Vani ვანი
Vani. View from the Vani Archaeological Museum.
Vani ვანი Location of vani in Georgia
Coordinates: 42°05′02.18″N 42°30′43.01″E / 42.0839389°N 42.5119472°E / 42.0839389; 42.5119472
Country	Georgia
Mkhare	Imereti
Population (2002)
• Total	4, 600
Time zone	Georgian Time (UTC+4)

Vani (Georgian: ვანი) is a town in Imereti region of western Georgia, at the Sulori river (a tributary of the Rioni river), 41 km southwest from the regional capital Kutaisi. The town with the population of 4,600 (2002 est.) is an administrative center of the Municipality of Vani comprising also 43 neighbouring villages (total area – 557 km²; population – 34,000, 2002 est.).

Systematic archaeological studies (N.Khoshtaria, O.Lordkipanidze) carried out in the Vani environs since 1947 revealed the remnants of a rich city of the ancient power of Colchis. The name of this ancient settlement is still unknown but four distinct stages of uninterrupted occupation have been identified. The first phase is dated to the 8th-7th centuries BC. In this period Vani is presumed to have been a major cultic centre. The second phase - end of the 7th and beginning of the 6th to the first half of the 4th century BC - is represented by cultural layers, remains of wooden structures, sacrificial altars cut in the rocky ground, and rich burials. It is assumed that on this stage Vani was the centre of a political-administrative unit of the kingdom of Colchis. The third phase covers the second half of the 4th - first half of the 3rd century BC. It is represented largely by rich burials, remains of stone structures. To the fourth phase (the 3rd-mid-1st cent. BC) belong defensive walls, the so-called small gate, sanctuaries and cultic buildings (temples, altars sacrificial platforms), and the remains of a foundry for casting bronze statues. It is assumed that in the 3rd-1st centuries BC. Vani was a templar city. According to the archaeological data, the city was destroyed in the mid-1st century BC. Subsequently, Vani declined to a village and was officially granted a status of a town only in 1981.

In town Vani there is an interesting museum (founded in 1985), where some unique pieces of the ancient Colchis are exhibited.

International relations[link]

Twin towns — Sister cities[link]

• Fallon, Nevada, USA
• Prosser, Washington, USA - From 2010 ^[1]
• Amvrosiivka, Ukraine - From 2011 ^[2]

Notes[link]

Bibliography[link]

• Lordkipanidze O., "Vani, An Ancient City of Colchis." Greek, Roman and Byzantine Studies. 32(2): 151-195, 16 plates. Durham, USA, 1991.

External links[link]

• Otar Lordkipanidze Vani Archeological Museum
• Vani, Georgia at the Archaeological Institute of America website
• Colchis, the land of the Golden Fleece

Coordinates: 42°05′N 42°30′E / 42.083°N 42.5°E / 42.083; 42.5

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Vani Viswanath is a South Indian actress. She has acted in Malayalam, Kannada, Tamil and Telugu movies. Vani has won the Kerala State Film Award for Second Best Actress for her performance in Susanna directed by T. V. Chandran.^[1] She was termed as Mollywood's "Action Queen".^[2]

Biography[link]

Vani was born in Ollur, Thrissur in 1971. She had appeared in Kannada, Telugu and Malayalam movies. While acting in Malayalam films, Vani fell in love with co-star Baburaj, who was one of the most prominent actors in Malayalam films doing negative roles. The couple married in 2002 and have two children.

Filmography[link]

The * indicates a Television Role

References[link]

External links[link]

• Vani Viswanathan at the Internet Movie Database

Hema Malini
Born	Hema Malini R. Chakravarthy (1948-10-16) 16 October 1948 (age 63)[1] Ammankudi, Tiruchirappalli district, Tamil Nadu, India[1]
Occupation	actress, director, producer, politician
Years active	1965–present
Spouse	Dharmendra (1980–present)
Children	Esha Deol Ahana Deol

Hema Malini (Tamil: ஹேமா மாலினி, Hēmā Māliṉi ^?; born 16 October 1948) is an Indian actress, director and producer, as well as a Bharatanatyam dancer-choreographer. Making her acting debut in Sapno Ka Saudagar (1968), she went on to appear in numerous Bollywood films, most notably those with actor and future-husband Dharmendra.^[2] She was initially promoted as "Dream Girl", and in 1977 starred in a film of the same name.^[3] During this period, she established herself as one of Hindi cinema's leading actresses, noted for both her comic and dramatic roles, her beauty, and her accomplished classical dancing.^[4][5][6]

