Kannada Actor Ambareesh Family Photos, Biography

Kannada Actor Ambareesh Family Photos, Biography
Film actor
Born: May 29, 1952 (age 61), Doddarasinakere
Spouse: Sumalatha (m. 1991)
Parents: Huche Gowda
Children: Abishek Ambareesh
Awards: Filmfare Award for Best Actor – Kannada, Filmfare Lifetime Achievement Award – South

(Malavallii Huche Gowda Amarnath or M. H. Amarnath) Ambareesh was born in  29 May 1952 at Maddur Taluk in Mandya District of Karnataka state is an Indian film actor and also a prominent politician from Karnataka state. Amabareesh married actress Sumalatha on 8 December 1991 at the age of 39 and they have a son named Abishek. Sumalatha acted in meny South Films.

 Ambareesh Wife Sumalatha

 Ambareesh Young Stage

 Ambareesh College Days

 Ambareesh Family Photo

 Ambareesh With Wife Sumalatha And Son Abishek

 Ambareesh Kannada Star

 Ambareesh 60th Birthday

 Ambareesh With Wife Actress Sumalatha

 Ambareesh Kannada Rebel Star

 Ambareesh As A Politician

Ambareesh-Sumalatha

kannada actor ambarish full family photos

Sania Mirza Biography, Profile, Reallife Photos, Childhood Photos, Marriage Photos, Interviews.

Sania Mirza Biography, Profile, Reallife Photos, Childhood Photos, Marriage Photos, Interviews.

Country India
Residence Hyderabad, India
Date of birth     November 15, 1986 (1986-11-15) (age 23)
Place of birth     Mumbai, India
Height     1.73 m (5 ft 8 in)
Weight     57 kg (130 lb; 9.0 st)
Turned pro     2003
Plays     Right-handed (two-handed backhand)
Career prize money     US$ 1,561,465
Singles
Career record     219–113 (64.6%)
Career titles     1 WTA, 13 ITF
Highest ranking     No. 27 (August 27, 2007)
Current ranking     No. 111 (June 25, 2010)
Grand Slam results
Australian Open     3r (2005, 2008)
French Open     2r (2007)
Wimbledon     2r (2005, 2007, 2008, 2009)
US Open     4r (2005)
Doubles
   

Sania Mirza (Urdu: ثانیہ مرزا), born November 15, 1986, is an Indian tennis player. She began her tennis career in 2003. In 2004 she was awarded the Arjuna award by the Indian Government. She is known for her powerful forehand ground strokes.

Early life

Mirza was born to Imran Mirza, a sports journalist and his wife Nasima in Mumbai, India. She was brought up in Hyderabad in a religious Shia Muslim family. Mirza began playing tennis at the age of six, turning professional in 2003. She was trained by her father and other family members. She attended Nasr school in Hyderabad and later graduated from St. Mary's College.

Career

In April 2003, Mirza made her debut in the India Fed Cup team, winning all three singles matches. She also won the 2003 Wimbledon Championships Girls' Doubles title, teaming up with Alisa Kleybanova of Russia.

Mirza is the highest ranked female tennis player ever from India, with a career high ranking of 27 in singles and 18 in doubles. She is the first Indian woman to be seeded in a Grand Slam tennis tournament. She was the first Indian woman to reach the fourth round of a Grand Slam tournament at the 2005 U.S. Open, defeating Mashona Washington, Maria Elena Camerin and Marion Bartoli. In winning, with Mahesh Bhupathi, the mixed doubles event at the 2009 Australian Open, she became the first Indian woman to win a Grand Slam title.

In 2005, Mirza reached the third round of the Australian Open, losing to eventual champion Serena Williams. On February 12, 2005, she became the first Indian woman to win a WTA singles title, defeating Alyona Bondarenko of Ukraine in the Hyderabad Open Finals. As of September 2006, Mirza has notched up three top 10 wins; against Svetlana Kuznetsova, Nadia Petrova and Martina Hingis. At the 2006 Doha Asian Games, Mirza won the silver in the women's singles category and the gold in the mixed doubles partnering Leander Paes. She was also part of the Indian women's team that won the silver in the team event.

2006: Wins silver in singles and gold in mixed doubles, at the Doha Asian Games.

In 2006, Mirza was awarded a Padma Shri, India's fourth highest honor for her achievements as a tennis player.

