Assam. Dr. Hazarika also held the position of the Chairman of the prestigious Sangeet Natak Akademi from December 1998 to December 2003.
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Bobby Deol
Bobby Deol (Punjabi: ਬੋਬ੍ਬ੍ਯ ਡੋਲ; born Vijay Singh Deol on January 27, 1967) is a Bollywood actor. Deol is the son of the acclaimed Bollywood actor Dharmendra and the brother of Sunny Deol, also a successful actor in the Mumbai based Indian film industry.
Deol has mostly acted in thriller films, often playing characters who are forced to committ crime to avenge the deaths of loved ones. Examples of such films include Gupt, Jurm and Bichhoo. His films commonly involve themes of jealousy, deceit and revenge and in his more romantic thrillers often involve him caught in love triangles.
Deol was awarded the Filmfare Best Debut Award for his role in the 1995 film Barsaat and was later nominated for the Filmfare Best Actor Award for his performance in Humraaz in 2002.
Bobby Deol was born into a Punjabi Sikh family and is the second son of Bollywood movie star Dharmendra and Prakash Kaur. He is the younger brother of Sunny Deol. Bobby Deol was born in Mumbai, Maharashtra, India. He has two sisters, Vijeyta and Ajita, and two half sisters – from his father's second marriage to actress Hema Malini – Esha Deol and Ahana Deol. Actor Abhay Deol is his younger cousin.
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Gurdas Maan
Gurdas Maan (Punjabi: ਗੁਰਦਾਸ ਮਾਨ) is an Punjabi singer, songwriter, choreographer, and actor. He is considered one of the most notable figures in the world of Punjabi music. He was born in Giddarbaha village of Indian Punjab and gained national attention in 1980 with the song "Dil Da Mamla Hai." Since then, he has gone on to record over 34 albums and has written over 300 songs.
Maan was formally educated in D.A.V College Malout Punjab.[citation needed] After completing his education there, his parents enrolled him in a further education institute in Patiala.[citation needed] As a keen sports enthusiast Maan was fascinated by the National Institute of Sports in the city; this prompted him to join the N.I.S. and gain a Masters degree in physical education.[citation needed]
He took part in youth festivals organized by universities and won several awards for his singing and acting, always supported by his friends. He competed in many athletic events and won medals including a bronze at the National Championship as well as achieving a black belt in judo.
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Gurdas Mann
Gurdas Maan (Punjabi: ਗੁਰਦਾਸ ਮਾਨ) is an Punjabi singer, songwriter, choreographer, and actor. He is considered one of the most notable figures in the world of Punjabi music. He was born in Giddarbaha village of Indian Punjab and gained national attention in 1980 with the song "Dil Da Mamla Hai." Since then, he has gone on to record over 34 albums and has written over 300 songs.
Maan was formally educated in D.A.V College Malout Punjab.[citation needed] After completing his education there, his parents enrolled him in a further education institute in Patiala.[citation needed] As a keen sports enthusiast Maan was fascinated by the National Institute of Sports in the city; this prompted him to join the N.I.S. and gain a Masters degree in physical education.[citation needed]
He took part in youth festivals organized by universities and won several awards for his singing and acting, always supported by his friends. He competed in many athletic events and won medals including a bronze at the National Championship as well as achieving a black belt in judo.
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Himesh Reshammiya
Himesh Reshammiya (born 23 July 1973) is an Indian music director, singer, actor, television producer, lyricist, film producer, script writer, and distributor.
Himesh Reshammiya was born in Mumbai, Maharashtra to veteran Gujarati music director Vipin Reshammiya and Madhu Reshammiya; however his family originate from Bhavnagar, Gujarat. Reshammiya studied at Hill Grange School in Pedder Road where he met his best friend Prashant Chadha. Chadha is responsible for Reshammiya's new look and for directing all of his music videos from his private album Aap Kaa Surroor as well as promotional videos for the movies Aashiq Banaya Aapne, Aksar and Tom, Dick & Harry. At the age of 16 before Reshammiya went into music direction, he produced television serials for Zee TV which included serials such as Andaz and Amar Prem.
Reshammiya’s first big break came through his good friend Salman Khan. Khan gave Reshammiya the chance to be a music director for the movie Pyaar Kiya To Darna Kya along with composers Sajid-Wajid and Jatin Lalit. After the success of the album, Khan and Reshammiya have shared many hit filmi albums together, such as Pyaar Kiya To Darna Kya, Yeh Hai Jalwa, and Dulhan Hum Le Jayenge. He had his first success[citation needed] as a music director of the 2003 film, Tere Naam. After a series of successful films as music director, he entered playback singing with the film Aashiq Banaya Aapne, the songs of which went on to become hits. As a singer, he churned out songs like Tera Suroor, Zara Jhoom Jhoom and Tanhaiyan which were successful. Reshammiya's music has a style of composition which is based on a fusion of Western and Indian classical music with techno beats. He started his acting career with his debut film, Aap Kaa Surroor - The Real Luv Story.
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Hrithik Roshan
Hrithik Roshan ([ˈrɪt̪ʰɪk ˈroːʃən]; born 10 January 1974) is an Indian film actor. Having appeared as a child actor in several films throughout the 1980s, Roshan made his film debut in a leading role in Kaho Naa... Pyaar Hai in 2000. His performance in the film earned him Filmfare Awards for Best Actor and Best Male Debut. He followed it with leading roles in Fiza and Mission Kashmir (both 2000) and a supporting part in the blockbuster Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham... (2001), which was India's highest-grossing film in the overseas market up to then.
Following through with several unnoticed performances from 2002 to 2003, he starred in the blockbusters Koi... Mil Gaya (2003) and its sequel Krrish (2006), both of which won him numerous Best Actor awards. Roshan received his third Filmfare Award for Best Actor in 2006 for his performance in the action film Dhoom 2, his biggest commercial success to date, and his fourth for Jodhaa Akbar, for which he was also awarded at the Golden Minbar International Film Festival. These accomplishments have established him as one of the leading contemporary actors of Hindi cinema. He later received further acclaim for his work in Guzaarish (2010), Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara (2011) and Agneepath (2012).
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Ilayaraja
Ilaiyaraaja (born Gnanadesikan on 2 June 1943) is an Indian film composer, singer, and lyricist, mainly in the Tamil film Industry. He is regarded as one of the finest music composers in India. Ilaiyaraaja is also an instrumentalist, conductor, singer, and a songwriter. To date, he has composed over 4500 songs and provided film scores for more than 950 Indian films in various languages in a career spanning more than 30 years, particularly being acclaimed for his background scoring for Indian films.[citation needed] His songs and background score played a very crucial role in the success of many films. He remains as one of the most popular composers in the South Indian film industry.
Ilaiyaraaja has been a prominent composer of film music in South Indian cinema since the late 1970s. His works are mainly in Tamil, but has also scored music for numerous films in Telugu, Malayalam, Kannada, Hindi and 1 film in Marathi.. He integrated folk lyricism (in Tamil) and introduced broader Western musical sensibilities into the South Indian musical mainstream. A gold medalist in classical guitar from Trinity College of Music, London, in 1993, he became the first Asian to compose a full symphony performed by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra in London's Walthamstow Town Hall. In 2003, according to a BBC international poll, people from 155 countries voted his composition "Rakkamma Kaiya Thattu" from the 1991 film Thalapathi fourth in the world's top 10 most popular songs of all time. He was also nominated in the Best Indian album Music Awards category at US based Just Plain Folks Music Organization, which is the largest grassroots music organization in the world, and stood third for his "Music Journey: Live in Italy".
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Ismail Darbar
Ismail Darbar (born 1 June 1964) is an Indian composer and violinist, a popular name in Bollywood.
Ismail Darbar is from Surat, Gujarat. He worked for several years as a session violinist for leading music directors Laxmikant Pyarelal, Kalyanji Anandji, Bappi Lahiri, Rajesh Roshan, Anand-Milind, Nadeem-Shravan, Jatin-Lalit and A. R. Rahman. Finally he got the break after so many years with Sanjay Leela Bhansali's film Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam. Earlier Darbar had played violin for Jatin-Lalit in the movie Khamoshi: The Musical. Later on his music in Bhansali's Devdas was acclaimed. He did not work with Bhansali after Devdas due to personal differences. It was also revealed that Darbar had only made some contributions to the music of Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam and Devdas while it was Bhansali who wrote the music of both of his movies.[citation needed] After Devdas, Darbar did a few more movies but was unable to get much success.[citation needed] In 2005, he co-composed Subhash Ghai's Kisna: The Warrior Poet with A. R. Rahman. However Ghai would later say, "The music [of the film] has turned out so well that you can't distinguish an Ismail song from a Rahman one".
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Jagjit Singh
Jagjit Singh, born Jagmohan Singh); (8 February 1941 – 10 October 2011) was a prominent Indian Ghazal singer, songwriter and musician. Known as "the Ghazal King", he gained acclaim together with his wife, another renowned Indian Ghazal singer Chitra Singh in the 1970s and 1980s. Their combination album comprising music from the films, Arth and Saath Saath is the HMV's largest selling combination album of all time.[citation needed]Sajda (An Offering, 1991), Jagjit Singh's magnum opus double album with Lata Mangeshkar holds the same record in non-film category.[citation needed] He had sung in numerous languages. He was awarded the Padma Bhushan by the government of India in 2003.
Singh is credited for the revival and popularity of ghazal, an Indian classical art form, by choosing poetry that was relevant to the masses and composing them in a way that laid more emphasis on the meaning of words and melody evoked by them. In terms of Indian Classical music, his style of composing and Gayaki (singing) is considered as Bol-pradhan, one that lays emphasis on words. He highlighted this in his music for films such as Prem Geet (1981), Arth and Saath Saath (1982), and TV serials Mirza Ghalib (1988) and Kahkashan (1991). Jagjit Singh is considered to be the most successful ghazal singer and composer of all time in terms of both critical acclaim and commercial success. With a career spanning over five decades and a repertoire comprising over 80 albums, the range and breadth of his work has been regarded as genre-defining. He is the only composer and singer to have composed and recorded songs written by Prime Minister - Atal Behari Vajpayee - also a critically acclaimed poet - in two albums, Nayi Disha (1999) and Samvedna (2002).
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Jaspinder Narula
Jaspinder Narula is a noted Punjabi singer and Bollywood playback singer, who shot to fame after the duet "Pyar to hona hi tha" with Remo Fernandes from the 1998 film Pyar To Hona Hi Tha for which she won the 1999 Filmfare Best Female Playback Award. Her other notable films are Mission Kashmir, Mohabbatein, Phir Bhi Dil Hai Hindustani and Bunty Aur Babli. She also a singer of Sufi music, and as well as Gurbani and other Sikh religious music.
In 2008, she won the title of India's Best Live Performer in the NDTV Imagine singing reality series, Dhoom Macha De (2008).
Jaspinder’s career in singing began early. Her father Kesar Singh Narula was a music composer of the 1950s. Initially Jaspindar Narula kept away from film singing and specialized in singing bhajans and Sufiana compositions. She moved to Mumbai a few years later at the advice of noted music director Kalyanji who heard her at the private gathering in Delhi and asked his son and music director, Viju Shah, to give her break in films like Master, Aar Ya Paar and Bade Miyan Chhote Miyan (1998).
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Jatin Lalit
Jatin-Lalit are a Bollywood film composer duo consisting of Jatin Pandit and his younger brother Lalit. They have written the scores for films such as Khiladi, Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikandar, Khamoshi: The Musical, Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge, Yes Boss, Jab Pyaar Kisise Hota Hai, Kuch Kuch Hota Hai, Mohabbatein and Fanaa. Jatin-Lalit is their professional name and appears on the covers of their music CDs and DVDs. In 2006, the brothers ended their professional relationship, citing personal problems.
Jatin and Lalit were born into the Mewati gharana of Jodhpur in Rajasthan, and are nephews of classical exponent Pandit Jasraj. They received their musical education primarily from their father, Pandit Pratap Narayan. They were also taught guitar and piano by Pyarelal Ramprasad Sharma, the father of Pyarelal Sharma of the Laxmikant-Pyarelal duo.
Bollywood actresses Sulakshana Pandit and Vijeta Pandit are their sisters, and music director Aadesh Shrivastava is their brother-in-law, being married to the younger of the two sisters, Vijeta.
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Jatin-Lalit
Jatin-Lalit are a Bollywood film composer duo consisting of Jatin Pandit and his younger brother Lalit. They have written the scores for films such as Khiladi, Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikandar, Khamoshi: The Musical, Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge, Yes Boss, Jab Pyaar Kisise Hota Hai, Kuch Kuch Hota Hai, Mohabbatein and Fanaa. Jatin-Lalit is their professional name and appears on the covers of their music CDs and DVDs. In 2006, the brothers ended their professional relationship, citing personal problems.
Jatin and Lalit were born into the Mewati gharana of Jodhpur in Rajasthan, and are nephews of classical exponent Pandit Jasraj. They received their musical education primarily from their father, Pandit Pratap Narayan. They were also taught guitar and piano by Pyarelal Ramprasad Sharma, the father of Pyarelal Sharma of the Laxmikant-Pyarelal duo.
Bollywood actresses Sulakshana Pandit and Vijeta Pandit are their sisters, and music director Aadesh Shrivastava is their brother-in-law, being married to the younger of the two sisters, Vijeta.
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Javed Akhtar
Javed Akhtar (born 17 January 1945) is a poet, lyricist and scriptwriter from India. Akhtar is a main stream writer and some of his most successful work was carried out in the late 1970s and 1980s with Salim Khan as half of the script-writing duo credited as Salim-Javed. Akhtar continues to be a prominent figure in Bollywood and is one of the most popular and sought-after lyricists.[citation needed]
He was born as Jadoo Akhtar in Gwalior, (Madhya Pradesh) to Jan Nisar Akhtar, a Bollywood film songwriter and Urdu poet, and singer Safia Akhtar, a teacher and writer. His original name was Jadoo, taken from a line in a poem written by his father: "Lamba, lamba kisi jadoo ka fasana hoga". He was given the official name of Javed since it was the closest to the word jadoo. Amongst his family members who are poets are the Urdu poet Majaz (maternal uncle), and his grandfather, Muztar Khairabadi, and Maulana Fazl-e-Haq Khairabadi, a noted philosopher, poet and religious scholar of the nineteenth century. Akhtar's younger brother, Salman Akhtar, is a psychoanalyst practicing in the United States.
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Juhi Chawla
Juhi Chawla (Punjabi: ਜੂਹੀ ਚਾਵਲਾ born 13 November 1967) is an Indian actress, voice 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.
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K. J. Yesudas
Kattassery Joseph Yesudas (born 10 January 1940) is an Indian classical musician and playback singer.
Yesudas sings Indian classical, devotional, and popular music. He has recorded more than 50,000 songs in many languages including Malayalam, Tamil, Hindi, Kannada, Telugu, Bengali, Gujarati, Oriya, Marathi, Punjabi, Sanskrit, Tulu, Malay, Russian, Arabic, Latin and English during a career spanning five decades. He has performed in most Indian languages except Assamese, Konkani and Kashmiri. He also composed a number of Malayalam film songs in the 1970s and 1980s. Yesudas is fondly called Gana Gandharvan (English: The Celestial Singer)
He has won the National Award for the Best Male Playback Singer seven times (the most by any Indian singer) and the State Award for the Best Playback Singer 43 times, which consists of awards by the state governments of Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, and West Bengal. He was awarded Padma Shri in 1975 and Padma Bhushan in 2002 by the Government of India for his contributions towards the arts.
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K. S. Chitra
Krishnan Nair Shantakumari Chitra or K. S. Chithra;born 27 July 1963) often credited as Chithra (or Chitra), is an Indian playback singer.
Popularly and fondly referred to as Chinna Kuyil (English: Little Nightingale) of South India, Chitra sings Indian classical, devotional, and popular music.She has lent her voice to Malayalam, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Oriya, Hindi, Assamese, Bengali, Badaga and Punjabi films. She is a recipient of six National Film Awards (the most by any female singer), five Filmfare Awards South and more than thirty different state film awards. She is the only singer to have won all the 4 South Indian state awards till date.
Born on July 27, 1963, in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, into a family of musicians, Chithra’s talent was recognized and nurtured from an early age by her father, the late Krishnan Nair. He was also her first guru (teacher). Her elder sister K. S. Beena is also a singer who has performed in many films as a playback singer.
Chithra received her extensive training in Carnatic music from Dr. K. Omanakutty, and got a Masters in Music from the University of Kerala. She was selected for the National Talent Search Scholarship from the Central Government from 1978–1984. She is married to Vijayashankar, an engineer and businessman and settled in Chennai. Their only daughter Nandana died aged 8, in a pool accident in April 2011 at Dubai.
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Kailash Kher
Kailash Kher(born 7 July 1973) is an Indian pop-rock singer with a music style influenced by Indian folk music. He has sung in 18 languages for regional films, and over now 300 songs for the Bollywood. He was inspired by the Qawwali singer Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan and the classical musician Pandit Kumar Gandharva. They remain his inspirations.
Kailash Kher was born in Meerut, Uttar Pradesh on 7 July 1973 to a family with Kashmiri roots. His father Pt.Mehar Singh Kher and his mother Chandrakanta Mehar Singh Kher were from Meerut. Kher’s father Mr. Mehar Singh, a Hindu priest, was an amateur musician whose performances of traditional folk songs were a regular household event.
Kailash used to learn music from him in his childhood. Kailash Kher was brought up in a musical atmosphere and from his school days he was fascinated by music and used to listen to his father's Indian folks songs all the day. Even as a four year old, Kher revealed a natural musical talent and he would often impress friends and family by belting out songs with his prematurely powerful voice.
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Kalyanji-Anandji
Kalyanji Anandji is a name used by Indian composer duo known for its work on Hindi film soundtracks, particularly action potboilers in the 1970s. The name comes from first names of the Gujarati brothers that formed the duo, Kalyanji Virji Shah and Anandji Virji Shah. Some of their best-known works are Don, Saraswatichandra, Qurbani and Safar. They won the 1975 Filmfare Award for Best Music Director for Kora Kagaz.
Kalyanji and Anandji were children of a businessman who migrated from Kutch to Mumbai to start a grocery and provision store. The brothers began to learn music from a music teacher, who taught them in lieu of paying his bills to their father. One of their great-grandparents was a folk musician of some eminence. They spent most of their formative years in the hamlet of Girgaum (a district in Mumbai) amidst Marathi and Gujarati environs and among some eminent musical talent that resided in the vicinity.
Kalyanji started his career as a musician, with a new electronic instrument called the clavioline. which was used for the famous "Nagin Been," used in the film Nagin (1954) which had the music of Hemant Kumar. Kalyanji then, with his brother Anandji, started an orchestral group called Kalyanji Virji and Party which organised musical shows in Mumbai and outside. This was the first attempt made for holding live musical shows in India.
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Kamaal Khan
Kamaal Khan (born 12 March 1972), Highgate, North London) is a playback/hindi pop singer, actor and songwriter of Indian origin. His Indian parents moved to the UK in 1960, and his interest in Hindi film music began when he was eight years old. By the age of 12, he had amassed a collection of nearly 200 Hindi film soundtracks.
In 1995 he wrote and produced his debut single "O Oh Jaane Jaana" in London. The song released in 1996 becoming a worldwide hit achieving platinum status. The song also featured in the 1998 Bollywood blockbuster Pyaar Kiya To Darna Kya starring Salman Khan and Kajol. The soundtrack went on to sell over 10 million copies and the huge success of the movie has widely been attributed by film pundits to the popularity of Kamaal's "O Oh Jaane Jana". As a result of his successful debut single, Kamaal was immediately signed by record label HMV in December 1997.
In 1999 Kamaal Khan won the "R.D.Burman" Filmfare Award for the "Most Promising Upcoming Talent" becoming the first UK born winner of the coveted Filmfare Award since its introduction in 1954. He is also a winner/nominee of numerous MTV, Filmfare, ZEE and Channel [V] awards for both singing and acting.
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Karan Johar
Karan Johar (born 25 May 1972) is an Indian film director, producer, screenwriter, Costume designer and Television host based in Bollywood. He is the son of Hiroo Johar and Yash Johar. He is also the head of the production company Dharma Productions. He is most known for directing and producing some of Bollywood's highest grossing films in India and abroad. The four films he has directed, all starring Shahrukh Khan, have been India's highest grossing productions in the overseas market. The success of those films resulted in crediting Johar for changing the way Indian cinema has been perceived in the West.
Johar entered the film industry as an actor in Aditya Chopra's Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge. He later made his directorial debut with the highly successful romantic comedy, Kuch Kuch Hota Hai which won him a Filmfare Award For Best Director and Filmfare Best Screenplay Award. His following directorial efforts were the family drama, Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham (2001) and the romantic drama, Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna (2006), a movie which dealt with the theme of adultery. Both films were major financial successes in India and abroad. Johar thus established himself as one of the most successful filmmakers in Bollywood. His fourth film, My Name Is Khan (2010) was met with positive reviews and grossed over
2 billion worldwide. It earned him his second Best Director award at the Filmfare ceremony.
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Kavita Krishnamurthy
Kavita Subramaniam née Kavita Krishnamurthy (born Sharada Krishnamurthy on 25 January 1958) is a well-known Indian film playback singer. She is classically trained and has sung a wide range of classical-based songs. In her career, she has worked with a variety of music composers, including R. D. Burman and A. R. Rahman. She is also the recipient of four Filmfare Best Female Playback Awards, including 3 consecutive awards in the period 1994–1996 and the prestigious Padmashri which she received in 2006.
Born Sharada Krishnamurthy in a Tamil Iyer family in New Delhi, India to T.S. Krishnamurthy, an employee of Education Ministry. She began her music training with her aunt, Mrs. Bhattacharya, who taught her Rabindra Sangeet. She began her formal training in Hindustani classical music under Balram Puri, a classical singer.
At the young age of eight, Kavita won a gold medal at a music competition. Subsequently, she kept winning many such gold medals as she kept participating in the Inter-Ministry Classical Competition in New Delhi in the mid 1960s.
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Kishore Kumar
Kishore Kumar (4 August 1929 – 13 October 1987), born Abhas Kumar Kanjilal Ganguly was an Indian film playback singer and an actor who also worked as lyricist, composer, producer, director, screenwriter and scriptwriter. Kishore Kumar sang in many Indian languages including Bengali, Hindi, Marathi, Assamese, Gujarati, Kannada, Bhojpuri, Malayalam and Oriya. He won 8 Filmfare Awards for Best Male Playback Singer and holds the record for most number of Filmfare Awards won in that category. He was awarded the "Lata Mangeshkar Award" by the Madhya Pradesh government and from that year onwards, the Madhya Pradesh Government initiated a new award called the "Kishore Kumar Award" for contributions to Hindi cinema.
Kishore Kumar was born into the Ganguly family in Khandwa, Central Provinces and Berar (now in Madhya Pradesh) as Abhas Kumar Ganguly. His father Kunjalal Ganguly (Gangopadhya) was a lawyer. His mother Gouri Devi came from a wealthy Bengali family. Kishore was the youngest of four siblings, the other three being Ashok Kumar (the eldest), Sati Devi, and Anoop Kumar. The composer Bappi Lahiri is also related to Kishore Kumar on his mother's side.
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Krishnakumar Kunnath
Krishnakumar Kunnath (born August 23, 1968), also known as KK, is an Indian playback singer. He is a prominent singer in Hindi, Telugu, Malayalam, Kannada and Tamil films.
Born in Delhi to C. S Menon and Kanakavalli, a Malayali couple, Krishnakumar Kunnath was brought up in New Delhi. KK sang 3,500 jingles before Bollywood break. An alumnus of Delhi's Mount St. Mary school. He appeared in "Josh Of India" song for the support of Indian Cricket Team during Cricket World Cup 1999. Following this, he released an album called Pal for which he received a Star Screen Award for the Best Solo Album.
KK switched from Hindi to English songs during his teens. His versatile voice was soon tapped by various ad agencies in Delhi for jingles. He even formed a rock band with his friends and played drums for two other rock bands and did vocals.
KK married his childhood sweetheart Jyothi in 1991. His son Nakul sang a song "Masti" from his latest album Humsafar with him. KK also has a daughter named Taamara.
He has been greatly influenced by the singer Kishore Kumar and music director R.D.Burman.[citation needed]
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Kumar Sanu
Kumar Sanu (alias Kedarnath Bhattacharya, born in Kolkata) is a leading Indian Bollywood playback singer. He was awarded the Filmfare Best Male Playback Award over five consecutive years. The Government of India honoured him with the Padma Shri in 2009.
Kumar Sanu's father Pashupati Bhattacharya was a vocalist and composer. He trained Sanu as a singer and tabla player. After getting a degree in commerce from Calcutta University, Sanu began performing publicly in 1979, singing at shows and restaurants around Calcutta. He modeled his singing style after Bollywood singer Kishore Kumar. Later he developed his own singing style.
In 1987, music director and singer Jagjit Singh offered Sanu the chance to sing in the Hindi film Aandhiyan. Sanu then relocated to Mumbai, where Kalyanji-Anandji gave him chance to sing in the film Jaadugar. Kalyanji-Anandji suggested that he change his name from Kedar Nath Bhattacharya to Kumar Sanu.
Sanu started off singing Jagjit Singh's film songs, and went on to work with composers including Naushad, Ravindra Jain, Hridayanath Mangeshkar, Pt.R K Razdan, Kalyanji Anandji, and Usha Khanna.
