Vyjayanthimala

Vyjayanthimala Bali (born 13 August 1936), also known by the mononym Vyjayanthimala, is an Indian film actress, Bharathanatyam dancer, Carnatic singer, dance choreographer and parliamentarian. She made her debut in the Tamil language film Vazhkai in 1949 and in the Telugu film Jeevitham in 1950. She later became one of the most prominent actresses of South India and the golden era in Bollywood.

Vyjayanthimala was one of the biggest Bollywood stars with a career lasting almost two decades. She was the first south Indian actress to become a national star and "paved a way" for other south Indian actresses to foray into Bollywood. Vyjayanthimala is an accomplished dancer and was one of those who introduced semi-classical dance to Bollywood. Her subsequent dance numbers in her films had earned her the title of "twinkle toes". She was also referred to as one of the first female superstars of Hindi cinema and was known as "Numero Uno actress" for her "illustrious career in 1950s and 1960s".

Raj Kapoor

Ranbir Raj Kapoor (14 December 1924 – 2 June 1988), also known as "The Show Man", was a noted Indian film actor, producer and director of Hindi cinema. He was the winner of 2 National Film Awards and 11 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 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. He was called the Clark Gable of the Indian film industry.

Early life and background

Raj Kapoor was born in Dhakki Munawwar Shah near Qissa Khwani in Peshawar, (then) India (modern day North Pakistan) into a Hindu Punjabi family to Prithviraj Kapoor and Ramsarni Devi Kapoor. 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. His brothers are actors Shashi Kapoor and the late Shammi Kapoor. He also had a sister named Urmila Sial. Two other siblings died in infancy. They later on moved from Peshawar into present-day India for residence and for education.

Lata Mangeshkar

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Lata Mangeshkar ( pronunciation ) (born 28 September 1929) is an Indian playback singer, and occasional music-composer. She is one of the best-known and most respected playback singers in India. Mangeshkar's career started in 1942 and has spanned over seven decades. She has recorded songs for over a thousand Hindi films and has sung songs in over thirty-six regional Indian languages and foreign languages, though primarily in Marathi and Hindi. She is the elder sister of singers Asha Bhosle, Hridaynath Mangeshkar, Usha Mangeshkar and Meena Mangeshkar. She is the second vocalist, after M. S. Subbulakshmi, to have ever been awarded the Bharat Ratna, India's highest civilian honour. India's highest award in cinema the Dadasaheb Phalke Award was bestowed her in 1989 by the Government of India.

Sunil Dutt

Sunil Dutt (6 June 1930 – 25 May 2005), born Balraj Dutt, was an Indian movie actor, producer, director and politician. He was the Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports in the Manmohan Singh government (2004–2005). His son, Sanjay Dutt, is also an actor, while daughter Priya Dutt, a former Member of Parliament.

In 1968, he was honoured with the Padma Shri by the Government of India. In 1984 he joined the Indian National Congress party and was elected to Parliament of India for five terms from the constituency of Mumbai North West.

Early life

Sunil Dutt was born on 6 June 1930 in Khurd village, Jhelum district, Punjab Province, Pakistan. When he was five years old, Dutt's father died. When he was 18, the Partition of India began inciting Hindu-Muslim violence across the country. A Muslim named Yakub, who had been friends with Dutt's father, saved their entire family. The family resettled in a small village on the bank of river Yamuna called Mandauli in Yamuna Nagar district of Haryana. Later he moved to Lucknow and spent a long time in Aminabad Galli during graduation. He then moved to Bombay, where he joined Jai Hind College as an undergraduate and took up a job at the city's BEST Transport division.

Rajendra Kumar

Rajendra Kumar Tuli (20 July 1929 – 12 July 1999) was an Indian film actor who starred in Bollywood films. Starting his career in 1950, he appeared in more than 80 films in a career spanning over four decades. He was considered as one of the most successful Indian Bollywood actors in the 1960s. He also produced several films starring his son Kumar Gaurav. The Government of India honoured him with the Padma Shri in 1969.

He was born in a Punjabi Hindu family in Sialkot, in the Punjab province of British India, now in Pakistan.

Career

Rajendra Kumar's family was based in Punjab, British India. His grandfather was a successful military contractor and his father had a textile business in Karachi. During the Partition of India, the family had to leave all the land and property behind and move to India. When they came to Bombay, Kumar decided to try his luck in the Hindi film industry. He never wanted to be a hero and took up work with director H. S. Rawail as an assistant. For nearly five years, he worked with Rawail as an assistant in films like Patanga, Sagai, Pocketmaar.