Look up ABN in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

ABN or abn is a three-letter acronym that may refer to:

• IATA airport code for Albina Airport in Albina, Suriname
• ABN AMRO, sometimes referred to as "ABN" in shorthand
• ABN AMRO Group
• ABN Andhra Jyothi, a Telugu language news channel based in India
• ABN Radio, the Agri Broadcast Network, an Ohio-based agricultural radio news network
• ABN (TV station), the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's Sydney TV station
• Agencia Bolivariana de Noticias, the national news agency of Venezuela
• Alaska Board of Nursing, the regional board of nurses in the state of Alaska, USA
• Alcock Brown-Neaves Group, Australian property development company
• Algemeen Beschaafd Nederlands (Common Civilized Dutch), the near-obsolete name for now "Common Dutch"
• Algemene Bank Nederland, a now-defunct Dutch bank
• Asahi Broadcasting Nagano, a TV station in Nagano Prefecture, Japan
• Asia Business News a now-defunct business news channel
• Assholes by Nature, an album & rap duo by rappers Trae & Z-Ro
• Assumed Business Name, in Oregon corporation law (aka "doing business as" elsewhere in the US)
• Australian Business Number, a unique identifier issued to business entities by the Australian Taxation Office
• Niger Basin Authority (Authorité du Bassin du Niger), an intergovernmental organisation in West Africa
• Avivamiento Broadcasting Network, a religious local TV station in Bogotá, Colombia

This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the same title. If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article.

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. (April 2012)

"The Man" is a slang phrase that may refer to the government or to some other authority in a position of power. In addition to this derogatory connotation, it may also serve as a term of respect and praise.

The phrase "the Man is keeping me down" is commonly used to describe oppression. The phrase "stick it to the Man" encourages resistance to authority, and essentially means "fight back" or "resist", either openly or via sabotage.^[1]

History[link]

The earliest recorded use^{[citation needed]} of the term "the Man" in the American sense dates back to a letter written by a young Alexander Hamilton in September 1772, when he was 15. In a letter to his father James Hamilton, published in the Royal Dutch-American Gazette, he described the response of the Dutch governor of St. Croix to a hurricane that raked that island on August 31, 1772. "Our General has issued several very salutary and humane regulations and both in his publick and private measures, has shewn himself the Man." ^{[2][dubious – discuss]} In the Southern U.S. states, the phrase came to be applied to any man or any group in a position of authority, or to authority in the abstract. From about the 1950s the phrase was also an underworld code word for police, the warden of a prison or other law enforcement or penal authorities.

It was also used as a term for a drug dealer in the 1950s and 1960s and can be seen in such media as Curtis Mayfield's "No Thing On Me", William Burroughs's novel Naked Lunch, and in the Velvet Underground song "I'm Waiting for the Man", in which Lou Reed sings about going to Uptown Manhattan, specifically Lexington Avenue and 125th Street, to buy heroin.

The use of this term was expanded to counterculture groups and their battles against authority, such as the Yippies, which, according to a May 19, 1969 article in U.S. News and World Report, had the "avowed aim ... to destroy 'The Man', their term for the present system of government". The term eventually found its way into humorous usage, such as in a December 1979 motorcycle ad from the magazine Easyriders which featured the tagline, "California residents: Add 6% sales tax for The Man."

In present day, the phrase has been popularized in commercials and cinema, featuring particularly prominently as a recurring motif in the 2003 film School of Rock.^[3][4][5][6]

Use as praise[link]

The term has also been used as an approbation or form of praise. This may refer to the recipient's status as the leader or authority within a particular context, or it might be assumed to be a shortened form of a phrase like "He is the man (who is in charge)." One example of this usage dates to 1879 when Otto von Bismarck commented, referring to Benjamin Disraeli's pre-eminent position at the Congress of Berlin, "The old Jew, he is the man."^{[7][dubious – discuss]}

In more modern usage, it can be a superlative compliment ("you da man!") indicating that the subject is currently standing out amongst his peers even though they have no special designation or rank, such as a basketball player who is performing better than the other players on the court. It can also be used as a genuine compliment with an implied, slightly exaggerated or sarcastic tone, usually indicating that the person has indeed impressed the speaker but by doing something relatively trivial.