Malini is one of the most successful female film stars in the history of Indian cinema.^[5][7][8] Appearing in over 150 films in a career span of 40 years, she has starred in a large number of successful films, and her performances in both commercial and arthouse cinema, were often recognised.^[5] During her career, she has been nominated 11 times for the Filmfare Award for Best Actress, of which she won once in 1972. In 2000, she was presented with the Filmfare Lifetime Achievement Award. In the same year, she was honoured with the Padma Shri, the fourth-highest civilian honour, by the Government of India.^[9] She also served as the Chairperson of the National Film Development Corporation. She was awarded the prestegious "SaMaPa Vitasta Award 2006" in Delhi by SaMaPa - "Sopori Academy of Music And Performing Arts" by Music Legend Pandit Bhajan Sopori for her lifetime contribution and service to Indian culture and Dance.

Of late Malini spends most of her time on charitable and social ventures, while making occasional appearances in films. She is a member of India's Bharatiya Janata Party and was nominated member by the party in Rajya Sabha, the upper House of parliament during 2003–2009.^[10]

Early life and family[link]

Hema Malini Chakravarty was born into a Tamil Iyengar family in Ammankudi, Tiruchirappalli to V.S. Ramanujam Chakravarthy^[11] and Jaya Chakravarthy on 16 October 1948.^[1] Her mother was a film producer. Malini was the youngest of the three children and has two brothers.^[12] She was not interested in academic studies but enjoyed history, her favourite subject in school.^[12] She was educated at Andhra Mahila Sabha in Chennai.^[11]

Some of Bollywood's most popular Bollywood actors like Sanjeev Kumar and Jeetendra have proposed to Hema Malini.^[13][14] In her authorized biography, Hema Malini mentions she almost accepted Jeetendra's proposal, but later backed out.^[13] Unable to tolerate the rejection, Sanjeev Kumar was reportedly driven to alcoholism and remained unmarried till his death in 1985.^[13]

Hema fell in love with her co-star Dharmendra during the filming of Sholay.^[15] She eventually married him in 1980. Before they married, they both converted to Islam,^[16] since Dharmendra was already married to Prakash Kaur^[17][18][19] who refused to divorce him. Apart from Sholay, the Dharmendra-Hema pair appeared together in films like Seeta Aur Geeta, Dreamgirl, Charas and The Burning Train. After her marriage she became the step-mother of Sunny Deol and Bobby Deol, both popular actors in Bollywood. She has two daughters with Dharmendra, Esha Deol (born 1982) and Ahana Deol (born 1984). Her elder daughter Esha is a well-known actress in Bollywood while her younger daughter Ahana is an aspiring director^[20] who worked as an assistant director to Sanjay Leela Bhansali in his film Guzarish (2010) which starred Hrithik Roshan and Aishwarya Rai.^[21][22]

Hema Malini's niece is actress Madhoo who had starred in films Phool Aur Kaante (1991), Roja (1992)^[23] and Annayya (1993)

Film career[link]

Debut: 1960s[link]

Hema was considered for a Tamil film when she was 15 but rejected by director C. V. Sridhar saying that she was too thin.^[24] In 1965, she got an opportunity to act in a short episode as dancer in Pandava Vanavasam, a Telugu film. Later Ananthaswamy, a film poducer offered her a role opposite Raj Kapoor in his film Sapno Ka Saudagar (1968).^[24] She was promoted as the dream girl of Bollywood right from that film itself.^[24]

Breakthrough: 1970s[link]

In Johnny Mera Naam (1970), she was cast in a more pivotal role and the film became a blockbuster. She took challenging roles which most of the heroines of the 1960s refused to do. She played the role of a young widow in Andaaz (1971) and in Lal Patthar (1971) she played a character with negative shades.^[24] The following year, Hema double-roled with Dharmendra and Sanjeev Kumar in Seeta Aur Geeta.^[25] Even after many years the film remains one of the best in her career.^[25] The film was a blockbuster and earned her first Filmfare Best Actress Award.^[26] Within four years of making her debut, she established herself as one of the leading actresses in Bollywood.^[4]

During the mid 70s, her fans started calling her "Dream Girl", an allusion to the movie of the same name where she starred opposite Dharmendra.^[24]

A majority of her films released during this period were highly successful; Sanyasi, Dharmatma and Pratigya. Sholay, released in 1975, became a box-office phenomenon, where she played the role of Basanti, an unforgettable role of a talkative girl.^[24]

