Mangal Pandey (19 July 1827 – 8 April 1857) was a sepoy in the 34th Bengal Native Infantry (BNI) regiment of the English East India Company. He is known for his involvement in the initial stages of the Indian Rebellion of 1857. While contemporary British reports considered him a traitor and mutineer, he is widely regarded as a freedom fighter in modern India. As such, in 1984 the Indian government issued a postage stamp to commemorate him. His life and actions have also been portrayed in several cinematic productions.

Mangal Pandey was born on 19 July 1827 in the village Nagwa, of Ballia district in Uttar Pradesh of India to Bhumihar Brahmin family.

He joined the East India Company's forces in 1849 at the age of 22. Pandey was part of the 6th Company of the 34th Bengal Native Infantry and is primarily known for his involvement in an attack on several of the regiment's officers. This incident marked an opening stage in what came to be known as the Indian Mutiny of 1857 or, recently, as the First War of Indian Independence. In line with the modern Indian perspective of his historical role, it is now claimed^{[by whom?]} that Pandey was a devout Hindu who practiced his religion diligently.

Aamir Hussain Khan (pronounced [ˈaːmɪr ˈxaːn]) (born 14 March 1965) is an Indian film actor, director and producer who has established himself as one of the leading actors of Hindi cinema.

Starting his career as a child actor in his uncle Nasir Hussain's film Yaadon Ki Baaraat (1973), Khan began his professional career eleven years later with Holi (1984) and had his first commercial success with Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak (1988). He received his first National Film Award as a Special Jury Award for his roles in the films Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak (1988) and Raakh (1989). After eight previous nominations during the 1980s and 1990s, Khan received his first Filmfare Award for Best Actor for his performance in the major grosser Raja Hindustani (1996) and later earned his second Best Actor award for his performance in the Academy Award-nominated Lagaan, which also marked the debut of his own production company.

Following a four-year break from acting, Khan made his comeback playing the title role in the historical Mangal Pandey: The Rising (2005), and later won a Filmfare Critics Award for Best Actor for his role in Rang De Basanti (2006). The following year, he made his directorial debut with Taare Zameen Par, for which he received a Filmfare Award for Best Director. This was followed by Ghajini (2008), which became the highest grossing film of that year, and 3 Idiots (2009), which became the highest-grossing Bollywood film of all-time, unadjusted for inflation. The Government of India honoured him with the Padma Shri in 2003 and the Padma Bhushan in 2010 for his contributions towards the arts.

Kirron Kher (also Kiran or, Mummy Punjabi, KironPunjabi: ਕਿਰਣ ਖੇਰ; born 14 June 1955) is an Indian theatre, film and television actress and a TV talk show host.

Kirron Kher was born in Bangalore and brought up in Chandigarh, Punjab, where she did her schooling and later college from Panjab University, Chandigarh. At school she was an avid badminton player with her sister, Arjuna award Kanwal Thakar Singh. Their mother, Diljit Singh, was active in sports and dramatics during her college days in pre-partition Punjab. Kirron had a brother, artist Amardeep Singh, who died in 2003.

Kirron Kher made her film debut in 1983 in the Punjabi feature film Aasra Pyar Da and received rave reviews for her performance. She soon took a hiatus from films following her divorce to raise her son, Sikander Kher. Meanwhile, she worked for her second husband Anupam Kher as a costume designer and appeared in one film in between, Pestonjee in 1988, wherein she acted alongside Anupam Kher.

Her return to acting came about with theatre, with the play Saalgirah, by playwright Javed Siddiqui and directed by Feroz Abbas Khan. Then she hosted three television shows, starting with Purushkshetra on Zee TV which got her much acclaimed for bringing out the discussion of sexuality to the forum for the first time, while highlighting women's issues at the same time,Kiron Kher Today and Jagte Raho with Kiron Kher, before doing Bollywood films.