Purana Mandir

Purana Mandir (Hindi for The Old Temple) is a 1984 Hindi feature film, produced and directed by the Ramsay brothers. It is a horror film chronicling the story of the monster-demon, Samri. The Soundtrack were composed by Ajit Singh.

Plot

The film opens with a scene taking place some 200 years ago, with the royal procession of Raja Harimansingh of the sultanate of Bijapur, stranded near the Kali Pahari (literally, black mountain). The Raja is concerned because his daughter Princess Rupali has disappeared near the lair of the devil-worshipper Samri (Anirudh Agarwal). The princess wanders into the ruins of an old fortress and is promptly captured and tortured by the villainous Samri. His trademark attack is mesmerizing the hapless victim apparently sucking out their life force through the eyes, causing their natural eyes to be replaced with demonic white shades. During this process, Samri's eyes gleam blood red. Raja Harimansingh catches Samri in this terrible act and orders the soldiers to capture him.

Sadashiv Amrapurkar

Sadashiv Dattaray Amarapurkar (11 May 1950 – 3 November 2014) was an Indian actor, best known for his performances in Marathi and Hindi films in the period 1983 to 1999.

He received the Filmfare Award for Best Performance in a Negative Role in 1991 for Sadak — the first time the award was instituted. In addition to negative roles, he has done supporting roles and, more recently, comic roles.

Personal life

Sadashiv Amarapurkar was born on May 11, 1950, in Ahmednagar, Maharashtra Shevgaon Taluka, Ahmednagar, Nashik Division, in Maharashtra, India.

Sadashiv began acting during his school and college days. While completing his Masters in History at Pune University, he was already pursuing his passion in theatre. A versatile actor, director and writer, he won a number of state as well as national level prestigious awards in theatre and film. His first film was in Govind Nihalani's Ardha Satya (1983) for which he won a Filmfare Award.

He has acted in more than 300 movies in Hindi, Marathi, Bengali, Oriya, Haryanvi, Telugu and Tamil. In 1993, he won the best actor in a villainous role Filmfare Award, the first time such award was instituted. In 1993 he also played the role of Inspector Pyare Mohan, in Aankhen, which won him accolades as a comic hero.

Mohnish Bahl

Mohnish Bahl is an Indian actor working in the Indian film industry and on Indian television. He is the son of actress Nutan and Lt. Cdr. Rajnish Bahl, and a prominent member of Mukherjee-Samarth family.

Career

Mohnish Bahl started his career as a leading man and did films like Dancer, Bekaraar, Teri Bahon Mein, Meri Adalat, Purana Mandir and Itihaas. None of these stabilized his status as a lead, despite the success of "Purana Mandir". Later in 1989, he was reintroduced, this time as a villain in the cult blockbuster Maine Pyar Kiya which starred Salman Khan and Bhagyashree. The success of the film transformed Bahl's career and led to him being a very busy villain and character actor. Other notable roles he did was in the 1992 hit Deewana. He was a regular in Soraaj R Bharjatya films Hum Aapke Hain Koun...!, Hum Saath Saath Hain and Vivah.

It was Salman Khan who suggested Mohnish Bahl to Sooraj Barjatya for Maine Pyar Kiya and later in Baaghi: A Rebel for Love. Bahl has also done appeared in Salman's recently released Jai Ho.

Ranvir Singh

Ranvir Singh (born 28 May 1977) is an English television presenter and journalist, best known for her presenting roles on the ITV Breakfast programmes Daybreak (2012–2014) and Good Morning Britain (2014–present).

Singh occasionally presents the ITV News bulletins, acting as a stand-in presenter and since 2015, she has presented Real Stories with Ranvir Singh, her own primetime factual series for ITV.

Early life

Singh was born in 1977 in Preston, Lancashire into a Sikh family. Educated at Kirkham Grammar School, an independent school in Kirkham, Lancashire, she graduated from the University of Lancaster with a degree in English and Philosophy. She then gained a postgraduate qualification in journalism at the school of Journalism, Media and Communication, University of Central Lancashire in Preston.

Career

Singh joined BBC Radio Lancashire in 2002, initially on work experience before being given a six-month contract. She then moved to BBC GMR, covering the 2002 Commonwealth Games in Manchester.

Hindu temple

A Hindu mandir (Sanskrit: मन्दिर mandir, प्रासाद prāsāda) is a house of god(s). It is a space and structure designed to bring human beings and gods together, infused with symbolism to express the ideas and beliefs of Hinduism. A Hindu temple, states George Michell, functions as a place of transcendence, where man may cross over (do tirtha) from the world of illusion to one of knowledge and truth.

The symbolism and structure of a Hindu temple, states Stella Kramrisch, are rooted in Vedic traditions. A temple incorporates all elements of Hindu cosmos - presenting the good, the evil and the human, as well as the elements of Hindu sense of cyclic time and the essence of life - symbolically presenting dharma, kama, artha, moksa and karma.

The spiritual principles symbolically represented in Hindu temples are given in the ancient Sanskrit texts of India (for example, Vedas, Upanishads), while their structural rules are described in various ancient Sanskrit treatises on architecture (Brhat Samhita, Vastu Sastras). The layout, the motifs, the plan and the building process recite ancient rituals, geometric symbolisms, and reflect beliefs and values innate within various schools of Hinduism. A Hindu temple is a spiritual destination for many Hindus (not all), as well as landmarks around which ancient arts, community celebrations and economy flourished.