Irfan Khan

Name: Irfan Khan
Star Sign : Virgo
First Film : The Warrior











BIOGRAPHY

rfan Khan is from Jaipur, India. He was studying for his M.A. degree when he snagged a fellowship at (NSD) National School of Drama in 1984. After graduating in 1987, he moved to Mumbai. Theater and television kept him afloat till Mira Nair offered him a cameo in "Salaam Bombay". But the role was edited out of the final copy. He continued to dabble in television making impacts on various soaps and tele-historicals series. To break away from television Irfan featured in few main stream movies but none of them were a box-office success. But things changed when Landon based director Asif Kapadia gave him the lead in "The Warrior". An historical film completed in 11 weeks on the locals in Himachal Pradesh and Rajasthan. "The Warrior" stormed in international film festivals making Irfan Khan a noticed actor. His first Bollywood main lead role came in the movie "Rog". He is married to writer Sutapa Sikdar who's also a NSD graduate and they have a son named Babil.

Isha Koppikar

Name: Isha Koppikar
Birthday: Sunday, September 19, 1976
Star Sign : Libra
First Film : Kaadhal Kavidai










BIOGRAPHY

Isha Koppikar was born in Mumbai, India in 1976. She went to Ruia College in Mumbai and studied Life Sciences. While in college, she did a model shoot for Gautam Rajyadhaksa. She took part in the 1995 Miss India Contest, won the Miss Talent Crown and modeled for L'Oreal, Rexona, Camay, Tips & Toes and Coca-Cola, among others.

Her first movie was the Tamil En Swasa Katre opposite Arvind Swamy, one of the most successful actors that time. She received positive reviews for her role and decided to pursue a career in Bollywood: Her first movie was Ek Tha Dil Ek Thi Dhadkan (1997), directed by Shah Rukh Sultan, and has yet to be released.

Koppikar starred in some minor roles in Fiza (2000) and Pyaar Ishq aur Mohabbat (2001) until in 2002, she starred in Ram Gopal Varmas Company as an Item girl in the song Khallas!, which created her nickname Khallas-girl and caused her breakthrough.

In Dil Ka Rishta she played opposite Aishwarya Rai and Arjun Rampal and for her negative role in Qayamat: City Under Threat (2003), she received a Filmfare Award nomination for Best Villain. In the movie Girlfriend (2004), she plays a woman involved in a lesbian relationship and in D (2004), she again worked with Ram Gopal Varma in the prequel of his movie Company.

Recently, she played Arshad Warsi's girlfriend in the Salman Khan starrer Maine Pyar Kyun Kiya?. She is now filming for Farhan Akhtar's Don alongside Shahrukh Khan.
If looks could kill, this Mumbai girl who started out as a model would be lethal. Tall, beautiful, talented, the Khallas girl, Isha Koppikar shot to fame with her song number in Ram Gopal Verma's movie Company. Born in 1976, Isha had never imagined that she would become an actress. Instead, she had hoped to walk in her father's footsteps and become a doctor. “I did not get enough marks to enroll for MBBS,” says Isha, who graduated in life sciences from Ruia College.

Modeling assignments trickled in after she did a photo shoot with Gautam Rajyadhyaksha when she was still in junior college. Besides some prominent assignments for Ponds, Camay, Rexona, Synergy, Coke, L'Oreal and Tips & Toes, she did a few ramp shows. “I did only five or six ramp shows,” she says, “as I used to be plump in those days.” Such candid admissions make her the person she is.

In 1995 she won the Miss Talent crown at the Miss India. She debuted in a Tamil film, En Swasa Katre opposite Arvind Swamy, who was at the peak of his fame at that time following the success of Roja and Bombay. The film got rave reviews and she was expected to be a big hit in the south.

However, she softly entered Bollywood. Her first film, Ek Tha Dil Ek Thi Dhadkan, directed by Shah Rukh Khan in 1997, never got released. Then she was back to south to do her second film with Tamil superstar Prashant. She managed to do about ten films in the south. Her performance in Tamil film 'Kaathal Kavithai' fetched her the Filmfare award for the best newcomer in the south in 2000-01.