Malini starred in many movies throughout the 1970s and is perhaps best remembered for her glamour, style, and accomplished classical dancing.^[13][27] The Dharmendra-Hema pair had back to back hits from the early 70's like Sharafat, Tum Haseen Main Jawan, Naya Zamana, Raja Jani, Seeta Aur Geeta starring together in 28 movies in all, eventually marrying him in 1980.^[24] The pair continued with box office hit movies like Patthar Aur Payal, Dost, Charas, Jugnu, Azaad, Dillagi and Dil Kaa Heera. She also achieved some strong dramatic or comic moments in films like Trishul, Joshila and Khushboo. In the late 1970s she acted in female-centric movies like Kinara (1977) and Meera (1979), directed by Gulzar.

Post marriage: 1980–1999[link]

After her marriage she continued to work in films like Kranti, Naseeb, Satte Pe Satta and Vijay Anand's Rajput. The couple Dharmendra Hema Malini were paired together even after marriage, in the eighties in Alibaba Aur 40 Chor, Baghavat, Samraat and Razia Sultan.In 1983 she starred in Andha Kanoon which marked the debut of Tamil actor Rajinikanth in Bollywood. In the film she played the sister of Rajinikanth, seeking revenge for the death of her parents. The following year she acted in K. Balachander's Ek Nai Paheli, a remake of his Tamil film Apoorva Raagangal. She portrayed the role of a classical singer in the film.

She was a part of the hit multi-starrers Baghavat and Raaj Tilak both opposite Dharmendra, and continued to gain success in films focusing on her character like Aandhi Toofan, Durgaa and Ramkali in 1985, Sitapur Ki Geeta in 1987 saw her doing action oriented roles while Ek Chaddar Maili Si (1986), Rihaee and Jamai Raja (1990), saw her playing more matured roles.^[24]

Hema also directed a film, Dil Aashna Hai which was a commercial failure and her career tapered off as she chose to concentrate more on her dance ballets and Television serials.^[24]

Comeback: 2000s[link]

After taking a break from films for a number of years in the 1990s and early 2000s, Hema made a comeback with Baghban (2003).^[24] The film had Amitabh Bachchan playing her husband and also earned her a Filmfare Best Actress Award nomination. She also played a cameo in the 2004 film Veer-Zaara. In both films, she played a self-possessed, elderly married woman. In 2011, She directed her second feature film that featured her daughter Esha Deol in the lead role alongside her husband Dharmendra in Tell Me O Khuda which released on Diwali of 2011.^[28][29]

Political career[link]

Hema Malini and her husband have been involved in politics, as members of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). She was elected to the Rajya Sabha, the upper house of the Parliament of India, with the support of the Bhratiya Janata Party.^[30][31] She campaigned for the BJP candidate, Vinod Khanna, former Bollywood actor in the 1999 Lok Sabha Elections in Gurdaspur in Punjab.^[30] In 2004, Hema Malini joined the Bharatiya Janata Party.^[30]

In February 2004, she joined the party (BJP) officially.^[30] With her film career less hectic, she has been an active member of the party, attending party meetings and rallies and campaigning for the party through various elections. In March 2010, she was made general secretary of the BJP. In February 2011, it was reported that Hema Malini has been recommended by H.N.Ananth Kumar, party general secretary.^[31]

Other work[link]

Malini performing at a concert

Hema Malini is a trained Bharatanatyam artist, a classical dance of India. Her daughters are well trained in the same dance form; the three have performed together at charity dance concerts.^[32][33] Malini is also trained in Odissi by Guru Kelucharan Mahapatra. Her refulgent smile eased her portrayal of a wide range of characters ranging from the fiery Narasimha to a graceful Rama on Tulasidas's Ramcharitmanas.^[34] In 2007, she performed in Mysore on the eve of Dussera, where she played the roles of Sati, Parvati and Durga.^[35] She had performed at the Khajuraho Dance Festival with her daughters.^[36]

In 2003, she played the role very well of Goddess Durga in television serial Jai Mata Ki, directed by Puneet Issar and aired on Star Plus.^[37] She directed and starred in the television serial Noopur, in which she played the role of a Bharatanatyam dancer.^[24] She owned the editorship of New Woman, a Hindi woman's magazine.^[38][39] In 2000 she was appointed as the first-ever woman chairperson of the National Film Development Corporation for three years.^[11][40] She owns a dance school, Natya Vihar Kalakendra.^[41]

