Prabhu Deva
Born	Prabhu Deva Sundaram (1973-04-03) 3 April 1973 (age 39) Mysore, Karnataka, India
Occupation	Film actor, director, choreographer
Years active	1989—present

Prabhu Deva born 3 April 1973 is an Indian dancer, choreographer, film actor and director. He has performed in a wide range of dancing styles. He has also been labelled as Indian Michael Jackson and holds Michael Jackson as his dance idol.^[1]

Early life and career[link]

Akshay Kumar, Sonakshi Sinha and Prabhudeva at the first look launch of the movie.

Prabhu Deva was born in Mysore, Karnataka and grew up in Alwarpet, Chennai, Tamil Nadu.^[2] Prabhu Deva was inspired by his father, Mugur Sundar (known as Sundaram Master), who was a choreographer for popular South Indian movies. Prabhu took dancing as his passion, learning Indian classical dance forms such as Bharatanatyam as well as Western styles. He is widely considered to be one of Indian cinema's greatest dancers and choreographers; Prabhu Deva has revolutionized some of the aspects of dance and choreography in modern popular Indian cinema.^[3] His brothers Raju Sundaram and Nagendra Prasad are also established South Indian choreographers.

Prabhu Deva's first movie as a choreographer was Vetri Vizha (1989). Before that, he had appeared as a background dancer for a song in the Tamil film Agni Natchathiram. He has since then choreographed in over 100 movies. From choreography, he went on to establish himself as an actor. His first film as an actor was Indhu (1994) with actress Roja. In 1999, Deva, Shobhana and A. R. Rahman performed with a Tamil cinema dancing troupe at the "Michael Jackson and Friends" concert in Munich, Germany. He has a significant fan following in the Tamil, Telugu and Kannada film industries. He acted alongside his brothers in the movie 123. As of 2010, he serves as chairman and director of the Prabhudeva's Dance Academy in Singapore.^[4] He planned to release his first video album called It is boring (in Tamil போருடா) in 2012.^[5] He is acting in lead role in the film ABCD (Any Body Can Dance), the first 3D dance film in India, co-starring with So You Think You Can Dance contestant Lauren Gottlieb.^[6]

Personal life[link]

Prabhu Deva was married to Ramlath for 15 years and had three children; their eldest son (Basavaraju/Vishal) died in 2008 after suffering from cancer.^[7][8] During the making the film Villu in 2008, reports suggested that he was in a serious relationship with actress Nayantara, with some sources later even claiming that they had married secretly in June 2009.^[9] She had tattooed his name on her wrist and began appearing with him in public, while keeping silence neither denying nor confirming the relationship.^[10][11]

In September 2010, Prabhu Deva openly confessed his love for Nayantara and further stated that he would marry her soon. The issue soon gained media attention and turned into a controversy, since Prabhu Deva was not divorced from his wife Ramalath. Unwilling to agree for a divorce, she filed a petition at the family court, seeking directions against her husband and Nayantara from marrying, attending functions together and receiving awards as husband and wife, and requesting a reunion with him. In 2012, Nayantara confirmed that she had ended her relationship with Prabhu Deva.^{[12][13][14][15][16]}

Other appearances[link]