Sania Mirza Career record
Country India
Residence Hyderabad, India
Date of birth     November 15, 1986 (1986-11-15) (age 23)
Place of birth     Mumbai, India
Height     1.73 m (5 ft 8 in)
Weight     57 kg (130 lb; 9.0 st)
Turned pro     2003
Plays     Right-handed (two-handed backhand)
Career prize money     US$ 1,561,465
Singles
Career record     219–113 (64.6%)
Career titles     1 WTA, 13 ITF
Highest ranking     No. 27 (August 27, 2007)
Current ranking     No. 111 (June 25, 2010)
Grand Slam results
Australian Open     3r (2005, 2008)
French Open     2r (2007)
Wimbledon     2r (2005, 2007, 2008, 2009)
US Open     4r (2005)
Doubles
Career record     153–82
Career titles     9 WTA, 4 ITF
Highest ranking     No. 18 (September 10, 2007)
Grand Slam Doubles results
Australian Open     3R (2007, 2008)
French Open     3R (2006)
Wimbledon     QF (2008)
US Open     QF (2007)
Mixed Doubles
Grand Slam Mixed Doubles results
Australian Open     W (2009)
French Open     2R (2007)
Wimbledon     3R (2006)
US Open     QF (2007)

Medal record
Women's Tennis
Asian Games
Gold     2006 Doha     Mixed Doubles
Silver     2006 Doha     Singles
Silver     2006 Doha     Team
Commonwealth Games
Silver     2010 Delhi     Singles
Bronze     2010 Delhi     Women's Doubles

Mirza had had the best results of her career during the 2007 summer hardcourt season, finishing eighth in the 2007 U.S. Open Series standings. She reached the final of the Bank of the West Classic and won the doubles event with Shahar Pe'er, and reached the quarterfinals of the Tier 1 Acura Classic.

At the 2007 U.S. Open, she reached the third round before losing to Anna Chakvetadze for the third time in recent weeks. She fared much better in the doubles, reaching the quarterfinals in mixed with her partner Mahesh Bhupathi and the quarterfinals in the women's doubles with Bethanie Mattek, including a win over number two seeds Lisa Raymond and Samantha Stosur.

Mirza received an honorary degree of Doctor of Letters from the MGR Educational and Research Institute University in Chennai on 2008-12-11. Her niece, Sonia Baig Mirza, studies there.
2008

Mirza reached the quarter-finals at Hobart as No. 6 seed. She lost to Flavia Pennetta in three sets. She reached the third round at the Australian Open as No.31 seed, where she lost to No.8 seed Venus Williams 7–6(0) 6–4, having led 5–3 in the first set. She was runner-up in the Australian Open mixed doubles partnering Mahesh Bhupathi where they lost 7–6(4), 6–4 to Sun Tiantian and Nenad Zimonjić.

She withdrew from the Pattaya Open because of a left adductor strain.

Mirza reached the 4r at Indian Wells as No.21 seed, defeating No.9 seed Shahar Pe'er en route, but lost to No.5 seed Daniela Hantuchová.

At the 2008 Wimbledon Championships, as No.32 seed, Mirza was defeated by qualifier María José Martínez Sánchez, 6–0, 4–6, 9–7, having had several match points.

Mirza was eliminated in the first round of the 2008 Beijing Olympics when she retired in her match against Iveta Benešová because of a right wrist injury. Throughout 2008, Mirza was plagued by a slew of wrist injuries, requiring her to withdraw from several matches including those of the Roland Garros and US Open Grand Slams.
2009

Mirza picked up her first Grand Slam title at the 2009 Australian Open. Partnered with Mahesh Bhupathi, she won the mixed doubles title beating Nathalie Dechy (France) and Andy Ram (Israel) 6–3, 6–1 in the final in Melbourne. She then entered the Pattaya Women's Open Tournament in Bangkok where she reached the finals after a string of good performances. She lost the finals to Vera Zvonareva 7–5, 6–1. She made the semis in doubles in the same tournament.

Mirza then competed in the BNP Paribas Open where she lost in the second round to Flavia Pennetta. She then participated in the Miami Masters and lost to Mathilde Johansson of France in the first round. Mirza and her doubles partner Chia-jung Chuang of Chinese Taipei made the semifinals of the doubles event. Mirza lost in the first round of the MPS Group Championships but won the doubles title with Chuang. She lost in the first round at Roland Garros, losing to Kazakhstan's Galina Voskoboeva. She also lost in the second round of the doubles (with Chuang) and mixed doubles (with Mahesh Bhupathi). She participated in the 2009 AEGON Classic and reached the semifinals, losing to Magdaléna Rybáriková of Slovakia 3–6,6–0,6–3, who eventually won the title.

Mirza defeated Anna-Lena Grönefeld in the first round of the 2009 Wimbledon Championships. She then fell to #28 Sorana Cîrstea in the second round. She competed in and won the Lexington Challenger event, defeating top seed Julie Coin of France in the final. She also reached the final of the ITF event in Vancouver but lost to Stéphanie Dubois of Canada. Playing in the U.S Open, she defeated Olga Govortsova in the first round but lost 6–0, 6–0 to 10th seed Flavia Pennetta of Italy. She also lost in the second round of the doubles event (partnering Francesca Schiavone) to Shahar Pe'er and Gisela Dulko.

