Lavani (Marathi: लावणी) is a genre of music popular in Maharashtra and southern Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. Lavani is a combination of traditional song and dance, which particularly performed to the beats of Dholak, a percussion instrument. Lavani is noted for its powerful rhythm and erotic sentiment. Lavani has contributed substantially to the development of Marathi folk theatre. In Maharashtra and southern Madhya Pradesh, it is performed by the female performers wearing nine-yard long saris. The songs are sung in a quick tempo.

According to a tradition, the word Lavani is derived from the word lavanya which means beauty. According to another tradition, it is derived from Marathi lavane.

Traditionally, this genre of folk dance deals with different and varied subject matters such as society, religion, politics and romance. The songs in 'Lavani' are mostly erotic in sentiment and the dialogues tend to be pungent in socio-political satire. Originally, it was used as a form of entertainment and morale booster to the tired soldiers. Lavani Songs, which are sung along with dance, are usually naughty and erotic in nature. It is believed their origin is in the Prakrit Gathas collected by Hala. The Nirguni Lavani (philosophical) and the Shringari Lavani (sensual) are the two types. The devotional music of the Nirguni cult is popular all over Malwa.

Shweta Tiwari (Hindi: श्वेता तिवारी) (born 4 October 1980 in Pratapgarh, Uttar Pradesh, India in a Saryupareen Brahmins family) is an Indian film and television actress. She gained popularity for her role of Prerna in Balaji Telefilms's television serial Kasautii Zindagii Kay that used to be aired on an Indian television channel STAR Plus. She is the winner of the fourth season of the reality television show Bigg Boss.

While playing Bahu V on stage, Shweta was noticed by a well-known director^[who?] and started her acting career in 1999 with Kaleerein. She shot to fame for her role of Prerna in the television serial Kasautii Zindagii Kay. She has done several advertisements, dance shows, plays and cameos in other television serials. Some of her other popular television serials include Aane Wala Pal, Karam, Kaahin Kissii Roz, Kya Hadsa Kya Haqeeqat, Rishtey, Daddy Samjha Karo, Dost, Yatra, Naaginn and Ajeeb.

She is also active in Bollywood and Bhojpuri cinema and has played supporting roles in Madhoshi (2004), Abrakadabra and Benny And Babloo (2010). She appeared in the Bhojpuri film Hamar Sayian Hindustani along with her ex-husband Raja Chaudhary.

Sonalee Kulkarni is an Indian Actress, originally from Pune, India. She is noted for her role in the acclaimed 2009 Marathi film Natarang.

Sonalee Kulkarni was born to Manohar and Savinder Kulkarni in the army cantonment of Khadki, near Pune. Her father is a retired doctor serving with the Army Medical Corps, whereas her mother too was associated with the Army. She was brought up in a mixed cultural background, as her father is a Deshastha Brahmin from Maharashtra whereas her mother is originally from Punjab. Sonalee speaks fluent Hindi, Marathi, English and Punjabi, although she faced some difficulty with Marathi while performing in her first Marathi film Bakula Namdev Ghotale.

Sonalee studied at the Army School, Kendriya Vidyalaya and the Ferguson college, Pune. She completed a degree in Journalism and Mass Communication from the Indira School of Communication, Pune. Sonalee has been practising dance from the age of five, and trained as a Bharatnatyam dancer during her school years.

After participating in a beauty contest in her college, Sonalee was offered several roles in advertisements and minor films. In 2006, she was offered a role in Kedar Shinde' film Bakula Namdev Ghotale, for which she received the Zee Gaurav award for best actress.

Madhuri Dixit (born on 15 May 1967) is an Indian film actress who has appeared in Hindi films. Often cited by the media as one of the best actresses in Bollywood, Dixit made her film debut in Abodh (1984) and received wider public recognition with Tezaab (1988). She went on to establish herself as one of Hindi cinema's leading actresses, acknowledged for several of her performances, her beauty, and her accomplished dancing.

Some of her proceeding films include such box-office hits as Dil (1990), Saajan (1991), Beta (1992), Hum Aapke Hain Koun..! (1994) and Raja (1995). After a relatively low phase, she reinvented herself with the romance Dil To Pagal Hai (1997) and subsequently received critical acclaim for her work in films like Mrityudand (1997), Pukar (2000), Lajja (2001) and Devdas (2002). In 2002, she retired from films in order to raise her children and made a comeback with the musical Aaja Nachle in 2007.

Dixit has won five Filmfare Awards, four for Best Actress and one for Best Supporting Actress. She holds the record for the highest number of Best Actress nominations (13) at Filmfare. In 2008, she was awarded the Padma Shri, India's fourth-highest civilian award by the Government of India.