Prabhu Deva's performance in 2012 Indian Premier League

• Prabhu Deva was also noticed when he made brief appearances in solo items such as "Rajathi Raja" in Agni Natchathiram (1988), "April Mayile" in Idhayam (1991), "Lallaku Doldapi Ma" in Suriyan (1992), "Chinna Rasave" in Walter Vetrivel (1993), and "Chikku Bukku Rayile" in Gentleman (1993).
• He performed with Madhuri Dixit for the song "Ke Sera Sera" in the movie Pukar.
• He acted along with Lawrence Raghavendra in the hit movie Style.
• He performed with Apache Indian in the song "No Problem" in the film Love Birds.
• He made a special appearance in Pokkiri (which was directed by himself) with Vijay in the song "Aadungada".
• He performed in the film Abra Ka Dabra for the song "Om Sh".
• He performed in the Nana Patekar – Karisma Kapoor film Shakti for a song.
• He performed with Vijay in the movie Villu for the song "Hey Rama". This was a guest appearance. The film was also directed by him.
• He performed with Bollywood actors Salman Khan and Govinda for a song in the 2009 movie Wanted.
• He performed with Hollywood actress cum popular singer Katy Perry at the 5th edition of IPL opening ceremony on 03 April 2012 in Chennai along with Amitabh Bachchan, Salman Khan, Kareena Kapoor and Priyanka Chopra. This event was special to Prabhu Deva as the actor shared his 39th birthday on the same day.^[17][18] He foot-tapped to some popular numbers including Main aisa kyun hun from Lakshya and Tera hi jalwa from Wanted.^[19]

Awards[link]

• He is a two-time winner of the National Film Award for Best Choreography for his work on the film Minsaara Kanavu (1997) in Tamil and Lakshya (2004) in Hindi, as well as a Filmfare Best Choreography Award (Telugu) for the Telugu film Nuvvostanante Nenoddantana (2005) and Filmfare Award Best Choreography for film Lakshya (2004).
• In 2001, he was nominated for the Star Screen Award for Best Choreography, for choreographing the dance sequences in the Hindi film Pukar (2000).
• In 2005, he won the Star Screen Award for Best Choreography, the Filmfare Best Choreography Award, and the National Film Award for Best Choreography, for choreographing the dance sequences in the Hindi film Lakshya.
• In 2007, he won a Vijay Award for Favourite Director and a Mathrubhumi Award for Best Director in Tamil for the film Pokkiri.
• He has been honoured with a life membership at the International Film and Television Research Centre of the Asian Academy of Film & Television by Sandeep Marwah.

Benny Lava[link]

	Kalluri Vaanil noicon The Tamil song became widely known to the English internet audience for its phonetic lyrics.
Problems listening to this file? See media help.

On 18 August 2007, a music video for the song "Kalluri Vaanil" from the Indian-Tamil movie Pennin Manathai Thottu was uploaded to YouTube by Mike Sutton (Youtube user Buffalax).^[20] The video was created as a soramimi, edited to include incorrect English subtitles that phonetically approximate the original Tamil lyrics.

The name Benny Lava comes from Sutton's homophonic translation of the Tamil lead line "Kalluri vaanil kaayndha nilaavo?" as "My loony bun is fine, Benny Lava!" (original meaning: "The moon (metaphor for 'my love') that scorched the college campus"). This video led other YouTube users to refer to Prabhu Deva as "Benny Lava".

Reactions to the "Kalluri Vaanil" soramimi were mixed. Some felt that the video was done in "good fun" while others worried that their culture was being mocked.^[20] The video was described by the Philippine Daily Inquirer as a "Catchy melody, a battalion of back-up dancers, colorful costumes, impressive vocal gymnastics, jaw-dropping choreography this music video has it all. And if those aren't enough, the person who uploaded this vid also provided subtitles so you can sing along. They aren't the real lyrics though, but just what they sound in English, resulting in a lot of nonsense." [sic]^[21] The music video was featured on The Colbert Report on 4 December 2008^[22] and appeared on the Heavy Metal documentary Global Metal. As of at least April 1, 2011, the original video has been removed because of the disabling of Buffalax's YouTube account. However, several other users have uploaded copies of the original video on their YouTube accounts.

Filmography[link]

As actor[link]

As director[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Prabhu Deva at the Internet Movie Database

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Prabhu Deva

Shahid Kapoor
Shahid Kapoor on the sets of DLF IPL Extraa Innings.
Born	(1981-02-25) 25 February 1981 (age 31) Delhi, India
Occupation	Actor, Dancer
Years active	2003–present
Parents	Pankaj Kapoor Neelima Azeem

Shahid Kapoor (born 25 February 1981^[1]) 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.