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Kunal Ganjawala
Kunal Ganjawala (Hindi: कुणाल गांजावाला) is popularly known as Bollywood playback singer who contributed to the Kannada film industry as well. Kunal began his career by singing jingles. He came to limelight with the song "Bheege Honth Tere" from the film Murder in 2004. It was his first biggest hit. The song earned him Zee Cine Award as Best Playback Singer in 2005.
Kunal entered the film industry in 2002 with film Ab Ke Baras. Within a short four years, he has established himself as one of the top singers in Bollywood (Indian Hindi film industry).
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Lata Mangeshkar
Lata Mangeshkar (born September 28, 1929) is a singer from India. She is one of the best-known and most respected playback singers in India. Mangeshkar's career started in 1942 and has spanned over six and a half decades. She has recorded songs for over a thousand Hindi films and has sung songs in over thirty-six regional Indian languages and foreign languages, though primarily in Hindi. She is the elder sister of singer Asha Bhosle, Hridayanath Mangeshkar, Usha Mangeshkar and Meena Mangeshkar. She is the second vocalist to have ever been awarded the Bharat Ratna, India's highest civilian honour.
Mangeshkar was featured in the Guinness Book of World Records from 1974 to 1991 for having made the most recordings in the world. The claim was that she had recorded approximately 25,000 solo, duet, and chorus-backed songs in 20 Indian languages between 1948 to 1974. Over the years, while several sources have supported this claim, others have raised concerns over its veracity, claiming that this number was highly exaggerated and that Mangeshkar's younger sister, Asha Bhosle, had more song recordings than she had. In 2011 Guinness officially acknowledged Bhosle as the most recorded artist in music history.
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M. Balamuralikrishna
Mangalampalli Balamuralikrishna (Telugu: మంగళంపల్లి బాలమురళీకృష్ణ) pronunciation (help·info) (born July 6, 1930) is a Carnatic vocalist, multi-instrumentalist and a playback singer. He is also acclaimed as a poet, composer and respected by all Indian classical musicians for his knowledge of Carnatic Music.
Balamuralikrishna was born in Sankaraguptam, East Godavari District, Andhra Pradesh state. His father was a well known musician and could play the flute, violin and the veena and his mother was an excellent veena player. His mother died when he was an infant and Balamuralikrishna was raised by his father. Observing his inner penchant towards music, his father put him under the tutelage of Sri Parupalli Ramakrishna Pantulu. Sri Pantulu was a direct descendant of the sisya parampara of Saint Thyagaraja. Under his guidance, the young Balamuralikrishna learnt Carnatic Music. At the age of eight, Balamuralikrishna gave his first full fledged concert at a Thyagaraja Aradhana, Vijayawada. Musunuri Suryanarayana Murty Bhagavatar, a distinguished Harikatha performer, saw the musical talent in the child and gave the prefix 'Bala' (child) to the young Muralikrishna. This title has stuck ever since and Balamuralikrishna has been known so.
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M. G. Sreekumar
M. G. Sreekumar is a two-time National Award-winning Indian playback singer and music director who works in Malayalam cinema. With a career of over 25 years, he is one of the prominent male singers in the Malayalam film industry. He is known for matching voice with Malayalam actor Mohanlal. He has sang in Malayalam, Tamil, Kannada, Telugu and Hindi. He is the youngest brother of music director M. G. Radhakrishnan and singer K. Omanakutty. He owns a music company named KMG Musics.
Sreekumar worked in State Bank of Travancore, before starting his career as a singer. He started his music career by accompanying his brother M. G. Radhakrishnan in his carnatic musical concerts. Born in Haripad, Alappuzha District of Kerala, his father, Malabar Gopalan Nair was a well known singer. His elder brother and music guru, the late M. G. Radhakrishnan, was an award-winning music director and carnatic musician. His elder sister, K. Omanakutty, is a classical music vocalist and a principal at Kerala Music Academy.
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M. M. Keeravani
Koduri Keeravaani, better known as M. M. Keeravaani (Telugu: ఎం.ఎం.కీరవాణి ) under the alias Maragatha Mani and M. M. Kreem, is a National Award-winning music composer who works in Telugu, Tamil, Kannada, Malayalam and Hindi cinema.
Keeravani first began his career as an Assistant music director with the noted composer Chakravarthy in the year 1987. He assisted in some movies like Collectorgari Abbayi and Bharathamlo Arjunudu in the later 80's. During this time, he also sought the guidance of the veteran lyricist Veturi for over a year.
Keeravani's first big break as an independent musician came with the film Kalki in 1990. But the film never got released and the soundtrack also went unnoticed. It was director Mouli's 1990 film Manasu Mamatha that brought him to the limelight and considered his first released movie.
However, it was Ram Gopal Varma's blockbuster film Kshana Kshanam (1991) that made Keeravani an established music director. All the songs of this movie went on to become top chartbusters and Keeravani was flooded with offers from all across south Indian film industries. His first major Hindi film was Criminal.
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Madhushree
Madhushree (born Sujata Bhattacharya) is an Indian singer, who sings in Tamil, Hindi, Telugu and Kannada films. A familiar voice in A. R. Rahman's compositions, Madhushree hails from a musically inclined family, having previously been trained in classical music. Wanting to be a classical singer, Madhushree joined the Rabindra Bharati University and completed her masters.
Madhushree was born as Sujata Bhattacharya in a Bengali Brahmin family in Kolkata to Amarendranath and Parbati Bhattacharya, who were her initial teachers. She was taught classical music by Sangeetacharya Pt. Amiya Ranjan Bandyopadhyay, a noted exponent of the Bishnupur Gharana and excelled in Thumri and Khayal. Later she started working for the Indian Council for Cultural Relations, through which she was deputed to teach classical music in Surinam.
On returning to India, she met noted singer Kumar Sanu in Kolkata. On his recommendation, she then made her playback singing debut through Rajesh Roshan's Moksha. She has then gone on to sing songs in films like Yuva, Aayitha Ezhuthu, Kal Ho Naa Ho, Anbe Aaruyire and Kuch Naa Kaho,and her most recent albums include A.R. Rahman's Guru,and Rang De Basanti, Srikanth Deva's Aalwar, Yuvan Shankar Raja's Deepavali and Sarvam and Harris Jayaraj's Unnale Unnale. Her song Vaaji Vaaji in A.R.Rahman's Sivaji was well received.
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Mahalakshmi Iyer
Mahalakshmi Iyer (Hindi: महालक्ष्मी अय्यर, also Mahalaxmi Iyer) is an Indian playback singer, best known for her Hindi and Tamil songs. She has sung over a thousand songs in many Indian languages, including Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Marathi, Bengali, Gujarati, Assamese, Kannada and Malayalam.
Mahalakshmi made her singing debut with Dus, which was Shankar–Ehsaan–Loy's debut as music directors in 1997, though the album released only in 1999. Later, she went on to work frequently with them. She then sang the track Ae Ajnabee with Udit Narayan for A. R. Rahman in Mani Ratnam's Dil Se.. (1998).
Since then she has sung over thousand songs in films, serials, jingles and original albums. She was part of several successful soundtracks such as Mission Kashmir, Yaadein and Saathiya and worked with some of the biggest music composers like A. R. Rahman, Shankar–Ehsaan–Loy Anu Malik, Jatin-Lalit and more.
She has also sung for all of Yash Raj Films' biggest hits like Dhoom 2, Bunty Aur Babli, Salaam Namaste and Fanaa and most recent successful albums like Ta Ra Rum Pum and Jhoom Barabar Jhoom.
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Mehboob Kotwal
Mehboob Alam Kotwal is a writer of Bollywood film song lyrics. He was born in the Nashik district of India in a village called Chindwara. His family moved to the city of Mumbai for good in the 1940s where he received his primary education, first in English and later in Urdu.
In 1986, Mehboob met music composer Ismail Darbar who used to play the violin in film orchestras in those days. And it was Darbar who taught him the difference between poetry and film lyrics. Darbar introduced Mehboob to filmmaker Ram Gopal Varma and he began his song writing career with Varma's 1992 film Drohi whose music was composed by R. D. Burman. He then worked with A.R.Rahman on Varma's Rangeela. Rahman liked his work and introduced him to Mani Ratnam and Mehboob penned the lyrics for the Hindi (dubbed) version of Bombay. Mehboob went on to work with Rahman on films such as Thakshak, Doli Saja Ke Rakhna and Dil Hi Dil Mein. He has also written the lyrics for Rahman's non-film album Maa Tujhe Salaam as well as Ratnam's Yuva.
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Mithun Chakraborty
Mithun Chakraborty Miṭhun Chôkroborti, born as Gouranga Chakraborty on June 16, 1950) is an Indian film actor, social activist, and entrepreneur, who has won three National Film Awards. He made his acting debut with the arthouse drama Mrigayaa (1976), for which he won his first National Film Award for Best Actor.
He gained a fan following as a dancing star and went on to establish himself as one of the most popular actors of India, particularly recognized for his role as street dancer Jimmy in the 1982 Bollywood movie Disco Dancer. He also attracted worldwide audiences, particularly in the former Soviet Union where he became a household name for his role in Disco Dancer. He later won two more National Film Awards for his performances in Bengali film Tahader Katha (1992) and Hindi film Swami Vivekananda (1998).
Chakraborty has appeared in about 400 films including Bengali, Oriya and Bhojpuri pictures. He owns the Monarch Group, which has interests in the hospitality sector and educational sector.
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Mohammed Rafi
Mohammad Rafi (December 24, 1924 – July 31, 1980) is considered to be the greatest Indian male playback singer of all time. He was awarded the National Film Award, Best Singer Award, six Filmfare Awards and the Best Singer of the Millennium award. In 1967, he was honoured with the Padma Shri award by the Government of India. His singing career spanned about 35 years, and he is noted for his ability to sing songs of different moods and varieties: his songs ranged from classical numbers to patriotic songs, sad lamentations to highly romantic numbers, qawwalis to ghazals and bhajans. He is best known for romantic and duet songs, which he playback sings with the technique to mould the voice according to characters of the actor on the screen.
Rafi is primarily noted for his songs in Hindi-Urdu, over which he had a strong command. He also sang in other Indian languages including Konkani, Bhojpuri, Oriya, Punjabi, Bengali, Marathi, Sindhi, Kannada, Gujarati, Telugu, Maghi, Maithili and Assamese. He also recorded a few songs in foreign languages such as English, Persian, Spanish and Dutch. From available figures, Rafi sang 4,516 Hindi film songs, 112 non-Hindi film songs, and 328 private (non-film) songs from 1945 to 1980.
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Mohit Chauhan
Mohit Chauhan (born March 11, 1974) is an Indian pop and playback singer, most known for his romantic ballads. He started his career singing Indian pop songs with the band Silk Route, which released two albums, Boondein (1998) and Pehchan. The song "Dooba Dooba" became a rave in the Indipop music scene. However, the band dissolved. He would stay off the scene for a while until he came back with the song "Guncha" in 2005 from the "Main, Meri Patni Aur Woh" for which, he would also compose. Impressed by his vocals, he was then approached by A. R. Rahman to sing for the movie Rang De Basanti. The song "Khoon Chala" earned him rave reviews. However, it wouldn't be until 2007 when music director Pritam approached him for the song Tum Se Hi for the movie Jab We Met that Chauhan would finally achieve mainstream success.
Mohit Chauhan was born in the town of Nahan in Sirmaur district, Himachal Pradesh, to Krishana Rana and B. K. Rana. He can speak fluently in Pahari and Hindi. He first attended St. Xavier's School, Delhi and then again moved to Himachal Pradesh to complete his education. Chauhan went to college in Nahan Sirmour, Bilaspur, Mandi, Kullu, and graduated with a Master of Science in Geology from the Dharamshala College in Himachal.
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Mukesh (singer)
Mukesh Chand Mathur (22 July 1923 – 27 August 1976), better known mononymously as Mukesh, was an Indian playback singer of Bollywood. He, alongside Mohammad Rafi, Manna Dey, Talat Mahmood and Kishore Kumar, left such an impact on the Hindi film industry that they are still remembered to date. Amongst the numerous nominations and awards he won, his song "Kai Baar Yuhi Dekha Hai" from film Rajnigandha (1973) won him the prestigious National Film Award for Best Male Playback Singer. Mukesh is also popular as being the voice of legendary actor Raj Kapoor.
Mukesh was born in Ludhiana to Zorawar Chand Mathur, an engineer, and Chand Rani. He was the sixth in a family of ten children. The music teacher who came home to teach Mukesh's sister, Sundar Pyari, found a pupil in Mukesh who would listen from the adjoining room. Mukesh left school after the 10th grade and worked briefly for the Department of Public Works. He experimented with voice recordings during his employment in Delhi and gradually developed his singing abilities.
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Narendra Chanchal
Narendra Chanchal is an Indian musician who specializes in Punjabi bhentein. He was born to a religious Punjabi family in Namak Mandi, Amritsar. He has received several awards including the 1973 "Filmfare Best Male Playback Award" for his first song "Beshak Mandir Masjid Todo," the "Bobby Award" for his number "Beshak Mandir Masjid Todo" in the film "Bobby" by Raj Kapoor, and the "Raj Kapoor Memorial Award." He was recently made an honorary citizen of the US state of Georgia.
Narendra Chanchal has recently released the book on his life, struggles and hardships he had to face, to achieve what he is today, what he thinks about Mata Rani and what is his dreams and aim yet to achieve.Indeeed a good read. The Name of the Book is Midnight Singer.
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Naresh Iyer
Naresh Iyer (born 3 January 1981) is a playback singer from Chennai, India. Naresh Iyer has rendered film songs in several Indian languages and has several chart hits to his credit. His rendition of "Roobaroo" from the movie Rang De Basanti composed by A. R. Rahman topped the music charts for many weeks in 2006 and won him the National Film Award for Best Male Playback Singer. He also won the Filmfare award in the R.D. Burman Musical Talent category. He is one of the few playback singers to have won both a Filmfare Award and a National Award in his professional debut singing year.
Naresh Iyer was born to a Tamil Brahmin family and brought up in Matunga, Mumbai. He attended SIES College of Management Studies where he received a degree in commerce. After graduation he intended to become a Chartered Accountant, but decided to study Carnatic music and Hindustani classical music instead. Iyer was spotted by composer A. R. Rahman in a reality talent show, Channel V's Super Singer. Though he did not win the show, Naresh was later contacted by A. R. Rahman and made his debut with the song "Mayilirage" from Anbe Aaruyire. He has also sung for other composers in Tamil, Telugu, Hindi and Malayalam. He is a versatile singer.
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P. Unni Krishnan
P. Unnikrishnan (born 9 July 1965) (Malayalam:ഉണ്ണികൃഷ്ണൻ) is a Carnatic vocalist and a national award winning playback singer.
Unnikrishnan was born to K. Radhakrishnan and Dr. Harini Radhakrishnan in Palakkad, Kerala. The family home, Kesari Kuteeram, was a well known landmark of Madras city, with great grandfather Dr KN Kesari being an eminent Ayurvedic physician and the promoter of the popular Telugu women's magazine Gruhalakshmi .
He went to Asan Memorial Senior Secondary School, Chennai, in 1983. He graduated from Ramakrishna Mission Vivekananda College, Chennai, and received his B.Com degree from the Madras University. He earned a General Law and Post Graduate Diploma in Personnel Management and Industrial Relations.
He worked as an executive in Parrys Confectionery Ltd. from 1987 to 1992 and quit his job to become a professional singer.
Unnikrishnan was initiated into Carnatic Music at age of 12 by Seshadri, Unnikrishnan. He was inspired by Sangita Kalanidhi Dr. S. Ramanathan. He attended a special workshop for six months on "Veena Dhanammal Bhani" under Sangeetha Kalanidhi T.Brinda and Sangeetha Kalanidhi Dr.T.Vishwanathan.
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Pritam Chakraborty
Pritam Chakraborty, better known as Pritam is a music director and composer from Kolkata who currently composes music for Bollywood. He is known for his contribution in the music of Bollywood movies. Pritam's latest album release is the soundtrack of Ferrari Ki Sawaari.
Pritam Chakraborty was born on 14 June 1971 in Kolkata into a Bengali Brahmin family to Prabodh Chakraborty and Assamese mother, who runs a music school for children. He gained his early training in music from his father and learned to play the guitar in school. As a kid, pritam undertook formal training in singing from Suprakash Chaki and Prahlad Brahmachari. After completing his schooling at St. James' School and college education at Presidency College, he went to a music school. At Presidency he was the Social Services Secretary of the Students Union run by the Independents' Consolidation (IC) led by the General Secretary Somnath Baidyaroy. Pritam joined a Bengali band, Chandrabindoo. Before that he formed another band with his Presidency batchmates, called "Jotugriher Pakhi". They even have a cassette released to their credit at that time. In January 1993, Pritam joined the Film and Television Institute in Pune to undertake a course in sound recording and sound engineering. During this time, he got a chance to compose music for a lot of diploma films and also do playback exercises. Here he was offered a chance to compose background music for a film[which?] by Hungarian filmmaker István Gaál.[citation needed]
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Raja Hindustani
Raja Hindustani (Hindi: राजा हिंदुस्तानी, Urdu: راجا ہندوستانی, translation: Indian King) is a 1996 Hindi film directed by Dharmesh Darshan. It tells the tale of a cab driver hailing from a small town, who falls in love with a rich girl. Aamir Khan and Karisma Kapoor play the lead roles. The film was one of the most commercially successful films of the 1990s.
The film's music became popular and was successful especially in central and eastern states of India. The controversial kissing scene added to its publicity. Karisma Kapoor was hugely complimented for her looks and outstanding performance as Aarti, a rich beautiful sensitive young girl full of dreams and desires. She won the Filmfare Best Actress Award for this film and was then cast by director Yash Chopra for the role of Nisha in his movie Dil To Pagal Hai.
This film is inspired by Suraj Prakash's 1965 Hindi film Jab Jab Phool Khile starring Shashi Kapoor and Nanda.
Raja Hindustani is a story about two people from opposite socio-economic backgrounds who fall in love. The title character, Raja Hindustani (Aamir Khan), is a taxi-driver / tourist guide. He lives by his own simple code and is prone to violence when that code is violated. Aarti Sehgal (Karishma Kapoor) is a wealthy debutante who is seeking to connect with her past. Standing in the way of their love are a disapproving father and a stepmother bent on obtaining total control of the family assets.
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Rajkumar (actor)
Singanalluru Puttaswamayya Muthuraju (24 April 1929 – 12 April 2006), better known by his screen name Rajkumar was a popular actor and singer in the Kannada film industry. He is considered a cultural icon of Kannada where he is also known as Rajanna, Natasarvabhouma (emperor of acting),Gaana Gandharva (singer in the court of Gods), and as Annavru (beloved elder brother).
Rajkumar entered the film industry at the age of eight and got his first break as a lead in the 1954-film Bedara Kannappa and went on to work in over 220 films. At the age of 71, he was kidnapped in Gajanur (the place where he brought up) by forest brigand Veerappan until a 108-day ordeal when he was released. He died of cardiac arrest at his residence in Bangalore on 12 April 2006.
In his film career, Rajkumar received nine Karnataka State Film Awards, ten South Filmfare Awards, two National Film Awards and a National Film Award for Best Playback Singer.. He was also awarded an Honorary Doctorate from the University of Mysore, and is a recipient of the Padma Bhushan and the Dadasaheb Phalke Award
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Ram Sampath
Ram Sampath is a composer, producer and musician, working mainly in the Mumbai advertising circuit. He has also helped promote local bands and talent.
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Ravi Shastri
Ravishankar Jayadritha Shastri (Hindi: रवि शास्त्री) (born 27 May 1962) is a former Indian cricketer and captain. He was an all–rounder who batted right-handed and bowled left arm spin. His international career started when he was 18 years old and lasted for 12 years. He started his career purely as a bowler but gradually became more of a batsman who could bowl.Shastri's family originally came from Mangalore in Karnataka but he was born and brought up in Mumbai.
As a batsman, he was essentially defensive with "chapati shot" (a flick off the pads) being his trademark shot, but could raise his strike rate when required. Due to his above-average height (he stood 6' 3" tall) and an upright stance, he had a limited number of shots against fast bowling, but was able to put the lofted shot to good use against spin bowling. Shastri played either as an opening batsman or in the middle order.
The highlight of his career was when he was elected the Champion of Champions in the World Championship of Cricket in Australia in 1985. In the same season, he equalled West Indian Garry Sobers's record of hitting six sixes in an over in first class cricket. He was regarded as a potential captain, but his image outside cricket, injuries and tendency to lose form at crucial times meant that he captained India in only one Test match.
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Ravindra Jain
Ravindra Jain (born 28 February 1944) is an Indian music composer and lyricist. He won the Filmfare Best Music Director Award in 1985.
Ravindra Jain was born blind in a village called Lohariya (situated in district Banswara of Rajasthan, India) to well-known Sanskrit scholar and Ayurvedacharya, Pandit Indramani Jain and mother Kiran Jain. Jain and his family hail from Aligarh. He is the third child among seven brothers and a sister. Ravindra Jain's elder siblings are Pandit Mahendra Kumar Jain, a renowned Ayurvedic physician and D.K. Jain, director of the Times Group and a famous judge. Jain's younger brother is Manindra Jain who runs a successful construction and real estate business in/around the New Delhi region. Jain's another brother Engi. Tarun Kumar Jain was AE at Harduaganj Thermal Power Station , Kasimpur Power House ,(Aligarh).
Jain started singing at a very young age, reciting Jain bhajans and poetry by famous Jain poets such as Pandit Dyanantraiji, Pandit Budhjanji, etc. at nearby Jain temples. It was Ravindra Jain's parents that first decided to teach him music. Jain received basic training under Pandit G.L. Jain, Pandit Janardhan Sharma, and Pandit Nathu Ram. Later, he went to Calcutta and ultimately landed in Mumbai where he would compose music for films and television.
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Roop Kumar Rathod
Roop Kumar Rathod is an Indian playback singer and music director.
Roopkumar is the son of the late Pandit Chaturbhuj Rathod, the classical luminary – an exponent of the rare and arguably the oldest style of singing i.e. Dhrupad. He belonged to the “Aditya Gharana of Jamnagar”. Pandit Rathod has trained and groomed many well known names like Kalyanji – Anandji, Manhar Udhas and many more. He is famous throughout Bollywood as an excellent playback singer, music director having also performed extensively with Anup Jalota as a percussionist. Roopkumar has two brothers, music composer Shravan Rathod and singer Vinod Rathod. He is married to Sunali Rathod
The fourth son to the Dhrupad Maestro, Pandit Chaturbhuj Rathod, Roop Kumar, was initiated into the world of music in his early years itself. His journey began as a tabla player and he went on to become one of the most sought after tablists by almost all the ghazal singers in the 80’s. His tryst with playback singing began in the year 1989 with the song, ‘Main Tera Aashiq Hoon’, composed by Laxmikant Pyarelal for the movie ‘Gumraah.’
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Rupam Islam
Rupam Islam (born 25 January 1974) is a playback singer, song writer, composer and the lead singer of the band Fossils. He is a recipient of National Film Award for Best Male Playback Singer. He won the award in 2010, for his work in the film Mahanagar @ Kolkata. Rupam has been selected to be a member of the Government of West Bengal's cultural committee for music (Bangla Sangeet Academy).
Born on 25 January 1974 in a family of musicians, Rupam’s musical journey started fairly early under the tutelage of his parents, renowned musicians of their time: late Nurul Islam and late Chhandita Islam. By the age of 4, he was performing on stage with his parents' choir group Jhankar Shilpi Goshthhi. By 9, he was an empanelled child artiste of Aakashvani and Doordarshan and had performed at all leading auditoriums of Kolkata.
Education went hand-in-hand with music, and he graduated from Asutosh College, an affiliated college of the University of Calcutta with honors in English literature. He completed his Bachelor’s in Education (B.Ed) and joined Taki Boys Mulitipurpose School where he taught English to primary school students for eleven years before voluntarily retiring in 2006 to concentrate on his career in music.
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Sachin Dev Burman
Sachin Dev Burman (1 October 1906 - 31 October 1975), also credited as Burman da, Kumar Sachindra Dev Barman, Sachin karta or S. D. Burman, was one of the most famous music composers for Hindi movies and a Bengali singer and composer. His son Rahul Dev Burman also achieved great success as a Bollywood music director in his own right. S D Burman composed music for 100 movies, including Bengali films.
S.D. Burman's compositions have been mainly sung to a large extent by the likes of Lata Mangeshkar, Mohammad Rafi, Geeta Dutt, Manna Dey, Kishore Kumar, Hemant Kumar, Asha Bhonsle and Shamshad Begum. Mukesh and Talat Mahmood have also sung songs composed by him. He also sang about 20 film songs (inclusive of Bengali films) for which he composed music though he may not have been the music director of the films.
S. D. Burman was born on 1 October 1906, in Comilla, British India, now in Bangladesh, to Rajkumari Nirmala Devi, princess of Manipur and Nabadwipchandra Dev Burman, the only son of 'Ishanachandra Dev Burman', Raja of Tripura, (r. 1849-1862).His father hailed from the royal family of Tripura while his mother hailed from the royal family of Manipur.Sachin was the youngest of the five sons, of his parents, who had nine children in all.
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Sadhana Sargam
Sadhana Sargam is an Indian playback singer. She is a recipient of the prestigious National Film Award and Filmfare Awards South.
Sargam has sung in many Indian languages for films, television serials and music albums. She is well known for her 1990s Hindi songs and recent South Indian songs. She holds a record for being the only North Indian to have won the National Award for a South Indian song. She is also a trained Hindustani classical singer. She has ventured into the southern Carnatic classical style with ease.
