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Shah Rukh Khan
actor
Shah Rukh Khan started his acting career with tele-serials like Fauji and Circus graduating to the big screen with the debut film Deewana. He rose to fame with his extra-ordinary choice of roles be in Maya Memsaab or the character of an obsessed lover in Darr or a killer in Baazigar. He conquered the box-office with Aditya Chopra’s Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge. Close on the heels came the biggest of all hits, Kuch Kuch Hota Hai followed by Dil To Paagal Hai and there was no denying his superstardom. Khan launched his own company Dreams Unlimited some time ago which has made films like Phir Bhi Dil Hain Hindustani, Asoka and Chalte Chalte. Shah Rukh Khan besides being a brand ambassador for many national and international brands, is a brand on his own.

Javed Akhtar
lyricist
Son of the well-known Urdu poet and film lyricist, Jan Nissar Akhtar and Safia Akhtar, teacher and writer, Javed Akhtar belongs to a lineage that can be traced back to seven generations of writers. The highly respected Urdu poet, Majaz, was his mother’s brother and the work of Muzter Khairabadi, his grandfather, is looked upon as a milestone in Urdu poetry.

Both Jan Nissar Akhtar & Safia Akhtar were professors at Hamidia College, Bhopal. Javed Akhtar did his schooling at the Cambridge School in Bhopal, Calvin Talukadar College in Lucknow, Mintoo Circle at Aligarh, and graduated from Saifiya College, Bhopal in 1964.

Javed Akhtar started writing Urdu poetry in 1980. His first collection of nazms and ghazals, Tarkash, had a very successful release in 1995 and is in its seventh edition in Hindi and fourth edition in Urdu. It has received rave reviews both as a book and as India’s first audio book, having sold more than a hundred thousand copies. On the other hand, his Ghazal albums like Sangam, for example, in collaboration with the internationally acclaimed singer-composer, late Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, also had record sales.

Akhtar is also known for his celebrated partnership with Salim Khan, with whom he wrote some of the biggest hits in Indian cinema during the 70s and 80s, which included story, screenplay and dialogue for films like Zanjeer, Deewar, Sholay, Haathi Mere Saathi, Seeta Aur Geeta, Don and Trishul.

After their split, Akhtar continued to write scripts for films which include Sagar, Mr. India, Betaab and Arjun have been tremendously successful at the box-office. He began writing lyrics with Yash Chopra’s Silsila. He is at present the highest paid lyricist in India. Many of his songs, in particular, from films like Mr. India, Sagar, Tezaab, 1942-A Love Story, Sardari Begum, Border, Saaz and of course Lagaan and recently Lakshya have been chart toppers and some have gone on to become classics.

For his writings Akhtar has won several awards. Awarded the National Award for the Best Lyricist for three years in succession (Saaz [1997], Border [1998] and Godmother [1999]. He was the recipient of Padmashri in 1999. After Lagaan, he is now penning the lyrics again for Ashutosh Gowarikar in Swades.

Ashutosh Gowarikar
producer-director
Gowarikar took to film direction almost a decade after being in front of the camera. The transition from acting to direction was difficult but imminent. He has come a long way from his early modeling assignments for Govind Nihalani’s Lifebuoy and Jenny Pinto’s Close-Up commercials. On the big screen he made his debut with Ketan Mehta’s Holi (1984). Then Mahesh Bhatt’s Naam, followed by Goonj, Gawaahi, West Is West, Saleem Langde Pe Mat Ro and Kabhi Haa Kabhi Naa.

On the small screen, he did films like Amol Palekar’s Kachchi Dhoop and Saeed Mirza-Aziz Mirza-Kundan Shah’s Circus and Shyam Benegal’s Discovery of India, besides others.

His directorial debut came with Pehla Nasha, a murder mystery, in 1993. Though the film didn’t do well at the box office, it helped Ashutosh find firm ground as a director. He followed this up with Baazi, a thriller in 1995. It took him seven years to write Lagaan - Once upon a time in India. It was the first Hindi film to be nominated at the Academy Awards in the Best film in a Foreign Language category for 2001 and earned plaudits worldwide for its meticulous execution and evocative performances.

As a director, Ashutosh’s first ever series of 5 commercials for Coca-Cola have proved an instant success, sweeping Campaign of the Year honours and winning accolades at advertising awards functions across India this year.

Currently, he is busy with the the post production phase of Swades (Our Country), starring Shah Rukh Khan.