Early life[link]

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."^[2]

As a child, he studied in Rajhans Vidyalaya, Mumbai. He has three half siblings: a sister named Sanah and brothers named Ruhaan and Ishaan Khattar; Ishaan acted with him in the movie Vaah! Life Ho To Aisi (2005). His maternal grandfather was Anwar Azeem, a noted Marxist journalist and author from Bihar.^[3] His great great grandfather was the film director, screenwriter, Urdu novelist and journalist Khwaja Ahmad Abbas more popularly known as K. A. Abbas. His mother Neelima is the daughter of Anwar Azeem, one of the greatest Urdu writers. K.A. Abbas in turn was the grandson of Hali, the chief protégé of Urdu poet, Ghalib.^[4][5]

Career[link]

Early career, until 2005[link]

Before starting off his career as an actor, Kapoor worked in several music videos and ads, including the Pepsi commercial with Shahrukh Khan, Kajol and Rani Mukerji post Kuch Kuch Hota Hai (1998) and the music video Aankhon Me Tera Hi Chehra by the Aryans along with Hrishitaa Bhatt. While doing so, he decided to join the Shiamak Davar Institute for the Performing Arts (SDIPA), where he was later seen in Subhash Ghai's film Taal (1999) as a background dancer in the song "Kahin Aag Lage Lag Jawe" along with actress Aishwarya Rai.

In 2003, Kapoor played his first leading role as Rajiv Mathur, a carefree young man in Ken Ghosh's moderately successful love story Ishq Vishk.^[6] Appearing opposite Amrita Rao and Shenaz Treasurywala, the film was well received by audiences and Kapoor's performance earned him a Filmfare Best Male Debut Award. Film critic Taran Adarsh from indiaFM wrote, "Shahid Kapoor is an actor to watch. He has all the qualities to hit the top slot. Not only is he good looking, but he is an amazing performer as well. Very original as a performer [sic], the youngster has handled the dramatic and emotional moments with flourish. He is an exceptional dancer as well. All he needs to do is pick and choose his forthcoming assignments with care, so that the journey to the top slot is minus hiccups."^[7]

The following year, Kapoor joined once again with director Ken Ghosh in the thriller Fida, where he co-starred alongside Kareena Kapoor and Fardeen Khan. The film failed to do well at the box office, yet Kapoor's performance was praised.^[8] The Tribune concluded, "...Shahid Kapoor shines in his role. He looks fresh. As an impulsive emotional and innocent guy, who is sucked into crime because of these very qualities, he manages to evoke your sympathies."^[9] He then appeared in the romantic comedy Dil Maange More opposite Soha Ali Khan, Tulip Joshi, and Ayesha Takia. His performance opened to mixed reviews; Rediff.com wrote that "Shahid tends to imitate Shahrukh Khan a lot. He does it well in some scenes, overdoes it in others..."^[10]

Featuring in three more films in 2005, success continued to elude Kapoor.^[11] However, his performance as Jaidev Vardhan, a man who is sucked into the world of money and greed in John M. Matthan's drama Shikhar was critically acclaimed, earning Kapoor his first Star Screen Award for Best Actor nomination. According to IndiaFM, "Shahid Kapoor is only improving with every film. He matches up to Ajay in almost all sequences."^[12]

Breakthrough, 2006–present[link]

In 2006, Kapoor starred in 36 China Town. Revolving around the story of seven individuals and a murder, the film became a moderate success despite receiving mixed reviews from critics.^[13] Shortly after the release of the film, Kapoor's second release of the year, Priyadarshan's comedy Chup Chup Ke, followed. The film became a moderate success at the box office.^[13]

Kapoor's last release of 2006 was Sooraj R. Barjatya's romantic drama Vivah, a film depicting the journey of two individuals from engagement to marriage. Co-starring alongside Amrita Rao, the film was received favourably by most critics and became one of the highest grossing films of the year as well as Kapoor's second biggest commercial success to date.^[13][14] Kapoor's performance earned his second consecutive nomination for Best Actor at the Star Screen Awards. Taran Adarsh wrote, "Shahid Kapoor performs like never before. If he was super-cool in Ishq Vishk and showed flashes of brilliance in Fida, you've to watch him in Vivah to see his growth as a tremendous actor. He is exceptional in emotional sequences."^[15]

During the summer of 2006, Kapoor embarked on his first world tour, the Rockstars Concert, along with Bollywood stars, Salman Khan, Kareena Kapoor, John Abraham, Esha Deol, Mallika Sherawat and Zayed Khan.