See also[link]

• Absentee landlord
• Big Brother (Nineteen Eighty-Four)
• New World Order (conspiracy theory)
• Ruling class
• The Establishment
• Power elite
• Corrections officer
• YTMND

Notes[link]

References[link]

• Lighter, J.E. (Ed.). (1997). Random House Dictionary of American Slang. New York: Random House.

Prakash Raj
Born	Prakash Rai (1965-03-26) 26 March 1965 (age 47) Puttur, Karnataka, India
Residence	Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India
Occupation	Film actor, producer, Film director
Years active	1986–present
Spouse	Lalitha Kumari (1994–2009 divorced) Pony Verma (2010–present)
Children	Meghana Pooja Sidhu (2000 – 20 March 2004)[1]

Prakash Rai (born 26 March 1965), better known by his stage name Prakash Raj, is a National Award winning film actor, director and producer who has worked in Kannada, Telugu, Tamil, Hindi and Malayalam films.He got introduced to films by K. Balachander in the movie Duet (1994). In remembrance, he named his production company "Duet Movies".^[2][3]

He has played a variety of roles, most notably as the antagonist in Kannada, Telugu and Tamil and of late, as a character actor. He is considered to be one amongst the club of natural actors. He has won a National Film Award for Best Supporting Actor in 1998 for Mani Ratnam's Iruvar and a National Film Award for Best Actor in 2009 for his role in Kanchivaram, a Tamil film directed by Priyadarshan.^[4]

Early life[link]

Prakash Raj was born to a ethnic Bunt^[5] family in Puttur, Karnataka on 26 March 1965. He did his schooling from St.Joseph's Indian High School in Bangalore. He later joined St. Josephs College of commerce, Bangalore, where he participated in many plays.^{[citation needed]}

Personal life[link]

Prakash married actress Lalitha Kumari in 1994. They have two daughters—Meghana and Pooja and a son, Sidhu.^[6] Sidhu died of injuries sustained in a fall in 2004. The couple divorced in 2009.^[7] He then married choreographer Pony Verma on August 24, 2010.^{[citation needed]}

Career[link]

As actor[link]

Prakash began his acting career with Kannada Doordarshan serials like Bisilu Kudure and Guddada Bhootha. He later took up supporting roles in Kannada films like Raamachari, Nishkarsha and Lockup Death. He was noticed for his dialogue delivery and histrionics. His breakthrough role came in form of Harakeya Kuri starring Vishnuvardhan and Geetha, directed by K. S. L. Swamy. His performance in the movie was noticed by Geetha and she, in turn, introduced him to her mentor K. Balachander, a Tamil film director. He acted under the screen name "Prakash Rai" in Kannada films and was rechristened "Prakash Raj" by K. Balachander for his debut Tamil film Duet, which saw him playing his first major role.

Prakash Raj re-entered Kannada films through Nagamandala in 1997, directed by T.S. Nagabharana which was selected for Indian Panorama in the International Film Festival in 1997. He was also a part of Mani Ratnam's stage show, Netru, Indru, Naalai. In 1997, he acted in Mani Ratnam's biopic film Iruvar. The movie dealt with the relationship between politicians M. G. Ramachandran and M. Karunanidhi, for which he won the National Film Award for Best Supporting Actor. One of Prakash Raj's greatest hits was his role in Telugu film Okkadu, where he played a gangster who is in love with the heroine. After Okkadu, Prakash Raj was flooded with offers. The film was remade in Tamil as Ghilli and in Kannada as Ajay starring Puneet Rajkumar. He starred in a malayalam film, Pandippada,with Dilip.His 2007 production Mozhi was a box-office hit and praised by critics proving that he can play a comedy role just as good as a negative character.