Though her work was in the South, her heart was set on making a name for herself in Mumbai. She did small roles in Fiza, Aamdani Athani Kharcha Rupaiya and Pyar, Ishq aur Mohabbat. But she got the much wanted and needed break from Ram Gopal Verma. Her item song ‘Khallas’ in Company became all the rage.

Some of the other movies she worked in were Sanjay Gupta's multi starrer Kaante, Plan with Dino Morea and Krishna Cottage in which she played a ghost. She was nominated as a villain for film Qayamat. In Pinjar her performance was good but anyhow the film didn't work. She was recently in news for her controversial film Girlfriend where she played an obsessive lover to her friend Amrita Arora and did some bold scenes portraying a lesbian relationship.

Today Ishaa Khoppikar has grown beyond being just a sizzling item girl. Ishaa is now setting to sink her teeth into some really challenging roles in her forthcoming films Inteqaam, Humraahi and Raakh.

Isha loves to make friends, is Net-savvy and does a lot of chatting. “I love dancing but no discos and pubs. I am not a night person. I start my day early,” says Isha, who paints and makes candles in her free time. She is not much of a bibliophile, but is at home with self-help books.

If there is something else this Konkani girl loves doing, it is gorging on her mother's cooking. She is a food freak who hankers after butter chicken, biryani, seafood and Chinese! “I can't cook, I just do the eating.” Her parents had always been supportive of her decisions. “My family is my biggest asset and my sensitivity is my strength,” she maintains.

Jackie Shroff

Name: Jackie Shroff
Birthday: Saturday, February 01, 1958
Star Sign : Capricorn
Address: Le-Papeyon, Mount Mary Rd., Bandra (W), Mumbai 400 050
First Film : Swami Dada








BIOGRAPHY

He's considered one of Bollywood's most affable stars. So much so, Jackie Shroff is open to fielding questions about everything under the sun including his take on the opposite sex, his own sexuality, his family life, his financial difficulties and then perhaps, his film career! This has been the story of his life, ever since Jackie graduated from being a small-time 'dada' at Teenbatti (in South Bombay) to a popular model, till finally, Dev Anand picked him up for a minor part in Swami Dada (1982).

Following which, Subhash Ghai picked him up for the part of an unkempt goon-turned-virtuous Hero (1983). This romantic musical co-starring Meenakshi Seshadri sent the cash registers ringing and promptly turned Jackie into the hottest newcomer on the block. Finally, it was Vidhu Vinod Chopra's Parinda that changed Jackie's 'wooden' image and even fetched him a 'Best Actor' Filmfare award! But Jackie displayed very little prudence in his selection of films and picked up just about anything that came his way (unlike Anil, who was always choosy). As a result, he registered more flops than hits many of them being B-grade projects.

In the meantime, the star had formed his own company, Jackie Shroff Entertainment Limited (JSEL) and produced a film called 'Grahan', which was directed by his friend, Shashilal Nair.This was three years ago. But 'Grahan' is still waiting in the cans for a theatre release. Jackie has kept himself busy doing everything from signing several Mithun Chakraborty quickies to anchoring a television show called 'Missing'.

It is also heard that he's is now prepared to go back to doing what he started off with playing the villain. Given his easygoing disposition and 'nice guy' image, wonder how he's going to fit the bill. But who knows, he might just pull this gamble off too like he's done several times in the past.

Jagjit Singh

Name: Jagjit Singh
Birthday: Saturday, February 08, 1941
Star Sign : Aquarius
First Film : Aankhon Aankhon Mein










BIOGRAPHY

Jagjit Singh (February 8, 1941 - ) is a popular singer of ghazals in Hindi/Urdu and Punjabi, a composer and also a playback singer in Bollywood. Jag and Jit (both Hindi words) mean "World" and "Victory" respectively, thus the name meaning of the name is One who has won the world.