In 2007, Kapoor appeared in two movies. His first release was Ahmed Khan's Fool and Final. The film received negative reviews and failed to do well at the box office; Kapoor's performance in the film did not receive positive reviews.^[16][17] His next release, Imtiaz Ali's comedy-romance Jab We Met, opposite Kareena Kapoor, became one of the biggest hits of the year.^[16] The film tells the story of two people with two very different personalities meeting each other on a train and how they fall in love eventually. Kapoor portrayed the character of Aditya Kashyap, a dejected young industrialist full of angst and despair. The film was well-received by critics and Kapoor's performance earned him several nominations for Best Actor at a number of award ceremonies, including Filmfare. Rajeev Masand from CNN-IBN noted, "Despite the risk of being overshadowed by Kareena, his co-star in the film, Shahid Kapur leaves an indelible impression with a performance that is understated and mature, and indeed the perfect foil to Kareena's boisterousness."^[18] Kapoor then appeared in the Aziz Mirza-directed film, Kismat Konnection (2008), opposite Vidya Balan. Upon release, the film under-performed at the box office.^[19]

In 2009, Kapoor portrayed the dual role of twins Charlie and Guddu in the caper thriller, Kaminey. Directed by Vishal Bhardwaj, the film was a critical and commercial success and received mostly positive reviews. Kapoor's performance was also critically acclaimed. Rajeev Masand from CNN-IBN wrote, "Shahid Kapur rises to the challenge of creating two entirely different characters out of Charlie and Guddu, and delivers a credible performance as each. Breaking out of his chocolate-boy image, he gives evidence of his potential when trusted with well-written roles."^[20] Later in the year, Kapoor appeared alongside Rani Mukerji in Anurag Singh's romantic comedy Dil Bole Hadippa!, which failed to do well at the Indian box office.

In 2010, Kapoor appeared in Ken Ghosh's film Chance Pe Dance opposite Genelia D'Souza, in which he portrayed the role of a struggling Bollywood actor.^[21] The movie received poor review from critics, but Kapoor's performance was well received.^[22][23] He then starred in Ahmed Khan's Paathshala in a extended cameo alongside Ayesha Takia and Nana Patekar. This was then followed by Yash Raj Films Badmaash Company which was released on 7th May 2010 and opened mixed to positive reviews and was an above average success at the box office and his performance in the film was received well too. His last release of the year was the long delayed Satish Kaushik's Milenge Milenge.

In 2011, Kapoor appeared opposite Sonam Kapoor in Mausam (2011), a movie directed and written by Pankaj Kapoor. The film received mixed to positive response from critics, however his performance was generally well received. Critic Taran Adarsh wrote, "Shahid gives his all to this role, submitting himself to his director-father to mould him the way he chooses to. It won't be erroneous to state that Shahid surpasses all his previous performances, including the one in Kaminey, with this film. The film also marks the coming of age of this actor."^[24] His upcoming venture, Teri Meri Kahaani opposite Priyanka Chopra is expected for release on 22 June, 2012.

Personal life[link]

Kapoor identifies himself as a vegetarian.^[25] While filming Fida (2004), he began dating Kareena Kapoor.^[26] They separated during the filming of Jab We Met (2007).^[27] According to him, they remained on good terms, with him saying, "I wish her all the happiness in the world. I have great respect for her. She is a wonderful girl."^[28]

Filmography[link]

See also[link]

• List of Indian film actors

References[link]