ISO basic Latin alphabet
Aa	Bb	Cc	Dd
Ee	Ff	Gg	Hh
Ii	Jj	Kk	Ll
Mm	Nn	Oo	Pp
Qq	Rr	Ss	Tt
Uu	Vv	Ww	Xx
Yy	Zz

R (named ar /ˈɑr/)^[1] is the eighteenth letter of the ISO basic Latin alphabet.

History[link]

Egyptian hieroglyph tp	Phoenician resh	Etruscan R	Greek Rho	Later Etruscan R

The original Semitic letter may have been inspired by an Egyptian hieroglyph for tp, "head". It was used for /r/ by Semites because in their language, the word for "head" was rêš (also the name of the letter). It developed into Greek Ρ ῥῶ (rhô) and Latin R. It is likely that some Etruscan and Western Greek forms of the letter added the extra stroke to distinguish it from a later form of the letter P.^{[citation needed]}

The minuscule (lower-case) form of r developed through several variations on the capital form. In handwriting it was common not to close the bottom of the loop but continue into the leg, saving an extra pen stroke. The loop-leg stroke shortened into the simple arc used today. Another minuscule, r rotunda (ꝛ), kept the loop-leg stroke but dropped the vertical stroke, although it fell out of use around the 18th century.

Usage[link]

In science, the letter R is a symbol for the gas constant. Mathematicians use R or Failed to parse (Missing texvc executable; please see math/README to configure.): \mathbb{R}

(an R in blackboard bold, displayed as ℝ in Unicode) for set of all real numbers.

R represents a rhotic consonant in many languages, as shown in the table below. The International Phonetic Alphabet uses several variations of the letter to represent the different rhotic consonants; [r] represents the alveolar trill.

Other languages may use the letter r in their alphabets (or Latin transliterations schemes) to represent rhotic consonants different from the alveolar trill. In Haitian Creole, it represents a sound so weak that it is often written interchangeably with w, e.g. Kweyol for Kreyol.

Brazilian Portuguese has a great number of allophones of /ʁ/ such as [χ], [h], [ɦ], [x], [ɣ], [ɹ] and [r], the latter three ones can be used only in certain contexts ([ɣ] and [r] as 'rr'; [ɹ] in the syllable coda, as an allophone of /ɾ/ according to the European Portuguese norm and /ʁ/ according to the Brazilian Portuguese norm). Usually at least two of them are present in a single dialect, such as Rio de Janeiro's [ʁ], [χ], [ɦ] and, for a few speakers, [ɣ].

Shape[link]

The letter R is the only letter in the basic modern Latin alphabet in which the uppercase has a closed section and the lowercase does not.

Dog's letter[link]

The letter R is sometimes referred to as the littera canina (canine letter). This phrase has Latin origins: the Latin R was trilled to sound like a growling dog. A good example of a trilling R is the Spanish word for dog, perro.^[2]

In William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, such a reference is made by Juliet's nurse in Act 2, scene 4, when she calls the letter R "the dog's name." The reference is also found in Ben Jonson's English Grammar.^[3]

Related letters and other similar characters[link]

• Ρ ρ/ϱ : Greek letter Rho
• Р р : Cyrillic letter Er
• Я я : Cyrillic letter Ya
• ℛ : Script capital R

Computing codes[link]

¹ and all encodings based on ASCII, including the DOS, Windows, ISO-8859 and Macintosh families of encodings.

Other representations[link]

NATO phonetic	Morse code
Romeo	·–·

Signal flag	Flag semaphore	Braille

See also[link]

• Raidô
• Vocalic r
• Vox Canina
• Republican Party
• Registered Trademark symbol

References[link]

External links[link]

• Media related to R at Wikimedia Commons
• The Wiktionary entry for R
• The Wiktionary entry for r

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]

External links[link]

• Shahid Kapoor at the Internet Movie Database

Sonakshi Sinha
Born	Sonakshi Sinha (1987-06-02) 2 June 1987 (age 25) Patna
Education	Fashion Designing course from SNDT, Mumbai
Occupation	Actress, Model
Years active	2010 - present
Parents	Shatrughan Sinha Poonam Sinha
Relatives	Luv Sinha and Kussh Sinha (brothers)
Website
www.sonakshisinha.net

Sonakshi Sinha (born 2 June 1987)^[1][2] is an Indian Bollywood actress and model. She is popular for her role of Rajjo in 2010 hit film Dabangg opposite Salman Khan. The film also marked her debut in the Hindi film industry.

Early life[link]

She is the daughter of actor and politician Shatrughan Sinha and Punam Sinha. She has two brothers, Luv Sinha and Kussh Sinha. Luv is also an aspiring actor. She studied fashion designing at SNDT in Mumbai.

Career[link]

Early career and film debut (2008–2011)[link]

Sinha started her career as a model and walked the ramp at the Lakme Fashion Week 2008^[3] and then again in Lakme Fashion Week 2009.^[3] Sonakshi Sinha is also a fashion designer. She designed costumes for movie Mera Dil Leke Deko in 2005.