Jagjit Singh was born in Ganganagar (also called "SriGanganager"), Rajasthan. His father Sardar Amar Singh Dhiman, employed with the Government of India, originally hailed from Dalla village in Ropar district of Punjab and his mother Sardarni Bachchan Kaur came from deeply religious Sokhi family of Ottallan village near Samralla. His siblings include four sisters and two brothers and he is fondly called Jeet by his family. Although his late father wanted him to pursue IAS (a prestigious degree in Indian Administrative Service) as a career, he was later happy with his son's achievements in the world of music. Jagjit went to Khalsa High School at Ganganagar. He studied Sciences during higher secondary (after matriculation) from Government College, Ganganagar. He graduated in the Arts stream from DAV College, Jalandhar. He also acquired a Post Graduate Degree in History from Kurukshetra University, Haryana.

His association with music goes back to his childhood. He learnt music under Pandit Chaganlal Sharma for two years in Ganganagar, later for six years under Ustad Jamaal Khan of Sainia Gharana, under whom he learnt forms of Indian Classical Music such as Khayal, Thumri and Dhrupad. He was willing to learn from lesser known but talented musicians throughout his college days. The Vice Chancellor of Punjab and Kurukshetra University, Late Professor Surajbhan encouraged his interest in music. He arrived in Mumbai (then Bombay) in 1965 in search for better opportunities as a career musician and singer. Like any other struggler, he too had his share of trials and tribulations. He lived as a paying guest and accepted every offer he received - be it advertisement jingles or performances at weddings and parties.

Jaswinder Singh Bains(Jazzy B)

Name: Jaswinder Singh Bains(Jazzy B)
Birthday: Tuesday, April 01, 1975












BIOGRAPHY

Jaswinder Singh Bains (born April 1, 1975), better known by his stage name Jazzy B, is an Indian Bhangra artist.

Jazzy B is easily recognized by fans of Bhangra with his spiky hair and the range and depth of his vocals. However, his ability to be easily recognized has gotten Jaswinder Bains in trouble. More recently an incident occurred at Bear Creek Park in Surrey, British Columbia, Canada where he was involved in a brawl with two males of East Indian descent regarding the credit of lyrics on his smash hit popular song, "Soorma." 'Ghugian Da Jorra', his successful debut album, was released in 1993 and instantly made him a star. Since then he has become the best-selling Bhangra artist in the world, helping bring the genre to the forefront of the Indian music scene. He has worldwide appeal as he often tours Canada, England, India, the United States, and many other parts of the world where there is a large Desi population.

Music

Jazzy B has released thirteen albums all of which have been produced by Sukshinder Shinda, a talented Bhangra record producer and artist known as 'The Music Man'. Together they have created some of the most popular Bhangra hits, including "Ghugian Da Jorra", "Londono Patola" which is still considered a hit since It put the Canada in the bhangra scene, "Naag", "Tera Roop", "Sardara", "Dil Luteya", and "Soorma".

The 2005 Balle - Romeo Tour, which promoted Jazzy B's album Romeo and Sukshinder Shinda's album Balle, played at various venues around the world including Paramount Canada's Wonderland near Toronto, Canada which attracted a record crowd of over 65,000.

Jazzy B's popularity and success in Bhangra can be attributed to his style which is quite different from other artists in the genre. The music videos for his singles "Soorma" and "Romeo" were based on Hip hop music videos and featured Hummer H2s and the Rap group Takeova Ent.

Jazzy B has also said that the reason for his longevity as a successful Bhangra artist is that he works exclusively with Sukshinder Shinda as he does not want to flood the Bhangra market with songs on different producers' albums.

He has been compared Bhangra artist Kuldip Manak, whom he considers a role model.

Jazzy B made his acting debut in 2000 with a cameo appearance in the Bollywood film Shaheed Udham Singh[1] which starred fellow Punjabi singer and actor Gurdas Maan as the Indian freedom fighter Bhagat Singh. Their music was also featured on the film's album.