In 2007, she was signed by Kent, a mineral water purifier system, as its brand ambassador.^[42] She is one of the three brand ambassadors of Pothys, a textile showroom in Chennai (the others being Sudha Ragunathan and Trisha Krishnan).^[43]

The first biography of Malini, Diva Unveiled-Hema Malini, was written by Ram Kamal Mukherjee and first published in 2005.^[44]

Latest filmography[link]

See also[link]

• List of awards and nominations received by Hema Malini
• List of Indian film actresses

References[link]

Further reading[link]

• Somaaya, Bhawana (2007). Hema Malini: the authorized biography. New Delhi: Lotus Collection. ISBN 81-7436-467-6. 
• Raheja, Dinesh. "Hema Malini: Bollywood's Dreamgirl". Rediff. http://www.rediff.com/entertai/2002/oct/25dinesh.htm. Retrieved 15 June 2011. 

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Hema Malini

• Hema Malini at the Internet Movie Database

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Vani Jayaram
Vani Jairam in 2009
Background information
Born	Vellore, Tamil Nadu, India (1945-11-30) 30 November 1945 (age 66)
Genres	playback singing
Occupations	Singer
Instruments	Vocals
Years active	1971-current
Website	Official website

Vani Jayaram (born November 30, 1945 in Tamil Nadu) is a prominent Indian female playback singer. She has thrice won the National Film Awards for Best Female Playback Singer^[1]. She is also acclaimed for her in-depth knowledge of both forms of Indian classical music : Carnatic and Hindustani.

She has recorded more than 8,000 film songs in 14 different languages including Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Kannada, Marathi and Hindi.^[1]

Personal life and background[link]

Vani Jayaram was born in Vellore in Tamil Nadu, in a family of musicians. Her mother is the disciple of Ranga Ramunaja Iyengar, a great veena exponent. Kadaloor Sreenivasa Iyengar, who taught Vani’s sister music, was fascinated by her observation and grasping power. He taught her a few Dikshitar kritis when she was hardly five.^[2] The fifth daughter in a family of six daughters and three sons, Vani always secretly yearned for a career in film playback singing. Considered to be a child prodigy, Vani Jayaram claims to have recognized the different ragas of Indian classical music before the age of five. Her voice was first heard on All India Radio, Madras, at the age of eight.

Vani Jayaram studied Carnatic music under the tutelage of Kadalur Srinivasa Iyengar, T. R. Balasubramanian and R. S. Mani. Her Hindustani classical music guru was Ustad Abdul Rahman Khan.

After her marriage to Jayaram she settled in Mumbai, where she realized her dream.

Career[link]

In 1971, she realized her childhood ambition of becoming a playback singer when Hindi film music director Vasant Desai chose her voice for the Hindi feature film Guddi. She recorded three songs for Guddi, and "Bol Re Papi Hara," a song based on the Hindustani raga Miyan Malhar, instantly made her an household name in India. For that song she was awarded the Tansen Samman (for best classical-based song in a Hindi film), the Lions International Best Promising Singer award, the All India Cinegoers Association award, and the All India Film-goers Association award for the Best Playback Singer in 1971. She went on to sing a few songs each for music directors of Hindi cinema, including Chitragupt, Naushad (a classical song in Pakeezah and a duet with Asha Bhosle in Aaina), Madan Mohan (a duet with Kishore Kumar in the film Ek Mutthi Aasmaan), O.P. Nayyar (several songs from the film Khoon Ka Badla Khoon including duets with Mohammed Rafi and also with Uttara Kelkar and Pushpa Pagdhare), R. D. Burman (a duet with Mukesh in Chhalia), Kalyanji Anandji, Laxmikant Pyarelal, and Jaidev (a duet with Manna Dey in Parinay and a solo in Solwa Saawan). Her songs in Meera (1979), composed by Pandit Ravi Shankar, won her the Filmfare Award.^[3]

Around 1974, she shifted her base to Chennai and soon became a sought-after singer in Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and Malayalam cinema. She worked with almost all the leading music directors of south namely M. S. Viswanathan, M. B. Sreenivasan, K. V. Mahadevan, M. K. Arjunan, Jerry Amaldev, Salil Chowdhary and Ilayaraaja. With the Academy award winner, A. R. Rahman, she recorded a duet with S. P. Balasubramanyam in the song "Sugam sugam athu" for the film Vandicholai Chinnarasu in 1994.