Mirza successfully qualified for the Toray Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo but lost in the first round to Zheng Jie. Mirza won the first set but could not hold the lead, eventually losing to the Chinese player 7–5, 2–6, 3–6.

At Osaka, Mirza won her first round match against 5th seed Shahar Pe'er 3–6, 6–3, 6–4. Mirza then defeated Viktoriya Kutuzova 6–4, 6–3 and in the quarterfinal she defeated 2nd seed Marion Bartoli 6–4, 2–0 by retirement. Bartoli conceded her match and Mirza moved on to the semifinal to meet 4th seed Francesca Schiavone of Italy.

Personal life

In 2009, Sania Mirza got engaged with a childhood friend Sohrab Mirza, however this engagement did not last long. Mirza married Pakistani cricketer Shoaib Malik on April 12, 2010. The wedding was held in Hyderabad, India while the walima reception was held in Sialkot, Pakistan. The couple plan to settle down in Dubai.

Controversy

The short tennis clothes she has to wear in the court has drawn criticism from some Muslim religious groups, with Mirza being a practising Muslim who prays five times a day, and fasts during Ramadan. According to one report published September 8, 2005, an unnamed Muslim scholar had issued a ruling, saying that women's tennis attire is not suited to Islam. Jamiat-ulema-e-Hind rejected rumors about disrupting her game saying that they do not stop anyone from playing, although they found female tennis players' dress code objectionable. Nevertheless, Calcutta police tightened security measures to protect her.

After Mirza spoke at a conference on safe sex in November 2005, some groups said she was detached from Islam and that she was a "corrupting influence on the youth." Mirza clarified her stance by saying that she was opposed to pre-marital sex.

In 2006, some newspapers reported that Mirza declined to play doubles with an Israeli tennis player Shahar Pe'er for fear of protests from India's Muslim community. However, when she teamed up with Pe'er for the 2007 WTA Tour of Stanford, California, there was no reaction.

Mirza was pictured resting her feet and showing the soles of her bare feet as she watched compatriot Rohan Bopanna play in the 2008 Hopman Cup, with an Indian flag in front. She faced possible prosecution under the Prevention of Insults to National Honour Act after a private citizen complained. Mirza protested, "I love my country, I wouldn't be playing Hopman Cup otherwise."

On February 4, 2008, Mirza said that she would stop appearing in tennis tournaments held in India, starting with the 2008 Bangalore Open the following month, citing the series of controversies and upon advice by her manager.
 Sania Mirza Wedding Photos

Ram Gopal Varma Biography, Filmography

Ram Gopal Varma
Ram Gopal Varma Penumatsa
Born April 7, 1962 (1962-04-07) (age 47)
Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh, India
Occupation Film director, producer and writer
Years active 1989-present
Spouse(s) Ratna (divorced)
Official website

Ram Gopal Varma is an Indian film director, screenwriter and producer. Varma has directed, written and produced films across multiple genres—psychological thrillers, underworld gang warfare, politician-criminal nexus, and musicals—and in multiple languages—Telugu and Hindi.

Shiva (1989) was his first film as director and Rann (2010) is his most recent one. He gained recognition in Hindi cinema, also known as "Bollywood", with Rangeela (1995). The next film he directed was Satya (1998), which won six Filmfare Awards, including the Critics Award for Best Film. Satya, together with his 2002 film Company (which he directed and which won seven Filmfare Awards) and 2005 film D (which he produced), form an "Indian Gangster Trilogy". Other successful films Varma directed include Kshana Kshanam (1991), Kaun (1999), Jungle (2000), Bhoot (2003), Sarkar (2005) and Sarkar Raj (2008). He introduced south indian super star, four time national award winner Mohanlal into bollywood.

Early years

Ram Gopal Varma Penmetsa was born in Hyderabad to Krishnam Raju Penmetsa and Satyavathi. Varma was not a good student in school and used to skip classes regularly, something that strained his relationship with his family, particularly his father.

In an interview to Tehelka, Varma talked about that phase of his life, his relationship with his parents, and the reasons behind his decision to become a filmmaker-
“ "From my parents’ perspective, I looked like a useless bum. It was the truth. I had no objective. I was just fascinated by people, so I used to study their behaviour. I was most fascinated by the bullies in my classroom. They were like gangsters for me. They had the guts to push around people, do things I couldn’t— perhaps did not even want to do myself. But I’d want a friend like that (laughs). I used to adulate them like heroes. That was my first touch with anti-socialism. Over a period of time, I developed a low-angle fascination for larger than life people. I was always a loner — not because I was unhappy, but because I live away from myself, not just others. I like to study myself — the way I am talking, behaving. My constant obsession with studying myself and other people is perhaps the primary motivation for me to be a filmmaker."

Varma is a civil engineer by profession and graduated from the V.R.Siddhartha Engineering College, Vijayawada. Even during this period, Varma remained a film buff. He would skip classes often and go and watch films instead - 8-10 films a week. He would watch the same film repeatedly "just to watch certain scenes which interested him." According to him, that is how he learned film direction..