Sadhana Sargam is of Maharashtrian origin. She was trained in Indian classical music by her mother, Neelatai Ghanekar, at an early age, and then by Pandit Jasraj. Her mother introduced her to a composer by the name of Anil Mohile, which later resulted in her involvement with the children's choir. In 1982, she released her first single for the film Vidhaata.
Sadhana Sargam is popular in singing Hindi as well as Tamil songs. Her most critically acclaimed songs were in the film Water, composed by A. R. Rahman, in which she sang three songs: "Aayo Re Sakhi", "Piya Ho" and "Naina Neer". Her other notable songs in Hindi with the same composer include "Aahista Aahista" from Swades, "Chupke Se" and "Naina Milaike" from Saathiya, "Chanda Re" from Sapney, "O Palanhare" from Lagaan, "Jhulaa Bahon Ka" from Doli Saja Ke Rakhna, and "Banno Rani" from 1947: Earth. Her other notable rhapsodic hits in Hindi are "Neele Neele Ambar Par" from Kalakaar, "Jab Koi Baat Bigad Jaye" from Jurm, "Pehla Nasha" from Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikandar, "Na Kajre Ki Dhar" from Mohra, "Aashiqui Me" from Dil Ka Kya Kasoor, "Tere Dar Pe Sanam" from Phir Teri Kahani Yaad Aayee, "Jhinimini" from Maqbool and "Aao Na" from Kyun! Ho Gaya Na....
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Saif Ali Khan
Saif Ali Khan (pronounced [ˈsɛːf əˈli ˈxaːn]; born 16 August 1970) is an Indian actor known for his work in Bollywood films. He is the son of the cricket player and last titular Nawab of Pataudi, late Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi, and actress Sharmila Tagore, a great-grandniece of poet Rabindranath Tagore.
Having made his acting debut in 1992 with Parampara, Khan had his first success with the 1994 films Main Khiladi Tu Anari and Yeh Dillagi. After going through several years of decline throughout the 1990s, he rose into prominence with his performance in Dil Chahta Hai (2001), which marked his professional turning point. His work in Kal Ho Naa Ho (2003) won him the Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actor, and he was awarded the National Film Award for Best Actor for his performance in Hum Tum (2004).
Khan subsequently had further mainstream success with films like Salaam Namaste (2005) and Race (2008) and starred in critically acclaimed projects such as Parineeta (2005), Being Cyrus and Omkara (2006). In 2009, Khan branched out into film production with his company Illuminati Films' first film Love Aaj Kal, which became a box-office success. These accomplishments have established him as one of the leading actors of Hindi cinema. He was awarded the Padma Shri civilian award by the Government of India in 2010.
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Sameer (lyricist)
Sameer (Hindi: समीर, born 24 February 1958) is an Indian lyricist,the main form of work undertaken by Sameer is for Indian songs in Hindi language films. His father is the famed Hindi lyricist, Anjaan (Lalji Pandey). . He has won three Filmfare Awards. Recently, he announced his association with Tumbhi where he would nurture & review artists and their artwork.(2010).
Sameer, officially named Shitala Pandey, but commonly known by his nickname Rajan, was born near Benaras, Uttar Pradesh. He earned a Master of Commerce degree at the Banaras Hindu University in Varanasi, and started a new position as a bank officer at the Central Bank of India. However, a few days after joining, he left the job because, according to him, he "knew the bank was not my world". In order to pursue a career as a lyricist, he moved to Mumbai in 1980.
Sameer started his career as a lyricist in 1983 with the film Bekhabar (1983). The first film song he recorded was Maar Ke Kataaree Mar Jaibe for the Bhojpuri film Bairi Saawan (1984) sung by Suresh Wadkar and Preeti Sagar. In 1990, he came into prominence with hit songs in films such as Dil and Aashiqui. He won his first Filmfare Award for the song Nazar Ke Saamne in the latter. In the following decades he emerged as a leading lyricist in Bollywood, writing the lyrics for over 500 Hindi films (4,000 songs).
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Sandesh Shandilya
Sandesh Shandilya is an Indian film composer, musician, singer, working in Bollywood, most known for his work in films like Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham (2001), Chameli, Road, Uff Kya Jadoo Mohabbat Hai and Socha Na Tha.
His 2001 music album Piya Basanti was a mega-hit and won International viewers' choice award at the 2001 MTV Video Music Awards. Luckily for him his teacher, Ustad Sultan Khan had sung for him.
He took basic training of music from maestro Ustad Sultan Khan who is a noted Sarangi player too.
2003 Roadmusic director 2oo3 darna mana hai music director 2003 Rules Pyaar Ka Music Director Superhit Formula 2011 Blemished Lightmusic director
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Sanjay Dutt
Sanjay Dutt (born 29 July 1959) is a prominent Indian Hindi film star, producer and politician. Dutt, son of Hindi film actors Sunil Dutt and Nargis Dutt, made his acting debut in 1981. He has since featured in films that are amongst some of the most popular Hindi language films of the past three decades.
Dutt was born on 29 July 1959 to Bollywood megastars Sunil Dutt and Nargis and was educated at The Lawrence School, Sanawar. Dutt married the actress Richa Sharma in 1987. Sharma died of brain tumour. The couple have a daughter, Trishala, born in 1987, who lives in the United States with her grandparents, following a custody battle with Dutt after the death of his wife. Dutt's second marriage was to model Rhea Pillai in 1998. They divorced in 2005. Dutt married Manyata (also known as Dilnawaz Sheikh) in 2008 at a private ceremony in Goa, after two years of dating. On 21 October 2010, he became a father to twins, a boy named Shahraan and a girl named Iqra. He is well known for several altercations with the law, along with many other controversies throughout his life, as well as drug addiction in his early years.[citation needed] He spent 5 months in prison in late 1982 after being caught in possession of illegal substances, upon his release he spent 2 years in the United States, the majority of which was spent in a Texan rehab clinic before returning to India and resuming his career.
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Sanjeev Abhyankar
Pandit Sanjeev Abhyankar is a Hindustani classical music vocalist of the Mewati Gharana.
He won the National Film Award for Best Male Playback Singer in 1999, for his song, Suno Re Bhaila" in Hindi film Godmother
Sanjeev Abhyankar was born in Pune, India to Dr. Shobha Abyankar.
He started learning Hindustani Classical Music, at tender age of eight, groomed by his mother, and her guru Pandit Pimpalkhare and later from Padma Vibhushan Pandit Jasraj. Though his aim had been to pursue a career in music since childhood, he has acquired a Bachelor's Degree in Commerce.
Sanjeev Abhyankar rendered his first stage performance in Mumbai, at the age of 13 in 1983. Since then, he has traveled extensively all over the country, performing in conferences and art circles around the world, spreading the fragrance of Indian Classical music to the United States of America, Canada, Australia, Europe, Africa and the Middle East.
He has several albums with HMV, Music Today, Sony Music, Times Music, Navaras Records U.K., Neelam Audio Video U.S.A., Sona Rupa U.K., BMG Cressendo, Ninaad Music, Fountain Music & Alurkar Music. He has also given playback for films such as Maachis, Nidaan, Sanshodhan, Dil Pe Mat Le Yaar and Banaras.
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Sapna Awasthi
Sapna Awasthi Singh is a Bollywood playback singer best remembered for her Dil Se.. song "Chaiyya Chaiyya".
Sapna is from Kumaon and relocated to Mumbai after singing songs in the Nana Patekar-Dimple Kapadia Starrer Krantiveer (1994). She has sung for prominent musicians like Nadeem Shravan, A. R. Rahman, Sandeep Chowtha and others. Her biggest hit to date is her duet 'Chaiyya Chaiyya' (with co-singer Sukhvinder Singh) for A. R. Rahman's Dil Se.. (1998).
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Shaan (singer)
Shaan (born Shantanu Mukherjee Pronounced: Shantonu Mukharji on 30 September 1972), is an Indian playback singer, and television host. He hosted the shows Sa Re Ga Ma Pa, Sa Re Ga Ma Pa L'il Champs, Star Voice of India and "Star Voice of India 2". In Music Ka Maha Muqabla, his team, Shaan's Strikers, finished as the runners up to Shankar Mahadevan’s team.
Shaan was born into a Bengali Brahmin family on 30 September 1972 in Khandwa, Madhya Pradesh. He is the son of the late music director Manas Mukherjee and brother of singer Sagarika. His father died when Shaan was 13, after which his mother found work as a singer and took care of the whole family. He is married to Radhika and has two sons, Soham and Shubh. He is the grandson of lyricist Jahar Mukherjee.
As a child, Shaan began his career by singing ad jingles. After giving it up for a brief period, he soon returned to it, and also began to sing remixes and cover versions. In the 1989 movie Parinda, when he was only 17 years of age, Shaan sang a single line in the song, "Kitni Hai Pyari Pyari Dosti Hamari".
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Shahid Kapoor
Shahid Kapoor (born 25 February 1981) is an Indian actor who appears in Bollywood films. He is also a trained dancer.
Starting off his career by working in music videos and advertisements, Kapoor made his Bollywood debut as a background dancer in Subhash Ghai's Taal (1999). Four years later, he made his acting debut in Ishq Vishk (2003) and won a Filmfare Award for Best Male Debut for his performance. Following through with films like Fida (2004) and Shikhar (2005), he had his first major commercial success with Sooraj R. Barjatya's Vivah (2006), his biggest commercial success, and followed it up with Jab We Met (2007) and Kaminey (2009), both of which earned him Best Actor nominations at the Filmfare ceremony.
Kapoor was born to actor Pankaj Kapoor and actor/classical dancer Neelima Azeem on 25 February 1981. Kapoor's parents divorced when he was 3. After the divorce, he lived with his mother and maternal grandparents in Junaghad. He shared a good relationship with his father and stepmother Supriya Pathak. As far as his religious affiliation is concerned, Kapoor has stated in an interview that while his father is a Sikh and his mother is a Muslim, both his parents have taught him that he "should look at all religions without hatred and have compassion for every human being whatever his religion may be," saying that he believes that "there is one God up above."
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Shahrukh Khan
Shahrukh Khan (pronounced [‘ʃaːɦrəx ˈxaːn]; born 2 November 1965), often credited as Shah Rukh Khan and informally referred to as SRK, is an Indian film actor. Known as "The King of Bollywood", Khan has acted in over 70 Hindi films. He has won fourteen Filmfare Awards from thirty nominations for his work in Indian films and shares the record for the highest number of Best Actor awards with Dilip Kumar, eight wins. In 2005, the Government of India honoured him with the Padma Shri for his contributions towards Indian cinema.
After graduating with a Bachelor's degree in economics, he started his career appearing in theatre and several television serials in the late 1980s and later made his Hindi film debut in 1992 with Deewana. Early in his career he was recognised for his unconventional choice of negative roles in films such as Darr (1993), Baazigar (1993) and Anjaam (1994). Since then he has played leading roles in a wide variety of film genres, including romantic films, comedies, thrillers, action films, sport films, and historical dramas among others.
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Shankar Mahadevan
Shankar Mahadevan (Tamil: ஷங்கர் மகாதேவன்) is an Indian music composer and singer. He is a part of the Shankar–Ehsaan–Loy trio team that composes for Indian films and a playback singer.
Shankar Mahadevan was born and brought up in Chembur, a suburb of Mumbai, to a Tamil Iyer family from Palakkad, Kerala. He learned Hindustani classical music and Carnatic music in his childhood and started playing the veena at the age of five. He studied under Srinivas Khale, a well known Marathi music composer. He went to Our Lady of Perpetual Succour High School in Chembur. He subsequently attended SIES College in Sion and completed his HSC. He graduated in 1988 with a degree in Computer Science Engineering from Ramrao Adik Institute of Technology in Navi Mumbai under the auspices of Mumbai University. He worked as a software engineer on Oracle Version Six.
After working for a while for Leading Edge Systems, Shankar ventured into the field of music. He earned his first award as a playback singer in a Tamil movie, collaborating with A. R. Rahman and winning a National Film Award for his song in Kandukondain Kandukondain. A prominent star in the Kodambakkam film industry, he gained further recognition upon the release of his first music album, Breathless, in 1998. The title track of the album had been prepared in such a manner that it is sung without any break, so it appears to be sung in one breath and thus the title "breathless". He later got into music direction and became a part of the Shankar–Ehsaan–Loy trio, composing music for Hindi films.
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Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy
Shankar–Ehsaan–Loy ( pronunciation (help·info)) are an Indian musical trio consisting of Shankar Mahadevan, Ehsaan Noorani and Loy Mendonsa. Record producers, musicians and multi-instrumentalists, they have composed music for over fifty soundtrack across four languages. Among the most critically acclaimed Indian musicians, the trio have won over twenty awards, including one National Film Award, three Filmfare Awards, three IIFA Awards among several other awards and nominations. They are often referred to as "Amar Akbar Anthony" of hindi film music by several, including eminent critic Rajeev Masand.
Shankar Mahadevan was born and brought up in Chembur, a suburb of Mumbai, in a Tamil Iyer family from Kerala. He learned Hindustani classical music and Carnatic music in his childhood and started playing the veena at the age of five. He studied under Srinivas Khale, a popular Marathi music composer. After graduating in 1988 with a degree in Computer Science Engineering from Ramrao Adik Institute of Technology in Navi Mumbai under the auspices of Mumbai University, he worked as a software engineer on Oracle Version Six. He is the main vocalist of the trio. After working for a while for Leading Edge Systems, Shankar ventured into the field of music. He earned his first award as a playback singer in a Tamil movie, collaborating with A. R. Rahman and winning a National Film Award for his song in Kandukondain Kandukondain. A prominent star in Tamil cinema, he gained further recognition upon the release of his first music album, Breathless, in 1998.
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Shimoga Subbanna
Shimoga Subbanna (Kannada: ಶಿವಮೊಗ್ಗ ಸುಬ್ಬಣ್ಣ; born as G. Subramanya on December 14, 1938) is a Sugama Sangeetha singer and playback singer in the Kannada language. He received a national award for singing for the song Kaadu Kudure Odi Banditta in the film Kaadu Kudure. He is the first Kannadiga to win National Award for playback singing. Apart from being a creative artist he is a notary.
Subbanna has received several awards and honors for his contributions to Sugama Sangeetha, some of which are listed below.
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Shiva Shankar
Shiva Shankar Manandhar was a singer, music composer of Nepali songs and the chief actor in the first Nepali movie, Aama. For nearly a half century beginning from 1950 to late 1990, his name has probably been mentioned more often in books, journals, lectures and conversations about Nepalese music than any other musicians.
Singing and composing music for songs of love, tragedy, devotion (bhajan) and patriotism, he pioneered many of the genres of the modern Nepali songs. He has composed music for around 1,200 Nepalese songs. He himself sang about three hundred songs. For these contributions Shankar was bestowed with dozens of prestigious national awards.
Shankar was recruited to the service of the state-owned Radio Nepal in 1951 by Bal Krishna Sama, the pre-eminent playwright of Nepal. Soon he was assigned with duty to explore and mentor new musical talents, supervise, and quality control the songs being recorded in the studio for radio broadcast. Together with his colleague Nati Kaji, he made Radio Nepal an institution for breeding modern Nepalese music and songs. All Nepalese singers and musicians of the later half of the twentieth century came into prominence through this institution. Radio Nepal fostered not only the in-country musical talents, but also motivated several prodigious musicians of Darjeeling (India), to blossom in Nepal. They included Ambar Gurung, Gopal Yonzan, Aruna Lama and several others.
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Shreya Ghoshal
Shreya Ghoshal (born March 12, 1984) is an Indian singer. Best known as a playback singer in Hindi films, she also sings in other Indian languages including Bengali, Assamese, Kannada, Malayalam, Marathi, Oriya,Gujarati, Tamil and Telugu.
Ghoshal's career began when she won the Sa Re Ga Ma Pa contest as an adult. Her Bollywood playback singing career began with Devdas, for which she received National Film Award for Best Female Playback Singer along with Filmfare Award for Best Female Playback Singer and Filmfare RD Burman Award for New Music Talent. Since then, she has worked in more than 180 films and received four National Film Awards, four Filmfare Award for Best Female Playback Singer and four Filmfare Awards South.
Ghoshal was born on March 12, 1984 to a Bengali Hindu family in Durgapur, West Bengal. She grew up in Rawatbhata, a small town near Kota, Rajasthan. Her father, Mr. Biswajeet Ghoshal, works as a nuclear power plant engineer for the Nuclear Power Corporation of India, whereas her mother is a literature post-graduate.
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Shweta Pandit
Shweta Pandit is an Indian Playback Singer, Song Writer, Performing Artist and Actor in Bollywood. She has also recorded songs for Telugu and Tamil film songs.
At the age of 5, Shweta worked with Legendary Indian Composer, Ilayaraja for the award-winning film Anjali, which was re-recorded in Hindi. She dubbed for the lead role in the film in Hindi.
Shweta was born and raised in the famous Bollywood resident area, Juhu Scheme in Mumbai, India, where she studied at Utpal Shanghvi School and briefly at Mithibai College. She is the fourth generation of vocalists in her family of music maestros.
Her great grandfather was the Hindustani Classical Legend of the Mewati Gharana - Pandit Motiram and his younger brother Pandit Jyotiram. Her great-uncle is Padma Vibhushan, Sangeet Martand and legendary Hindustani Classical Vocalist, Pandit Jasraj (1930). She learnt music since the age of 8 from his elder brother, Sangeet Acharya - Pandit Pratap Narayan (1918–2002). Her Father, Vishwaraj Pandit is a Classical Tabla Player and a Music Director in the late 70's. Shweta's aunt Sulakshana Pandit, was a household name in the 70's as one the biggest singing sensations in Bollywood, who also acted in movies like Uljhan, Sankoch, Manoranjan, Hera Pheri and Apnapan. She acted opposite Jeetendra, Sanjeev Kumar, Vinod Khanna, Amitabh Bachchan, Shammi Kapoor, Rajesh Khanna and sung songs with music legends like Kishore Kumar, Mukesh and Mohammad Rafi.
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Sudesh Bhosle
Sudesh Bhonsle is an Indian playback singer. He was born to N.R. Bhonsle and Sumantai Bhonsle. Bhonsle is known for his ability to mimic Amitabh Bachchan.
Sudesh Bhosle king of mimic got his first major break in playback singing in the film Zalzala (1988). He used mimicry to become a professional dubbing artist for several artists like Sanjeev Kumar and Anil Kapoor. He actually dubbed for Sanjeev Kumar when he died prematurely before completing the film Professor ki Padosan. He has sung songs for the movie 'Ghatothkach' in 2008. Bhonsle is the producer and judge on K For Kishore, a singing contest on Sony Entertainment Television. He has sung many famous bollywood songs for Amitabh Bachchan including "Jumma chumma de de" from 1991 movie "Hum".
He has been awarded the Mother Teresa Millennium Award for his contribution to music in a ceremony in Kolkata in 2008.
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Sukhwinder Singh
Sukhwinder Singh is an Indian singer best known for working as Bollywood playback artist. Singh is famous for singing "Chaiyya Chaiyya" for which he won the Best Male Playback Award at the 1999 Filmfare Awards. The song, from Mani Ratnam's 1998 film Dil Se.., was composed by A. R. Rahman, written by Gulzar, and sung in duet with Sapna Awasthi. It was also featured in the musical Bombay Dreams and, in remixed arrangements, in the titles and credits segments of Spike Lee's 2006 film, Inside Man. Singh later gained more international fame for singing "Jai Ho" from the film Slumdog Millionaire, which won an Academy Award for Best Original Song and a Grammy Award for Best Song Written for a Motion Picture, Television or Other Visual Media.
Singh originally comes from Amritsar, Punjab. He first performed on stage at the age of 8, singing the Lata number "Sa re ga ma pa, pa, pa, ga ma re, ga re mere sang mere saajna", from the 1970 movie Abhinetri. He also released a Punjabi album called Munda Southhall Da with T. Singh joined Laxmikant-Pyarelal’s troupe and quickly became a music arranger, before heading to the south of India to look for work. At this time he did a film called Rakshakudu.
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Sulakshana Pandit
Sulakshana Pratap Narain Pandit is a Filmfare Award winning playback singer & actor. Her brothers are the composing duo Jatin Lalit and her younger sister is Vijeta Pandit who achieved fame with her debut movie Love Story. Her uncle is the accomplished classical vocalist Pandit Jasraj.
Sulakshana's career as heroine spanned in '70s and early '80s. As a leading lady she worked with Jeetendra, Sanjeev Kumar, Shammi Kapoor, Amitabh Bachchan, Rajesh Khanna, Vinod Khanna, Rishi Kapoor, Raj Babbar and Rakesh Roshan. Her acting career began with the suspense thriller Uljhan in 1975 opposite Sanjeev Kumar.
In Anil Ganguly's Sankoch (1976) which was based on the novel Parineeta she portrayed Lolita. Some of her popular hit films are Uljhan, Hera Pheri, Apnapan, Sankoch, Khandaan, Raaz, Thief of Baghdad, Chehre Pe Chehra, Dharam Kanta and Waqt Ki Deewar.
She also acted in a Bengali movie Bondie where she was paired opposite Uttam Kumar.
Sulakshana had a singing career along side her acting career.She began her singing career as a child singer singing the popular song Saat Samundar Paar se along with Lata Mangeshkar in the 1967 film Taqdeer. Thereafter, she recorded with famed Musicians like Hemant Kumar & Kishore Kumar. She sang in Hindi, Bengali, Marathi, Oriya and Gujarati. Some of her popular songs are listed in "Filmography" section below.
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Sunidhi Chauhan
Sunidhi Chauhan (born Nidhi Chauhan on 14 August 1983) is an Indian playback singer, best known for her Hindi film songs in Bollywood. She has also recorded songs for Marathi, Kannada, Tamil, Telugu, Bhojpuri, Bengali, Assamese and Gujarati films .
Chauhan began to sing at the age of four and was discovered by a local TV anchor. She won recognition through a televised singing contest, Meri Awaz Suno, which she won, and made her entrance into playback singing with the Hindi film Shastra.
Her breakthrough was Ram Gopal Varma's film Mast, in which she sang the hit song, "Ruki Ruki Si Zindagi." She has been nominated for fourteen Filmfare Awards, winning it on three occasions. She has won two Star Screen Awards, two IIFA Awards and one Zee Cine Award.
Sunidhi Chauhan family hail from Uttar Pradesh. She started her singing career as a child, giving her first performance at the age of four, in a local temple in Delhi. Thereafter, she began to participate in, and sing for, competitions and local gatherings. When local TV anchor, Tabassum, spotted her talent, her family shifted to Mumbai in a bid to further develop the young singer's skills, and Chauhan became the lead singer in Kalyanji's 'Little Wonders' troupe.
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Sunny Deol
Sunny Deol is an Indian film actor, producer and director. Often referred to as "Action King of Bollywood". Deol was born to Bollywood actor Dharmendra. He has won two National Film Awards and two Filmfare Awards. He went to England to study acting. He joined theater called the Old Web Theater in Birmingham, England where he studied theatre and acting
Deol's films such as Border (1997) and Gadar: Ek Prem Katha (2001) remain some of Bollywood's biggest hits., while films like Betaab (1983), Arjun (1985), Paap Ki Duniya (1988), Tridev (1989), Ghayal (1990), Damini – Lightning (1993), Darr (1993), Jeet (1996), Ghatak: Lethal (1996), Ziddi (1997), Indian (2001), The Hero: Love Story of a Spy (2003), Apne (2007), Yamla Pagla Deewana (2011) are other successful films thus making him successful leading actors of Bollywood. Gadar: Ek Prem Katha is the second-highest grossing movie of Indian film history, if inflation is taken into account and also most watched of modern era in theaters.
Deol was born into a Punjabi -Sikh family in Sahnewal village of East Punjab (India) to Bollywood actor Dharmendra and Prakash Kaur. Sunny is eldest son of Dharmendra. His stepmother is Hema Malini. He has a brother Bobby Deol and two sisters Vijayta Deol and Ajeeta Deol who are settled in California, he also has two half-sisters, Esha Deol and Ahana Deol. The former being an actress, has worked in some successful Bollywood flicks.His cousin Abhay Deol is also a successful actor.
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Suresh Wadkar
Suresh Ishwar Wadkar (Marathi: सुरेश ईश्वर वाडकर, born 1954) is an Indian playback singer. He performs in both Hindi and Marathi films.He has sung songs in some Bhojpuri films and in Konkani.
Suresh Wadkar from Bhandari Caste , was born in Kolhapur at post. Dindnerli Tal. Karvir, India. At the age of 8, he began acquiring basic music education from Jialal Vasant. He soon impressed his guru with the quality of his voice. He began performing on the stage at a very early age.
Back in 1968, when Suresh Wadkar was barely 13, Acharya Jialal Vasant entrusted him with a student to initiate in Tabla. A year later, he was given the responsibility of a group of youngsters to teach vocal classical. Our system of education in music makes it mandatory to teach before you appear for your graduation in music through Prayag Sangit Samiti, because there “Prabhakar” certificate is equivalent to B. Ed. and it authorizes you to teach professionally. Guruji made every child studying for Senior Diploma, to sit in the class of 1st year with an experienced teacher and learn the process of “teaching”. Suresh successfully completed his “Prabhakar” and joined “Arya Vidya Mandir, Mumbai as a music teacher. A lot of famous “stars” of today had the opportunity to learn from him.
