Paan, from the word pān (Hindi: पान, Urdu: پان; lit. "betel vine"), is a stimulating, psychoactive preparation of betel leaf combined with areca nut and/or cured tobacco.Paan is chewed before spitting or swallowing. Paan has many variations. Slaked lime paste is commonly added to bind the leaves. Some South Asian preparations include katha paste or mukhwas to freshen the breath.

Paan is also known as a betel quid. It is mostly consumed in Asia, and elsewhere in the world by some Asian emigrants, with or without tobacco, in an addictive and euphoria-inducing formulation with adverse health effects.

Some examples of paan's numerous variations are:

Betel leaf filled with a mixture of chopped or coarsely ground areca nuts and other spices

Bengali paan is known as deshi mahoba, and has a delicate flavour. Maghai paan and jagannath paan are the signature varieties of Varanasi.

The flavour and potency of paan depends, too, on the betel cultivar used, and the age of the plant at harvest. In South India, paan prepared from small and fragile leaves is called chigrlayele. In India, black paan leaves—ambadi and kariyele, which are thicker than the green leaves—are often chewed with tobacco.

Paan Singh Tomar (1932 – October 1, 1981) was an Indian athlete and a seven-time national steeplechase champion during the 1950s and 1960s. He represented India at the 1958 Asian Games in Tokyo, Japan. Tomar also served in the Indian Army, and it was in the army where his talent was first recognized. After premature retirement from the army he settled back in his native village. Later he gained notoriety as a Chambal Valley dacoit when he resorted to banditry after a land feud in his village.

He was killed on October 1st, 1981 in a police ambush. A biopic, Paan Singh Tomar, was released in 2012 to much critical acclaim. It was written by Sanjay Chouhan, directed by Tigmanshu Dhulia and starred Irrfan Khan as Paan Singh Tomar and Mahie Gill as his wife.

He is survived by his second son Souram Singh, a 53-year-old retired Army Subedar and his 75-year-old wife Indira who lives far from Chambal Valley for fear of being killed by Paan Singh Tomar's old enemies or the police.

Paan Singh Tomar was born in village Bhidausa (Morena, Madhya Pradesh) in a Tomar/Tanwar Rajput family. Hailing from a small town in Madhya Pradesh, Tomar became a seven time national steeplechase champion during the 1950s and 1960s. He created the national steeplechase record in the 1958 National Games in Cuttack with a timing of 9 minutes and 12.4 seconds. Later he broke his own record in the 1964 Open Meet in Delhi with a timing of 9 minutes and 4 seconds. His record in the 3,000 m steeplechase stood for almost a decade. He is considered a legendary sports person in India.

Ranbirraj "Raj" Kapoor (Hindi: राज कपूर, Punjabi: ਰਾਜ ਕਪੂਰ, Rāj Kapūr, 14 December 1924 – 2 June 1988), also known as The Show-Man, was an Indian film actor, producer and director of Hindi cinema. He was the winner of nine Filmfare Awards in India, and a two-time nominee for the Palme d'Or grand prize at the Cannes Film Festival for his films Awaara (1951) and Boot Polish (1954). His performance in Awaara was ranked as one of the top ten greatest performances of all time by Time magazine. His films were commercial successes that attracted worldwide audiences, particularly in Asia and Europe. The Government of India honoured him with the Padma Bhushan in 1971 and the Dadasaheb Phalke Award in 1987 for his contributions towards Indian cinema.

Raj Kapoor was born in Peshawar, British India (present day Pakistan), to a Khatri family of kapoor's and Ramsarni (Rama) Devi Kapoor (née Mehra). He was the eldest of six children in the family. He was the grandson of Dewan Basheshwarnath Kapoor and great-grandson of Dewan Keshavmal Kapoor, part of the famous Kapoor family. Two of Raj's brothers are actors Shashi Kapoor (a.k.a. Balbir Raj Kapoor) and the late Shammi Kapoor (aka Shamsher Raj Kapoor); the other two died in infancy. He also had a sister named Urmila Sial.

Asha Bhosle (born September 8, 1933) is an Indian singer. She is best-known as a playback singer in Hindi cinema, although she has a wider repertoire. Bhosle's career started in 1943 and has spanned over six decades. She has done playback singing for over a thousand Bollywood movies. In addition, she has recorded several private albums and participated in numerous solo concerts in India and abroad. Bhosle is the sister of playback singer Lata Mangeshkar.

Renowned for her voice range and often credited for her versatility, Bhosle's work includes film music, pop, ghazals, bhajans, traditional Indian classical music, folk songs, qawwalis, and Rabindra Sangeets. Apart from Hindi, she has sung in over 20 Indian and foreign languages. In 2006, Asha Bhosle stated that she had sung over 12,000 songs, a figure repeated by several other sources. The World Records Academy, an international organization which certifies world records, recognised her as the "Most Recorded Artist" in the world, in September 2009. In 2011 she was officially acknowledged by the Guinness Book of World Records as the most recorded artist in music history. The Government of India honoured her with the Dadasaheb Phalke Award in 2000 and the Padma Vibhushan in 2008.