Saint Valentine’s Day, commonly shortened to Valentine’s Day, is a holidayobserved on February 14 honoring one or more early Christian martyrs named Saint Valentine. It is traditionally a day on which lovers express their love for each other by presenting flowers, offering confectionery, and sending greeting cards (known as “valentines“). The day first became associated with romantic love in the circle of Geoffrey Chaucer in the High Middle Ages, when the tradition of courtly love flourished. It was first established by Pope Gelasius Iin 496 AD, and was later deleted from the General Roman Calendar of saints in 1969 by Pope Paul VI.Modern Valentine’s Day symbols include the heart-shaped outline, doves, and the figure of the winged Cupid. Since the 19th century, handwritten valentines have given way to mass-produced greeting cards.
US talk show host Jay Leno has been sued bu an Indian-American in California for his “racist” comments on the Golden Temple and ridiculing the entire Sikh community by portraying the holy shrine as a vacation home.
According to court papers filed in Los Angeles Superior Court, Randeep Dhillon claims that Leno “hurt the sentiments of all Sikh people in addition to those of the plaintiff” with his joke that the Golden Temple could be a possible summer home of Mitt Romney, a leading Republican presidential hopeful.
The celebrity website TMZ said Dhillon has filed a libel suit and is seeking unspecified damages. Read the rest of this entry »
Amitabh Harivansh Bachchan born on 11 October 1942 is an Indian film actor. He first gained popularity in the early 1970s as the “angry young man” of Hindi cinema, and has since appeared in over 180 Indian films in a career spanning more than four decades. Bachchan is regarded as one of the greatest and most influential actors in the history of Indian cinema.
Bachchan has won numerous major awards in his career, including four National Film Awards, three of which are in the Best Actor category, and fourteen Filmfare Awards. He is the most-nominated performer in any major acting category at Filmfare, with 37 nominations overall. In addition to acting, Bachchan has worked as a playback singer, film producer and television presenter, and was an elected member of the Indian Parliament from 1984 to 1987.
Amitabh Bachchan (1942-)
Amitabh Bachchan, also known as Big B, has dominated Indian cinema for over four decades. His most popular films were ‘Sholay’, ‘Amar Akbar Anthony’, ‘Trishul’, ‘Don’ and ‘Deewar’. Amitabh often played the role of an angry young man fighting a corrupt establishment. In 2000, he was chosen as the host for ‘Kaun Banega Crrorepati’. The show became a great hit. Bachchan was awarded the Padma Shri in 1983 and the Padma Bhushan in 2005. In 1999,he was named BBC Superstar of the Millennium. He has also won 12 Filmfare Awards in various categories. In June 2000 he became the first living Asian to have a wax statue erected in his honour at Madame Tussaud’s in London.
Raj Kapoor (1924-1988)
Raj Kapoor a producer, director, actor was among India’s most popular movie stars from the 1940s till his death. Raj Kapoor was the eldest son of theatre and film actor Prithviraj Kapoor. His early films ‘Barsaat’ in 1949, ‘Awaara’ (1950), and ‘Shri 420′ (1955) were very successful. Raj Kapoor has been called the ‘Charlie Chaplin of India’ for The role of a tramp he played in some of his films. He is famous for using music and playback singer Mukesh’s voice in a wonderful way and the song ‘Mera Joota Hai Japani’ in ‘Shri 420′ remains an unofficial anthem of India and continues to he sung as far away as Russia. His most ambitious film was ‘Mera Naam Joker’. His other films were ‘Bobby’ (1973), ‘Satyam Shivam Sundaram’ (1978) and ‘Ram Teri Ganga Maili’ (1985). He was honoured with the Dadasaheb Phalke Award in 1988.
Dev Anand (1923-2011)
Dev Anand was known as the ‘Ever Green Hero’, Dev Anand has played the lead actor for more than five decades in over 110 motion pictures. Deg Anand won two Filmfare awards, in 1958 for his performance in the film ‘Kala Paani’ and in 1966 for ‘Guide’. In1993, he received the Filmfare ‘Lifetime Achievement Award’. And in July 2000, in New York City, he was honoured with an award at the hands of the then First Lady of the United States of America – Mrs. Hillary Clinton- for his ‘Outstanding Contribution to Indian Cinema’. He was awarded the Padma Bhushan in 2001.
Madhubala (1933-1969)
Madhubala was perhaps the most beautiful artist to ever grace the Indian screen. She rose from humble beginnings to became the most captivating star India has ever produced. Madhubala was born as Mumtaz Jehan Begum in a poor, conservative family at Pathan Muslims in Delhi, and entered the world of films at the age of eight. With the movie ‘Mahal’ (1949) she became a superstar overnight. She began to be called the Venus of Indian film screen. Among her greatest successes were ‘Mr. And Mrs.’ (1955) and her last film ‘Mughal-e-Azam’ (1960). She died at the age of 36 due to a heart disease. In this short life, she had acted in over 70 movies, and to this day remains one of the most enduring legends of Indian cinema.
Nargis (1929-1981)
Nargis is counted among the best and the most glamorous actresses if Indian cinema. Nargis made many of her successful films with Raj kapoor. The Raj Kapoor-Nargis association lasted for years and they did about 17 films together, most of them were hits. However, it was Mehboob Khan who cast her in the masterpiece ‘Mother India’, which is one if Indian cinema’s all time classics. During the making of this film, a new actor Sunil Dutt, who was playing her son, rescued her from a fire. They fell in love and got married. She was the first Indian actress to be given the Padma Shri. She was also nominated to the Rajya Sabha. She died if cancer.