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Sushma Shrestha
Sushma Shrestha also known as Poornima, is a noted Nepali singer who has sung many Nepali, Hindi and Marathi songs in the Nepali and Indian music industry. Sushma started her career as a child singer in the Ramesh Sippy directed, 1971 film Andaz. In that film, she sang under the music direction of Shankar-Jaikishan the song "Hai Na Bolo Bolo" along with Mohammed Rafi, Suman Kalyanpur and Pratibha. The song went on to become a hit.
She also sang numerous Nepali songs; the most popular one is from the 1980 Nepali movie Sindoor, 'Ali Ali Haar Ho'
She is mostly remembered for her songs like "Tera Mujhse Hai Pehle" from Aa Gale Lag Jaa (1973) and "Kya Huwa Tera Vada" from Hum Kisi Se Kum Nahin (1977); both earned her nominations for the Filmfare Best Female Playback Award.
Poornima has also sung other popular numbers like "Channe Ke Khet Main" from Anjaam(1994) and in a series of David Dhawan films like such as Coolie No. 1 (1995), Judwaa (1997), Hero No. 1 (1997) and Biwi No.1 (1999) amongst others.
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Suzanne D'Mello
Suzanne D'Mello, formerly known as Suzie Q, is one of India's Top Female Vocalists. Gifted with a rich, warm and velvety voice, Suzanne's music spans a broad canvas, ranging from Solo Hits in Bollywood, Remixes, Advertisement Jingles to Live Performances with renowned musicians at prestigious events across various genres like Bollywood Music, Pop, R'nB, Soul and Jazz in India and all over the world.
Over the years, Suzanne has worked with several music directors including greats like A.R. Rahman, Pritam, Sajid Wajid, Ilaiyaraaja, Yuvan Shankar Raja, Salim-Sulaiman, Anu Malik, Bappi Lahiri and Vishal-Shekhar. She has sung up to 50 songs as a Playback singer in Bollywood. In 2006, Suzanne sang her First Playback Song was for music director Pritam- "Khalish" from the film ' Chocolate'. Her First song that got her recognized was "Mahiya" from the film ' Awaarapan', a song for which she received her First nomination at the Stardust Awards in 2008. What followed was a string of superhits like " Jee Karda" from 'Singh Is Kinng', "Pyaar Karke" from 'Pyaar Ke Side Effects', "Signaal" from 'Bhagam Bhag', "Meow" from 'Golmaal Returns'.
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Udit Narayan
Udit Narayan Jha, popularly known as Udit Narayan is a playback singer in commercial, Maithili language, Hindi, Kannada, Nepali, Urdu, Bhojpuri, Garhwali, Sindhi, Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Oriya, Assamese, Maithili and Bengali language cinema. Narayan has sung in 32 different languages. He has won three National Film Awards and five Filmfare Awards. In 2009, he was awarded the Padma Shri by the Government of India.
Udit Narayan Jha was born on 1 December 1955 in a village called Bhardaha in the Saptari district, Nepal. His father was Hare Krishna Jha and his mother was Bhuwaneshwari Devi.
Narayan studied at P.B. School, Rajbiraj, where he passed his S.L.C.(class 10) and later obtained his intermediate from Ratna Rajya Laxmi Campus, mostly known as RR campus Kathmandu.
Udit Narayan began his career in Nepal singing for Radio Nepal as a staff artiste for Maithili and Nepali folk songs. He sang many popular nepali folk, modern songs in Radio Nepal. His first filmy playback singing was for Nepali film Sindur.It was a comedy song for famous nepali comedians (Late) GopalRaj Mainali (Chankhe) and Basundhara Bhushal (Nakkali). It was a duet song with Sushmaa Shrestha now known as Poornima in Hindi film Industry. After eight years in that role, Indian Embassy offered him the chance to study classical music at a prestigious school in Bombay, Bhartiya Vidya Bhavan on a music scholarship. He moved to Bombay in 1978.
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Upendra
Upendra, (popularly also called Uppi) is a Kannada film actor, director, screen writer, lyricist and singer. He is recognised as an established Superstar actor and director of the Kannada film Industry. Born in a middle class family at Koteshwara near Kundapura, he belongs to Tulu speaking Koteshwara Magane Madhwa Brahmin community. Upendra started his career under the director Kashinath as a writer and an assistant director. His first directorial venture was Tharle Nan Maga.
In the late 90s he broke into the scene with the extremely violent Om, which portrayed actual Bangalore gangsters, and this movie is still not yet released in CDs, DVDs and Satellite Rights. He followed this up with A, in which he appeared as Surya. Upendra, his next film, starred Raveena Tandon, a Bollywood actress. After a decade of acting in Kannada, Telugu and Tamil films, he returned to the role of director with the multi-lingual movie Super, which was well-received critically and commercially.
Throughout his career as a director, he has directed many record breaking blockbusters such as Tharle Nan Maga, Shhh!, Om, A, Upendra and Super. His directional movies like A, Swasthik, Upendra and Super resembles the neo-noir film genre where he narrates the story through reverse screenplay and multiple number of flashbacks within flashbacks and thus forces the audience to watch the film multiple number of times to understand the story.
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Usha Mangeshkar
Usha Mangeshkar (born 1935) is an Indian singer who has recorded many Hindi, Marathi and Gujarati songs soundtracks.
She is daughter of Pandit Deenanath Mangeshkar & Shevanti (Shudhamati). She is the younger sister of singers, Lata Mangeshkar and Asha Bhosle and elder to her music-director brother Hridaynath Mangeshkar. She gained spotlight as a playback singer after singing some devotional songs for the low-budget movie, Jai Santoshi Maa (1975), which became an all-time blockbuster. She was nominated for the Filmfare Best Female Playback Singer award for her song, Main to Aarti in that film. She sang the same songs again for that movie's remake in 2006.
Usha has a strong interest in painting. She is also known for her famous song entitled Mungla and all the songs for the Marathi movie Pinjara
and scores of Marathi songs for Dada Kondke including the most famous "Dhagala Lagli Kala" and "Tumhawar Keli Me Marji Bahar" from Pinjara
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Uttam Singh
Uttam Singh (born 25 May 1948) is an Indian musician. He has worked as a violinist, music arranger and music director for many Bollywood films.
Uttam Singh's father was a sitar player. His family moved to Mumbai, when Singh was 12. He learned tabla and Western violin. His family used to sing kirtans at various Gurudwaras and religious functions to supplement their income.
Uttam Singh worked as violinist for three years. His big break came in 1963, when he worked as a violinist for a documentary being made by Mohammad Safi (an assistant to Naushad). After this, Uttam Singh played violin for major composers including Naushad, Roshan, Madan Mohan, C. Ramchandra, Sachin Dev Burman. Later, he became the main violinist for S D Burman's son, Rahul Dev Burman.
Singh later partnered with another musician, Jagdish, to arrange music for films. The duo became reputed arrangers, working for over 65 films in several Indian languages. These films included major Rajshri Productions hits, Maine Pyar Kiya and Hum Aapke Hain Koun...!.
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Vasundhara Das
Vasundhara Das (born 1977), is an Indian singer and actress. She has acted in Hindi, Tamil, Kannada and Malayalam films. She is the co-founder of world music band Arya. As a playback singer, she is best remembered for singing "Shakalaka Baby" from the Tamil film Mudhalvan, which was also her debut song. She has performed many hit songs in Hindi and Tamil films thereafter.
Vasundhara Das was born in a Tamil family from Bangalore. She studied at Cluny Convent High School, Bangalore, and Mount Carmel College, Bangalore, graduating in Economics and Mathematics.
She began training in Hindustani Classical music at the age of six. She used to run away from home to avoid taking music lessons. In her college days she was part of an all-girl band. She can play some Flamenco strums on her guitar.
She speaks Kannada, Hindi, Tamil and English.
Vasundhara Das married her long-time friend Robert Narain. Robert belongs to the music troupe, ‘Arya’ and is also a skilled musician.
Vasundhara began acting with the Kamal Haasan film Hey Ram (1999) and started her playback singing career with A. R. Rahman's Tamil film Mudhalvan. She was considered for the role of heroine by Mani Ratnam in his movie Alaipayuthey opposite R. Madhavan. She played heroine alongside Mohanlal in the blockbuster Malayalam movie Raavanaprabhu, the female lead role opposite Ajith in the Tamil movie Citizen, and heroine opposite Dharshan Tugdeep in the Kannada movie Lankesh Pathrike. She also appeared in the Hindi T.V. serial Rab Ne Banadi Jodi and a popular Hindi movie Monsoon Wedding.
wn.com/Vasundhara_Das -
Vibha Sharma
Alyssia Vibha Sharma is an Indipop star who released her first album in the 90s. She made her foray into Indian Pop domain with her debut album Mehandi (2000), HMV SaReGaMa Records, which was extremely well received by the music lovers and was one of the top 3 best selling private albums of that year. It's title song Mehandi Lagaoongi Main became a hit.
Alyssia Vibha Sharma was born and bought up in London and hails from a Hindu Punjabi-Kashmiri Pandit background, she always had a great liking for Indian music. But she never thought of taking up music seriously until she won a singing competition in which more than 2000 Indians from all over Europe had participated.
As a result she took to learning Indian classical music under the tutelage of Parshottam Kapila in London, and later on, when she came to India she continued her training under the guidance of Pandit Ajay Pohankar, Geeta Prem (sister to singer Jagjit Singh), amongst other Gurus.
Aside from her music accomplishments Alyssia has also attained a BSc (Hons) from a University in London as well as Prince 2 post graduate certification.
wn.com/Vibha_Sharma -
Vinod Rathod
Vinod Rathod, the son of singer Pandit Chhaturbhuj Rathod, is a Bollywood playback singer. He has sung in numerous popular Bollywood films including Chal Mere Bhai, Lage Raho Munna Bhai, Mission Kashmir and Baazigar.
Rathod sang the song "Baa Bahu Aur Baby" in the Baa Bahu Aur Baby serial. His guru's name is Aksh Bhardwaj, son of Mr. Tarsem Lal Bhardwaj his father used to be in Indian Air Force and his mother an air hostess.
Vinod Rathod was born to the late learned classical musician, Pandit Chaturbhuj Rathod. His father knew that Vinod is very talented and interested in music. Vinod could grasp the essentials of music and has shown a distinct flair for singing. Hence his father gave him basic training.
His career started when Usha Khanna [after listening to his voice in a cassette] called him on April 1986, to sing a qawwali, “Mere Dil Main Hai Andhera, Koi Shamma To Jala De” in Bedaag. Mohammed Aziz was his co-singer. Vinod recorded no less than 40 songs for the composer, and also sang for composers like Ajay Swami and Surinder Kohli in his struggle phase. His TV serial title song, “Yeh Jeevan Hai Akash Ganga” for the serial Akash Ganga proved very successful amongst viewers.
wn.com/Vinod_Rathod -
Vishal Bhardwaj
Vishal Bhardwaj (born 6 August 1965) is an Indian film director, writer, screenwriter, producer, music composer and playback singer.
Bhardwaj was born in Bijnor, but raised in Meerut, Uttar Pradesh to Satya Bhardwaj, a homemaker, and Ram Bhardwaj, a popular poet and lyricist. His father was a government employee and was a sugarcane inspector. As a young man, Bhardwaj moved to Delhi. He pursued his graduation in the Hindu College of Delhi University where he nurtured his talents and also met his wife, Rekha Bhardwaj. He also involved with Delhi theatres.
Bhardwaj started playing harmonium for little known ghazal singers at the various food festivals in Delhi’s Pragati Maidan. He was later introduced to R.V. Pandit, who offered him a job in his CBS music company in Delhi.
Bhardwaj was recommended by a friend to the filmmaker Gulzar, with whom he successfully collaborated on TV serials such as The Jungle Book, Alice in Wonderland and Gubbare. Bhardwaj composed the music for Maachis, a film directed by Gulzar. The musical score for Maachis was received to critical and commercial acclaim and earned Bhardwaj the Filmfare R D Burman Award in 1996. In 1999, Bhardwaj received the Rajat Kamal award for Best Music Director at the National Film Awards for his critically acclaimed score in Godmother. In 2011, he has won the same category award for his score in Ishqiya. Bhardwaj has scored music for several Hindi films such as—Satya, Chachi 420, Maqbool, Omkara, Kaminey, Ishqiya, 7 Khoon Maaf—and a host of other popular projects. He also scored the title track for Star Plus' STAR Parivaar Awards, along with the channel’s new anthem, titled "Tu Hi Tu". Vishal has worked with leading playback singers like Lata Mangeshkar, K. J. Yesudas, Asha Bhosle, Hariharan, K. S. Chithra, Udit Narayan, Sadhna Sargam, Suresh Wadkar, Kavita Krishnamurthy, Roop Kumar Rathod, Alka Yagnik, Kumar Sanu, Abhijeet Bhattacharya.
wn.com/Vishal_Bhardwaj -
Yash Chopra
Yash Raj Chopra (Hindi: यश चोपड़ा, born 27 September 1932 in Lahore, British India) is an Indian filmmaker, film director, screenwriter, and a highly successful Bollywood producer. Waqt, Deewar, Kabhi Kabhie, Silsila, Lamhe, Chandni, Darr, Dil To Pagal Hai, and Veer-Zaara are some of his highly popular movies. He is the founder of Yash Raj Films.
Chopra has won the Filmfare Award for Best Director and the Filmfare Award for Best Movie four times each. The Government of India honoured him with the Dadasaheb Phalke Award in 2001 and the Padma Bhushan in 2005.
Yash initially worked as an assistant to I. S. Johar, and then for his director-producer brother, B.R. Chopra. Chopra gave him his first directorial opportunity in Dhool Ka Phool (1959). Later he set up his own movie production company, Yash Raj Films, under which Daag of 1973 was his first movie.
As of December 2011, Yash is currently directing an untitled romantic film starring Shahrukh Khan, Katrina Kaif and Anushka Sharma.
Yash and his wife, Pamela, have two sons Aditya and Uday. Aditya is also a film director and manages most of Yash Raj Production House. Uday is an assistant director turned actor; he received his first acting break in Aditya's Mohabbatein.
wn.com/Yash_Chopra
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Battle of the Marne - Timewatch: Body Hunters: The Unknown Soldiers - BBC
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 3:16
- Updated: 16 Nov 2012
In this amazing BBC documentary Body Hunters the team discovers that US Private Francis Lupo was killed during the infamous Battle of the Marne in 1918. Watch more high quality videos on the BBC Worldwide YouTube channel here: www.youtube.com
http://wn.com/Battle_of_the_Marne_Timewatch_Body_Hunters_The_Unknown_Soldiers_BBC
*RAILTRASH* Panzerschlacht an der Marne
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 10:37
- Updated: 20 Nov 2012
Originaltitel: L´Urglo Dei Giganti Alternativtitel: * Attack Force Normandy * Bullet for Rommel * Fall of the Giants, The * Hell's Brigade * Hell's Brigade: The Final Assault * Hora cero: Operación Rommel Regie: Henry Makiewicz Darsteller: Jack Palance, John Gramack, Andrea Bossic, John Douglas, Maruchi Fresno Italien / Spanien 1968 Gedreht wurde in Spanien auf der meterspurigen „Ferrocarril Eléctrico del Guadarrama", welche heute noch als einzige der früheren Schmalspurbahnen das unweit von Madrid liegende Mittelgebirge der „Sierra de Guadarrama" erschließt und vor allem dem Ausflugsverkehr sowie dem Wintersport dient. Das erste Teilstück von 11 Kilometern Länge wurde 1923 dem Verkehr übergeben, wobei die Gebirgsstrecke von Cercedilla zum Navacerrada-Pass (1860 Meter ü. M.) von Beginn an mit Gleichstrom (1200 Volt) elektrifiziert war aufgrund der Tatsache, dass im reinen Adhäsionsbetrieb Steigungen von bis zu 70 Promille bewältigt werden mussten. Der im Film verwendete blau-weiße Triebwagen -- wenn auch für die Dreharbeiten stark modifiziert -- weist nicht von ungefähr eine große Ähnlichkeit mit dem BCe 4/4 der ehemaligen Berninabahn auf. Mit der Übernahme durch die spanische Staatsbahn -- und damit als einzige Meterspurlinie im Streckennetz der RENFE -- im Jahre 1954 wurde das veraltete Rollmaterial durch moderne Triebwagenzüge ersetzt, wie sie damals auch auf der schweizerischen LEB (Lausanne--Echallens--Bercher) im Einsatz standen. 1964 wurde die Gebirgsstrecke um ...
http://wn.com/*RAILTRASH*_Panzerschlacht_an_der_Marne
Bus Races - Marne Michigan
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 2:50
- Updated: 20 Nov 2012
Wonder what the school bus drivers do in the summer? Watch...
http://wn.com/Bus_Races_Marne_Michigan
Marne Ki Duayen Kyon Mangu
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 3:00
- Updated: 13 Oct 2012
First Solo Song of Kishore Da from Film - Ziddi, MD - Khemchand Prakash
http://wn.com/Marne_Ki_Duayen_Kyon_Mangu
La bataille de la Marne en 1914
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 10:03
- Updated: 18 Nov 2012
La première bataille de la Marne a eu lieu du 6 au 13 septembre 1914. Au cours de cette première bataille décisive, les troupes franco-britanniques réussissent à arrêter puis repousser les allemands. Elles mettent ainsi en échec le plan Schlieffen qui prévoyait l'invasion de la France en six semaines, pour ensuite se porter vers la Russie. Forces françaises et britanniques : 1 071 000 soldats. Forces allemandes : 1 485 000 soldats.
http://wn.com/La_bataille_de_la_Marne_en_1914
tum pe marne lage(sad)
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 5:34
- Updated: 19 Nov 2012
no copyright infringement intended !!
http://wn.com/tum_pe_marne_lagesad
Khabar Mere Marne Ki Sunte He (Bewafai Song)- Hits Of Attaullah Khan
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 6:18
- Updated: 16 Nov 2012
Song: Khabar mere marne ki sunte hi dekho Album: Bewafa Sanam- Hits Of Attaullah Khan Singer: Sonu Nigam Music Label : T-Series For Latest Updates Subscribe Here: www.youtube.com Facebook: www.facebook.com Twitter: www.twitter.com "Khabar Mere Marne Ki Sunte Hi Dekho Woh Hatho Mein Mehendi Rachane Lage Hai Waqt Akhiri Hai Koi Unse Kehde Janaza Mera Sab Uthane Lage Hai"
http://wn.com/Khabar_Mere_Marne_Ki_Sunte_He_Bewafai_Song_Hits_Of_Attaullah_Khan
Ma marne bela timi chai aaunu by Prayash Shrestha
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 4:34
- Updated: 20 Nov 2012
Ma marne bela timi cahi aaunu from movie Nai Na Bhannu La. Cast : Suman Singh, Jiven Luitel, new face Richa Singh Thakuri
http://wn.com/Ma_marne_bela_timi_chai_aaunu_by_Prayash_Shrestha
khabar mere marne ki
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 6:34
- Updated: 13 Nov 2012
This is very emontional&sad; songs....
http://wn.com/khabar_mere_marne_ki
Sonu Nigam Khabar Mere Marne Ki Sunte Hi Dekho (Dedicated To Munna)
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 6:28
- Updated: 30 Oct 2012
This Channel is Presented To You By Quettaking (( Azmeer Khan)) and Pardes5 (( Waheed Shirzay)).. We hope you all enjoy these songs.
http://wn.com/Sonu_Nigam_Khabar_Mere_Marne_Ki_Sunte_Hi_Dekho_Dedicated_To_Munna
Khabar Mere Marne Ki---sad song by sonu niigaam
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 6:18
- Updated: 17 Nov 2012
original song by sonu niigaam but hillarious acting
http://wn.com/Khabar_Mere_Marne_Ki---sad_song_by_sonu_niigaam
Mere Marne Toh Baad Amrita Virk [ Official Video ] 2012 - Anand Music
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 4:33
- Updated: 18 Nov 2012
Join Facebook Page :- www.facebook.com Song :- Mere Marne Toh Baad Singer:- Amrita Virk Album :- Lyrics:- Geeta Diyalpura Music :- Label :- Anand Music Producer :- Mukesh Kumar Video:- Year :- 2012 www.anandmusic.net Punjabi Music Punjab, a beautiful tiny place on earth, lies in North-West India and North-East Pakistan. The culture of Punjab is very rich in every sense by the ages. Today the one of biggest trait of Punjab is music, Punjabi music. Punjabi folk music is highly rhythmic and very diverse. The contemporary Punjabi music not just enriched by mixing up new tunes and beats of foreign music to Punjabi music but it is extremely enriched by its origin. Though, new dimensions have been added to folk Punjabi music, in order to make Punjabi music an International music. Punjabi people are very hard working and possessive, Punjabi music artist and singers do hard work and researches on music.
http://wn.com/Mere_Marne_Toh_Baad_Amrita_Virk_Official_Video_2012_Anand_Music
Tum Pe Marne Lage Hain Hum(AQEELSS SAM)
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 3:32
- Updated: 15 Nov 2012
VERY NICE SONG BY UDIT NARRAYAN
http://wn.com/Tum_Pe_Marne_Lage_Hain_HumAQEELSS_SAM
case ih quadtrac stx 440 au labour 2012 dans la marne ( ploughing with a stx 440 and ggb 13 fers )
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 3:20
- Updated: 20 Nov 2012
voiçi un super chantier de labour dans la plaine marnaise avec : un case stx 440 et une 13 fers gregoire besson et sont roule labour
http://wn.com/case_ih_quadtrac_stx_440_au_labour_2012_dans_la_marne_ploughing_with_a_stx_440_and_ggb_13_fers_
HUM NE MARNE KI MADINE MAIN NAAT OF SYED MOHAMMAD FASIH UD DIN SOHARWARDI ( 0092-300-6103048 )
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 3:18
- Updated: 23 Oct 2012
HUM NE MARNE KI MADINE MAIN NAAT OF SYED MOHAMMAD FASIH UD DIN SOHARWARDI ( 0092-300-6103048 )
http://wn.com/HUM_NE_MARNE_KI_MADINE_MAIN_NAAT_OF_SYED_MOHAMMAD_FASIH_UD_DIN_SOHARWARDI_0092-300-6103048_
Ma Marne Bela Timi Chai Aaunu -Nai Nabhannu la (Nepali HD Video Song)
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 4:52
- Updated: 05 Nov 2012
Ma Marne Bela Timi Chai Aaunu -Nai Nabhannu la
http://wn.com/Ma_Marne_Bela_Timi_Chai_Aaunu_-Nai_Nabhannu_la_Nepali_HD_Video_Song
Listen Tum Pe Marne Lage Hain Hum Udit Narayan Sadhna Sargam Romantic Hindi Song Lyrics Albums Artists DVD Mp3 Concerts Lyric Video Download
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 5:45
- Updated: 10 Nov 2012
http://wn.com/Listen_Tum_Pe_Marne_Lage_Hain_Hum_Udit_Narayan_Sadhna_Sargam_Romantic_Hindi_Song_Lyrics_Albums_Artists_DVD_Mp3_Concerts_Lyric_Video_Download
Talla 2XLC vs. Carl B ft. Katie Marne- Giving Up Giving In(Keep the Fire Burning)(Sean Tyas Dub Mix)
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 7:59
- Updated: 10 Nov 2012
finally, dub mix has been uploaded enjoy HQ: www.youtube.com
http://wn.com/Talla_2XLC_vs_Carl_B_ft_Katie_Marne_Giving_Up_Giving_InKeep_the_Fire_BurningSean_Tyas_Dub_Mix
![Pandit ji Mere Marne Ke Baad-Lata Mangeshkar[HD-720p]](http://web.archive.org./web/20121122030132im_/http://i.ytimg.com/vi/C5nb8mMtMBw/default.jpg "Pandit ji Mere Marne Ke Baad-Lata Mangeshkar[HD-720p]")
Pandit ji Mere Marne Ke Baad-Lata Mangeshkar[HD-720p]
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 4:34
- Updated: 21 Nov 2012
Movie-Roti Kapda Aur Makaan
http://wn.com/Pandit_ji_Mere_Marne_Ke_Baad-Lata_Mangeshkar_HD-720p_
Ghazal - Mehdi Hassan - Main Khud Marne Ko Razi Tha
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 4:00
- Updated: 20 Nov 2012
Vocal: Mehdi Hassan Tabla: Ustad Abdul Sattar Khan Tari Sarangi: Nazim Ali Khan
http://wn.com/Ghazal_Mehdi_Hassan_Main_Khud_Marne_Ko_Razi_Tha
Marne Ki Duaen
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 6:33
- Updated: 04 Nov 2012
Habib Wali M sings Jazbi's "Marne Ki Duaen"
http://wn.com/Marne_Ki_Duaen
ma marne bela (nai nabhannu la song)
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 4:50
- Updated: 17 Nov 2012
Heart Touching song from the movie Nepali movie Nai Nabhannu La.
http://wn.com/ma_marne_bela_nai_nabhannu_la_song
![Tum Pe Marne Lage Hain Hum[HD] full song](http://web.archive.org./web/20121122030132im_/http://i.ytimg.com/vi/L_lvkyICj2w/default.jpg "Tum Pe Marne Lage Hain Hum[HD] full song")
Tum Pe Marne Lage Hain Hum[HD] full song
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 4:17
- Updated: 17 Nov 2012
Tum Pe Marne Lage Hain Hum[HD] full song
http://wn.com/Tum_Pe_Marne_Lage_Hain_Hum_HD_full_song
Photo: AP / Pablo Martinez Monsivais
20 Nov 2012
Article by WN.com Correspondent Dallas Darling President Barack Obama's whirlwind tour of southeast Asia and meetings with dignitaries will have to walk a tightrope between either appearing to endorse...