Besides Hindi and Tamil, Vani Jayaram has recordings in other languages of India. These include some songs in Gujarati, Marathi, Marwari, Haryanvi, Bengali and Tulu, and a huge repertoire in Malayalam, Kannada, Telugu and Oriya. For her work in some of these languages, she has been awarded many prestigious awards, among them are Best Female Playback Singer for states of Gujarat (1975), Tamil Nadu (1980) and Orissa (1984).

One of her most famous Marathi songs, "Runanubandhachya," is a duet with the classical Hindustani singer Kumar Gandharva. This song was composed by Vani's mentor Vasant Desai for a Marathi drama called Dev Deenaghari Dhaavlaa. The lyrics were written by Bal Kolhatkar.

Awards[link]

Vani Jayaram was chosen for the Indian President's National Film Award for Best Female Playback Singer of 1975, for her work in M. S. Viswanathan's Apoorva Raagangal. Shankarabharanam (Telugu), the film scored by K. V. Mahadevan, gave Vani Jayaram her second National Award as Best Playback Singer of 1980. Once again, she was awarded her third National Award for Best Playback Singer of 1991 for K. V. Mahadevan's Swathi Kiranam.

Her songs in the Pandit Ravi Shankar scored film Meera brought her the Film World (1979) Cine Herald (1979) and Filmfare Award (1980) for Best Playback Singer for "Mere To Giridhar Gopal".

She was awarded Tanzen Award in 1972, which she won for "Bole Re Pappihara" (from the film Guddi), one of the most popular songs in her career.^[1]

She is also the youngest artist to be awarded the Sangeet Peet Samman.^{[citation needed]}

Other titles[link]

• 2004: Kamukara Award ^[4]
• 2007: South Indian Meera ^[5]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official website
• Vani Jayaram at the Internet Movie Database
• All 583 Malayalam songs of Vani Jairam
• Vani Jairam at MSI

[ml:വാണി ജയറാം]

Ravi Shankar
Shankar performs in Delhi in March 2009
Background information
Birth name	Robindro Shaunkor Chowdhury
Born	(1920-04-07) 7 April 1920 (age 92) Varanasi, United Provinces, Indian Empire
Genres	Hindustani classical music
Occupations	composer, musician
Instruments	sitar
Years active	1939–present
Associated acts	Uday Shankar, Allauddin Khan, Ali Akbar Khan, Lakshmi Shankar, Yehudi Menuhin, Chatur Lal, Alla Rakha, George Harrison, Anoushka Shankar, Beatles
Website	RaviShankar.org

Ravi Shankar (Bengali: রবি শংকর; born Robindro Shaunkor Chowdhury on 7 April 1920), often referred to with the title Pandit, is an Indian musician and composer who plays the plucked string instrument sitar. He has been described as the most known contemporary Indian musician by Hans Neuhoff in Musik in Geschichte und Gegenwart.^[1]

Shankar was born in Varanasi and spent his youth touring Europe and India with the dance group of his brother Uday Shankar. He gave up dancing in 1938 to study sitar playing under court musician Allauddin Khan. After finishing his studies in 1944, Shankar worked as a composer, creating the music for the Apu Trilogy by Satyajit Ray, and was music director of All India Radio, New Delhi, from 1949 to 1956.

In 1956, he began to tour Europe and America playing Indian classical music and increased its popularity there in the 1960s through teaching, performance, and his association with violinist Yehudi Menuhin and George Harrison of The Beatles. Shankar engaged Western music by writing concerti for sitar and orchestra and toured the world in the 1970s and 1980s. From 1986 to 1992 he served as a nominated member of the upper chamber of the Parliament of India. Shankar was awarded India's highest civilian honor, the Bharat Ratna, in 1999, and received three Grammy Awards. He continues to perform in the 2000s, often with his daughter Anoushka.

Early life[link]

Shankar was born 7 April 1920 in Varanasi to a Bengali Brahmin family as the youngest of seven brothers.^[2][3][4] Shankar's Bengali birth name was Robindro Shaunkor Chowdhury.^[2] His father, Shyam Shankar, an administrator for the Maharaja of Jhalawar, used the Sanskrit spelling of the family name and removed its last part.^[2][5] Shyam was married to Shankar's mother Hemangini Devi, but later worked as a lawyer in London.^[2] There he married a second time while Devi raised Shankar in Varanasi, and did not meet his son until he was eight years old.^[2] Shankar shortened the Sanskrit version of his first name, Ravindra, to Ravi, for "sun".^[2]