V. K. Murthy (Kannada: ವಿ. ಕೆ. ಮೂರ್ತಿ)(ವೆಂಕಟರಾಮಾ ಪಂಡಿತ್ ಕೃಷ್ಣಮೂರ್ತಿ) (born 1923) is an Indian cinematographer. Murthy, a one-time violinist and jailed freedom fighter, was Guru Dutt's regular cameraman on his movies. He provided some of Indian cinema's most breathtaking images in starkly contrasted black and white. He also shot India's first cinemascope movie, Kaagaz Ke Phool. For his contribution to film industry, particularly Indian film industry he was awarded the IIFA Lifetime Achievement Award ceremony held at Amsterdam in 2005. On 19 January 2010 he was honored with the Dada Saheb Phalke Award for 2008.

Murthy was born at Mysore. He passed his Diploma in Cinematography from Sri Jayachamarajendra Polytechnic in Bangalore in 1946. Murthy, an ace Cinematographer from Bangalore was part of the Guru Dutt team. This stalwart was the cinematographer for one of the most acclaimed Kannada movie Hoovu Hannu - a directorial production of Rajendra Singh Babu and incidentally, Murthy has also acted in that film.

Vengalil Krishnan Krishna Menon (Malayalam: വി. കെ. കൃഷ്ണമേനോന്‍) (3 May 1896 – 6 October 1974) was an Indian nationalist, diplomat and statesman, described as the second most powerful man in India by Time magazine and others, after his ally and intimate friend, Jawaharlal Nehru.

Described as "vitriolic, intolerant, impatient, and exigent – yes, but generous, sensitive, considerate, a great teacher too, and a great man" by Lord Listowell, the last British secretary of state for India, Menon was an influential and controversial figure on the world scene, and the architect of the Third Bloc foreign policy of non-alignment. He headed India's diplomatic missions to both the United Kingdom and United Nations, and was repeatedly elected to both houses of the Indian Parliament from multiple constituencies, serving as Defence Minister from 1957 to 1962.

Menon cofounded Penguin Books in 1935 with Sir Allen Lane^{[citation needed]}, and also created the Sainik Schools. He is the first Malayalee to have won the Padma Vibhushan.

Asha Parekh (born 2 October 1942) is a Bollywood actress, director, and producer. She was one of the top stars in Hindi films from 1959 to 1973.

Asha Parekh was born into a middle-class Gujarati family on 2 October 1942 in Bangalore, Karnataka, India to a Hindu father who was from Paldi near Pirana, Ahmedabad, Gujarat and Muslim mother, and her religious upbringing involved worshipping Sai Baba. Her mother enrolled her in Indian classical dance classes at an early age.

Parekh started her career as a child artist under the screen name Baby Asha Parekh in the film Aasmaan (1952). Famed film director Bimal Roy saw her dance at a stage function and cast her at the age of twelve in Baap Beti (1954). The film's failure disappointed her and even though she did a couple more child roles, she quit to resume her schooling. At sixteen she decided to try acting again and make her debut as a heroine, but she was rejected from Vijay Bhatt's Goonj Uthi Shehnai (1959) in favour of actress Ameeta, because the filmmaker claimed she was not star material. The very next day, film producer Subodh Mukherjee and writer-director Nasir Hussain cast her as the heroine in Dil Deke Dekho (1959) opposite Shammi Kapoor which made her a huge star.

Subhash Ghai (born 24 January 1945 in Nagpur, India) is an Indian film director, producer and screenwriter. His most notable films include Kalicharan (1976), Karz (1980), Hero (1983), Meri Jung (1985), Karma (1986), Ram Lakhan (1989), Saudagar (1991), Khalnayak (1993), Pardes (1997) and Taal (1999). He launched Mukta Arts, a film production company in 1982, and is known as the "showman" of Hindi cinema, for making epic films that portray grandeur and very rich themes.

Subhash Ghai belongs to a Punjabi Khukhrain family.^{[citation needed]} Born to a dentist father who practised in Delhi, Subhash did his higher secondary in Delhi and thereafter graduated in Commerce from Rohtak, Haryana. Next he moved to Pune, Maharashtra to join the Film and Television Institute of India, Law College Road (FTII). After attaining a diploma, he started working in the Indian film industry in 1970.

He started his career in Hindi cinema as an actor with small roles in six films, like Taqdeer (1967) and Aradhana (1971). He was the male lead in the 1970's Umang, which did not do well at the box office, and Gumraah (1976) with Reena Roy and Danny. His directorial debut was the film Kalicharan (1976) which he obtained through a recommendation by Shatrughan Sinha. Kalicharan was one of the biggest hits of its time. As of 2005, he had written and directed 15 movies out of which 13 were highly successful. In 1982, he started Mukta Arts Private Limited which, in 2000, became a public company, with Subhash Ghai as its chairman and managing director.

Papanasam Sivan (Tamil: பாபநாசம் சிவன்) (September 26, 1890 - October 10, 1973) was a prominent composer of Carnatic music and a singer.

A famous composer, Sivan was also known as Tamil Thyagayya. Using Classical South Indian as a base, Sivan created numerous hits popularised by M. K. Thyagaraja Bhagavathar and M. S. Subbulakshmi.

Papanasam Sivan's early years were spent in the Travancore area of Kerala where the kings patronised fine arts. He was born at Polagam Village in the district of Thanjavur, which was home to the illustrious musical trinity of Carnatic music. His given name was Ramaiya. In 1897, when Ramaiya was just 7, his father died. His mother Yogambal, along with her sons, left Thanjavur and moved to Thiruvananthapuram in Kerala, where her brother-in-law was a Ramayana Sastri in the renowned Padmanabha Swamy Temple. At Thiruvananthapuam, Ramaiya learned Malayalam and Sanskrit and later earned a degree in grammar.

Ramaiya was very religious, and with death of his mother in Yogambal when he was 20, became even more so. He wandered from place to place visiting temples and singing devotional songs. Ramaiya used to be an active participant in the devotional music sessions at the home of Neelakandasivan in Thiruvananthapuram. Thus he learned many of the musical compositions of Neelakandasivan. In this period, his wanderings would take him regularly to the temple at Papanasam, where he would smear bhasma all over his body. Hence people began to refer him as Papanasam Sivan, the name by which he was to become well known later.