Photo: AP / Hatem Moussa
19 Nov 2012
Gaza/Jerusalem - Israel bombed dozens of targets in the Gaza Strip on Monday and said that while it was prepared to step up its offensive by sending in troops, it preferred a diplomatic solution that...
Photo: AP / Sebastian D'souza
21 Nov 2012
MUMBAI, India - India executed the lone surviving gunman from the 2008 terror attack on Mumbai early Wednesday, India's home ministry said. Ajmal Kasab, a Pakistani citizen, was one of 10 gunmen who...
Photo: AP / Pablo Martinez Monsivais
19 Nov 2012
Yangon, November 19: Newly re-elected US President Barack Obama arrived here Monday to kick off his visit to Myanmar, becoming the first sitting US president to visit the Southeast Asian nation. As...
Photo: UN / Logan Abassi
21 Nov 2012
A report by the UN says global attempts to curb emissions of CO2 are falling well short of what is needed to stem dangerous climate change. The UN's Environment Programme says greenhouse gases are 14%...
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The Washington Post
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Outdoor activities for Thanksgiving Weekend
19 Nov 2012
The Examiner
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Bellmore woman charged in DWI hit and run
16 Nov 2012
The Examiner
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Facebook app helps people in US find jobs
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PhysOrg
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Newstrack India
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Stuff
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For other uses, see Marne (disambiguation).
| Marne | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| — Department — | |||
|
|||
 |
|||
| Coordinates: 49°00′N 04°15′E / 49°N 4.25°E / 49; 4.25Coordinates: 49°00′N 04°15′E / 49°N 4.25°E / 49; 4.25 | |||
| Country | France | ||
| Region | Champagne-Ardenne | ||
| Prefecture | Châlons-en-Champagne | ||
| Subprefectures | Épernay Reims Sainte-Menehould Vitry-le-François |
||
| Government | |||
| • President of the General Council | René-Paul Savary | ||
| Area1 | |||
| • Total | 8,162 km2 (3,151 sq mi) | ||
| Population (1999) | |||
| • Total | 565,229 | ||
| • Rank | 45th | ||
| • Density | 69/km2 (180/sq mi) | ||
| Time zone | CET (UTC+1) | ||
| • Summer (DST) | CEST (UTC+2) | ||
| Department number | 51 | ||
| Arrondissements | 5 | ||
| Cantons | 44 | ||
| Communes | 619 | ||
| ^1 French Land Register data, which exclude estuaries, and lakes, ponds, and glaciers larger than 1 km2 | |||
Marne (French pronunciation: [maʁn]) is a department in north-eastern France named after the river Marne (Matrona in Roman times) which flows through the department. The prefecture (capital) of Marne is Châlons-en-Champagne (formerly known as Châlons-sur-Marne). The subprefectures are Épernay, Reims, Sainte-Menehould, and Vitry-le-François.
The Champagne vineyards producing the world-famous sparkling wine are located within Marne.
Contents |
History[link]
Marne is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on March 4, 1790. It was created from the province of Champagne.
Marne has a long association with the French Army. The training ground of the Camp Militaire de Mailly straddles the border with the département of Aube in the south while that of the Camp de Mourmelon occupies a large area north of Châlons-en-Champagne. The smaller Camp de Moronvilliers lies to the east of Reims and the Camp Militaire de Suippes lies to the east of that. These are all on the chalk of the Champagne plateau, a feature comparable in geology but not size, with the British military training ground on Salisbury Plain.
See also: Battles of the Marne (disambiguation)
Geography[link]
Marne is part of the region of Champagne-Ardenne and is surrounded by the departments of Ardennes, Meuse, Haute-Marne, Aube, Seine-et-Marne, and Aisne.
Geologically, it divides into two distinct parts; the Upper Cretaceous chalk plain in the east and the more wooded and hilly Eocene and Oligocene in the west.
Rivers draining the department include the Marne, Vesle, Ardre and Somme-Soude. Numerous other rivers, such as the Grande and the Petite Morin rise in the department but flow mainly in others. Conversely, the Aube joins the Seine in the department of Marne.
Demographics[link]
The inhabitants of the department are called Marnais.
Tourism[link]
Reims, with its famous cathedral in which the kings of France were traditionally crowned, is a major attraction. Other branches of tourism are provided by the bird reserve on the Lake Der-Chantecoq and the fishing lakes nearby. The Parc Naturel Régional de la Montagne de Reims is a major area of country recreation. In the west of the département there are many scenic routes to be explored as also are the several wine cellars of Épernay.
See also[link]
- Champagne Riots
- French wine
- Cantons of the Marne department
- Communes of the Marne department
- Arrondissements of the Marne department
External links[link]
- (French) Prefecture website
- (French) General Council website
- (English) Marne at the Open Directory Project
- (English)/(French) Official Tourist Board
http://wn.com/Marne
Related pages:
http://it.wn.com/Marna (dipartimento)
http://cs.wn.com/Marne (departement)
http://es.wn.com/Marne
http://ru.wn.com/Марна (департамент)
http://id.wn.com/Marne (departemen)
http://pl.wn.com/Marna (departament)
http://fr.wn.com/Marne (département)
http://de.wn.com/Département Marne
http://pt.wn.com/Marne (departamento)
http://nl.wn.com/Marne (departement)
This page contains text from Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marne
This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License, which means that you can copy and modify it as long as the entire work (including additions) remains under this license.
This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License, which means that you can copy and modify it as long as the entire work (including additions) remains under this license.
 |
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. (August 2010) |
| Udit Narayan | |
|---|---|
| Born | (1955-12-01) December 1, 1955 (age 56) Saptari District, Nepal |
| Genres | Playback singer |
| Occupations | Singer, television personality, actor |
| Years active | 1980–present |
Udit Narayan Jha, popularly known as Udit Narayan is a playback singer in commercial, Maithili language, Hindi, Kannada, Nepali, Urdu, Bhojpuri, Garhwali, Sindhi, Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Oriya, Assamese, Maithili and Bengali language cinema. Narayan has sung in 32 different languages.[1] He has won three National Film Awards and five Filmfare Awards. In 2009, he was awarded the Padma Shri by the Government of India.
Contents |
Career[link]
Udit Narayan Jha was born on 1 December 1955 in a village called Bhardaha in the Saptari district, Nepal.[2] His father was Hare Krishna Jha and his mother was Bhuwaneshwari Devi.
Narayan studied at P.B. School, Rajbiraj, where he passed his S.L.C.(class 10) and later obtained his intermediate from Ratna Rajya Laxmi Campus, mostly known as RR campus Kathmandu.
Udit Narayan began his career in Nepal singing for Radio Nepal as a staff artiste for Maithili and Nepali folk songs. He sang many popular nepali folk, modern songs in Radio Nepal. His first filmy playback singing was for Nepali film Sindur.It was a comedy song for famous nepali comedians (Late) GopalRaj Mainali (Chankhe) and Basundhara Bhushal (Nakkali). It was a duet song with Sushmaa Shrestha now known as Poornima in Hindi film Industry. After eight years in that role, Indian Embassy offered him the chance to study classical music at a prestigious school in Bombay, Bhartiya Vidya Bhavan on a music scholarship. He moved to Bombay in 1978.
He got his first break in 1980, when noted music director (composer) Rajesh Roshan asked him to playback for the Hindi film Unees Bees, and was given the opportunity to sing with the veteran Mohammed Rafi. He later provided playback for a number of films, the most notable being Sannata (1981), Bade Dil Wala (1983) and Tan-Badan (1986). The actual success story of his career began in 1988 when Anand-Milind gave him the oppportunity to sing all the songs for the successful Bollywood movie Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak, earning him a Filmfare Award.[3] The film also brought actor Aamir Khan, actress Juhi Chawla and playback singer Alka Yagnik to stardom. After the success of Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak, he became one of the leading playback singers in the Indian film industry.
He has worked with musicians like Rahul Dev Burman, Rajesh Roshan, Laxmikant-Pyarelal, Kalyanji-Anandji, Bappi Lahiri, A. R. Rahman, Anand-Milind, Nadeem-Shravan, Jatin Lalit, Anu Malik, Jagjit Singh, Uttam Singh, Raam Laxman, Ilayaraja, Bhupen Hazarika, Shiv-Hari, Ravindra Jain, Madan Mohan, Vishal Bhardwaj, Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy, Himesh Reshammiya, Viju Shah, Vidyasagar, M. M. Keeravani, Ismail Darbar, Anand Raj Anand, Aadesh Shrivastava, Arun Paudwal, Pritam Chakraborty, Sajid-Wajid, Dilip Sen-Sameer Sen, Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, Sohail Sen, Nikhil Vinay, Sandesh Shandilya, Ram Sampath, Rahul Sharma, Daboo Malik, Sukhwinder Singh, Roop Kumar Rathod, Adnan Sami, Sanjeev Darshan, Vishal-Shekhar, Ajay-Atul, and directors like Yash Chopra, Sanjay Leela Bhansali, Ashutosh Gowariker and Karan Johar. Some of those films include Lagaan, Darr, Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge, Kuch Kuch Hota Hai, Dil To Pagal Hai, Mohabbatein, Devdas, Kal Ho Naa Ho, Swades and Veer Zaara. He has also sung hit songs for actors like Aamir Khan, Sunny Deol, Akshay Kumar, Shahid Kapoor, Mithun Chakraborty, Sunil Shetty, Jackie Shroff, Anil Kapoor, Govinda, Sanjay Dutt, Sunny Deol, Saif Ali Khan, Bobby Deol, Hrithik Roshan and Ajay Devgan. Udit's capability as a playback singer knows no bounds, as he has been magnanimously acclaimed in every kind of melody - soulful, romantic, fast-paced and recently, even pop. Udit has an extremely versatile tone which appears to flawlessly suit every Indian hero on screen. And today, innumerable awards and accolades later, Udit Narayan possesses one of the largest arrays of hit songs in the industry.
Udit Narayan has sung many songs with Lata Mangeshkar in many successful Hindi films like Darr, Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge, Dil To Pagal Hai, Mohabbatein, Jab Pyaar Kisise Hota Hai, Hum Tum Pe Marte Hain, Veer-Zaara, Lagaan, Mujhse Dosti Karoge to name some. He has sung maximum duets with Alka Yagnik. They have sung for movies Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak, Raja, Akele Hum Akele Tum, Raja Hindustani, Kuch Kuch Hota Hai, Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham..., One 2 Ka 4, Lagaan, Tere Naam, Kyon Ki to name a few. Udit Narayan is best known for his exceptional vocal quality and his originality. His vocal quality often compared with the Bollywood veteran singers like Kishore Kumar and Mohammad Rafi. His voice never resembled any of the old singers. Many musical biggies like Lata Mangeshkar, Asha Bhosle, Pankaj Udhas and Anup Jalota believes that Udit Narayan is the best in his generation for his quality in voice and originality Udit Narayan has been hailed as the screen voice of Shahrukh Khan and has sung many songs for him in famous movies like Darr, Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge, Kuch Kuch Hota Hai, Mohabbatein, Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham, Devdas, Chalte Chalte and Swades for which he won his third National Film Award for the song "Yeh Taara Woh Taara".
At the same time, he sang in Nepalese movies, and also acted in two Nepali films Kusume Rumal and Pirati. He has worked in Nepalese films as well, in particular for composer Shambhujeet Baskota. During his early singing career, he performed songs composed by Shiva Shankar, Natikaji and Gopal Yonjan. In 2004, he released his first private Nepalese album, Upahaar, in which he also sang duets with his wife Deepa Jha. At the Hits FM Awards in 2004 he won awards in two major categories for the album, Record of the Year and Album of the Year.[citation needed] Some of Narayan's other private albums are Bhajan Sangam, Bhajan Vatika, I love You, Dil Deewana, Yeh Dosti, Love is Life, Jhumka de Jhumka, Sona No Ghadulo, Dhuli Ganga, and Ma Tarini.
He was in the panel of judges of Indian Idol 3 along with music composer Anu Malik and female playback singer Alisha Chinai on Sony TV.
He was in the panel of judges on Sony TV for Waar Pariwaar, a reality show based on the bringing together of a singing gharana (family of singers). He shared judging duties with fellow playback singer Kumar Sanu and Jatin Pandit of the famous music duo Jatin-Lalit. Indian Idol 3 judge, Saregama many time special gust, X Factor, Jo Jita wo super Star special judges
Narayan has performed in many stage shows in India and abroad and is the recipient of a large number of awards. These include Screen Videocon Award, MTV Best Video Award and Pride of India Gold Award.
In 2009, Narayan was considering running as a candidate for the Padma Shri.[2] In 2010, Udit Narayan with Madhushree sang for the English independent film "When Harry Tries to Marry"
Personal life[link]
Narayan is a resident of Mumbai.[4] He is married and has one son. His second wife Deepa Narayan, whom he married in 1985, is a singer, and the two recorded an album together titled Dil Deewana. Their son is Aditya Narayan who is a former child actor, singer and television presenter. Aditya Narayan started his singing for child artists in Nepali film with his father before starting his singing career in Hindi movies in the 1990s and also acted in a few films.
Awards and nominations[link]
Honours[link]
- 2009: Padma Shri, India's 4th highest civilian honour.[5]
- He has received Prabal Gorkha Dakshin Bahu,one of the highest honor given to the civilians traditionally given by the king and now by Nepalese president, by the late king Birendra Bir Bikram Shah Dev.
- Maharashtra Ratna Award from Government of Maharashtra in 2011
[edit] National Film Awards
National Film Award for Best Male Playback Singer
| Year | Film | Song name(s) | Music Director(s) | Lyricist | Playback For |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2002 | Lagaan | "Mitwa" | A.R.Rahman | Javed Akhtar | Aamir Khan |
| Dil Chahta Hain | "Jaane Kyon" | Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy | Javed Akhtar | Aamir Khan | |
| 2003 | "Zindagi Khoobsurat Hai" | "Chhote Chhote Sapne" | Anand Raj Anand | Dev Kohli | Gurdas Mann |
| 2005 | Swades | "Ye Taara Woh Taara" | A.R.Rahman | Javed Akhtar | Shahrukh Khan |
[edit] Filmfare Awards
Filmfare Best Male Playback Award
| Year | Song | Film | Music director(s) | Lyricist |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1989 | "Papa Kehte Hai" | Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak | Anand-Milind | Majrooh Sultanpuri |
| 1996 | "Mehndi Lagake Rakhna" | Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge | Jatin Lalit | Anand Bakshi |
| 1997 | "Pardesi Pardesi" | Raja Hindustani | Nadeem-Shravan | Sameer |
| 2000 | "Chand Chupa Badal Mein" | Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam | Ismail Darbar | Mehboob |
| 2002 | "Mitwa" | Lagaan | A.R.Rahman | Javed Akhtar |
Filmfare Best Male Playback Award (Nominated):
| Year | Song | Film |
|---|---|---|
| 1993 | "Pehla Nasha" | Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikandar |
| 1994 | "Phoolon Sa Chehra Tera" | Anari |
| 1994 | "Jado Teri Nazar" | Darr |
| 1995 | "Tu Cheez Badi Hai" | Mohra |
| 1996 | "Raja Ko Rani Se" | Akele Hum Akele Tum |
| 1997 | "Ho Nahin Sakta" | Diljale |
| 1997 | "Ghar Se Nikalte Hi" | Papa Kehte Hain |
| 1998 | "Dil To Pagal Hai" | Dil To Pagal Hai |
| 1998 | "Bholi Si Sorat" | Dil To Pagal Hai |
| 1999 | "Kuch Kuch Hota Hai" | Kuch Kuch Hota Hai |
| 2001 | "Dil Ne Yeh Kaha" | Dhadkan |
| 2002 | "Udhja Kaale Kawwa" | Gadar |
| 2004 | "Tere Naam" | Tere Naam |
| 2004 | "Idhar Chala Main Udhar Chala" | Koi Mil Gaya |
| 2005 | "Main Yahaan Hoon" | Veer Zaara |
| 2005 | "Yeh Tara Woh Tara" | Swades |
[edit] Star Screen Awards
Star Screen Award Best Male Playback:
| Year | Song | Film | Music director(s) | Lyricist |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1997 | "Aye Ho Meri Zindagi Mein" | Raja Hindustani | Nadeem-Shravan | Sameer |
| 2003 | "Woh Chand Jaisi Ladki" | Devdas | Ismail Darbar | Nusrat Badr |
[edit] Zee Cine Awards
Zee Cine Award Best Playback Singer- Male:
| Year | Song | Film | Music director(s) | Lyricist |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | "Chand Chupa Badal Mein" | Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam | Ismail Darbar | Mehboob |
[edit] IIFA Awards
IIFA Best Male Playback Award:
| Year | Song | Film | Music director(s) | Lyricist |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | "Chand Chupa Badal Mein" | Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam | Ismail Darbar | Mehboob |
[edit] Bollywood Movie Awards
| Year | Song | Film | Music director(s) | Lyricist |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1999 | "Kuch Kuch Hota Hai" | Kuch Kuch Hota Hai | Jatin Lalit | Sameer |
Notable Bollywood Filmography[link]
Main article: List of songs by Udit Narayan
| Year | Film | Song name(s) | Co-singer(s) | Music Director(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1980 | Unees Bees | "Mil Gaya" | Mohammed Rafi, Usha Mangeshkar | Rajesh Roshan |
| 1981 | Sannata | "Sun Jaane Jaa" | Alka Yagnik | Rajesh Roshan |
| 1983 | Bade Dil Wala | "Jeevan Ke Din" | Lata Mangeshkar | R D Burman |
| 1986 | Tan-Badan | "Meri Nayi Bansi Ki Dhun" | Solo | Anand Milind |
| 1988 | Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak | "Ae Mere Humsafar", "Papa Kehte Hai" | Alka Yagnik, Solo | Anand-Milind |
| Pyaar Ka Mandir | "Log Jahan Par Rehte Hain" | Mohammad Aziz, Kavita Krishnamurthy, Suresh Wadkar, Kishore Kumar | Laxmikant Pyarelal | |
| 1990 | Dil | "Mujhe Need Na Aye", "Hum Ne Ghar Choda Hai", "Hum Payer Karne Wale" | Anuradha Paudwal, Sadhana Sargam | Anand-Milind |
| Aashiqui | "Mera Dil Tere Liye Dhadakta Hai" | Anuradha Paudwal | Nadeem-Shravan | |
| 1991 | Hum | "Ek Doosre Se Karte Hain Pyar Hum" | Sudesh Bhosle, Mohammad Aziz | Laxmikant-Pyarelal |
| Phool Aur Kaante | "I Love You" | Alisha Chinai | Nadeem-Shravan | |
| Yaara Dildara | "Bin Tere Sanam Mar Mitenge Hum" "Tum Hi Hamari Ho Manzil" | Kavita Krishnamurthy, Anuradha Paudwal | Jatin-Lalit | |
| 1992 | Beta | "Dhak Dhak Karne Laga" Koyal Si Teri Boli" | Anuradha Paudwal | Anand-Milind |
| Chamatkar | "Jawani Deewani" | Anu Malik, Poornima | Anu Malik | |
| Vishwatma | "Aankhon Mein Hai Kya", "Dil Le Gayi Teri Bindiya" | Alka Yagnik, Mohammad Aziz, Amit Kumar, Sapna Mukherjee | Viju Shah | |
| Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikandar | "Pehla Nasha", "Yahan Ke Hum Sikandar" | Sadhana Sargam, Jatin, Lalit | Jatin-Lalit | |
| 1993 | Anari | "Phoolo Sa Chera Tera" | Anand-Milind | |
| Darr | "Jaadu Teri Nazar", "Tu Mere Samne" | Solo, Lata Mangeshkar | Shiv-Hari | |
| Kabhi Haan Kabhi Naa | "Dewaana Dil Dewaana" | Amit Kumar | Jatin-Lalit | |
| 1994 | Mohra | "Tu Cheez Badi Hai Mast Mast", "Tip Tip Barsa Paani" | Kavita Krishnamurthy, Alka Yagnik | Viju Shah |
| 1995 | Rangeela | "Kya Karen Ke Na Karen", "Yaroon Sun Lo Zara" | Solo, Chitra | A.R. Rahman |
| Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge | "Ruk Ja O Dil Deewane", "Ho Gaya Hai Tujko To Pyar Sajna", "Mehndi Laga Ke Rakhna" | Solo, Lata Mangeshkar | Jatin-Lalit | |
| Akele Hum Akele Tum | "Raja Ko Rani Se Pyar Ho Gaya" | Alka Yagnik | Anu Malik | |
| Ram Jaane | "Ram Jaane" | Alka Yagnik, Sonu Nigam | Anu Malik | |
| 1996 | Raja Hindustani | "Aaye Ho Meri Zindagi Mein", "Pardesi Pardesi", "Kitna Pyaara Tujhe Rab Ne" | Solo, Sapna Awasthi, Alka Yagnik | Nadeem-Shravan |
| Diljale | "Ho Nahin Sakta" | Solo | Anu Malik | |
| Khamoshi | "Jaana Suno Hum Tum Pe Marte Hain", "Saagar Kinare Bhi Do Dil Hain Pyaase" | Solo, Sulakshana Pandit, Jatin Pandit | Jatin-Lalit | |
| 1997 | Mohabbat | "Dil Ki Dhadkan Kehti Hai" | Kavita Krishnamurthy | Nadeem-Shravan |
| Hamaara Faisla | "Mumbai Nagariya Mein Bhaiya", "Ladki Hai Tu Ya" | Poornima | Rituraj | |
| Ishq | "Ishq Hua Kaise Hua", "Dekho Dekho Jaanam", "Neend Churai Meri" | Vibha Sharma, Alka Yagnik, Kumar Sanu, Kavita Krishnamurthy | Anu Malik | |
| Dil To Pagal Hai | "Dil To Pagal Hai", "Bholi Si Surat", "Are Re Are" | Lata Mangeshkar | Uttam Singh | |
| Hero No. 1 | "Sona Kitna Sona Hai", "Mohabbat Ki Nahin Jati" | Poornima, Sadhana Sargam | Anand-Milind | |
| 1998 | Kuch Kuch Hota Hai | "Koi Mil Gaya", "Kuch Kuch Hota Hai",, "Yeh Ladka Hai Deewana", "Tujhe Yaad Na Meri Aayee" | Kavita Krishnamurthy, Alka Yagnik, Manpreet Akhtar | Jatin-Lalit |
| Jab Pyaar Kisise Hota Hai | "Is Dil Mein Kya Hai" | Lata Mangeshkar | Jatin-Lalit | |
| Pyaar Kiya To Darna Kya | "Deewana Main Chala", "Chhad Zid Karna", "Oh Baby... Ho Gaya So Ho Gaya" | Solo, Anuradh Paudwal, Kavita Krishnamurthy | Jatin-Lalit, Himesh Reshammiya | |
| Dil Se.. | "E Ajnabi" | Mahalakshmi Iyer | A.R. Rahman | |
| 1999 | Mann | "Mera Mann", "Chaha Hai Tujko", "Khushiyan Aur Gham", "Nasha Ye Pyar Ka Nasha" | Alka Yagnik, Sadhana Sargam, Anuradha Paudwal | Sanjeev-Darshan |
| Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam | "Chand Chupa" | Alka Yagnik | Ismail Darbar | |
| Taal | "Taal Se Taal Mila" | Alka Yagnik | A.R. Rahman | |
| Hum Saath-Saath Hain | "Chhote Chhote Bhaiyon Ke", "Mhare Hiwda", "Hum Saath-Saath Hain" | Hariharan, Kumar Sanu, Kavita Krishnamurthy, Anuradha Paudwal, Alka Yagnik | Raam Laxman | |
| Dil Kya Kare | "Dil Kya Kare", "Do Dilon Di" | Alka Yagnik, Anuradha Paudwal | Jatin-Lalit | |
| Jaanam Samjha Karo | "Chandni Aaya Hai Tera Deewana" | Solo | Anu Malik | |
| 2000 | Dhadkan | "Dil Ne Yeh Kaha Hai Dil Se" | Alka Yagnik, Kumar Sanu | Nadeem-Shravan |
| Mission Kashmir | "Chupke Se Sun", "Socho Ke Jheelon Ka" | Alka Yagnik | Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy | |
| Har Dil Jo Pyar Karega | "Har Dil Jo Pyar Karega", "Dil Dil Deewana" | Alka Yagnik | Anu Malik | |
| Kaho Naa... Pyaar Hai | "Kaho Naa Pyaar Hai", "Pyaar Ki Kashti Mein" | Alka Yagnik | Rajesh Roshan | |
| Mohabbatein | "Soni Soni", "Humko Humise Chura Lo", "Zinda Rehti Hai Mohabbatein", "Aankhein Khuli" | Jaspinder Narula, Lata Mangeshkar, Shweta Pandit | Jatin-Lalit | |