In 2006, Jazzy B made another cameo when he was featured in the movie Teesri Aankh[2] performing the Indi-pop song "Chuk De Punjabi". He has expressed an interest in acting and has stated that he would consider bigger roles in the future.

Javed Akhtar

Name: Javed Akhtar
Birthday: Wednesday, January 17, 1945













BIOGRAPHY

Javed Akhtar was born on January 17, 1945 in Gwalior, Madhya Pradesh to Jan Nissar Akhtar, a Bollywood film songwriter and Urdu poet, and Safia Akhtar, a teacher and writer. His lineage can be traced back to seven generations of writers. The highly respected Urdu poet Majaz was his maternal uncle and the works of his grandfather, Muzter Khairabadi, are looked upon as a milestone in Urdu poetry. Akhtar had one sibling, a younger brother named Salman Akhtar. After his birth, his parents moved to Lucknow, Punjab, and later to Aligarh. Young Javed Akhtar lost his mother at a tender age and his father frequently moved back and forth between Lucknow and Bombay, so he and his brother spent most of their time with relatives. At the age of eight, he was admitted to the sixth class in a well-known school of Lucknow, the Colvin Taluqdars' College. In his initial years, a "fierce looking" tutor used to come to his home in evenings and tutor him and his brother. This tutor was payed Rs. 15 every day. After completing his matriculation, Akhtar entered and began attending Safiya College in Bhopal where he earned a B.A.. He was a keen debater in college and won the Rotary Club Prize frequently. He arrived in Bombay on October 4, 1964. In his early years living in Bombay, he managed to write the dialogue for a minor film for Rs. 100. Occasionally, he used to work as an assistant.

Javed used to write his scripts in Urdu, which were then written out in Hindi by his assistant. Another assistant would type out a one line summary in English. His association with Salim lasted until 1980, after which Javed moved into writing lyrics for films.

Javed Akhtar's songs are rhythmic, reflective on life and very melodic and catchy.

Javed Akhtar has won 7 Filmfare Best Lyricist Awards for his Hindi lyrics. In the year 2004-2005, all the nominated songs were written by him.

He was awarded the Padma Shri by the Government of India in 1999.

Jaya Bachchan

Name: Jaya Bachchan
Birthday: Friday, April 09, 1948
Star Sign : Aries
First Film : Satyajit Ray's













BIOGRAPHY

Jaya Bachchan (born Jaya Bhaduri April 9, 1948 in Jabalpur/Kolkata), is a Bollywood actress. She is an alumna of the Film and Television Institute of India. Jaya is married to actor Amitabh Bachchan. Jaya was born to Taroon Kumar Bhaduri, writer, journalist and stage artist, and Indira Bhaduri. She studied in St. Joseph's Convent School, Bhopal. She started her career with a small role in Satyajit Ray's Mahanagar at the age of 15. After initial success in her native West Bengal, she moved to Mumbai and starred in many Hindi films. Her son Abhishek was born while Jaya and Amitabh were working on the film Sholay. Following this she retired from films for a few years and focused on raising her children. However, she returned in 1981 with Silsila and once more, after a gap of eight years, in Hazaar Chaurasi Ki Maa. Currently, Bachchan rarely acts in movies, although she occasionally performs in stage-shows. Of late, Bachchan became active in politics, notably with the Samajwadi party and is a Member of Parliament, representing Rajya Sabha. On June 3, 1973, she married Amitabh Bachchan. She has two children with him: Shweta Bachchan-Nanda and Abhishek Bachchan, who is also an actor. She has lived her entire married life in the public eye, yet she has always kept her distance from the media (especially when it comes to her personal life). She has received various Filmfare Awards for her roles in Kal Ho Naa Ho, Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham, Fiza, Nauker and Abhimaan. She also received a special Life Time Achievement award in 1998 for her contributions to Indian cinema. She is a recipient of the Padma Shri.