Mozhi, directed by Radha Mohan, was well acclaimed. He played an important role in Venkat Prabhu's Saroja which became a box-office success. In 2008 he produced a film titled Abhiyum Naanum and played an important character in it. He remade the movie in Kannada as Naanu Nanna Kanasu which was critically acclaimed as well.

As producer[link]

He took on the mantle of producer and has produced several movies in Tamil (Kollywood). Most of the movies he produced turned out to be box-office hits and were also critically acclaimed.^{[citation needed]} His movies are also considered as family entertainers. He produced the movie Dhaya in which he acted as the hero with actress Meena which was a hit and earned him a special jury award for his performance. His movie Poi (lie in English) directed by his mentor, K. Balachander, was a non-grosser. It starred Uday Kiran, K. Balachander and Prakash Raj.

Prakash Raj had danced in the song "Kanchi Paanaiyin Maela" for his film Vellithirai.

His Kannada production Naanu Nanna Kanasu completed 100 days successfully across Karanataka. His next production venture, titled Akasmaath, is a remake of the Telugu hit Aithe and stars himself along with new actors. The movie is scheduled to go on floors in September 2010 to be directed by Dayal Padmanabhan. He made Puttakkana Highway in Kannada which won the National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Kannada in 2011.

As director[link]

Prakash Raj directed Naanu Nanna Kanasu in Kannada (2010), a remake of his own Tamil production Abhiyum Naanum.^[8] His next directorial venture is a Tamil – Telugu bilingual, sports venture Dhoni named after Indian cricket captain

Awards[link]

National Film Awards[link]

• 1998 – Best Supporting Actor Award for his performance in the Tamil film Iruvar.^[9][10]
• 1999 – Special Jury Award for his performance in the Telugu film Anthapuram.^[10]
• 2003 – Special Jury Award for his roles in Tamil film Dhaya and Telugu film Khadgam.^[10]
• 2008 – Best Actor Award for his performance in the Tamil film Kanchivaram.^[10]
• 2011 – Best Feature Film in Kannada for the Kannada film Puttakkana Highway (As producer)

Filmfare Awards South[link]

• 2002 – Filmfare Best Supporting Actor Award (Telugu) – Nuvve Nuvve
• 2003 - Filmfare Best Supporting Actor Award (Telugu) – Tagore
• 2004 – Filmfare Best Villain Award (Tamil) – Ghilli
• 2005 – Filmfare Best Villain Award (Tamil) – Sivakasi
• 2009 – Filmfare Best Actor Award (Tamil) – Kanchivaram

Tamil Nadu State Film Awards[link]

• 2000 – Tamil Nadu State Film Award for Best Villain – Vaanavil
• 2005 – Tamil Nadu State Film Award for Best Villain – Various films

Zee Cine Awards[link]

• 2012 – Best Actor in a Negative Role- Singham

Apsara Awards 2012[link]

• 2012 – Best Actor in Negative Role- Singham

Filmography[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Prakash Raj at the Internet Movie Database

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Prakash Raj

Ram Gopal Varma
Born	Penmetsa Ram Gopal Varma (1962-04-07) 7 April 1962 (age 50) Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh, India
Occupation	Film director, producer and writer
Years active	1989–present
Spouse	Ratna (divorced)
Website
rgvzoomin.com

Ram Gopal Varma also known as RGV (born 7 April 1962) is an Indian film director, screenwriter and producer. Varma has directed, written and produced films across multiple genres — psychological thrillers, underworld gang warfare, road movies, horrors, politician-criminal nexus, and musicals in multiple languages.

He gained recognition in Bollywood with the Hindi film, Shiva premiered at International Film Festival of India in kolkata^[1] and Rangeela (1995). The next film he directed was Satya (1998), which won six Filmfare Awards, including the Critics Award for Best Film, and was show cased among the Indian panorama section, at the 1998 International Film Festival of India.^[2] Satya, together with his 2002 film Company (which he directed and which won seven Filmfare Awards) and the 2005 film D (which he produced), form an "Indian gangster trilogy".

Other acclaimed films that Varma directed include Kshana Kshanam (1991), Gaayam (1993), Anaganaga Oka Roju (1997), Prema Kadha (1999), Kaun (1999), Jungle (2000), Bhoot (2003), Sarkar (2005), Sarkar Raj (2008), Rakta Charitra (2010) Katha Screenplay Darshakatvam Appalaraju (2011) and Dongala Mutta (2011).^[3]

Early years[link]

Ram Gopal Varma was born in Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh, India to Krishnam Raju Penmetsa and Suryavathi Raju Penmetsa.

In an interview to Tehelka, Varma talked about his relationship with his parents and the reasons behind his decision to become a filmmaker.

From my parents’ perspective, I looked like a useless bum. It was the truth. I had no objective. I was just fascinated by people, so I used to study their behaviour. I was most fascinated by the bullies in my classroom. They were like gangsters for me. They had the guts to push around people, do things I couldn’t— perhaps did not even want to do myself. But I’d want a friend like that (laughs). I used to adulate them like heroes. That was my first touch with anti-socialism. Over a period of time, I developed a low-angle fascination for larger than life people. I was always a loner — not because I was unhappy, but because I live away from myself, not just others. I like to study myself — the way I am walking, talking, behaving. My constant obsession with studying myself and other people is perhaps the primary motivation for me to be a filmmaker.^[4]

Varma completed BE in civil engineering from V.R. Siddhartha Engineering College, Vijayawada. Even during this period, Varma remained a film buff, through his uncle. Varma would skip classes often and watch films instead. He would watch the same film repeatedly "just to watch certain scenes which interested him."^[5] According to him, that is how he learned film direction.

After a brief stint as a site engineer for Krishna Oberoi hotel in Hyderabad, he put his dreams on the back burner and decided to go to Nigeria to make some money. It was at this moment that he visited a video rental library in Hyderabad. He loved the idea and decided to start one of his own at Ameerpet in Hyderabad, through which he slowly developed connections with the film world.^[6] Without being successful as a fourth assistant director in B. Gopal's film Collector Gari Abbai, Varma directly ventured into film direction, in Nagarjuna's 1989 movie Shiva.^[7]

Career in Telugu cinema[link]

Ram Gopal Varma in the sets of a Telugu film

Before Varma started his career in the Telugu film industry, he lingered on the sets of films such as Raogaarillu and Collectorgari Abbai. His father was a sound recordist at Annapurna Studios, Hyderabad which is owned by Akkineni Nageswara Rao. Varma managed to meet Nagarjuna and narrated a scene to the actor which impressed him.^[8] The result of their collaboration was a film on the criminalization of student politics — Siva. It was a blockbuster with Varma demonstrating his technical expertise and storytelling skills. The success of the film in Telugu led to a Hindi remake with similar success.^[9]

Varma's next film was Kshana Kshanam with Venkatesh and Sridevi which got him noticed by Bollywood critics. It was dubbed into Hindi as Hairaan. Then he made films such as Raatri and Antham. While Gaayam with Jagapathi Babu and Anaganaga Oka Roju with J.D. Chakravarthy were successful, Govindha Govindha with Nagarjuna and Sridevi proved to be a moderate success at the box office.^[10] During this period, Varma produced films such as Money and Money Money and was the screenwriter for Mani Ratnam's Tamil movie Thiruda Thiruda.

Career in Hindi cinema[link]

While Varma's first successful Hindi film was the remake of Siva. His next film was Drohi. What really put the spotlight on him was the blockbuster Rangeela.^[11] The film won Filmfare Awards for Rahman and Shroff. According to Varma, it was dedicated to actress Sridevi.^[12] His next film Daud (1997), however, sank without a trace.^[9]

In 1998, Varma was an executive producer for Dil Se.., directed by Mani Ratnam and starring Shahrukh Khan, Manisha Koirala and Preity Zinta. The film won the NETPAC Award for Special Mention at the Berlin Film Festival, as well as two National Film Awards and six Filmfare Awards.^[13]

Indian gangster trilogy[link]

In 1998 came his masterpiece, the critically acclaimed Satya, based on the Mumbai underworld. A script written by Anurag Kashyap and Saurabh Shukla, music by Vishal Bharadwaj and Sandeep Chowta, acclaimed performances by J. D. Chakravarthy, Manoj Bajpai and Urmila Matondkar, and Varma's directorial and technical brilliance, contributed to a landmark. The film won six Filmfare Awards, including the Critics Award for Best Film.^{[citation needed]}

In 2002 came his greatest commercial as well as critical success, Company, again set against the backdrop of the Mumbai underworld, in which he cut off the song-and-dance sequences, common in Bollywood films at the time. It was based on the real-life underworld organization, the D-Company.^{[citation needed]} It won seven Filmfare Awards and earned him a Filmfare Best Director Award nomination. Mohanlal debuted in Bollywood with this film.^{[citation needed]}

A prequel to Company was made in 2005: D, produced by Varma and directed by Vishram Sawant. Satya, Company and D are together considered an "Indian gangster trilogy".^{[citation needed]} Satya and Company, in particular, were cited by British director Danny Boyle as influences on his Academy Award-winning film Slumdog Millionaire (2008), for their "slick, often mesmerizing portrayals of the Mumbai underworld", their display of "brutality and urban violence", and their gritty realism.^[14][15][16]

Experimental films[link]

During the years between his trilogy, from Satya in 1998 to D in 2005,^[17] Varma experimented with different film genres. In 1999, he directed Kaun, a suspense thriller set entirely in one house and featuring only three actors, and Mast, a subversion of the Hindi cinema's masala genre.^[18] In 2000, he directed Jungle, set entirely in a jungle, for which he was nominated for the Star Screen Award for Best Director.

Following the success of Company in 2002, Varma's next film as director was Bhoot (2003), a psychological horror film, which was a major success. It starred Ajay Devgan and Urmila Matondkar, who earned a number of awards for her performance. Varma himself was nominated for the Filmfare Best Director Award for the film.

Following the success of Bhoot, Varma produced two other experimental films: Sriram Raghavan's Ek Hasina Thi (2003), a psychological thriller, and Shimit Amin's Ab Tak Chhappan (2004), a film about an inspector in the Mumbai Encounter Squad famous for having killed 56 people in police encounters.^[19] In 2005, Varma was nominated for the Zee Cine Award for Best Producer of the Year.^{[citation needed]}

Later films[link]

Varma's next film as director was Sarkar, released in June 2005, starring Amitabh Bachchan and his son Abhishek. Amitabh played the character of Sarkar who is a self-righteous and powerful businessman cum social worker, while Abhishek played his son. Sarkar was a loose adaptation of Mario Puzo's 1969 novel The Godfather.^[20] Sarkar went on to become a critically acclaimed box office hit.^{[citation needed]}

In 2006, his next film as director was Shiva, which premiered at the New York Asian Film Festival, where a retrospective featuring several of his previous movies was staged. Alongside Shiva, the festival screened his earlier successful films Company, Ek Hasina Thi and Ab Tak Chhappan. While these three were praised,^[19] Shiva was a critical and commercial failure. In 2007, he directed Nishabd, followed by the ambitious Sholay remake, Ram Gopal Varma Ki Aag, as well as Darling. All three were critical and box office disasters.^{[citation needed]}

He was written off by the media and public until June 2008, when he reclaimed, to some extent, his lost reputation with his much hyped venture, Sarkar Raj, a sequel to Sarkar; it was a average and met with good reviews. The primary cast featured Amitabh and Abhishek Bachchan reprising their roles from the prequel alongside Aishwarya Rai Bachchan. Supriya Pathak, Tanisha Mukherjee and Ravi Kale reappeared in their respective roles from Sarkar. Unlike Sarkar, which was loosely adapted from The Godfather, Sarkar Raj had an original plot.