| 2001 | Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham | "Bole Chudiyan", "Yeh Ladka Hai Allah" | Sonu Nigam, Alka Yagnik | Jatin-Lalit |
| Gadar | "Main Nikla", "Udhja Kaale Kawwa" | Solo; Alka Yagnik, Nihar S | Uttam Singh | |
| Lagaan | "Radha Kaise Na Jale", "Mitwa", "Ghanan Ghanan", "O Ri Chori" | Asha Bhosle, Vaishali, Sukhwinder Singh, Alka Yagnik, Srinivas, Shankar Mahadevan, Shaan, Vasundhara Das | A.R. Rahman | |
| Chori Chori Chupke Chupke | "Dekhne Waalon Ne" | Alka Yagnik | Anu Malik | |
| Dil Chahta Hai | "Jaane Kyon" | Alka Yagnik | Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy | |
| 2002 | Devdas | "Chhalak Chhalak", "Woh Chand Jasi" | Vinod Rathod, Shreya Ghoshal, Solo | Ismail Darbar |
| Raaz | "Jo Bhi Kasmein" | Alka Yagnik | Nadeem-Shravan | |
| Yeh Hai Jalwa | "Dhire Dhire", "Chuudi Khankayi Re" | Alka Yagnik | Himesh Reshammiya | |
| Kasoor | "Kitna Bechain Hoke", "Zindagi Ban Gaye Ho Tum" | Alka Yagnik | Nadeem-Shravan | |
| 2003 | Tere Naam | "Tumse Milna", "Tere Naam", "Chand", "O Jaana" | Alka Yagnik, Shaan, Kamaal Khan, KK | Himesh Reshammiya |
| Koi... Mil Gaya | "Koi Mil Gaya", "Idhar Chala Main Udhar Chala" | K.S. Chitra, Alka Yagnik | Rajesh Roshan | |
| Chalte Chalte | "Dagriya Chalo" | Alka Yagnik | Jatin-Lalit, Aadesh Shrivastava | |
| 2004 | Veer-Zaara | "Main Yahan Hoon", "Aisa Des Hai Mera" | Solo, Lata Mangeshkar, Gurdas Mann, Pritha Majumdar | Madan Mohan |
| Aitraaz | "Aankhen Bandh Kark", "Woh Tassawer" | Alka Yagnik | Himesh Reshammiya | |
| Mujhse Shaadi Karogi | "Mujhse Shaadi Karogi", "Lal Dupatta", "Rab Kare" | Sonu Nigam, Sunidhi Chauhan, Alka Yagnik | Sajid-Wajid | |
| Swades | "Yeh Tara Woh Tara", "Yun Hi Chala Chal" | Master Vignesh, Baby Pooja, Kailash Kher, Hariharan | A.R. Rahman | |
| Hum Tum | "Yaara Yaara" | Alka Yagnik | Jatin-Lalit | |
| 2005 | Kyon Ki | "Kyon Ki Itna Pyaar", "Dil Ke Badle Sanam", "Jhatka Maare" | Alka Yagnik, Kailash Kher, Shaan | Himesh Reshammiya |
| Maine Pyaar Kyun Kiya | "Ishq Chunairya", "Sajan Tumse Pyar" | Alka Yagnik | Himesh Reshammiya | |
| 2006 | Don: The Chase Begins Again | "Khaike Paan Banaraswala" | Solo | Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy |
| Vivah | "Mujhe Haq Hai", "Milan Abhi Adha Adhura Hai" | Shreya Ghoshal | Ravindra Jain | |
| 2007 | Partner | "Do U Wanna Partner" | Shaan, Sajid-Wajid, Suzanne D'Mello | Sajid-Wajid |
| Om Shanti Om | "Deewangi Deewangi" | Shaan, Shreya Ghoshal, Sunidhi Chauhan, Rahul Saxena | Vishal-Shekhar | |
| 2008 | Tashan | "Falak Tak Chal Saath Meray", "Dil Dance Maare" | Mahalakshmi Iyer; Sunidhi Chauhan, Sukhwinder Singh | Vishal-Shekhar |
| God Tussi Great Ho | "Lal Chunariya" | Alka Yagnik | Sajid-Wajid | |
| Mere Baap Pehle Aap | "Main Hawaon Ke" | Shreya Ghoshal | Tauseef Akhtar | |
| 2009 | What's Your Raashee? | "Sau Janam" | Madhushree, Sohail Sen | Sohail Sen |
| Blue | "Yaar Mila Tha" | Madhushree | A.R. Rahman | |
| 2010 | Life Express | "Pyar Ka Namak" | Shreya Ghoshal | |
| Isi Life Mein | "Tum Darshan Hum Naina", "Apna Kaun Paraya Kauna" | Solo | ||
| Four Friends | "Yeh Dosti" | Shankar Mahadevan | ||
| 2011 | When Harry Tries to Marry | "Dulhe Raja" | Madhushree | |
| Tum Hi To Ho | "Dil Ne Mere Dil Ne" | Shreya Ghoshal | Anand-Milind | |
| Shivam | "Khoye Se Hum Khoye Se Tum", | Alka Yagnik | ||
| College Campus | "Dum Bhar Na Dum Lenge" | Vinod Rathod, Manjeera | ||
| 2012 | Agneepath | "Gun Gun Guna " | Sunidhi Chauhan | Ajay-Atul |
| 2012 | Rang | "Khuda Ki Kasam" | Shreya Ghoshal | Nadeem Shravan |
Notable and Popular Kannada songs[link]
| Year | Film | Song Name |
|---|---|---|
| 1999 | Upendra | "Mtv Subbulakshmige" |
| 2001 | Friends | "Thakadhimi" |
| 2001 | Friends | "Saavira Kanassina" |
| 2001 | Parva | "Dholu Dholu Dangura" |
| 2001 | Parva | "Sadhane Paramapada" |
| 2001 | Parva | "Antharanga Aasegala" |
| 2001 | Sundara Kanda | " Maina Maina " |
| 2002 | Appu | "Baare Baare" |
| 2002 | Appu | "Ellinda Aarambhavo" |
| 2002 | Chandu | "Saddillade" |
| 2002 | Chandu | "Kanyakumari" |
| 2002 | Thuntaata | " Kaathura " |
| 2002 | Hollywood | "Choo Bide" |
| 2002 | Hollywood | "Prema Prema" |
| 2003 | Abhi | "Sum Sumne" |
| 2003 | Abhi | "Ee Nanna Kannane" |
| 2003 | Chigurida Kanassu | "Aaha Enidenidenu" |
| 2003 | Chigurida Kanassu | "Ninna kanda kshana" |
| 2003 | Gokarna | "Aaseye dukhakke moola" |
| 2003 | Gokarna | "Jwara Illade" |
| 2003 | Kutumba | "Mujhe Kuch Kuch Hogaya" |
| 2003 | Kutumba | "Alukku Balukina" |
| 2003 | Laali Haadu | "Preethige" |
| 2003 | Malla | "Olagirod Horagidre" |
| 2003 | Nandi | "Kadalu Daati Banda" |
| 2004 | Aaptha Mitra | "Pata Pata" |
| 2004 | Kalasipalya | "Pete Pete Rap" |
| 2004 | Mourya | "Pilla Pilla" |
| 2004 | Mourya | "Haadali Karunaadali" |
| 2004 | News | "Munjaaneya" |
| 2004 | News | "Good Morning" |
| 2004 | Saahukara | " Maleyaaliya Pada " |
| 2005 | Namma Basava | "Andondittu Kaala" |
| 2005 | Kaashi from Village | "Yeh Kiccha" |
| 2005 | Kaashi from Village | "Goli Maro" |
| 2005 | Shastri | " Sum Sumne " |
| 2005 | Rishi | " Enendu Naa Helalaare " |
| 2005 | Aakash | "Habba Habba" |
| 2005 | Anna Thangi | "Dum Dum Dum Thavaralli" |
| 2005 | Auto Shankar | "Kacchi Kacchi" |
| 2005 | Ayya | "Ee Prema" |
| 2005 | Ayya | "Tabla Tabla" |
| 2005 | Chappale | "Enivaaga" |
| 2006 | Chelaata | "Pata Pata Pataaki" |
| 2006 | Chellata | "Ishtano Ishtano" |
| 2006 | Mungaru Male | "Kunidu Kunidu Baare" |
| 2006 | Hatavaadi | "Thai Thai" |
| 2006 | Kariya | "Nannali Naanilla" |
| 2006 | Ravi Shastri | "Muthu Muthu" |
| 2006 | Ravi Shastri | "Sangeetha" |
| 2007 | Krishna | "Gollara Golla" |
| 2007 | Milana | "Anthu Inthu" |
| 2007 | Ee Bandhana | "Chanda Nanna" |
| 2007 | Gaalipata | "Aaha Ee Bedaru Bombege" |
| 2008 | Dhimaku | "Huccha annu" |
| 2008 | Haage Summane | "Naanenu Nambodilla" |
| 2008 | Kamannana Makkalu | "Chee Chee" |
| 2008 | Mussanje Maathu | "O Hrudaya" |
| 2008 | Sathya In Love | " Golla Golla " |
| 2008 | Vamshi | " Maayagaathi " |
| 2010 | Chiru | "Shambho Shiva Shankara" |
| 2010 | Chiru | "Olavannu helu" |
| 2011 | Raam[disambiguation needed  ] |
" Nanna Thutiyalli " |
Notable Tamil songs[link]
| Year | Film | Song Name |
|---|---|---|
| 1994 | Kadhalan | "Kadhalikum Pennin" |
| 1995 | Muthu | "Kuluvalilae" |
| 1996 | Mr. Romeo | "Romeo Aatam" |
| Coimbatore Mappillai | "Coimbatore Mappillaikku" | |
| 1997 | Ratchagan | "Soniya Soniya" |
| 2000 | Rhythm | "Pathikiche" |
| 2002 | Run | "Kadhal Pisase" |
| 2004 | M. Kumaran son of Mahalakshmi | "Iyyo Iyyo" |
| Ghilli | "Kokarakokarako" | |
| 2007 | Sivaji | "Sahana" |
| 2008 | Yaaradi Nee Mohini | "Engeyo Paartha" |
| Kuruvi | "Thean Thean" | |
| Padikkathavan | "Raangi Rangamma" | |
| 2009 | Thoranai | "Vaa Chellam" |
| 2010 | Madrasapattinam | "Vaama Durai Amma" |
| 2010 | Kathal Solla Vanthen | "Oru Vaanavilin Pakathiley..." |
| 2011 | Siruthai | "Chellam Vada Chellam" |
| Rowthiram | "Adiye Un Kangal" |
[edit] Notable Haryanvi and Telugu songs
| Year | Film | Song Name |
|---|---|---|
| 1998 | Lado Haryanvi | "Banna Giri Chhuhare" |
| 1998 | Choodalani Vundi | "Raamma Chilakamma" |
| 1999 | Samarasimha Reddy | "Andala Adabomma" |
| 2003 | Okkadu | "Cheppave Chirugaali" |
| 2006 | Bangaram | "Egire Chilakamma" |
Notable Malayalam film songs[link]
| Film | Song Name |
|---|---|
| CID Moosa | "Chilamboli Kaate" |
| Kochi Rajavu | "Mundari Padam" |
| Four Friends | "Eyee Dos" |
References[link]
- ^ Suhasini, Lalitha (2005-07-19). "Destiny’s child". The Indian Express. http://cities.expressindia.com/fullstory.php?newsid=139917. Retrieved 2009-01-26.
- ^ a b "Udit Narayan's Indian citizenship questioned". Indo-Asian News Service. 15 January 2009. http://www.newstrackindia.com/newsdetails/60544. Retrieved 29 May 2010.
- ^ "IMDB:Filmfare Awards:1989". http://www.imdb.com/Sections/Awards/Filmfare_Awards/1989.
- ^ Sharma, Purnima Goswami (2002-02-18). "Udit Narayan: Music is God's prasad". Times of India. http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/1387344.cms. Retrieved 2009-01-26.
- ^ "Aishwarya, Akshay, Helen in Padma Shri list". The Hindu (Chennai, India). 2009-01-26. http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/holnus/009200901260321.htm. Retrieved 2009-01-26.
External links[link]
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| Persondata | |
|---|---|
| Name | Narayan, Udit |
| Alternative names | |
| Short description | |
| Date of birth | 1955 |
| Place of birth | Saptari District, Nepal |
| Date of death | |
| Place of death | |
http://wn.com/Udit_Narayan
Related pages:
http://fr.wn.com/Udit Narayan
http://de.wn.com/Udit Narayan
http://hi.wn.com/उदित नारायण
http://id.wn.com/Udit Narayan
http://es.wn.com/Udit Narayan
This page contains text from Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Udit_Narayan
This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License, which means that you can copy and modify it as long as the entire work (including additions) remains under this license.
This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License, which means that you can copy and modify it as long as the entire work (including additions) remains under this license.
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This article has multiple issues. Please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page.
|
| Sadhana Sargam | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Sadhana Ghanekar[1] |
| Born | March 14 India |
| Genres | Playback singing, Indian classical, devotional |
| Occupations | Singer |
| Instruments | Vocalist |
| Years active | 1982-current |
Sadhana Sargam is an Indian playback singer. She is a recipient of the prestigious National Film Award and Filmfare Awards South.
Sargam has sung in many Indian languages for films, television serials and music albums. She is well known for her 1990s Hindi songs and recent South Indian songs. She holds a record for being the only North Indian to have won the National Award for a South Indian song. She is also a trained Hindustani classical singer. She has ventured into the southern Carnatic classical style with ease.
Contents |
Early life and family[link]
Sadhana Sargam is of Maharashtrian origin. She was trained in Indian classical music by her mother, Neelatai Ghanekar, at an early age, and then by Pandit Jasraj. Her mother introduced her to a composer by the name of Anil Mohile, which later resulted in her involvement with the children's choir. In 1982, she released her first single for the film Vidhaata.
Career[link]
Sadhana Sargam is popular in singing Hindi as well as Tamil songs. Her most critically acclaimed songs were in the film Water, composed by A. R. Rahman, in which she sang three songs: "Aayo Re Sakhi", "Piya Ho" and "Naina Neer". Her other notable songs in Hindi with the same composer include "Aahista Aahista" from Swades, "Chupke Se" and "Naina Milaike" from Saathiya, "Chanda Re" from Sapney, "O Palanhare" from Lagaan, "Jhulaa Bahon Ka" from Doli Saja Ke Rakhna, and "Banno Rani" from 1947: Earth. Her other notable rhapsodic hits in Hindi are "Neele Neele Ambar Par" from Kalakaar, "Jab Koi Baat Bigad Jaye" from Jurm, "Pehla Nasha" from Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikandar, "Na Kajre Ki Dhar" from Mohra, "Aashiqui Me" from Dil Ka Kya Kasoor, "Tere Dar Pe Sanam" from Phir Teri Kahani Yaad Aayee, "Jhinimini" from Maqbool and "Aao Na" from Kyun! Ho Gaya Na....
She won the National Film Award for Best Female Playback Singer for the song "Pattu Solli" from Thankar Bachan's cult classic movie Azhagi; the music was by maestro Ilaiyaraaja, whom she has praised for "giving her such a wonderful song, and making her eligible for the National Award".
She has sung more than 150 songs in Tamil alone and has many top songs. One of her recent songs is "Marali Mareyaagi" from Savari, a Kannada movie for which she received the Filmfare Best Playback Kannada Female Singer award in 2009. Her most famous songs in Tamil include "Snehithane" from Alaipayuthey, "Mukundha Mukundha" from Dasavathaaram, "Konjum Mainakkale" from Kandukondain Kandukondain and "Swasame" from Thenali. She also sang "Om Zaarare" from Kuselan, along with Daler Mehndi and K. S. Chithra. She sang several songs in Hindi and Oriya for music director Kajol-Saroj. She has also sung the Tamil version of "Mann Mohana" from the Hindi film Jodhaa Akbar. Another notable recent solo Tamil song is "Sutri Varum Bhoomi" from the Vidhyasagar-composed Jeyamkondaan and "En Nenjil" from Baana Kaathadi. The recent Ilaiyaraaja-composed Tamil film Naan Kadavul had a song titled "Amma Un Pillai" featuring her voice. Her popular tracks in Marathi include "Onjalit Majhya" and "Saanjh Jhali Tari" from Sarivar Sari, "Dis Char Jhale Mann" and "Dhag Datun Yetat" from Aaishappath, "Pahile Paul", "Jhali Punha Pravahi" and "Ye Saad Jivnachi" from Sakhi. Her recent Marathi album Tu Sukhkarta..Tu Dukhraya was released by Pandit Hridaynath Mangeshkar on the occasion of Shri Ganesh Chaturthi on 3 September 2010 at Ravindra Natya Mandir, Mumbai. The songs were composed by Amol Bawdekar and lyrics were written by Mahesh Ghatpande.
Influence[link]
Popularity in South India[link]
Sadhana Sargam has been very well received in Tamil Nadu films. She is very busy in the Tamil music field. She was first introduced to Tamil songs by acclaimed music director Vidyasagar in the film Coimbatore Mappillai. Among all the Bollywood singers (male/female), Sargam has sung the most number of songs in Tamil. 132 songs of Sargam were listed as of August 2008.[2]
In an interview in May 2007 while touring in the USA, the most celebrated composer of the Indian music industry, A. R. Rahman, complimented Sadhana Sargam, calling her the only Indian singer who could surpass his expectations in her renditions of songs.[3]
Awards[link]
- 2002 - National Film Award for Best Female Playback Singer - "Paattu Cholli" (Azhagi), Tamil film.
- 2007 - Best Female Playback Singer (Tamil) - "Akkam Pakkam" (Kireedom)
- 2007 - Best Female Playback Singer (Telugu) - "Manasa" (Munna)
- 2004 - Zee Cine Award for Best Playback Singer – Female - "Kuch Naa Kaho" (Kuch Naa Kaho)
- 2003 - Star Screen Award for Best Female Playback - "Chupke Se" (Saathiya)
Filmography[link]
Hindi[link]
| Year | Song(s) name | Film name | Co-singer (s) | Music director (s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1988 | "Hanste Hanste Kat Jaye Raste" | Khoon Bhari Maang | Nitin Mukesh | Rajesh Roshan |
| 1989 | "Main Teri Mohabbat" | Tridev | Mohammed Aziz | Kalyanji-Anandji |
| 1990 | "Humne Ghar Choda Hai" | Dil | Udit Narayan | Anand Milind |
| "Jab Koi Baat Bigad Jaaye", "Hum Do Hamare Hon Do" | Jurm | Kumar Sanu, Amit Kumar | Rajesh Roshan | |
| "Radha Bina Hai", "Aap Ko Dekh Ke" | Kishen Kanhaiya | Manhar Udhas, Amit Kumar | Rajesh Roshan | |
| 1992 | "Pehla Nasha", "Yahan Ke Hum Sikander" | Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikandar | Udit Narayan, Jatin, Lalit | Jatin Lalit |
| "Teri Umeed Tera Intezar", "Teri Isi Ada Pe Sanam" | Deewana | Kumar Sanu | Nadeem Shravan | |
| 1993 | "Tere Dar Par Sanam" | Phir Teri Kahani Yaad Aayee | Solo | Anu Malik |
| 1994 | "Subah Se Lekar", "Na Kajre Ki Dhar" | Mohra | Udit Narayan, Pankaj Udhas | Viju Shah |
| 1995 | "Nahin Yeh Ho Nahin Sakta" | Barsaat | Kumar Sanu | Nadeem Shravan |
| "Bhangda Paale" | Karan Arjun | Mohammad Aziz, Sudesh Bhosle | Rajesh Roshan | |
| 1996 | "Kuch Mere Dil Ne Kaha" | Tere Mere Sapne | Hariharan | Viju Shah |
| 1997 | "Mohabbat Ki Nahin Jati" | Hero No. 1 | Udit Narayan | Anand Milind |
| "Neela Dupatta", "Hamesha Hamesha", "Ae Dil Hamen Itna Bata" | Hameshaa | Abhijeet, Kumar Sanu, Udit Narayan | Anu Malik | |
| "Mere Sanam" | Gupt | Udit Narayan | Viju Shah | |
| "Chanda Re" | Sapnay | Hariharan | A. R. Rahman | |
| 1998 | "Saawan Barse Tarse Dil" | Dahek | Hariharan | Anand Milind |
| "Ajooba Hai" | Jeans | Hariharan | A. R. Rahman | |
| "Banno Rani" | 1947 Earth | Solo | A. R. Rahman | |
| 2002 | "Naina Milaike", "Chupke Se" | Saathiya | Madhushree, Murtaza Khan, Qadir Khan, A. R. Rahman | A. R. Rahman |
| "Deewano Ko Pata Hai" | Kehtaa Hai Dil Baar Baar | Udit Narayan | Jatin Lalit | |
| "Dil Mera Ektara" | 16 December | Solo | Karthik Raja | |
| 2003 | "Khamoshi Mei Pukar Hain" | Warriors of Heaven and Earth | Solo | A. R. Rahman |
| "Koi To Meri Fariyaad" | Tujhe Meri Kasam | Udit Narayan | Viju Shah | |
| 2004 | "Mahi Ve" | Kal Ho Naa Ho | Udit Narayan, Sonu Nigam, Madhushree, Shankar Mahadevan | Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy |
| "Jhin Min Jhini" | Maqbool | Ustad Sultan Khan, Anuradha Sriram | Vishal Bharadwaj | |
| "Aao Na" | Kyun! Ho Gaya Na... | Udit Narayan | Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy | |
| "Chak De" | Hum Tum | Sonu Nigam | Jatin Lalit | |
| "Aahista Aahista" | Swades | Udit Narayan | A. R. Rahman | |
| 2005 | "Naina Neer Bahaye", "Chan Chanan Chan", "Piya Ho" | Water | Sukhwinder Singh | A. R. Rahman |
| 2006 | "Hum Ko Malum Hai" | Jaan-E-Mann | Sonu Nigam | Anu Malik |
| 2007 | "Salaam-E-Ishq" | Salaam-e-Ishq | Sonu Nigam, Shreya Ghoshal, Kunal Ganjawala | Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy |
| 2008 | "Jogi Aaya Re" | Black & White | Sukhwinder Singh | Sukhwinder Singh |
| "Tere Bina" | Mukhbiir | Solo | Karthik Raja | |
| 2011 | "Yun Toh Mera Dil" | Damadamm! | Himesh Reshammiya | Himesh Reshammiya & Sachin Gupta |
South[link]
| Year | Song name | Film name | Co-singer | Music director | Language |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1996 | "Oru Theidi Parthaal" | Coimbatore Mappillai | Hariharan | Vidhyasagar | Tamil |
| "Coimbatore Mappillaikku" | Coimbatore Mappillai | Udit Narayan | Vidhyasagar | Tamil | |
| 1997 | "Vennilave Vennilave" | Minsara Kanavu | Hariharan | A. R. Rahman | Tamil |
| "Nenjae Nenje" | Ratchagan | K. J. Yesudas | A. R. Rahman | Tamil | |
| 1998 | "Hello Endhan Kadhali" | Naam Iruvar Namakku Iruvar | Udit Narayan, Anuradha Paudwal | Karthik Raja | Tamil |
| "Kattana Ponnu" | Naam Iruvar Namakku Iruvar | Hariharan | Karthik Raja | Tamil | |
| 1999 | "Chudidhar Adaindhu" | Poovellam Kettuppar | Hariharan | Yuvan Shankar Raja | Tamil |
| 2000 | "Snegithane Snegithane" | Alaipayuthey | Srinivas | A. R. Rahman | Tamil |
| "Konjum Mainakkale" | Kandukondain Kandukondain | Solo | A. R. Rahman | Tamil | |
| "Mottu Ondru" | Kushi | Hariharan | Deva | Tamil | |
| "Anbae Idhu Nijamdhana" | Rhythm | Solo | A. R. Rahman | Tamil | |
| "Swasame Swasame" | Thenali | S. P. Balasubrahmanyam | A. R. Rahman | Tamil | |
| "Chandaa Ee Chandaa" | Hoo Antheeya Uhoo Antheeya | Solo | Karthik Raja | Kannada | |
| 2001 | "Onne Onne" | Alli Arjuna | Shankar Mahadevan | A. R. Rahman | Tamil |
| "Paattu Cholli" | Azhagi | Solo | Ilaiyaraaja | Tamil | |
| "Oru Sundari Vandalaam" | Azhagi | Unnikrishnan, Malgudi Subha, Arun Mozhi | Ilaiyaraaja | Tamil | |
| "Chikki Mukki" | Citizen | Shankar Mahadevan | Deva | Tamil | |
| "Ragasiyamai" | Dumm Dumm Dumm | Hariharan | Karthik Raja | Tamil | |
| "Un Perai Sonnale" | Dumm Dumm Dumm | Unnikrishnan | Karthik Raja | Tamil | |
| "Manjal Kaatu Maina" | Manadhai Thirudivittai | Karthik | Yuvan Shankar Raja | Tamil | |
| "Kutti Kutti Panithuliye" | Manadhai Thirudivittai | Solo | Yuvan Shankar Raja | Tamil | |
| "Azhagae Sughama" / "Anbae Sughama" | Paarthale Paravasam | Srinivas | A. R. Rahman | Tamil | |
| "Kaadhal Vandhadum" | Poovellam Un Vasam | K. J. Yesudas | Vidhyasagar | Tamil | |
| "Vidiye Vidiye" | Samudhiram | Udit Narayan | Deva | Tamil | |
| "Manasukkul Oru Puyal" | Star | S. P. Balasubrahmanyam | A. R. Rahman | Tamil | |
| "Thanthana Thanthana" | Thavasi | K. J. Yesudas | Vidhyasagar | Tamil | |
| "Karisa Kaadugale" | Virumbugiren | Unni Menon | Deva | Tamil | |
| 2002 | "Poo Vasam" | Anbe Sivam | Sriram Parthasarathy | Vidhyasagar | Tamil |
| "Nee Manasu Naaku Telusu" | Holi | R. P. Patnaik | R. P. Patnaik | Telugu | |
| "Cheliya Cheliya" | KK | Telugu | |||
| "Ye Nenje" | April Maadhathil | Harish Raghavendra | Yuvan Shankar Raja | Tamil | |
| "Thathalikkudhe" | Album | Shankar Mahadevan | Karthik Raja | Tamil | |
| "Baba Neeku" | Baba | S. P. Balasubrahmanyam | A. R. Rahman | Telugu | |
| "Shaayo Shaayo" | Bagavathi | Timmy | Deva | Tamil | |
| "July Malargale" | Bagavathi | Karthik | Deva | Tamil | |
| "Enna Solli Paduvadho" | En Mana Vaanil | Hariharan | Ilaiyaraaja | Tamil | |
| "Rottora Paattu" | En Mana Vaanil | K. J. Yesudas | Ilaiyaraaja | Tamil | |
| "Deewana Deewana" | Gemini | Solo | Bharathwaj | Tamil | |
| "Vaanaville Vaanaville" | Ramanaa | Solo | Ilaiyaraaja | Tamil | |
| "Vaanam Adhirave" | Ramanaa | Chorus | Ilaiyaraaja | Tamil | |
| "Mottugale Mottugale" | Roja Kootam | Hariharan | Bharathwaj | Tamil | |
| "Poi Solla Koodadhu" | Run | Hariharan | Vidhyasagar | Tamil | |
| "Minsaram En Meedhu" | Run | Harish Raghavendra | Vidhyasagar | Tamil | |
| "Pani Kaatre" | Run | Balaram | Vidhyasagar | Tamil | |
| "Pathinettu Vayasil" | Villain | Udit Narayan | Vidhyasagar | Tamil | |
| "Hello Hello" | Villain | Tippu, Anuradha Sriram | Vidhyasagar | Tamil | |
| 2003 | "Anbe Anbe" | Anbe Anbe | Hariharan | Bharathwaj | Tamil |
| "Thavamindri Kidaitha Varame" | Anbu | Hariharan | Vidhyasagar | Tamil | |
| "Boom Boom" | Boys | Adnan Sami | A. R. Rahman | Tamil | |
| "Chanakya Chanakya" | Dum | Solo | Deva | Tamil | |
| "Jaajimalli" | Ninuchoodaka Nenundalenu | Solo | Ilaiyaraaja | Telugu | |
| "Kommallo Koyilaa" | Ilaiyaraaja | Telugu | |||
| "Kondapalli" | KK | Telugu | |||
| "Ilaya Nadhi" | Manasellam | Hariharan | Ilaiyaraaja | Tamil | |
| "Kadhal Vettukkili" | Parasuram | Karthik | A. R. Rahman | Tamil | |
| "Maankuttyae" | Priyamana Thozhi | Solo | S. A. Rajkumar | Tamil | |
| "Mainave Mainave" | Thithikudhe | Chinmayi | Vidhyasagar | Tamil | |
| 2004 | "Kanden Kanden" | Madhurey | Madhu Balakrishnan | Vidhyasagar | Tamil |
| "Manmadhane Nee" | Manmadhan | Solo | Yuvan Shankar Raja | Tamil | |
| "Kaalayil Dinamum" | New | Unnikrishnan | A. R. Rahman | Tamil | |
| "Spider Man" | New | Kunal Ganjawala | A. R. Rahman | Tamil | |
| "Naanu Jeetendra" | News | Gurukiran | Gurukiran | Kannada | |
| "Kaadu Thirande" | Vasool Raja MBBS | Hariharan | Vidhyasagar | Tamil | |
| 2005 | "Thigu Thigu" | Anbe Aaruyire | Blaaze | A. R. Rahman | Tamil |
| "Oru Varthai Kekka" | Ayya | KK | Bharathwaj | Tamil | |
| "Siru Thooral" | Ponniyin Selvan | Srinivas | Vidyasagar | Tamil | |
| "Bambara Kannaley" | Bambara Kannaley | Udit Narayan | Srikanth Deva | Tamil | |
| "Daachuko" | Muddula Koduku | Srinivas | Vidhyasagar | Telugu | |
| "Sakka Podu Pottane" | Daas | KK | Yuvan Shankar Raja | Tamil | |