After graduation, Varma tried entering the film industry, but couldn't manage it. He then put his dreams on the backburner and decided to go to Nigeria to make some money. It was at this moment that he visited a video rental library in Hyderabad. He loved the idea and decided to start one of his own, all because of his craze for films.

Career in Telugu cinema

Before Varma started his film career in the Telugu film industry he lingered in the sets of the films Raogaarillu and Collectorgari Abbai. His father was a sound recordist at Annapurna Studios, Hyderabad which is owned by Akkineni Nageswara Rao.Varma managed to meet Nagarjuna on the sets of a film and narrated a scene to the actor which impressed him so much that Varma's dream of becoming a director came true. The result of their collaboration was a film on the criminalization of student politics - Shiva. The film was a blockbuster with Varma demonstrating his technical expertise and story-telling skills. The success of the film in Telugu led to a Hindi remake with similar success.

Varma's next film was Kshana Kshanam, another Telugu blockbuster with Telugu superstar Daggubati Venkatesh & Sridevi which got him noticed by Bollywood critics. The film was also redubbed in Bollywood as Hairaan. Then came a lean patch with films such as Raatri / Raat and Antham / Drohi. WhileGaayam was a moderate success, Govinda Govinda was not so much. During this period, Varma also produced films such as Money and Money Money, and wrote the script for the Mani Rathnam film Thiruda Thiruda

Career in Hindi cinema

While Varma's first successful Hindi film was the remake of Siva, His next film was Drohi. The film that really put the spotlights on him was the blockbuster Rangeela. With great acting from the lead trio of Aamir Khan, Jackie Shroff and Urmila Matondkar, a fantastic soundtrack by composer A. R. Rahman (this being his first original score for a Hindi film), and with Varma at the helm, it was no surprise that this romantic musical drama was a runaway success. The film won Filmfare Awards for Rahman and Shroff. The film, according to Varma, was dedicated to actress Sridevi. His next film Daud (1997), however, was a failure and sank without a trace.

In 1998, Varma was an executive producer for Dil Se, directed by Mani Ratnam and starring Shahrukh Khan, Manisha Koirala and Preity Zinta. The film won the NETPAC Award for Special Mention at the Berlin Film Festival, as well as two National Film Awards and six Filmfare Awards.

Indian Gangster Trilogy
Main articles: Satya (film), Company (film), and D (film)

In 1998 came his masterpiece, the critically acclaimed Satya, a film based on the Mumbai underworld. A script written by Anurag Kashyap and Saurabh Shukla, music by Vishal Bharadwaj and Sandeep Chowta, acclaimed performances by J. D. Chakravarthy, Manoj Bajpai and Urmila Matondkar, and Varma's directorial and technical brilliance, contributed to a film that was a landmark. The film won six Filmfare Awards, including the Critics Award for Best Film.

In 2002 came his greatest commercial as well as critical success, Company, again set against the backdrop of the Mumbai underworld, in which he cut out song-and-dance sequences commonplace in Bollywood films at the time. It was based on the real-life underworld organization, the D-Company. The film won seven Filmfare Awards and earned him a Filmfare Best Director Award nomination.Mohanlal debuted in bollywood in this film.

A prequel to Company was made in 2005, entitled D, produced by Varma and directed by Vishram Sawant. Varma's three films Satya, Company and D are together considered an "Indian Gangster Trilogy". Satya and Company in particular were cited by British director Danny Boyle as influences on his Academy Award winning film Slumdog Millionaire (2008), for their "slick, often mesmerizing portrayals of the Mumbai underworld", their display of "brutality and urban violence", and their gritty realism.

Experimental films

During the years between his "Indian Gangster Trilogy", from Satya in 1998 to D in 2005, Varma experimented with several different film genres in the intervening years. In 1999, he directed Kaun, a suspense thriller set entirely in one house and featuring only three actors, and Mast, a subversion of the Bollywood masala musical film genre. In 2000, he directed Jungle, a film set entirely in a jungle, for which he was nominated for the Star Screen Award for Best Director.

Following the success of Company in 2002, Varma's next film as director was Bhoot (2003), a psychological horror film, which was a major success. It starred Ajay Devgan and Urmila Matondkar, who earned a number of awards for her performance. Varma himself was nominated for the Filmfare Best Director Award for the film.

Following the success of Bhoot, Varma was a producer for two other experimental films: Sriram Raghavan's Ek Hasina Thi (2003), a psychological thriller, and Shimit Amin's Ab Tak Chhappan (2004), a film about an inspector in the Mumbai Encounter Squad famous for having killed 56 people in police encounters. In 2005, Varma was nominated for the Zee Cine Award for Best Producer of the Year.

Later films

Varma's next film as director was Sarkar, released in June 2005, starring Amitabh Bachchan and his son Abhishek Bachchan. Amitabh played the character of Sarkar who is a self-righteous and powerful politician, while Abhishek played his son in the film. Sarkar was a loose adaptation of Mario Puzo's 1969 novel The Godfather in a Mumbai underworld setting. Sarkar went on to become a critically acclaimed box office hit.

In 2006, his next film as director was Shiva, which premiered at the New York Asian Film Festival, where a retrospective featuring several of his previous films was also staged. Alongside Shiva, the festival screened his earlier successful films Company, Ek Hasina Thi and Ab Tak Chhappan. While these three earlier films were praised, Shiva itself was a critical and commercial failure. In 2007, he directed the ambitious Sholay remake, Ram Gopal Varma Ki Aag, as well as Darling, both of which were critical and box office failures.

He was written off by the media and public until 6 June 2008, when he bounced back with his grand and much hyped venture, Sarkar Raj, a sequel to Sarkar; it was a hit and met with good reviews. The primary cast features three members of the Bachchan family, with Amitabh and Abhishek Bachchan reprising their roles from the prequel alongside new entrant Aishwarya Rai Bachchan. Supriya Pathak, Tanisha Mukherjee and Ravi Kale also reappeared in their respective roles from Sarkar. Unlike its prequel Sarkar, which was loosely adapted from The Godfather novel, the sequel Sarkar Raj had an original plot of its own.

His latest film, Phoonk (2008), was of the horror film genre and met with mixed reviews, with more of them leaning to the negative side. However, the film was a major hit in comparison to its minuscule budget. Varma has now finished working on Agyaat which released on 7 August 2009, again a commercial as well as critical failure. Varma is currently working on a film about the media called Rann. It has a major star cast with Varma's favourite male actor Amitabh Bachchan at the helm as the owner of a television channel. It will be released in 2010. Varma has announced another horror film titled 'Warning'. This film will be the first 3D horror film made in India and is reported to have Ritesh Deshmukh in a significant role.

Personal life

Ramu is very private about his married life. Recently on a live television show, his daughter talks to him via audio. Her name is Revathi and is a medical student currently.(12:06, 13 October 2009 (UTC)) His wife's name is Ratna but they are divorced now.

Controversy

Varma, along with the then Maharashtra Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh and Deshmukh's son Ritesh Deshmukh visited the Taj Mahal Palace & Tower hotel soon after the November 2008 Mumbai attacks. This invited a lot of criticism ,that the Taj was no more a place for VIP visits.[citation needed] The protestors suspected that Varma wanted to make a film on this, as he has created several real-life based thriller movies. Despite these claims Varma has alleged that he was not at the hotel just after the attacks. He stated that this rumour may have come from the fact that he was in a meeting with Deshmukh's son, Ritiesh, just before the attacks took place.

Awards and nominations

Nandi Award for Best Director

* Won, Shiva (1989)
* Won, Kshana Kshanam (1991)
* Won, Prema Katha (1999)

Bollywood Award for Best Director

* Won, Satya (1998)
* Won, Jungle (2000)
* Won, Company (2002)
* Won, Bhoot (2003)

Filmfare Critics Award for Best Movie

* Won, Satya (1998)

Filmfare Best Director Award

* Nominated, Company (2002)
* Nominated, Bhoot (2003)
* Nominated, Sarkar (2005)

Star Screen Award for Best Director

* Nominated, Jungle (2000)

Zee Cine Award for Best Director

* Nominated, Bhoot (2003)

Zee Cine Award for Best Producer of the Year

* Nominated, 2005

Filmography

As director
Year - Film - Language -Boxoffice Notes
1989- Shiva - Telugu - Blockbuster
1990- Kshana -Kshanam- Telugu- Blockbuster
1992- Antham- Telugu- Blockbuster
1992- Raathri- Telugu - Blockbuster
1993- Gaayam- Telugu -Blockbuster
1993 -Govinda Govinda -Telugu -Blockbuster
1995- Rangeela -Hindi - Blockbuster
1996 -Deyyam - Telugu- Average
1997 -Anaganaga Oka Roju- Telugu- Hit
1997 -Daud -Hindi -Above Average
1998 - Satya - Hindi- Blockbuster
1999- Prema- Katha - Telugu- Average
1999 - Kaun- Hindi- Flop
1999- Mast- Hindi -Flop
2000 -Jungle- Hindi- Average
2002- Company- Hindi - Blockbuster
2003 -Bhoot- Hindi - Hit
2004 -Naach -Hindi - Flop Multiplex movie
2005- Sarkar -Hindi - Blockbuster
2006 - Shiva -Hindi - Flop
2006- Darna Zaroori Hai- Hindi- Average
2007 -Nishabd- Hindi - Flop
2007 -Ram Gopal Varma Ki Aag - Hindi -Disaster Panned By Critics
2007 -Darling -Hindi -Average Multiplex movie
2008 - Sarkar Raj - Hindi- Blockbuster
2008- Contract -Hindi -Disaster Multiplex movie
2008- Phoonk - The Black Magic Story -Hindi- Hit
2009 - Agyaat -Hindi -Hit Multiplex movie
2010 -Rann - Hindi- Hit
2010 - Rakta Charitra-Part I -Hindi/Tamil/Telugu -Shooting
2010 -Rakta Charitra-Part II - Hindi/Tamil/Telugu -Shooting. Both the films are shot at one stretch but will be released in 2 parts since the duration of the film is over 5 hours.
2010 Department Hindi Planning

As producer
Year- Film - Language- Boxoffice Notes
1993 - money -Telugu- Blockbuster
1995 - money money- Telugu -Hit
1995 -Anaganaga oka roju -Telugu- Flop
1996 - Gulabi (film) -Telugu - Hit
1996 -W/O V varaprasad - Telugu -Flop
1998 - Dil Se - Hindi - Flop Co- Produced along with Mani Ratnam and Shekhar Kapur
2001 -Love Ke Liye Kuchh Bhi Karega - Hindi - Flop
2002 -Road -Hindi -Average
2003 -Ek Hasina Thi -Hindi -Hit Critically Acclaimed
2003 -Darna Mana Hai -Hindi -Hit
2004 -Ab Tak Chhappan - Hindi -Hit Critically Acclaimed
2004 -Vaastu Shastra -Hindi -Average
2004 -Gayab -Hindi - Average
2005 -D -Hindi -Hit
2005- James - Hindi - Flop
2005- Sarkar- Hindi -Blockbuster Critically Acclaimed
2006 -Darwaza Bandh Rakho -Hindi- Flop Good Opening but collections fell drastically
2006 -Shiva - Hin-di
2006 - Darna Zaroori Hai -Hindi -Average
2007 -Nishabd -Hindi -Flop
2007 -Ram Gopal Varma Ki Aag -Hindi Disaster Panned By Critics
2007 -Go -Hindi- Disaster
2008 -Sarkar Raj -Hindi - Blockbuster
2009 -Adavi -Telugu- Average
2009 - Agyaat - Hindi - Average
2010 -Phoonk 2 -Hindi -Releasing on April 16th 2010
2010 -Rakta Charitra-Part I - Hindi/Tamil/Telugu -Shooting
2010 -Rakta Charitra-Part II -Hindi/Tamil/Telugu- Shooting. Both the films are shot at one stretch but will be released in 2 parts since the duration of the film is over 5 hours.
2010 Department Hindi Planning.

As writer
Year- Film
1989 - Shiva
1990- Kshana Kshanam
1992 -Antham / Drohi
1992 -Raathri / Raat
1993 - Gaayam / Desam
1993 -Govinda Govinda
1994 -Thiruda Thiruda
1995 - Rangeela
1996 -Deyyam
1997 -Daud
1999 - Shool
2006- Shock
2006 - Darna Zaroori Hai
2007- Ram Gopal Varma Ki Aag
2008- Sarkar Raj

Raja Ravi Varma's paintings (1848 - 1906)

Raja Ravi Varma (1848 - 1906)

Raja Ravi Varma (1848-1906) was born in Kilimanoor Palace as the son of Umamba Thampuratti and Ezhumavil Neelakandan Bhattathiripad. At the age of seven years he started drawing on the palace walls using charcoal. His uncle Raja Raja Varma noticed the talent of the child and gave preliminary lessons on painting. At the age of 14, Ayilyam Thirunal Maharaja took him to Travancore Palace and he was taught water painting by the palace painter Rama Swamy Naidu. After 3 years Theodor Jenson, a British painter taught him oil painting.

Most of his oil paintings are based on Hindu epic stories and characters. In 1873 he won the First Prize at the Madras Painting Exhibition. He became a world famous Indian painter after winning in 1873 Vienna Exhibition.

Many of his oil paintings are classic and his unique Indian style has later influenced artists and designers worldwide. Here we have displayed pictures of some of the classic oil paintings and oleographs of Raja Ravi Varma.

Baldev Raj Chopra, the iconoclast filmmaker

A tribute to BR Chopra

He's the man who gave us Naya Daur in the 1950s that dealt with the conflict between man and machine as well as the kitschy Mahabharat in the 1980s that brought the epic alive on the small screen.

Baldev Raj Chopra, the iconoclast filmmaker, managed to successfully strike a balance between socially relevant and commercial cinema.

Chopra, who crossed over from Lahore to New Delhi during partition, viewed filmmaking as a mission to highlight social issues and not as a money-making enterprise.
The 18 movies that he directed and 28 that he produced from 1951 to 1992 bear testimony to that.