Phoonk (2008) was another horror film movie which was met with mixed to negative reviews. However, the film was a success compared to its minuscule budget.^{[citation needed]} Agyaat, which released on 7 August 2009, was again a commercial as well as critical failure. Next was Rann, a film about the media. It had Amitabh Bachchan, Kannada actor Sudeep, Ritesh Deshmukh and Paresh Rawal. Released on 29 January 2010, it was praised by some critics but was a commercial disaster. Then he began the promotion works for Phoonk 2, a sequel of Phoonk, which was released on April 16, 2010.

Next came Rakta Charitra, in Telugu, Tamil and Hindi languages. The movie was based upon the faction backdrop of the Rayalaseema in Andhra Pradesh. As it lasted about five hours, the film was released in two parts, with a gap of three months. It depicts the life of slain political leader Paritala Ravindra, played by Vivek Oberoi, with Tamil actor Surya Sivakumar, enacting the role of Maddelacheruvu Suri, Shatrughan Sinha, playing N. T. Rama Rao. Radhika Apte and Priyamani star in other pivotal roles. The film released to a good opening following Varma's clever pre-release marketing using the controversy surrounding the main characters to his advantage. A fortnight after the release, Maddelacheruvu Suri was shot fatally. Though the movie could not get a good reputation in Hindi and Tamil, it gained positive reviews in Telugu and the critics said "RGV is back".

Varma's latest release had comedian Sunil as the lead. The film was titled Katha Screenplay Darshakatvam Appalaraju (Story Screenplay Direction Appalraju in English). It is said to be a satire on the Telugu film industry mainly targeting directors. One song covered almost all directors like Raghavendra Rao, E.V.V., Kodi Ramakrishna, B. Gopal, S.S. Rajamouli, Sreenu Vaitla, Puri Jagannadh, Vinayak and Boyapati Seenu. On 25 February 2011, Varma reportedly filed a complaint against a Telugu news channel in Hyderabad.^{[citation needed]}

Varma has announced another horror film titled Amma 3D. It will be the first 3D horror film made in India and is reported to have Ritesh Deshmukh in a significant role.^{[citation needed]}

Varma has roped in Amitabh Bachchan for the lead role in his yet-to-be-filmed Department, the plot of which shall revolve around the internal politics of the police department. He has been quoted saying that this film may be considered as "the other side of Company." Sanjay Dutt and Rana Daggubati are reportedly going to play supporting roles. It is a much anticipated collaboration of Sanjay Dutt with the director after their earlier venture Daud.^{[citation needed][21]}

Autobiography[link]

Varma wrote an autobiography titled Na Ishtam, which discusses his thoughts, opinions and ramu style philosophy.'Naa Ishtam' was released on December 2010) at Taj Banjara, Hyderabad. Vijayawada MP and RGV's friend Lagadapati Rajagopal launched the book.

Awards[link]

Filmfare Awards

• Filmfare Critics Award for Best Movie - Satya (1998)
• Filmfare Best Story Award - Rangeela (1995)

Filmfare Awards South

• Filmfare Best Director Award (Telugu) - Siva (1989)

Nandi Awards

• Nandi Award for Best Director - Siva (1989)
• Nandi Award for Best Director - Kshana Kshanam (1991)
• Nandi Award for Best Director - Gaayam (1993)
• Nandi Award for Best Director - Prema Kadha (1999)^[22]

Bollywood Movie Awards

Bollywood Movie Award – Best Director

• Satya (1998)
• Jungle (2000)
• Company (2002)
• Bhoot (2003)

Filmography[link]

As director[link]

As producer[link]

As writer[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Ram Gopal Varma

• Ram Gopal Varma's Official Blog
• Ram Gopal Varma at the Internet Movie Database
• Ram Gopal Varma profile at Gomolo.in
• Interview with RGV
• Ram Gopal Varma At Taj by Chance
• Timesofindia.indiatimes.com