| "Ela Vachhenamma" | Sankranthi | Udit Narayan | S. A. Rajkumar | Telugu | |
| "Laila Majunu" | February 14 | Karthik | Bharathwaj | Tamil | |
| "Eno Kangal" | Kalvannin Kaadhali | Yuvan Shankar Raja | Yuvan Shankar Raja | Tamil | |
| "Merke Merke" | Kanda Naal Mudhal | Shankar Mahadevan | Yuvan Shankar Raja | Tamil | |
| "Solli Tharavaa" | Majaa | Madhu Balakrishnan | Vidhyasagar | Tamil | |
| "Kaatril Varum Geethame" | Oru Naal Oru Kanavu | Shreya Ghoshal, Bhavatharini, Ilaiyaraaja, Hariharan | Ilaiyaraaja | Tamil | |
| 2006 | "Athi Athikka" | Aadhi | S. P. Balasubrahmanyam | Vidhyasagar | Tamil |
| "Kangal Theduthe" | Manathodu Mazhaikalam | Jassie Gift | Jassie Gift | Tamil | |
| "Thaiyya Tha" | Thiruttu Payale | Solo | Bharathwaj | Tamil | |
| "Kaatril Or Varthai" | Varalaru | S. P. Balasubrahmanyam | A. R. Rahman | Tamil | |
| "Siggutho Chi Chi" | Stalin | Hariharan | Mani Sharma | Telugu | |
| 2007 | "Solli Tharava" | Aalwar | Karthik | Srikanth Deva | Tamil |
| "Tamizh Chelvi" | Koodal Nagar | Hariharan | Sabesh-Murali | Tamil | |
| "Naana Yaar Edhu" | Ninaithu Ninaithu Paarthen | Solo | Joshua Sridhar | Tamil | |
| "Manasa Nuvvunde" | Munna | Naresh Iyer, Krish | Harris Jayaraj | Telugu | |
| "Akkam Pakkam" | Kireedam | Solo | G. V. Prakash Kumar | Tamil | |
| "Mallelo Illelo" | Anumanaspadam | Hariharan | Ilaiyaraaja | Telugu | |
| "Chanda Nanna Chandramukhi" | Ee Bandhana | Udit Narayan | Mano Murthy | Kannada | |
| 2008 | "Kandum Kaanamal" | Pirivom Santhippom | Solo | Vidhyasagar | Tamil |
| "Mukunda Mukunda" | Dasavathaaram | Kamal Haasan | Himesh Reshammiya | Tamil | |
| "Om Zarare" | Kuselan | K. S. Chithra, Daler Mehndi | G. V. Prakash Kumar | Tamil | |
| "Aa Vaipunna Ee Vaipunna" | Maska | Hariharan | Chakri | Telugu | |
| "En Anbae" | Sathyam | Solo | Harris Jayaraj | Tamil | |
| "Sutrivarum Bhoomi" | Jayamkondaan | Solo | Vidhyasagar | Tamil | |
| "Pachhai Kaatre" | Abhiyum Naanum | Solo | Vidhyasagar | Tamil | |
| 2009 | "Amma Un Pillai" | Naan Kadavul | Solo | Ilaiyaraaja | Tamil |
| "Panchirey" | Konchem Ishtam Konchem Kashtam | Kirthi Sagathiya | Shankar–Ehsaan–Loy | Telugu | |
| "Marali Mareyagi" | Savari | Solo | Manikanth Kadri | Kannada | |
| "Badavara Manege" | Prem Kahani | Solo | Ilaiyaraaja | Kannada | |
| "Yaarivanu Yaarivanu" | |||||
| 2010 | "En Nenjil" | Baana Kaathadi | Solo | Yuvan Shankar Raja | Tamil |
| "Arima Arima" | Enthiran | Hariharan | A. R. Rahman | Tamil | |
| "Kaiyya Pudi" | Mynaa | Naresh Iyer | D. Imman | Tamil | |
| "Kanupaapallo Prema" | Shambo Shiva Shambo | Solo | Sundar C Babu | Telugu | |
| "Nambu Satya Heltheeni" | Neneyuve Ninna | Udit Narayan | C R Bobby | Kannada | |
| 2011 | "Manasoram" | Ayyan | Sriram Parthasarathy | Ilaiyaraaja | Tamil |
| "Viriyunnu" | Bombay March 12 | Solo | Afzal Yusuf | Malayalam | |
| "Ponmulam Thandil" | Oru Nuna Kadha | Bombay Sreekumar | Midhun Iswar | Malayalam | |
| "Idemiti" | Prema Kaidhi | Naresh Iyer | D. Imman | Telugu | |
| "Adiye Un Kangal" | Rowthiram | Udit Narayan | Prakash Nikki | Tamil | |
| "Naaku Oka Loverundi" | Naaku O Loverundi | Hariharan | K. M. Radhakrishnan | Telugu | |
| "Mugilina Maathu" | Parie | Udit Narayan | Veer Samarth | Kannada | |
| 2012 | "Kaatrilellam Inbam" | Udumban | Hariharan | Balan |
References[link]
- ^ "Singer Sadhana Sargam | About Sadhana Sargam - List of Sadhana Sargam Hindi Movies Songs and Lyrics". Hindilyrix.com. http://www.hindilyrix.com/singers/singer-sadhana-sargam.html. Retrieved 2011-08-10.
- ^ "Tamil - Singers - SADHANA SARGAM". RAAGA. http://www.raaga.com/channels/tamil/artist/Sadhana_Sargam.html. Retrieved 2011-08-10.
- ^ "Rahman rocks New York". Rediff. June 2007. http://www.rediff.com/movies/2007/jun/13rahman.htm. Retrieved 5 August 2008.
External links[link]
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| Persondata | |
|---|---|
| Name | Sargam, Sadhana |
| Alternative names | |
| Short description | |
| Date of birth | March 14, 1974 |
| Place of birth | India |
| Date of death | |
| Place of death | |
http://wn.com/Sadhana_Sargam
This page contains text from Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sadhana_Sargam
This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License, which means that you can copy and modify it as long as the entire work (including additions) remains under this license.
This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License, which means that you can copy and modify it as long as the entire work (including additions) remains under this license.
| Talla 2XLC | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Andreas Tomalla |
| Also known as | Talla, 20, 2XLC, Richard Cube, T2, Digital Tension |
| Origin | Germany |
| Genres | EBM Trance Techno |
| Years active | 1984–present |
| Website | http://www.talla.de/ |
Talla 2XLC, real name Andreas Tomalla, is an electronic music producer and DJ whose work has spanned from industrial music to trance music.[1][2]
Contents |
History[link]
In 1979, Talla 2XLC began DJing[3] with the sounds of Kraftwerk, YMO, and Depeche Mode.
In 1984, Talla 2XLC started a small nightclub event called Technoclub,[4] the first such club in Frankfurt to focus on electronic dance music.[citation needed] Initially, Technoclub was a Friday-night[3] event held in the smaller, 350-person capacity room[3] of the Dorian Gray discothèque inside the Frankfurt International Airport. In 1986, Technoclub moved to the 600-capacity Roxannes, where it remained through 1988.[3] In 1989, it briefly moved to the 800- or 900-capacity Omen venue,[3][5] then in September 1989 to the Dorian Gray's 2000-capacity main room,[3][5] where it remained until the Dorian Gray closed in 2000. Technoclub may have been the world’s first major "super-club".[6]
In the mid-1980s, he was involved with a band called Moskwa TV. In 1987 he co-founded the group Robotiko Rejekto and was associated with the fledgling record label Techno Drome International, an imprint of ZYX Records. Robotiko Rejekto's track "Rejekto" was one of the label's first releases. In 1988, he started a new project called Bigod 20, which would go on to be one of Europe’s most successful EBM acts of the early 1990s.
In 1987 and 1988, Talla 2XLC produced fanzines.[3]
In 1989, to distribute the music of Bigod 20 and other industrial acts in Europe, Talla 2XLC co-founded, with Franz Morgenbesser, the New Beat-oriented New Zone label,[3] and the conglomerate Music Research and its primary subsidiary, Zoth Ommog Records, an important label in the underground electronic music scene for many years thereafter (though his management of the business lasted only the first several years after its inception). All the while, he kept a high profile as a remixer to many big-name artists in the world electronic dance scene.
In 1990, Talla's DJ sets were described as "what we in the UK would term techno, together with the more rock-orientated hardcore industrial sounds of North American acts such as Skinny Puppy, Revolting Cocks, and My Life with the Thrill Kill Kult (like, no holds barred stuff as you've probably guessed). These bands would probably prove too harsh for most UK dancefloors (let's face it, MC 900 Ft. Jesus its like, hard work, duh..), but the step across to techno, via bands like Cabaret Voltaire and German pioneers Einstürzende Neubauten, is a relatively short one."[3]
Talla also ran a label called Dynamo, on behalf of German (then-) major label Teldec.[3]
Since the dissolution of Bigod 20 in 1994, Talla 2XLC has focused less on industrial music and more on trance and its subgenres, particularly epic trance. With Sony Records in 1997, he started the @Technoclub compilation series, which introduced many underground dance hits to mainstream European audiences.
Recent activity[link]
Talla 2XLC's productions, remixes, and DJ mix releases number well into the hundreds.[2] Notable productions include “Can You Feel the Silence,” which reached #14 on the German Top 100 Sales Charts,[citation needed] and his 2007 co-production with Ace Da Brain, “No In Between,” which was played by popular European trance DJs Paul Van Dyk, Armin Van Buuren, Ferry Corsten, Above and Beyond, et al.[7]
Talla still continues to travel the world, championing music featuring "soaring" vocals and mixing elements of cutting edge electronic music with novel breakdowns and euphoric melodies. He tours throughout every country in Europe, The Americas, Australia and Asia, and has been featured at some of the world’s major festivals and clubs, including ID & T’s Trance Energy, the Love parade, Space Ibiza.
His weekly Technoclub radio show is played on German national radio station Sunshine Live.
In January 2008 he also re-launched the once well-known label, Tetsuo.[8]
References[link]
- ^ Colin Larkin (1995). The Guinness Encyclopedia of Popular Music. Guinness Pub. p. 195. ISBN 978-1-56159-176-3.
- ^ a b "Talla 2XLC". Discogs. http://www.discogs.com/artist/Talla+2XLC. Retrieved 2008-03-10.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j Brown, Nick Gordon (July 1990). "Teutonic Techno Tribe". Mixmag: 59–61.
- ^ "Talla2XLC". DAMN DJ's. http://www.damndjs.com/damn/?site=talla2xlc.php. Retrieved 2008-03-10.
- ^ a b Sharkey, Alix (30 Jan 1993). "Saturday Night: Wagner would wet himself". The Independent. http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/fashion/news/saturday-night-wagner-would-wet-himself-1481772.html. Retrieved 2011-05-10.
- ^ "Talla2XLC". The DJ List. http://www.thedjlist.com/djs/TALLA_2XLC/. Retrieved 2008-03-10.
- ^ "October Chart". Bebo. http://www.bebo.com/Profile.jsp?MemberId=4205534782. Retrieved 2008-03-10.
- ^ "Tetsuo Records". tetsuo. http://www.tetsuo.tc. Retrieved 2008-10-10.
External links[link]
http://wn.com/Talla_2XLC
Related pages:
http://cs.wn.com/Talla 2XLC
http://de.wn.com/Talla 2XLC
http://pl.wn.com/Talla 2XLC
This page contains text from Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talla_2XLC
This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License, which means that you can copy and modify it as long as the entire work (including additions) remains under this license.
This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License, which means that you can copy and modify it as long as the entire work (including additions) remains under this license.
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| Carl Barks | |
|---|---|
 Carl Barks at the 1982 San Diego Comic Con |
|
| Born | (1901-03-27)March 27, 1901 Merrill, Oregon |
| Died | August 25, 2000(2000-08-25) (aged 99) Grants Pass, Oregon |
| Nationality |  American |
| Area(s) | Writer, Penciller, Inker |
| Notable works | full list |
| Awards | full list |
Carl Barks (March 27, 1901 – August 25, 2000) was an American Disney Studio illustrator and comic book creator, who invented Duckburg and many of its inhabitants, such as Scrooge McDuck (1947), Gladstone Gander (1948), the Beagle Boys (1951), The Junior Woodchucks (1951), Gyro Gearloose (1952), Cornelius Coot (1952), Flintheart Glomgold (1956), John D. Rockerduck (1961) and Magica De Spell (1961). The quality of his scripts and drawings earned him the nicknames The Duck Man and The Good Duck Artist. Writer-artist Will Eisner called him "the Hans Christian Andersen of comic books."[1]
In 1987, Barks was one of the three inaugural inductees of the Will Eisner Comic Book Hall of Fame.
Contents |
Biography[link]
Barks was born in Merrill, Oregon to William Barks and his wife Arminta Johnson. He had an older brother named Clyde. Barks once stated that his paternal ancestors were Dutch and his maternal ancestors were Scottish. His paternal grandparents were David Barks and his wife Ruth Shrum. His maternal grandparents were Carl Johnson and his wife Suzanna Massey, but little else is known about his ancestors. Barks was the descendant of Jacob Barks who came to Missouri from North Carolina around 1800. They lived in Marble Hill in Bollinger County. Jacob Barks' son Isaac was the father of the David Barks noted above. Source 1850 census, Goodspeed's History of Southeast Missouri, 1888. Find a Grave.
Childhood[link]
According to Barks' description of his childhood, he was a rather lonely child. His parents owned one square mile (2.6 km²) of land that served as their farm. The nearest neighbor lived half a mile (800 m) away, but he was more an acquaintance to Barks' parents than a friend. The closest school was about two miles (3 km) away and Barks had to walk that distance every day. The rural area had few children, though, and Barks later remembered that his school had only about eight or ten students including him. He had high praise for the quality of the education he received in that small school. "Schools were good in those days," he used to say. The lessons lasted from nine o'clock in the morning to four o'clock in the afternoon and then he had to return to the farm. There he remembered not having anybody to talk to, as his parents were busy and he had little in common with his brother.
In 1908, William Barks (in an attempt to increase the family income) moved with his family to Midland, Oregon, some miles north of Merrill, to be closer to the new railway lines. He established a new stock-breeding farm and sold his produce to the local slaughterhouses.
Nine-year-old Clyde and seven-year-old Carl worked long hours there. But Carl later remembered that the crowd which gathered at Midland's market place made a strong impression on him. This was expected, as he was not used to crowds up until then. According to Barks, his attention was mostly drawn to the cowboys that frequented the market with their revolvers, strange nicknames for each other and sense of humor.
By 1911, they had been successful enough to move to Santa Rosa, California. There they started cultivating vegetables and set up some orchards. Unfortunately, the profits were not as high as William expected and they started having financial difficulties. William's anxiety over them was probably what caused his first nervous breakdown.
As soon as William recovered, he made the decision to move back to Merrill. The year was 1913, and Barks was already 12 years old; but, due to the constant moving, he had not yet managed to complete grade school. He resumed his education at this point and finally managed to graduate in 1916.
1916 served as a turning point in Barks' life for various reasons. First, Arminta, his mother, died in this year. Second, his hearing problems, which had already appeared earlier, had at the time become severe enough for him to have difficulties listening to his teachers talking. His hearing would continue to get worse later, but at that point he had not yet acquired a hearing aid. Later in life, he couldn't do without one. Third, the closest high school to their farm was five miles (8 km) away and even if he did enlist in it, his bad hearing was likely to contribute to his learning problems. He had to decide to stop his school education, much to his disappointment.
From job to job[link]
Barks started taking various jobs but had little success in such occupations as a farmer, woodcutter, turner, mule driver, cowboy and printer. From his jobs he learned, he later averred, how eccentric, stubborn and unpredictable men, animals and machines can be. At the same time he interacted with colleagues, fellow breadwinners who had satirical disposition towards even their worst troubles. Barks later declared that he was sure that if not for a little humor in their troubled lives, they would certainly go insane. It was an attitude towards life that Barks would adopt. Later he would say it was natural for him to satirize the secret yearnings and desires, the pompous style and the disappointments of his characters. According to Barks, this period of his life would later influence his best known fictional characters: Walt Disney's Donald Duck and his own Scrooge McDuck.
Donald's drifting from job to job was reportedly inspired by Barks' own experiences. So was his usual lack of success. And even in those that he was successful this would be temporary, just until a mistake or chance event caused another failure, another disappointment for the frustrated duck. Barks also reported that this was another thing he was familiar with.
Scrooge's main difference to Donald, according to Barks, was that he too had faced the same difficulties in his past but through intelligence, determination and hard work, he was able to overcome them. Or, as Scrooge himself would say to Huey, Dewey and Louie: by being "tougher than the toughies and smarter than the smarties." Even in the present of his stories Scrooge would work to solve his many problems, even though the stories would often point out that his constant efforts seemed futile at the end. In addition, Scrooge was quite similar to his creator in appearing often to be as melancholic, introspective and secretive as he was.
Through both characters Barks would often exhibit his rather sarcastic sense of humor. It seems that this difficult period for the artist helped shape many of his later views in life that were expressed through his characters.
Professional artist[link]
At the same time Barks had started thinking about turning a hobby that he always enjoyed into a profession: that of drawing. Since his early childhood he spent his free time by drawing on any material he could find. He had attempted to improve his style by copying the drawings of his favorite comic strip artists from the newspapers where he could find them. As he later said, he wanted to create his own facial expressions, figures and comical situations in his drawings but wanted to study the master comic artists' use of the pen and their use of color and shading.
Among his early favorites were Winsor McCay (mostly known for Little Nemo) and Frederick Burr Opper (mostly known for Happy Hooligan) but he would later study any style that managed to draw his attention.
At 16 he was mostly self-taught but at this point he decided to take some lessons through correspondence. He only followed the first four lessons and then had to stop because his working left him with little free time. But as he later said, the lessons proved very useful in improving his style.
By December 1918, he left his father's home to attempt to find a job in San Francisco, California. He worked for a while in a small publishing house while attempting to sell his drawings to newspapers and other printed material with little success.
First marriage[link]
While he continued drifting through various jobs, he met Pearl Turner (1904–1987). In 1921 they married and had two daughters:
- Peggy Barks, born in 1923.
- Dorothy Barks, born in 1924.
In 1923 he returned to his paternal farm in Merrill in an attempt to return to the life of a farmer, but that ended soon. He continued searching for a job while attempting to sell his drawings. He soon managed to sell some of them to Judge magazine and then started having success submitting to the Minneapolis-based Calgary-Eye-Opener, a racy men's cartoon magazine of the era. He was eventually hired as editor and scripted and drew most of the contents while continuing to sell occasional work to other magazines. His salary of 90 dollars a month was considered respectable enough for the time. A facsimile of one of the racy magazines he did cartoons for in this period, Coo Coo #1, was published by Hamilton Comics in 1997.
Meanwhile he had his first divorce. He and Pearl were separated in 1929 and divorced in 1930. After he moved to Minneapolis, Minnesota, where Calgary-Eye-Opener had its offices he met Clara Balken who in 1938 became his second wife.
Disney[link]
In November 1935, when he learned that Walt Disney was seeking more artists for his Studio, Barks decided to apply. He was approved for a try-out which entailed a move to Los Angeles, California. He was one of two in his class of trainees who was hired. His starting salary was 20 dollars a week. He started at Disney Studios in 1935, more than a year after the debut of Donald Duck on June 9, 1934 in the short animated film The Wise Little Hen.
Barks initially worked as an inbetweener. This involved being teamed and supervised by one of the head animators who did the key poses of character action (often known as extremes) for which the inbetweeners did the drawings between the extremes to create the illusion of movement. While an inbetweener, Barks submitted gag ideas for cartoon story lines being developed and showed such a knack for creating comical situations that by 1937 he was transferred to the story department. His first story sale was the climax of Modern Inventions, for a sequence where a robot barber chair gives Donald Duck a haircut on his butt.
In 1937 when Donald Duck became the star of his own series of cartoons instead of co-starring with Mickey Mouse and Goofy as previously, a new unit of storymen and animators was created devoted solely to this series. Though he originally just contributed gag ideas to some duck cartoons by 1937 Barks was (principally with partner Jack Hannah) originating story ideas that were storyboarded and (if approved by Walt) put into production. He collaborated on such cartoons as Donald's Nephews (1938), Donald's Cousin Gus (1939), Mr. Duck Steps Out (1940),Timber (1941), The Vanishing Private (1942) and The Plastics Inventor (1944).
The Good Duck Artist[link]
File:Omelet.jpg
Omelet opening page
Unhappy at the emerging wartime working conditions at Disney plus bothered by ongoing sinus problems caused by the studio's air conditioning, Barks quit in 1942. Shortly before quitting, he moonlighted as a comic book artist, contributing half the artwork for a one-shot comic book (the other half of the art being done by story partner Jack Hannah) titled Donald Duck Finds Pirate Gold. This 64-page story was adapted by Donald Duck comic strip writer Bob Karp from an unproduced feature, and published in October 1942 in [Dell] Four Color Comics #9. It was the first Donald Duck story originally produced for an American comic book and also the first involving Donald and his nephews in a treasure hunting expedition, in this case for the treasure of Henry Morgan. Barks would later use the treasure hunting theme in many of his stories. This actually was not his first work in comics, as earlier the same year Barks along with Hannah and fellow storyman Nick George scripted Pluto Saves the Ship, which was among the first original Disney comic book stories published in the United States.
After quitting the Studio, Barks relocated to the Hemet/San Jacinto area in the semi-desert inland empire region east of Los Angeles where he hoped to start a chicken farm.
