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.

Sangam

Sangam may refer to:

Tamil history

Confluence of rivers

Places

Education

Film and music

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.

Shankar Jaikishan

Shankar Jaikishan (also known as S-J), were an Indian duo who composed music for the Hindi film industry, working together from 1949 to 1971.

Shankar-Jaikishan, along with other artists, composed "everlasting" and "immortal melodies" in the 1950s, 1960s, and early 1970s. Their best work was noted for being "raga-based and having both lilt and sonority".

Early years

Shankar

Shankar Singh s/o ram singh (15 October 1922 – 26 April 1987) was a native of telangana, and spent his early years in Hyderabad. During his formative years, Shankar played the tabla and learned the art formally from Baba Nasir Khansahib. For many years, Shankar studied as a disciple of the legendary composer Khawaja Khurshid Anwar, in whose orchestra he performed.

Shankar started his career with a theater group run by Satyanarayan and Hemawati, before shifting to Prithvi Theatre where he played tabla and performed some minor roles in plays. Shankar worked as assistant to the leading composer duo of Husnlal Bhagatram.

Music director

A music director may be the director of an orchestra or concert band, the director of music for a film, the director of music at a radio station, the head of the music department in a school, the coordinator of the musical ensembles in a university, college, or institution (but not usually the head of the academic music department), the head bandmaster of a military band, the head organist and choirmaster of a church, or an Organist and Master of the Choristers (a title given to a Director of Music at a cathedral, particularly in England).

Orchestra

The title of "music director" or "musical director" is used by many symphony orchestras to designate the primary conductor and artistic leader of the orchestra. The term "music director" is most common for orchestras in the United States. With European orchestras, the titles of "principal conductor" or "chief conductor" are more common, which designate the conductor who directs the majority of a given orchestra's concerts in a season. In musical theatre and opera, the music director is in charge of the overall musical performance, including ensuring that the cast knows the music thoroughly, supervising the musical interpretation of the performers and pit orchestra, and conducting the orchestra.