Unnao district

Unnao District is a district of Uttar Pradesh state in northern India. The town of Unnao is the district headquarters. The district is part of Lucknow Division.

History

Xuanzang, the Chinese pilgrim to India, stayed at Kannauj for 3 months in 636 AD. From here he journeyed a distance of about 26 km and reached the city of Nafotipokulo (Navadevakula) which stood on the eastern bank of Ganga. The city was about 5 km in circumference and had a Deva Temple, several Buddhist monasteries and Stupas.

Some fighting during 1857 sepoy mutiny took place in this area. Following the mutiny, the civil administration was re-established in the district which was named district Unnao, with headquarters at Unnao. The size of the district was however small until 1869, when it assumed its present form. The same year the town of Unnao was constituted a Municipality.

Economy

In 2006 the Ministry of Panchayati Raj named Unnao one of the country's 250 most backward districts (out of a total of 640). It is one of the 34 districts in Uttar Pradesh currently receiving funds from the Backward Regions Grant Fund Programme (BRGF).

Unnao

The town of Unnao (Hindi: उन्नाव, Urdu: اناو') is the headquarters of Unnao district in Uttar Pradesh, India between Kanpur and Lucknow. It is approximately 18 km from Kanpur & 60 km from Lucknow. It is connected to these two cities by roadway as well as by railway. The nearest airport is at Chakeri Airport about 18 km from Unnao & Chaudhary Charan Singh Airport about 50 km from Unnao. Unnao district is a part of Central Ganges Plain of the state covering an area of 4558 km².

History

Mansoor Khan

Mansoor Khan, son of film maker Nasir Hussain, made his directorial debut with Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak (1988) which launched the career of his cousin Aamir Khan. The film, a soft Romeo-Juliet inspired romantic drama, was a huge success. Coming towards the end of a decade dominated by action-oriented films, Mansoor Khan's directorial debut paved the way back for the musical romantic genre in Bollywood. The film made many careers: Aamir Khan, Juhi Chawla, Udit Narayan, Alka Yagnik and Anand-Milind.

He followed this success four years later with Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikander (1992). Mansoor Khan's last two films, Akele Hum Akele Tum (1995) and Josh (2000), were moderately successful. Both movies, the first an almost identical screenplay to Kramer vs. Kramer and the other an adaptation of West Side Story were outside productions with Mansoor just being a director. Josh was the only film out of all the films he directed that did not star Aamir Khan but instead had Shah Rukh Khan in the lead.