Ghalib

Ghalib (Urdu: غاؔلب‎; Hindi: ग़ालिब) born Mirza Asadullah Beg Khan (Urdu: مرزا اسد اللہ بیگ خان; Hindi: मिर्ज़ा असदुल्लाह् बेग़ ख़ान), on 27 December 1797 – died 15 February 1869),  was the preeminent IndianUrdu and Persian-language poet during the last years of the Mughal Empire. He used his pen-names of Ghalib (Urdu: غالب, ġhālib means "dominant") and Asad (Urdu: اسد, Asad means "lion"). His honorific was Dabir-ul-Mulk, Najm-ud-Daula. During his lifetime the Mughals were eclipsed and displaced by the British and finally deposed following the defeat of the Indian rebellion of 1857, events that he wrote of. Most notably, he wrote several ghazals during his life, which have since been interpreted and sung in many different ways by different people. Ghalib, the last great poet of the Mughal Era, is considered to be one of the most popular and influential poets of the Urdu language. Today Ghalib remains popular not only in India and Pakistan but also amongst Indian diaspora communities around the world.

Jagjit Singh

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Jagjit Singh, born Jagmohan Singh (8 February 1941 – 10 October 2011), was a prominent Indian Ghazal singer, composer and musician. Known as the "Ghazal King", he gained acclaim together with his wife, another renowned Indian ghazal singer Chitra Singh in the 1970s and 1980s. Their combination album comprising music from the films, Arth and Saath Saath is the HMV's largest selling combination album of all time. Sajda (An Offering, 1991), Jagjit Singh's magnum opus double album with Lata Mangeshkar holds the same record in non-film category. He sang in numerous languages. He was awarded the Padma Bhushan by the government of India in 2003. In February 2014, Government of India released a postal stamp in his honour.

Singh is credited for the revival and popularity of ghazal, an Indian classical art form, by choosing poetry that was relevant to the masses and composing them in a way that laid more emphasis on the meaning of words and melody evoked by them. In terms of Indian Classical music, his style of composing and Gayaki (singing) is considered as Bol-pradhan, one that lays emphasis on words. He highlighted this in his music for films such as Prem Geet (1981), Arth and Saath Saath (1982), and TV serials Mirza Ghalib (1988) and Kahkashan (1991). Jagjit Singh is considered to be the most successful ghazal singer and composer of all time in terms of critical acclaim and commercial success. With a career spanning five decades and a repertoire comprising over 80 albums, the range and breadth of his work has been regarded as genre-defining. He is the only composer and singer to have composed and recorded songs written by former Prime Minister of India Atal Bihari Vajpayee – also a poet – in two albums, Nayi Disha (1999) and Samvedna (2002).

Mirza

Mirza (/ˈmɜːrzə/ or /mɪəˈzɑː/) is a historical title of Persian origin, denoting the rank of a high nobleman or Prince. It is usually defined in English as a royal or imperial Prince of the Blood.

Today, Mirza is used as a name to identify patriarchal lineage to royal aristocracies of Eastern Europe, Central Asia, and the Indian Subcontinent. Historically, it was used as a title by and signified patriarchal lineage to the imperial families of the Turkish Empire, Persia, Circassia, Shirvan, Mughals (aka Moguls) and Muslim Rajputs. It was also a title bestowed upon members of the highest aristocracies in Tatar states, such as the Khanates of Kazan and Astrakhan.

Under Catherine the Great, empress of Russia, the Mirzas gained equal rights with the Russian nobility due to their extreme wealth. In return, the Mirzas financed her Russo-Turkish war against the Ottoman Empire. Abdul Mirza was given the title Prince Yusupov, and his descendant Prince Felix Yusupov married a niece of Tsar Nicholas II of Russia.

Chitra Singh

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Chitra Singh (born Shome) is a well known Indian ghazal singer. She was a regular accompanist for her second husband Jagjit Singh, the renowned ghazal singer, and never sang except in concert with him.

Early life

Chitra Shome was born in a Bengali family. She had no formal musical training, but had an abiding interest in music from a young age. She was an average student at school, and after completing her education, took on a secretarial job in Kolkata.

First marriage

Within a couple of years of this, her parents succeeded in identifying a suitable young man for her to marry. This was Debo Prasad Dutta, an executive in a leading advertising agency. He hailed from a background similar to hers, and his family and educational qualifications were suitable. After meeting each other a few times over the space of a month (usually chaperoned by one or more family elders), both Chitra and Debo Prasad consented to the match and the wedding was duly celebrated in traditional style. Within a couple of years after the wedding, the couple became the parents of a daughter, Monica.

Naseeruddin Shah

Naseeruddin Shah (born 20 July 1949 or 16 August 1950) is an Indian film and stage actor and director, and a prominent figure in Indian parallel cinema. Shah has won numerous awards in his career, including three National Film Awards, three Filmfare Awards and an award at the Venice Film Festival. The government of India has honoured him with the Padma Shri and the Padma Bhushan awards for his contributions to Indian cinema.

Early life

Shah was born into a Muslim family in Barabanki, Uttar Pradesh state of India. He is a descendant of a 19th-century Afghan warlord Jan-Fishan Khan who participated in the First Anglo-Afghan War and helped the British in the subsequent Indian Rebellion of 1857.

Shah did his schooling at St. Anselm's Ajmer and St Joseph's College, Nainital. He graduated in arts from Aligarh Muslim University in 1971 and attended National School of Drama in Delhi. He has been successful in mainstream Bollywood cinema as well as in Parallel Cinema. He has appeared in international films, notably playing Captain Nemo in the Hollywood adaptation The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen.