Batwara

Dharmendra (Actor) .. Sumer Singh

Born: December 08, 1935
Birthplace: Nasrali, Khanna, Punjab Province, British India

Trivia: Made his acting debut in Dil Bhi Tera Hum Bhi Tere (1960). Set up the production company Vijayta Films in 1983. It's first release was Betaab(1983), which starred his son Sunny Deol. As producer he received the National Film Award for Best Popular Film Providing Wholesome Entertainment and the Filmfare Award for Best Movie for Ghayal (1990). Received the Filmfare Lifetime Achievement Award in 1997. In 2011 he was awarded the Dadasaheb Phalke Ratna Award, India's highest cinematic award. Was honoured with India's third highest civilian award, the Padma Bhushan, in 2012.

Vinod Khanna (Actor) .. Vikram Singh

Born: October 06, 1946
Died: April 27, 2017
Birthplace: Peshawar, British India

Trivia: Debuted in Sunil Dutt's Man Ka Meet (1968). Won the Filmfare Best Supporting Actor award for Haath Ki Safai (1974). Took a five-year break from acting in the 1980s to follow the spiritual leader Rajneesh. Received the Filmfare Lifetime Achievement Award in 1999. Long-time member of the Lok Sabha. Died at age 70 after suffering from advanced bladder carcinoma (bladder cancer).

Dimple Kapadia (Actor) .. Jinna

Born: June 08, 1957
Birthplace: Mumbai, India

Trivia: Made her debut in Raj Kapoor's teen romance Bobby (1973), aged just sixteen. Married Rajesh Khanna (who was 15 years older than her) at the age of sixteen. Retired from acting for twelve years to raise her children. Won the National Film Best Actress and the Filmfare Critics Best Actress Award for her performance in Rudaali (1993). Uses her nickname on screen instead of her real name, Amina. Besides Hindi films, she has also appeared in a Malayam and a Tamil film.

Poonam Dhillon (Actor) .. Rajendra's wife

Born: April 18, 1962
Birthplace: India

Trivia: Won the Miss Young India beauty pageant in 1977. Made her debut in Yash Chopra's Trishul (1978). Took up Economics, Public Administration and Political Science in college, but soon signed up for her second movie Noorie (1979), which made her an overnight star. Joined the Indian political party Congress for a brief period in 2004. In 2009, participated in the third season of the television reality show Bigg Boss. Works with Zeenext.com as a Consulting Editor. Runs a make-up company called Vanity. Owns a film production company called Poetic Justice Films Pvt. Ltd.

Amrita Singh (Actor) .. Roopa

Born: February 09, 1958
Birthplace: Khushab, Punjab, India

Trivia: Debuted in Betaab (1983). Played the lead role in Mard (1985) alongside Amitabh Bachchan, which became the highest grossing film of the year. Won the Filmfare Best Supporting Actress Award for Aaina (1993). Took an almost 10-year hiatus from acting from 1993 until 2002. Received a Filmfare Best Villain Award nomination for Kalyug (2005).

Amrish Puri (Actor) .. Hanumant Singh

Born: June 22, 1932
Died: January 12, 2005
Birthplace: Lahore, Punjab Province, British India

Trivia: Acted in over 400 films in his career in a span of over four decades. Worked in Hindi, Kannada, Malayalam, Telugu, Marathi, Hollywood, Punjabi and Tamil films. Received the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award in 1979, the highest Indian recognition given to practising artists, for his theatre acting. Won the Filmfare Best Supporting Actor Award three times, for Meri Jung (1985), Ghatak (1997), and Virasat (1997). Described by Steven Spielberg as his favourite movie villain.

Shammi Kapoor (Actor) .. Bade Thakur

Born: October 21, 1931
Died: August 14, 2011
Birthplace: Bombay, Bombay Presidency, British India

Trivia: Started working with his father's theatrical company Prithvi Theatres in 1948. Made his acting debut in Jeewan Jyoti (1953). Won the Filmfare Best Actor Award for his performance in Brahmacheri (1968). Received the Filmfare Lifetime Achievement Award in 1995. A brass statue of him stands on the Walk of the Stars at Bandra Bandstand in Mumbai.

Vijayendra Ghatge (Actor) .. Devan

Neena Gupta (Actor) .. Devan's wife

Born: July 04, 1959
Birthplace: Delhi, India

Trivia: Was first seen by international audiences when she starred in Gandhi (1982), playing Mahatma Gandhi's niece. Received the National Film Award for Best First Non-Feature Film of a Director for Bazar Sitaram (1993). Won the Best Supporting Actress award in Woh Chokri (1994). Hosted the quiz show Kamzor Kadii Kaun, but puts its failure down to insufficient advertising. Along with actor Rajendra Gupta she ran a theatre production company called Sahaj Productions.

Asha Parekh (Actor) .. Bade Thakur's wife

Born: October 02, 1942
Birthplace: Bombay, Bombay Presidency, British India

Trivia: Is the only child of a middle-class Gujarati household of a Hindu father and a Muslim mother who had two miscarriages. Had enrolled in classical dance classes as a child and began performing on stage. Was cast by famed film director Bimal Roy at the tender age of ten in Maa (1952) after he saw her dance on stage. Was fired by director Vijay Bhatt from Goonj Uthi Shehnai (1959) when she was 16 years old. Her first film as a heroine Dil Deke Dekho (1959) premiered on her 17th birthday. Her fame leveraged producers to hire her mother Sudha Parekh to design her costumes for most of the films that she starred in. Got her first break as a tragedienne when director Raj Khosla cast her in the film Do Badan (1966). Acted with Bengali star Uttam Kumar in a Hindi film titled Jhankar, which was shelved after a few days of filming. Was a grand marshal, along with Miss Universe 1994 Sushmita Sen in the 1994 India Day Parade in New York City. Wrote her memoir The Hit Girl (2017) that revealed her affair with Bollywood director Nasir Hussain who was already married to choreographer Ayesha Khan. The Asha Parekh Hospital in Mumbai is named after her, because of her many humanitarian contributions.

Kulbhushan Kharbanda (Actor)

Born: October 21, 1944
Birthplace: Hasan Abdal, British India

Trivia: Worked in theatre extensively before working in cinema, mostly in Delhi and Calcutta. Got his breakthrough role in Shyam Benegal's Nishaant (1974) Nominated for the Filmfare Best Supporting Actor Award for Ghulami (1985). Appeared in all three parts of Deepa Mehta's Elements trilogy. Returned to the stage after a two decade long absence in 2012 at the Padatik Theatre in the play Atmakatha.

Amitabh Bachchan (Actor) .. Narrator

Born: October 11, 1942
Birthplace: Allahabad, Uttar Pradesh, India

Trivia: Amitabh Bachchan is the undisputed king of Indian cinema; having appeared in over 90 films, he is certainly one of his country's most prolific performers. His 1969 film debut, Saat Hindustani, was not met with success, but within a few years his place as a top action star in India would be firmly established. His 1970s success, including such films as Zanjeer, Deewar, and Sholay, would continue for over ten years. Eventually, Bachchan retired almost completely from acting and pursued other interests, including in film production and a brief political stint in Indian parliament. Although popular male action stars throughout Asia are inevitably compared to Clint Eastwood, Bachchan may, in fact, defy this rather cliched analogy. In addition to strong acting and presence, this Indian superstar's performances have also required singing and dancing in the elaborate musical numbers that are popular in his country's cinema.

Mohsin Khan (Actor) .. Thakur Rajendra Singh

Born: March 15, 1955

Ram Mohan (Actor) .. Sukhchain

Balraj Sahni (Actor)

Born: May 01, 1913
Died: April 13, 1973
Birthplace: Yudhishthir Sahni

Trivia: Before appearing on screen, made a name for himself as a stage actor. Made his film debut in Insaaf (1946). Also an established writer - wrote Mera Pakistani Safar (1960) and Mera Rusi Safarnama (1969) after visits to Pakistan and the Soviet Union, respectively. Was awarded the Padma Shri Award, India's fourth highest civilian award, in 1969. A stamp bearing his face was published by India Post in 2013.

Nirupa Roy (Actor)

Born: January 04, 1931
Died: October 13, 2004
Birthplace: Valsad, Bombay Presidency, British India

Trivia: Married at age 15 and moved to Bombay to make her debut in film with a role in the Gujarati movie Ranakdevi (1946). Paired with Trilok Kapoor in 18 films to become the most famous couple in mythological films during 1950s. Following her mythological films, people thronged her house to touch her feet and sing devotional songs. Had paired with Bollywood's ever green hero of 1950s, Ashok Kumar, in over 30 movies. Is known for her trilogy with Bharat Bhushan in Kavi Kalidas, Samrat Chandragupt, and Rani Rupmati. Was epitomised as an endearing mother to actors like Amitabh Bachchan, Shashi Kapoor, and Jeetendra in many Bollywood movies. Was charged by her daughter-in-law Una Roy, an NRI who worked for Cathy Pacific, of dowry harassment. Passed away after a cardiac arrest at age 73 in Bombay, India.A dispute started out during January 2018 between her two sons Kiran and Yogesh for inheriting her Malabar Hill property.

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