Great Ten

The Great Ten, (Shi Hao Xia) or (十豪侠) are a team of fictional Chinese comic book superheroes in the DC Comics Universe, who are sponsored by the government of the People's Republic of China. Appearing in comics published by DC Comics, they were introduced in 52 #6 (June 2006), and were created by Grant Morrison, J. G. Jones, and Joe Bennett. Several of the characters have a basis in Chinese mythology. Unlike conventional superhero monikers, their names are close to literal translations from the Chinese language.

Publication history

Grant Morrison explained the background to his creation of the team, in a pitch which also contained the outline for the Super Young Team:

According to DC Comics’ Director of Sales Bob Wayne, the Great Ten will also return in their own title. On August 11, 2009, it was officially confirmed on the DC Universe blog website, "The Source", that the new title would be a 10-issue monthly mini-series, beginning in early November 2009 and produced by writer Tony Bedard and artist Scott McDaniel, with covers by Stanley Lau.

Ilaiyaraaja

HIDDEN ERROR: Usage of "religion" is not recognizedHIDDEN ERROR: Usage of "Children" is not recognized

 Ilaiyaraaja  (born Gnanathesikan) is an Indian film composer who works predominantly in the South Indian cinema since the late 1970s. Regarded as one of the finest music composers in India, Ilaiyaraaja is also an instrumentalist, conductor, singer, and songwriter. He has composed more than 5000 songs and provided film scores for more than 1000 films, particularly being acclaimed for his background scores.

He integrated folk—in Tamil—and introduced western musical sensibilities into the South Indian musical mainstream. Ilaiyaraja is also known for creating music by fusing symphonic orchestration with traditional Indian instrumentation, often performed by Budapest Symphony Orchestra. In 1993 he organised a full symphony performed by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra in London and thus became the First Indian to compose a full symphony, with Ravi Shankar being the only other Indian to do so. He is also the first Asian to compose a full symphony performed by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. He has won four Indian National Film Awards (the highest film honor in India); three for Best Music Direction and one for Best Background Score. In 2010 he has received Padma Bhushan, awarded by the Government of India.

Song

A song is a single (and often standalone) work of music intended to be sung by the human voice with distinct and fixed pitches and patterns using sound and silence and a variety of forms that often include the repetition of sections. Written words created specifically for music or for which music is specifically created, are called lyrics. If a pre-existing poem is set to composed music in classical music it is an art song. Songs that are sung on repeated pitches without distinct contours and patterns that rise and fall are called chants. Songs in a simple style that are learned informally are often referred to as folk songs. Songs that are composed for professional singers are called popular songs. These songs, which have broad appeal, are often composed by professional songwriters, composers and lyricists. Art songs are composed by trained classical composers for concert performances. Songs are performed live and recorded. Songs may also appear in plays, musical theatre, stage shows of any form, and within operas.

A. R. Rahman

Allah-Rakha Rahman ( pronunciation , born A. S. Dileep Kumar on 6 January 1967) is an Indian composer, singer-songwriter, music producer, musician and philanthropist. Rahman's works are noted for integrating Eastern classical music with electronic music, world music and traditional orchestral arrangements. Among his awards are two Academy Awards, two Grammy Awards, a BAFTA Award, a Golden Globe, four National Film Awards, fifteen Filmfare Awards and thirteen Filmfare Awards South. Rahman's body of work for film and stage has given him the nickname of "the Mozart of Madras", and Tamil commentators and fans call him Isai Puyal (English: the Musical Storm).

In 2009, Time included Rahman on its list of the world's most influential people. The UK-based world-music magazine Songlines named him one of "Tomorrow's World Music Icons" in August 2011.

With an in-house studio (Panchathan Record Inn in Chennai) Rahman's film-scoring career began during the early 1990s with the Tamil film Roja. Working in India's film industries, international cinema and theatre, Rahman is one of the world's all-time best-selling recording artists. In a notable two-decade career, he has been acclaimed for redefining contemporary Indian film music and contributing to the success of several films. Rahman has become a notable humanitarian and philanthropist, donating and raising money for a number of causes and charities.

Kamal Haasan

Kamal Haasan (born 7 November 1954) is an Indian film actor, screenwriter, director, producer, playback singer, choreographer, lyricist, philanthropist and dancer who works primarily in the Tamil film industry. Haasan has won several Indian film awards including four National Film Awards and 19 Filmfare Awards. With seven submissions, Kamal Haasan has starred in the highest number of films submitted by India for the Academy Award Best Foreign Language Film. Haasan's production company, Rajkamal International, has produced several of his films. Kamal Haasan received the Kalaimamani Award in 1979, the Padma Shri Award in 1990 and the Padma Bhushan Award in 2014.

After several projects as a child, Haasan's breakthrough as a lead actor came in the 1975 drama Apoorva Raagangal, in which he played a rebellious youth in love with an older woman. He won his first National Film Award for his portrayal of a guileless schoolteacher who cares for a childlike amnesiac in Moondram Pirai (1983). Haasan was noted for his performances in Mani Ratnam's crime film Nayagan (1987), rated by Time magazine as one of the best films in cinema history as well as Shankar's vigilante film Indian (1996) which saw him playing dual roles of a father and a son. Since then he has appeared in a number of films including Hey Ram (2000), Virumaandi (2004), Vishwaroopam (2013) which were his own productions and Dasavathaaram (2008) in which he played ten different roles.