Hansraj Behl (born 19 November 1916–1984) was an Indian music composer, who composed music for Hindi and Punjabi films.

Born in Ambala, Punjab, Hansraj received his early education in music from Pandit Chunnilal.

He opened a music school in Lahore and released a few non-film records through His Master's Voice (HMV). Hansraj travelled to Bombay in 1944 to pursue a career as a music director in Hindi film industry, though he managed to made his debut as a composer with Pujari, (1946), directed by Ardeshir Irani. Noted playback singer, Asha Bhosle made her Hindi film debut when she sang the song Saawan aaya for Hansraj Behl's film Chunariya (1948).

In 1964 he gave music for hit Punjabi film by Padam Prakash Maheshwary titled "Satluj de Kande", starring Balraj Sahni, Nishi, Wasti, and Mirza Musharraf. The patriotic hit, Jahan Daal Daal Pe Sone Ki Chidiya Karti Hai Basera..'sung by Mohammed Rafi in the film Sikandar-e-Aazam (1965), starring Prithviraj Kapoor was one of his last memorable number.

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.

Geetā Dutt (Bengali: গীতা দত্ত, born Geetā Ghosh Roy Chowdhuri) (23 November 1930 – 20 July 1972 ) was a prominent singer in India, born in Faridpur before Partition. She found particular prominence as a playback singer in Hindi cinema. She also sang many modern Bengali songs.

Geeta Ghosh Roy Chowdhuri was one of 10 children born in the rich Zamindar family of Debendranath Ghosh Roy Chowdhary and Amiya Devi, at Faridpur in Bengal, British India, now in Bangladesh. Her family shifted to Kolkata in early forties, leaving behind their land and properties. In 1942, her parents shifted again to an apartment in Dādar, Mumbai. Geeta was only twelve at that time and continued her schooling at the Bengali High School.

Geeta was about to step into her teens. One day she was crooning a song in her flat, music director K. Hanuman Prasad happened to hear her voice. He was much impressed, and therefore, persuaded her parents to have her try to sing in films.

K. Hanuman Prasad took Geeta under his patronage, trained and groomed her in singing and later launched her into singing in the movies. In 1946, she got the first break when she got an opportunity to sing in mythological film Bhakta Prahlad (1946) for which Prasad was the music director. She was given only two lines to sing in the movie for a few songs. She was just sixteen at that time. But those two lines mesmerized everyone in the recording studio.

Meena Kumari (1 August 1932 – 31 March 1972), born Mahjabeen Bano, was an Indian movie actress and poetess. She is regarded as one of the most prominent actresses to have appeared on the screens of Hindi Cinema. During a career spanning 30 years from her childhood to her death, she starred in more than ninety films, many of which have achieved classic and cult status today.

Kumari gained a reputation for playing grief-stricken and tragic roles, and her performances have been praised and reminisced throughout the years. Like one of her best-known roles, Chhoti Bahu, in Sahib Bibi Aur Ghulam (1962), Kumari became addicted to alcohol. Her life and prosperous career were marred by heavy drinking, troubled relationships, an ensuing deteriorating health, and her death from liver cirrhosis in 1972.

Kumari is often cited by media and literary sources as "The Tragedy Queen", both for her frequent portrayal of sorrowful and dramatic roles in her films and her real-life story.

Meena Kumari was the third daughter of Ali Baksh and Iqbal Begum; Khursheed and Madhu were her two elder sisters. At the time of her birth, her parents were unable to pay the fees of Dr. Gadre, who had delivered her, so her father left her at a Muslim orphanage, however, he picked her up after a few hours.

Shamshad Begum (born April 14, 1919) is an Indian singer who was one of the first playback singers in the Hindi film industry.

Begum was born in Amritsar, Punjab. She was a big fan of K.L. Saigal and watched Devdas 14 times. She earned 15 rupees per song and was awarded 5,000 on the completion of the contract on Xenophone, a renowned music recording company.

Sometime back, a controversy erupted in the media, when several publications gave the false news of her death, before it was clarified that the Shamshad Begum who died in 1998 was Saira Banu's (Dilip Kumar's wife) grandmother with the same name. The singer has been living with her daughter Usha Ratra and son-in-law in Mumbai, ever since her husband Ganpat Lal Batto died in 1955. Recently, she celebrated her 89th birthday at her elder sister's house and now she stays at - Hiranandani Gardens, Powai, Mumbai She was conferred the Padma Bhushan in 2009.

Begum made her debut on radio on Peshawar Radio in Lahore on December 16, 1947, captivating the hearts of her listeners with the enchanting depth of her voice. Shamshad was very much conscious of her not so beautiful face and she never posed for any pictures and not many people saw her pictures anywhere. Until the end of the 1970s, nobody knew her face at all, though everybody could recognise her melodious voice as it was used by the great maestros like Naushad Ali and O. P. Nayyar. Even today, her songs from the 1950s, 1960s and early 1970s are popular and continue to be remixed by music directors.