Born in Punjab's Ludhiana town in 1914, Chopra initially worked as a film journalist.

After obtaining his Masters degree in English Literature from the Lahore University, he began working as a film reviewer with a monthly called Cine Herald, published from Lahore. He soon earned the status of a fearless writer and his reviews were found to be strident, but Chopra never changed his style.

Chopra's journalism career, however, was short-lived. The pre-partition communal violence, which saw his house in Lahore being burnt down, forced the family to join the exodus of millions of Hindus towards the Indian side after division. They settled in New Delhi.

While still in Lahore, Chopra had tried his hand at filmmaking and started making a movie called Chandni Chowk, which was financed by his father's friend. However, he could not complete it due to the partition.

He took to movie making again in 1948 and produced Karwat. It turned out to be a resounding flop.

Film financier Goverdhandas Agarwal suggested that instead of only producing movies, Chopra should take up direction as well.
Inspired by Agarwal, Chopra directed the Ashok Kumar-starrer Afsana in 1951. The film was a runaway hit and even celebrated its silver jubilee. After that there was no looking back for Chopra.

In 1955, Chopra floated his production house B R Films. With Ek Hi Raasta (1956), a tale about widow remarriage, Chopra kick-started a line-up of thought provoking films and success followed thereafter.

Naya Daur (1957), Sadhana (1958), Dhool ka Phool (1959), Kanoon (1960), Gumrah (1963), Waqt (1965) and Humraaz (1967) were some of the other films that the legendary filmmaker made.

While Naya Daur tackled the competition between man and machine, Sadhana was a story about a prostitute's love affair with a professor.

After watching Naya Daur, former prime minister Jawahar Lal Nehru wrote to Chopra that he was compelled to watch the entire film and thoroughly enjoyed it.

To Chopra also goes the credit for giving Indian television its most viewed epic series - Mahabharat. More than 20 years later, the characters and dialogues of the serial are still etched in the minds of the viewers.

Dhool Ka Phool, with which Chopra's young brother Yash Chopra debuted as director, tackled the stigma attached to illegitimacy, and Kanoon, considered the best courtroom drama ever made in Hindi, was about a defence lawyer who suspects the judge in a murder case.

Yash Chopra directed one of B R Films' biggest hits Waqt in 1965 but left the production house in the early 1970s and founded his own banner Yash Raj Films. However, another brother, Dharam Chopra, a cinematographer, is still with B R Films.

The last film that Chopra directed was Kal Ki Awaaz in 1992, after which he passed on the baton to his son Ravi Chopra, who has since made hit films like Baghban and Baabul.

Despite being confined to a wheelchair in his old age, Chopra used to occasionally visit the B R Films' office at Santacruz, about five kilometres from his Juhu home, and have lunch with the staff.

What made Chopra a successful filmmaker was that he could blend social themes with the commercial format of Bollywood without resorting to gimmicks or compromising on his conscience.

"Only money speaks today," he used to lament in his later years while referring to the trend of filmmaking in Bollywood.

A filmmaker par excellence, Chopra was conferred the Indian government's highest honour to a film personality - the Dadasaheb Phalke Award - in 1998. Chopra was also presented the National Citizen Award for the TV serial Mahabharat and received the National Awards for Dharmputra, Gumrah and Humraaz.

In 1961, he won the Filmfare award for Kanoon, which was adjudged the best film. This apart, Chopra won multifarious awards throughout his career.

Bharat Ratna, Smt MS Subbulakshmi Profile

M. S. Subbulakshmi

Born : September 16, 1916(1916-09-16)
Madurai, Madras Presidency, British India
Died: December 11, 2004 (aged 88)
Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India
Spouse(s) Kalki Sadasivam

Madurai Shanmukhavadivu Subbulakshmi , popularly known as M.S. or M.S.S.) (September 16, 1916 - December 11, 2004) was a renowned Carnatic vocalist. She was the first musician ever to be awarded the Bharat Ratna, India's highest civilian honor. The Bharat Ratna, was conferred on her in 1998.

Early life

M.S.Subbulakhsmi was born on 16 Sep, 1916 as Kunjamma to Shanmukhavadivu (Veena Vidwan), in a musical family, in the temple town of Madurai situated in the state of Tamil Nadu in South India. M.S. started learning Carnatic music from a very early age.

Career

She gave her first public performance during the Mahamaham festival at Kumbakonam at the age of eight, and released her first recording at the age of ten. She began her Carnatic classical music training under Semmangudi Srinivasa Iyer and then Hindustani classical training under Pandit Narayan Rao Vyas. By the age of 17, Subbulakshmi was giving concerts on her own, including major performances at the Madras Music Academy, a prestigious center for the study and promotion of Carnatic music. Performance in Carnatic music concerts, was until then, a domain, traditionally reserved for men. She performed a vast variety of musical forms in different languages including Tamil , Telugu , Sanskrit, Hindi, Malayalam, Kannada, Bengali , Gujarati and Marathi.


