Amitabh Bachchan is a legendary Indian Bollywood actor, and one of the most prominent figures in the Indian film industry. He has been awarded several major awards in his career, including three National Film Awards and twelve Filmfare Awards. International honours include; Commemorated in wax at Madame Tussaud’s London, 2000; Honorary citizenship of the French town of Deauville, 2003; Goodwill ambassador for the UN’s Children’s Fund, 2003; Given honorary degree of Doctors of Arts by De Montfort University; Awarded France’s highest civilian honour, Legion of Honour, 2007
Abhishek Bachchan is the son of Bollywood superstar Amitabh Bachchan and actress turned politician Jaya Bhaduri. His grandfather, Harivansh Rai Bachchan, was a well-known poet of Urdu and Hindi literature.
He made his debut in 2000 in J.P. Dutta’s Refugee. He has come a long way since then to become an established actor in the Indian film industry. The turning point in his career came in 2004 in Mani Ratnam’s Yuva which was a big hit and got him a Filmfare Best supporting Actor Award.
In 2007, Abhishek married India’s most celebrated actress Aishwarya Rai.
Aishwarya Rai Bachchan is an internationally renowned Indian actress and regarded as one of the world’s most beautiful women. Before starting her acting career in 1997, she gained fame after winning the Miss World pageant in 1994. Having won many best actress awards, in 2004 the Times magazine chose her as one of the world’s ‘100 Most Influential People’ and was later featured on the Late Show with David Letterman and also Oprah. Regularly involved in the Cannes Film Festival since 2002, her wax was figure displayed at London’s Madame Tussaud in 2004. She has also been signed by L’Oreal.
Preity Zinta is one of the most profilic female actors in Indian Cinema who came into mainstream cinema after a degree in criminal psychology. Her first on screen appearance was in the film Dil Se in 1998 followed by Soldier. Her performances won the coveted Filmfare Best Female Debut Award. This eye-catching beauty with dimples has been recognised for giving a totally new face to the typical Hindi film heroine. Preity now owns one of the teams in the Indian Premiere League along with her industrialist partner. She is the only woman to own an IPL team and is also the youngest owner.
Shilpa Shetty (born 8 June 1975) is an Indian film actress and model. Since making her debut in the film Baazigar (1993), she has appeared in nearly 50 Hindi, Tamil, Telugu and Kannada language films, her first leading role being in the 1994 Aag. Her performances in Dhadkan (2000) and Rishtey (2002) were appreciated, while her portrayal of an AIDS patient in Phir Milenge (2004), won her many accolades. After taking part in Celebrity Big Brother UK in 2007, she was crowned the winner with 63% of the final vote, after international controversy. This was followed by her comeback to films in 2007.
Ritesh Deshmukh is the son of Vilas Rao Deshmukh, the Chief Minister of Maharashtra, India. After his graduation from Kamala Reheja School of Architecture in Mumbai, he worked in New York City while studying acting at The Lee Strasberg Theatre Institute. He made his debut in 2003 in the movie Tujhe Meri Kasam. Some of his successful comedy films include Kya Kool Hain Hum, Apna Sapna Money Money, Masti, Bluffmaster and Heyy Baby. He also won a Zee Cinema Best Entertainer award in 2008. He will be seen in many more comedy films this year and has made an excellent start to his career.
Vishal & Shekhar are a music directing duo (Vishal Dadlani and Shekhar Ravjiani) for Bollywood films. They have had a number of successes including Om Shanti Om, Tara Rum Pum, Salaam Namaste, Dus and Bluffmaster. The duo rose in prominence when they composed the score for the film Jhankaar Beats, which included the hit song Tu Aashiqui Hai. Their efforts paid off when they won the Filmfare RD Burman Award for New Music Talent for Jhankaar Beats. The music for the film Musafir became very popular with youths. They combined techno music with Indian sounds with great success.
Shiamak Davar is an Indian dancer and choreographer who specializes in jazz. He has choreographed many Bollywood movies like Dil to Pagal Hai,Taal, Kisna, Bunty Aur Babli, Dhoom 2, Taare Zameen Par and is about to choreograph a Subhash Ghai movie Main Yuvraj. Shahid Kapoor has also been trained by him. He won the 1998 National Film Award for Best Choreography for his choreography in the film, Dil to Pagal Hai. He has also done two songs for Aamir Khan’s Taare Zameen Par and choreographed many stage shows and Award Nights like IIFA, Stardust and Filmfare.