When asked which of his stories was a favorite in several interviews Barks cited the ten-pager in Walt Disney's Comics and Stories #146 (Nov. 1952) in which Donald tells the story of the chain of unfortunate events that took place when he owned a chicken farm in a town which subsequently was renamed Omelet. Likely one reason it was a favorite is that it was inspired by Barks' own experiences in the poultry business.
But to earn a living in the meantime he inquired whether Western Publishing, which had published Pirate Gold, had any need for artists for Donald Duck comic book stories. He was immediately assigned to illustrate the script for a ten-page Donald Duck story for the monthly Walt Disney's Comics and Stories. At the publisher's invitation he revised the storyline and the improvements impressed the editor sufficiently to invite Barks to try his hand at contributing both the script and the artwork of his follow-up story. This set the pattern for Barks' career in that (with rare exceptions) he provided art (pencil, inking, solid blacks and lettering) and scripting for his stories.
The Victory Garden, that initial ten-page story published in April, 1943 was the first of about 500 stories featuring the Disney ducks Barks would produce for Western Publishing over the next three decades, well into his purported retirement. These can be mostly divided into two categories:
- Ten-pagers, comedic Donald Duck stories that were the lead for the monthly flagship title Walt Disney's Comics and Stories, whose circulation peaked in the mid-1950s at 3 million copies sold a month.
- Humorous adventure stories, usually 24-32 pages in length. In the 1940s these were one-shots in the Four Color series (issued 4-6 times a year) that starred Donald and his nephews. Barks transitioned his skills as an animator artist and storyman into those of a comic artist and writer, notably in his longer adventure tales. According to critic Geoffrey Blum, the process that saw its beginnings in 1942's Pirate Gold first bore its full fruit in 1950's'Vacation Time,' which he describes as 'a visual primer for reading comics and understanding... the form...."[2] From the early 1950s Barks undertook the quarterly adventures of Uncle Scrooge and the duck clan in Scrooge's own title.
He surrounded Donald Duck and nephews Huey, Dewey and Louie with a cast of eccentric and colorful characters, such as the aforementioned Scrooge McDuck, the wealthiest duck in the world; Gladstone Gander, Donald's obscenely lucky cousin; inventor Gyro Gearloose; the persistent Beagle Boys; the sorceress Magica De Spell; Scrooge's rivals Flintheart Glomgold and John D. Rockerduck; Daisy's nieces April, May and June; Donald's neighbor Jones, and The Junior Woodchucks organization.
No longer anonymous[link]
People who work for Disney generally do so in relative anonymity; the stories only carry Walt Disney's name and (sometimes) a short identification number. Prior to 1960, the creator of these stories remained a mystery to his readers. However, many readers recognized Barks' work and drawing style, and began to call him the Good Duck Artist, a label which stuck even after his true identity was discovered by John and Bill Spicer in 1959. After Barks received a 1960 visit from Bill and John Spicer and Ron Leonard, he was no longer anonymous, as his name soon became known to his readers.[3]
Barks's stories (whether humorous adventures or domestic comedies) often exhibited a wry, dark irony born of hard experience. The ten-pagers showcased Donald as everyman, struggling against the cruel bumps and bruises of everyday life with the nephews often acting as a Greek chorus commenting on the unfolding disasters Donald wrought upon himself. Yet while seemingly defeatist in tone, the humanity of the characters shines through in their persistence despite the obstacles. These stories found popularity not only among young children but adults as well. Despite the fact that Barks had done little traveling his adventure stories often had the duck clan globe trotting to the most remote or spectacular of places. This allowed Barks to indulge his penchant for elaborate backgrounds that hinted at his thwarted ambitions of doing realistic stories in the vein of Hal Foster's Prince Valiant.
Third marriage[link]
As Barks blossomed creatively, his marriage to Clara deteriorated. This is the period referred to in Barks' famed quip that he could feel his creative juices flowing while the whiskey bottles hurled at him by a tipsy Clara flew by his head. They were divorced in 1951, his second and last divorce. In this period Barks dabbled in fine art, exhibiting paintings at local art shows. It was at one of these in 1952 he became acquainted with fellow exhibitor Margaret Wynnfred Williams (1917 - March 10, 1993), nicknamed Garé. She was an accomplished landscape artist, some of whose paintings are in the collection of the Leanin' Tree Museum of Western Art. During her lifetime, and to this day, note cards of her paintings are available from Leanin' Tree. Her nickname appears as a store name in the story "Christmas in Duckburg", featured on page 1 of Walt Disney’s Christmas Parade #9, published in 1958. Soon after they met, she started assisting Barks, handling the solid blacks and lettering, both of which he had found onerous. They married in 1954 and the union lasted until her death.
Later life[link]
Carl Barks retired in 1966, ironically the same year Walt Disney died, but was persuaded by editor Chase Craig to script stories for Western. The last new comic book story drawn by Carl Barks was a Daisy Duck tale ("The Dainty Daredevil") published in Walt Disney Comics Digest issue 5 (Nov. 1968). When bibliographer Michael Barrier asked Barks about why he drew it, Barks' vague recollection was no one was available and he was asked to do it as a favor by editor Chase Craig.
He wrote one Uncle Scrooge story, three Donald Duck stories and from 1970-1974 was the main writer for the Junior Woodchucks comic book (issues 6 through 25). The latter included environmental themes that Barks first explored in 1957 ["Land of the Pygmy Indians", Uncle Scrooge #18]. Barks also sold a few sketches to Western that were redrawn as covers. For a time the Barkses lived in Goleta, California before returning to the Inland Empire by moving to Temecula.
To make a little extra money beyond what his pension and scripting earnings brought in, Barks started doing oil paintings to sell at the local art shows where he and Garé exhibited. Subjects included humorous depictions of life on the farm and portraits of Native American princesses. These skillfully rendering paintings encouraged fan Glenn Bray to ask Barks if he could commission a painting of the ducks ("A Tall Ship and a Star to Steer Her By", taken from the cover of Walt Disney's Comics and Stories #108 by Barks). This prompted Barks to contact George Sherman at Disney's Publications Department to request permission to produce and sell oil paintings of scenes from his stories. In July 1971 Barks was granted a royalty-free license by Disney.[4] When word spread that Barks was taking commissions from those interested in purchasing an oil of the ducks, much to his astonishment the response quickly outstripped what he reasonably could produce in the next few years.
Ode to the Disney Ducks
<poem>They ride tall ships to the far away, and see the long ago. They walk where fabled people trod, and Yetis trod the snow.
They meet the folks who live on stars, and find them much like us, With food and love and happiness the things they most discuss.
The world is full of clans and cults abuzz as angry bees, And Junior Woodchucks snapping jeers at Littlest Chickadees.
The ducks show us that part of life is to forgive a slight. That black eyes given in revenge keep hatred burning bright.
So when our walks in sun or shade pass graveyards filled by wars, It's nice to stop and read of ducks whose battles leave no scars.
To read of ducks who parody our vain attempts at glory, They don't exist, but somehow leave us glad we bought their story.</poem>
Carl Barks – 1999
When Barks expressed dismay at coping with the backlog of orders he faced, fan/dealers Bruce Hamilton and Russ Cochran suggested Barks instead auction his paintings at conventions and via Cochran's catalog Graphic Gallery. By September 1974 Barks had discontinued taking commissions.[5]
At Boston's NewCon convention, in October 1975, the first Carl Barks oil painting auctioned at a comic book convention ("She Was Spangled and Flashy") sold for $2,500. Subsequent offerings saw an escalation in the prices realized. The buyer of this painting, Jerry Osborne, quickly became one of Barks' close friends. Barks even painted Osborne into the scene of his 1976 "July Fourth in Duckburg." Jerry Osborne delivered the eulogy at Barks' funeral at Grants Pass, Oregon.[citation needed]
In 1976, Barks and Garé went to Boston for the NewCon show, their first comic convention appearance. Among the other attendees was famed Little Lulu comic book scripter John Stanley; despite both having worked for Western Publishing this was the first time they met. The highlight of the convention was the auctioning of what was to that time the largest duck oil painting Barks had done, "July Fourth in Duckburg", which included depictions of several prominent Barks fans and collectors. It sold for a then record high amount: $6,400.
Soon thereafter a fan sold unauthorized prints of some of the Scrooge McDuck paintings, leading Disney to withdraw permission for further paintings. To meet demand for new work Barks embarked on a series of paintings of non-Disney ducks and fantasy subjects such as Beowulf and Xerxes. These were eventually collected in the limited-edition book Animal Quackers.
As the result of heroic efforts by Star Wars producer Gary Kurtz and screenwriter Edward Summer, Disney relented and in 1981, allowed Barks to do a now seminal oil painting called "Wanderers of Wonderlands" for a breakthrough limited edition book entitled Uncle Scrooge McDuck: His Life and Times. The book collected 11 classic Barks stories of Uncle Scrooge colored by artist Peter Ledger along with a new Scrooge story by Barks done storybook style with watercolor illustrations, "Go Slowly, Sands of Time". After being turned down by every major publisher in New York City, Kurtz and Summer published the book through Celestial Arts, which Kurtz acquired partly for this purpose. The book went on to become the model for virtually every important collection of comic book stories. It was the first book of its kind ever reviewed in Time Magazine and subsequently in Newsweek, and the first book review in Time Magazine with large color illustrations.
In 1977 and 1982, Barks attended the San Diego Comic Con. As with his appearance in Boston, the response to his presence was overwhelming, with long lines of fans waiting to meet Barks and get his autograph.
In 1981, Bruce Hamilton and Russ Cochran, two long-time Disney comics fans, decided to combine forces to bring greater recognition to the works of Carl Barks. Their first efforts went into establishing Another Rainbow Publishing, the banner under which they produced and issued the award-winning book, "The Fine Art of Walt Disney´s Donald Duck by Carl Barks", a comprehensive collection of the Disney duck paintings of this artist and storyteller. Not long after, the company began producing fine art lithographs of many of these paintings, in strictly limited editions, all signed by Barks, who eventually produced many original works for the series.
In 1983 Another Rainbow took up the daunting task of collecting the entire Disney comic book ouvré of Barks—over 500 stories in all—in the ten-set, thirty-volume Carl Barks Library. These oversized hardbound volumes reproduced Barks´ pages in pristine black and white line art, as close as possible to the way he would originally drawn them, and included mountains of special features, articles, reminiscences, interviews, storyboards, critiques, and more than a few surprises. This monumental project was finally completed in mid-1990.
In 1985 a new division was founded, Gladstone Publishing, which took up the then-dormant Disney comic book license. Gladstone introduced a whole new generation of Disney comic book readers to the wondrous storytelling of such luminaries as Barks, Paul Murry, and Floyd Gottfredson, as well as presenting the first works of modern Disney comics masters Don Rosa and William Van Horn. Seven years after Gladstone's founding, the Carl Barks Library was revived as full-color, high-quality squarebound comic albums (including the first-ever Carl Barks trading cards) - the Carl Barks Library in Color.
Barks relocated one last time to Grants Pass, Oregon near where he grew up, partly at the urging of friend and Broom Hilda artist Russell Myers, who lived in the area. The move also was motivated, Barks stated in another famous quip, by Temecula being too close to Disneyland and thus facilitating a growing torrent of drop-in visits by vacationing fans. In this period Barks made only one public appearance, at a comic book shop near Grants Pass.
From 1993 to 1998, Barks' career was managed by the "Carl Barks Studio" (Bill Grandey and Kathy Morby—They had sold Barks original art since 1979). This involved numerous art projects and activities, including a tour of 11 European countries in 1994, Iceland being the first foreign country he ever visited. Barks appeared at the first of many Disneyana conventions in 1993. Silk screen prints of paintings along with high-end art objects (such as original water colors, bronze figurines and ceramic tiles) were produced based on designs by Barks.
During the summer of 1994 and until his death, Carl Barks & his studio personally assigned Peter Reichelt, a museum exhibition producer from Mannheim, Germany, as his agent for Europe. Publisher "Edition 313" put out numerous lithographs. In 1997, tensions between Barks and the Studio eventually resulted in a lawsuit that was settled with an agreement that included the disbanding of the Studio. Barks never traveled to make another Disney appearance. He was represented by Rev. Ed Bergen, as he completed a final project. Gerry Tank and Jim Mitchell were to assist Barks in his final years.
During his Carl Barks Studio years, Barks created two more stories: the script for the final Uncle Scrooge story "Horsing Around with History", which was first published in Denmark in 1994 with Bill Van Horn art. The Barks outlines for Barks final Donald Duck story "Somewhere in Nowhere", were first published in 1997, in Italy, with art by Pat Block.
Austrian artist Gottfried Helnwein curated and organized the first solo museum-exhibition of Carl Barks. Between 1994 and 1998 the retrospective was shown in ten European museums and seen by more than 400,000 visitors.[6]
At the same time in spring 1994, Reichelt and Ina Brockmann designed a special museum exhibition tour about Barks' life and work. Also represented for the first time at this exhibition were Disney artists Al Taliaferro and Floyd Gottfredson. Since 1995, more than 500,000 visitors have attended the shows in Europe.
Reichelt also translated the Michael Barrier Barks biography into German and published it in 1994.
Final days and death[link]
Still living in a new home in Grants Pass, Oregon which he and Garé had built next door to their original home, Barks died in 2000 at the age of 99, seven years after Garé had died.
Although he was undergoing chemotherapy for leukemia he was, according to caregiver Serene Hunickle, "funny up to the end."
Barks' influence[link]
Barks' Donald Duck stories were rated #7 on Comic's Journal list of 100 top comics; his Uncle Scrooge stories were rated #20.
Steven Spielberg and George Lucas have acknowledged that the rolling-boulder booby trap in the opening scene of Raiders of the Lost Ark was inspired by the 1954 Carl Barks Uncle Scrooge adventure "The Seven Cities of Cibola" (Uncle Scrooge #7). Lucas and Spielberg have also said that some of Barks's stories about space travel and the depiction of aliens had an influence on them.[7] Lucas wrote the foreword to the 1982 Uncle Scrooge McDuck: His Life and Times. In it he calls Barks’s stories "cinematic" and "a priceless part of our literary heritage".
The Walt Disney Treasures DVD set Chronological Donald, Volume 2 includes a salute to Barks.
Carl Barks has an asteroid named after him, 2730 Barks. A Cornell scientist was inspired by Barks' tale "Island in the Sky".
In Almere, Netherlands a street was named after him: Carl Barksweg. The same neighborhood also includes a Donald Ducklaan and a Goofystraat.
A 1949 Donald Duck ten-pager features Donald raising a yacht from the ocean floor by filling it with ping pong balls. In December 1965 Karl Krøyer, a Dane, lifted the sunken freight vessel Al Kuwait in the Kuwait Harbor by filling the hull with 27 million tiny inflatable balls of polystyrene.[8] Although the suggestion is often made, Krøyer denies having been inspired by this Barks story. Some sources claim Krøyer was denied a Dutch patent registration (application number NL 6514306) for his invention on the grounds that the Barks story was a prior publication of the invention. However no definite proof of this story is available.[9][10] Krøyer later successfully raised another ship off Greenland using the same method, and several other sunken vessels worldwide have since been raised by modified versions of this concept. The television show MythBusters also tested this method and was able to raise a small boat.
For those currently drawing Disney Duck comics, the influence of Barks cannot be overstated. For artists such as Daan Jippes and Freddy Milton, Barks' comics have made a great impact. Don Rosa, one of the most popular living Disney artists, and possibly the one who has been most keen on connecting the various stories into a coherent universe and chronology, considers (with few exceptions) all Barks' duck stories as canon, and all others as apocryphal. Rosa has said that a number of novelists and movie-makers cite Carl Barks as their 'major influence and inspiration'.[11]
The popularity of Barks' work in Europe is high, and has been that way for years. When the news of Barks' passing was hardly covered by the press in America, "in Europe the sad news was flashed instantly across the airwaves and every newspaper — they realized the world had lost one of the most beloved, influential and well-known creators in international culture."[12]
Dozens of noted comic book artists have taken up elements of Barks' style, especially his ink and pen work.[citation needed] In the US elements of Barks' oil painting style of the ducks were evident in the computer animated, 3-D look Mickey's Twice Upon a Christmas released to video in 2005.[citation needed]
The video game Donald Duck: Goin' Quackers is dedicated to the memory of Carl Barks.
Carl Barks drew an early Andy Panda comic book story published in New Funnies #76, 1943. It is one of his few stories to feature humans interacting with funny animal characters (another is Dangerous Disguise, Four Color #308, 1951[13]). See List of Fictional Pandas.
The life story of Carl Barks, largely drawing upon his relationship with Disney and the phonetic similarity of his name to Karl Marx, serves as a loose inspiration to one of the subplots in The Last Song of Manuel Sendero by Ariel Dorfman, though his biography in this novel veers sharply into science fiction fantasy and symbolism.
The first image ever to be displayed on an Apple Macintosh was a scan of Carl Barks' Scrooge McDuck.[14]
Bibliography[link]
- Coo Coo #1, Hamilton Comics, 1997 (a facsimile of one of the racy magazines Barks did cartoons for in the thirties).
- The Carl Barks' Big Book of Barney Bear (ISBN 978-1-60010-929-4), 2011 collection edited by Craig Yoe and published by IDW of the Barney Bear and Benny Burro stories that originally appeared in Our Gang Comics #11-36 (May/June 1944 - June 1947); Barks' one substantial non-Disney series.
- Carl Barks Library, 1984–1990, 30 hardback volumes in black and white published by Another Rainbow Publishing.
- Carl Barks Library (graphic album format, in color) 1992-1998
- The Carl Barks Collection 2005-2009, 30 volume limited edition published by Egmont in Norway, Sweden, Denmark, and Germany, and by Sanoma in Finland. Edited by Barks expert Geoffrey Blum.
- The Complete Carl Barks Disney Library 2011-?, hardback volumes with separate Uncle Scrooge and Donald Duck volumes from Fantagraphics Books.
Notable stories[link]
- "Donald Duck Finds Pirate Gold", Four Color #9, October 1942
- "The Mummy's Ring" (Four Color #29, September 1943) presciently dealt with the repatriation of antiquities to their country of origin. This has become a major issue in the contemporary art world and among museums (an example is the dispute between Yale and Peru over artifacts from Machu Picchu)
- "Christmas on Bear Mountain", Four Color #178, December 1947, first appearance of Scrooge McDuck.
- "The Old Castle's Secret", Four Color #189 June 1948
- "Sheriff of Bullet Valley", Four Color #199, October 1948
- "Lost in the Andes!", Four Color #223, April 1949
- "Vacation Time", Vacation Parade #1, July 1950
- "A Financial Fable", Walt Disney's Comics and Stories #126, March 1951
- "Donald Duck in Old California!", Four Color #328, May 1951
- "A Christmas for Shacktown", Four Color #367, January 1952
- "Only a Poor Old Man", Four Color #386 (Uncle Scrooge #1), March 1952
- "The Golden Helmet", Four Color #408, July 1952
- "Back to the Klondike", Four Color #456 (Uncle Scrooge #2), March 1953
- "Tralla La", Uncle Scrooge #6, June 1954
- "The Fabulous Philosopher's Stone", Uncle Scrooge #10, June 1955
- "The Golden Fleecing", Uncle Scrooge #12, December 1955
- "Land Beneath the Ground!", Uncle Scrooge #13, March 1956
- "The Money Well", Uncle Scrooge #21, March 1958
- "The Golden River", Uncle Scrooge #22, 1958
- "Island in the Sky", Uncle Scrooge #29, March 1960
- "North of the Yukon", Uncle Scrooge #59, September 1965
Chronological List of Disney comics by Carl Barks.
Awards[link]
- The Shazam Award for Best Writer (Humor Division) in 1970
- The Academy of Comic Book Arts Hall of Fame Award in 1973
- The Inkpot in 1977 from the San Diego Comic Con
- Inducted into the Eisner Awards Hall of Fame in 1987.
- Inducted into the William Randolph Hearst Cartoon Hall of Fame.
- The Comics Buyer's Guide Fan Award for Favorite Writer in 1996.
- The Walt Disney Company bestowed a Duckster award in 1971 and their Disney Legends award in 1991
- The series Carl Barks Library received the Comics Buyer's Guide Fan Award for Favorite Reprint Graphic Novel/Album for 1996.
Art materials[link]
Barks was an enthusiastic user of Esterbrook pens. He particularly used a Nº 356 model to ink and letter his Donald Duck comic-book pages.[15]
| “ | "...I used a #356 Esterbrook art and drafting pen which could do everything from thin 'fadeaways' to broad accented curve sweeps on foreground circles such as the ducks' forms. The trick of breaking in a new pen, I discovered, is to soak it for several minutes in the ink bottle. Then wipe off the ink and the pen's varnish. For some weird reason most new pens then start out flexible and free-flowing..." (Letter to Scott Matheson, March 21, 1973) [16] | ” |
See also[link]
References[link]
- ^ Morten Harper. "Den gode tegneren, quote TEGN, 1994". tegneserier.no. Archived from the original on 2007-10-15. http://web.archive.org/web/20071015143405/http://www.tegneserier.no/default.asp?lib=personer&ID=71&bhcp=1. (Norwegian)
- ^ Blum, Geoffrey ([199?]). "Barks and the Bending Panel". The Carl Barks Library of Donald Duck Adventures in Color (18): [46].
- ^ Spicer, John. Letter, April 11, 1960.
- ^ thecorrespondence1970s
- ^ http://web.archive.org/web/20091028084238/http://www.geocities.com/~jimlowe/barks/images/barkcard.jpg
- ^ Gottfried Helnwein | KÜNSTLER|Bibliografie|“WER IST CARL BARKS?”"Wer ist Carl Barks?"
- ^ [1], Lucas comments on the influence of Bark's style of story flow.
- ^ International Starch: Karl Kroyer WITandWISDOM Donald Duck version
- ^ The "Donald Duck as prior art" case (in Patents : When is something prior art @ iusmentis.com
- ^ Donald Duck verslaat uitvinder! donderdag 1 juni 2006 Wayback machine.
- ^ [2], Rosa's comments on Barks
- ^ [3], Rosa's estimation of Barks' popularity in Europe
- ^ Dangerous Disguise
- ^ [4], Folklore.org: Macintosh Stories : Scrooge McDuck
- ^ Barks' Esterbook 356
- ^ Carl Barks letters - Hans Presto nibs website
Further reading[link]
- Michael Barrier, Carl Barks and the Art of Comic Book, USA 1981, see Inducks file.
- Donald Ault, Carl Barks Conversations, University Press of Mississippi, Jackson (Mississippi) 2003, see Inducks file. The book by the University of Florida professor contains some of the most important interviews Barks made between 1962 and 2000 (Thomas Andrae, Michael Barrier, Bill Blackbeard, E. B. Boatner, Glenn Bray, Paul Ciotti, Sébastien Durand, Bob Foster, Didier Ghez, Stephen Gong, Leonardo Gori, Bruce Hamilton, Gottfried Helnwein, Markku Kivekäs, Michael Naiman, Bill Spicer, Francesco Stajano, Klaus Strzyz, Edward Summer, Erik Svane, Don Thompson, Maggie Thompson, Malcolm Willits, Nicky Wright, and Lynda Ault).
- List of Carl Barks interviews and articles in the international press
- Carl Barks, Edward Summer Walt Disney's Uncle Scrooge McDuck: His Life and Times, Berkeley, California: Celestial Arts, 1981 (first trade edition 1987).
- Edward Summer. "Of Ducks and Men: Cark Barks Interviewed. Panels #2 (1981)
- The Unexpurgated Carl Barks, Hamilton Comics, 1997
- Gottfried Helnwein, 'Wer ist Carl Barks' (Who is Carl Barks?), texts by Roy Disney, Gottfried Helnwein, Carsten Laqua, Andreas Platthaus und Ulrich Schröder, (ISBN 3-8118-5341-4).
- Thomas Andrae, Carl Barks and the Disney Comic Book, University Press of Mississippi, 2006 (ISBN 1578068584, ISBN 97815780658586).
- Fernández, Manuel (June 2008). "Carl Barks and the Disney Comic Book: Unmasking the Myth of Modernity". The Journal of Popular Culture (Blackwell Publishing) 41 (3): 539–540. DOI:10.1111/j.1540-5931.2008.00534_2.x.
- Alfons Moliné, Carl Barks, un viento ácrata, Madrid: Ediciones Sinsentido, Colección Sin palabras / serie A, núm.16 (2007).
External links[link]
- Carl Barks at the INDUCKS
- Carl Barks presented at Lambiek's Comiclopedia
- Carl Barks at the Internet Movie Database
- Carl Barks Stories
- The HTML Barks base resource site (English) (German)
- Carl Barks.dk resource site (English) (Danish)
- Duckstories Carl Barks and Don Rosa's stories and characters database (English) (French)
- Thoughts on Carl Barks’s Hundredth Birthday Essay by biographer Michael Barrier
- finding guide to collection of Carl Barks correspondence, 1963-1984 held at the California State University-Northridge Oviatt Library Special Collections Department
- The "Donald Duck as prior art" case Patent case discussion on Ius Mentis
- Guidebook to the Carl Barks universe fansite including Ode to the Disney Ducks
|
|||||||||||||||||
| Persondata | |
|---|---|
| Name | Barks, Carl |
| Alternative names | |
| Short description | Illustrator, comic book creator |
| Date of birth | 1901-03-27 |
| Place of birth | Merrill, Oregon, United States |
| Date of death | 2000-08-25 |
| Place of death | Grants Pass, Oregon, United States |
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This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License, which means that you can copy and modify it as long as the entire work (including additions) remains under this license.