MS Subbulakshmi traveled to London, New York, Canada, the Far East, and other places as India's cultural ambassador. Her concerts at Carnegie Hall, New York; the UN General Assembly on UN day in 1966; the Royal Albert Hall, London in 1982; and at the Festival of India in Moscow in 1987 were significant landmarks in her career.

With the death of her husband Sadasivam in 1997, she stopped all her public performances. M.S.Subbulakshmi died on December 11, 2004 after a brief illness, due to complications relating to pneumonia and cardiac irregularities.

To millions across the world, she lived a life as the symbol of humility and will forever remain a legend.

Films

M.S. also acted in a few Tamil films in her youth. Her first movie "Sevasadanam" was released in 1938. MS Subbulakshmi also played the male role of Narada in "Savitri" (1941) to raise money for launching Kalki, her husband's nationalist Tamil weekly. Her title role of the Rajasthani saint-poetess Meera in the eponymous film (1945) gave her national prominence. This movie was re-made in Hindi in 1947. The movie had M.S Subbulakshmi. sing the famous Meera bhajans, with Dilipkumar Roy as the music director. Following the success of the film she quit films and turned wholly to concert music.

Personal life

Born on September 16, 1916, in Madurai to Subramania Iyer and Shanmukhavadivu, Madurai Shanmukhavadivu Subbulakshmi, her brother Saktivel and sister Vadivambal grew up surrounded by classical music. Her grandmother Akkammal played the violin and her mother was a veena artist.


M.S., as she came to be known, was initiated to music young, learning her first lessons from her mother. She appeared on stage when she was just 13. By the time she moved to Chennai in 1936, she was already a popular Carnatic vocalist. It was then that she met T. Sadasivam, a freedom fighter and a follower of Rajaji, in 1936. Executive in Ananda Vikatan, the Tamil weekly. They were married in 1940, and their marriage spanned over 50 years, in which he played a key role in the advancement of her career. They had no children. Sadasivam had children from his previous marriage that M.S. treated as if they were her own children. They were named Radha, Vijaya. M.S and Sadasivam also raised Radha who frequently sang with M.S. in concert while Vijaya played the Tanpura.

Discography

* Venkateshwara Suprabhatam

Honours and awards


M.S. received a large number of awards during her illustrious career spanning more than 50 years. India's top civilian honour, the Bharat Ratna, was conferred on her in 1998.

In 1968, M.S. became the first woman musician to be honoured with the Sangita Kalanidhi title by the Music Academy, Chennai. After a brief foray in films, she devoted her time to music.

The other honours conferred on M.S. include the Padma Bhushan (1954), Padma Vibhushan (1975), Kaalidas Sanman (1988) and the Ramon Magsaysay award (1974). She gave the inaugural concert at the India Festival, London in 1982, and has also performed in Tokyo, Bangkok, Hong Kong, Manila, Singapore and Malaysia. She introduced Carnatic music to the West at the Edinburgh Festival (1963) and at the United Nations (1966).

She was conferred the degree of Doctor of Letters by many universities, including the Sri Venkateswara University (1971), Delhi University (1973), Benaras Hindu University (1980) and the University of Madras (1987). The Desihothama (doctoral degree) was conferred on her by the Viswa-Bharati University, Shantiniketan. She donated the money made from recordings and concerts to many causes. With her husband to guide her, M.S. raised crores of rupees for charity through her concerts. The first charity concert was for the Kasturba Memorial Fund in 1944.

The institutions that benefited include the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams, the Ramakrishna Math, the Nanak Foundation, the Subramanya Bharati memorial at Ettayapuram, the Hindu Temple in Flushing, New York, Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, the Kamakshi temple in Kancheepuram, Sankara Nethralaya, the Cancer Institute and Voluntary Health Services and the Music Academy (all in Chennai).

Starting with `Seva Sadan" in the 1930s, M.S. had a brief stint in Tamil films. She also played the male role of Narada in "Savitri" (1941) to raise money for launching Kalki, her husband's nationalist Tamil weekly. Her title role of the Rajasthani saint-poetess Meera in the eponymous film (1945) gave her national prominence. 'This movie was re-made in Hindi in 1947.

Her voice held the world in a spell. She has sung bhajans in 10 languages, each setting high standards in purity of diction and emotional content.

Many leaders and political giants of that period, including Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru and Rajaji, praised her abilities as a vocalist. 'M.S. was an ardent devotee of the Kanchi Paramacharya.

It was the Paramacharya who composed the benediction "Maitreem bhajata" which M.S. sang at the conclusion of her concerts at the U.N. and in Carnegie Hall.

His Excellency the President of India and the Hon'ble Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu paid homage to the departed
Bharat Ratna Tmt MS Subbulakshmi, who had passed away on Saturday (11th December 2004) night.