She made her acting debut in the 2010 film Dabangg co-starring Salman Khan. The film went on to become one of the highest grossing Bollywood films^[4]. Salman had seen her at a function engaging in dancing and offered her the role.^[5]. Speaking about it, she said that she had lost a weight of 30 kg over a period of two years in order to prepare for her character of a village girl by "a combination of proper diet and vigorous exercise". She also added that she had been "observing people and trying to pick up nuances" as a step of further preparation^[6]. She also featured as the cover girl of Indian edition of Maxim magazine for the month December 2010.^[7]

Although Sinha had no film release in 2011, she won quite a few awards for her debut. This included the Filmfare Award among others.

Breakthrough and initial success (2012–present)[link]

Sinha is expected to feature in a total of five films in 2012. They include, Rowdy Rathore, Joker, Lootera, Son Of Sardar and Dabangg 2, the sequel to her immensely successful debut film, Dabangg. Sinha has also been signed opposite her Rowdy Rathore and Joker co-star, Akshay Kumar for Once Upon a Time Again, the sequel to Once Upon A Time In Mumbaai, set for release in 2013.

Sonakshi Sinha and Akshay Kumar starrer Rowdy Rathore released on Ist June 2012.Rowdy Rathore has got thumbs up from the critics.Sonakshi plays a lovable, charming yet impish character.^[8]

Filmography[link]

Awards and nominations[link]

Provogue Selected Sonakshi Sinha as a new^[when?] Provogue Brand Ambassador at Yashraj Studio, Mumbai

Other Awards

• 2011: Aaj Tak Award for Best Debutante Actress; Dabangg^[22]
• 2011: Dadasaheb Phalke Awards for Best Debutant Actor - Female; Dabangg^[23]
• 2011: Bollywood Hungama Surfers Choice Movie Awards for Best Debut Actress; Dabangg^[24]

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Sonakshi Sinha

• Sonakshi Sinha at the Internet Movie Database

Sonu Sood
Sonu Sood at the B&D Award's Nite, 2009
Born	Sonu Sood (1973-07-30) 30 July 1973 (age 38) Punjab, India
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1998 – present
Spouse	Sonali

Sonu Sood (Hindi: सोनू सूद, born 30 July 1973, in Moga, Punjab) is a former model and Indian actor who has acted in Hindi, Telugu and Tamil films. A participant in the Mr. India pageant, he has appeared in commercials for Apollo Tyres, Airtel etc.^[1] In Tollywood he is best known for his role as the antagonist, Pasupathi, in the film Arundhati.^[2]

Personal life[link]

Sonu Sood was born in Moga, Punjab and was brought up in Nagpur. He studied in sacred heart school in Moga city . He grew up with two sisters. His father was an entrepreneur and his mother was a teacher. Since his childhood he wanted to be an actor. ^[3] A graduate in electronics engineering from YCCE, NAGPUR, he is married to Sonali and they have a son named Ishant.^[3]

Career[link]

He made his debut in Kallazhagar 1999, along with laila, opposite to Vijayakanth, which was a major hit. And as an antagonist in Telugu film Hands Up (2000), which was a box office dud. His first film in Tamil was Majnu (2001). The film too did not fetch him any recognition. He made his acting debut in Hindi films with Shaheed-e-Azam Bhagat Singh in 2002, which won critical acclaim for his performance. But he was better noticed as Abhishek Bachchan's brother in Mani Ratnam's Yuva (2004) and in Aashiq Banaya Aapne (2005).^[1] Sonu did some steamy stuff in Sheesha (2005) and Siskiyaan (2005).

In Tollywood, with the release of Super in 2005, he received greater recognition for his work.^[4] In this film, his co-star was Nagarjuna as a high-tech thief. However, the film didn't perform as well as expected. His next film was Athadu, which was a super-hit, but didn't help in building his image. In 2006 he again portrayed the antagonist in Ashok. It was an average grosser, but by now he had become popular in Telugu films.

It was Arundhati that took him to the greatest unimagined heights in a non-local industry. He played the role of Aghora. This film turned out to be the biggest Telugu hit of that year.

Following the Tollywood hit of Arundhati, in February 2008, he played the role of Rajkumar Sujamal in the Indian epic film, Jodha Akbar.

In 2009, he played the role of Gangster Bada in Anjaneyulu opposite Ravi Teja, but the role held less scope for his acting skills. In the latter half of 2009, he acted in another Telugu film, Ek Niranjan, in which he again played the antagonist. The film received mixed reviews, but Sood was critically praised for his portrayal of a sadistic villain. His histrionics and slang mixing English with Telugu in this film proved to be sensational.

In 2010, he played the lead antagonist in Abhinav Kashyap's Dabangg, co-starring with Salman Khan.^[5] His Kannada debut with Sudeep Only Vishnuvardhana released with a great response and critics lauded his performance.^[6] He is currently filming for Rana along with Rajinikanth.

Filmography[link]