Hindi Awards 17th National Film Awards - Cast & Crew

Madhabi is a National Award-winning Indian Actress who is considered one the great actresses of Bengali cinema. She had performed amazingly well in most critically acclaimed films. She got into the theater at an early age. In 1960, she played in Mrinal Sen’s Baishey Shravan. Ritwik Ghatak’s Subarnarekha was her next major film in 1962, though in 1965 it was released. She got the opportunity to work with Satyajit Ray in the early 1960s. Along with winning numerous awards, she wrote her autobiography in 1995. She is married to a Bengali film actor Nirmal Kumar, but right now, they are not together. She is a mother of two daughters.

K B Sundarambal was an Indian stage artist, singer, and actor. She was born as Kodumudi Balambal Sundarambal, on October 11, 1908, in Kodumudi at the Erode district located in Tamil Nadu. She has been bestowed upon the title of the Queen of Indian Stage, and she also gave stunning performances in Tamil Movies. K B Sundarambal spent her childhood trying to earn money through the tips she received for singing in trains. On one such performance, she caught the eye of a talent scout, FG Natesa Iyer, but some people also speculate that it was a police official by the name of Krishnaswamy Iyer who found out her hidden talents.

Despite that, what is definitely known is that by the age of nineteen, K B Sundarambal had become a sensation and a rising star in 1927. Her debut was in a traveling theater troupe that perform...

In the annals of history of the Indian movie industry, the name of Devika Rani would be truly written as that of a legend – not just for the fact she held several “firsts” in the industry but also because of the variety that one comes across reading her life history. Although the twists and turns in her life have nothing to do directly with any cinematic abilities of hers, but it definitely reads like one of the best written story lines in any movie masterpiece! Be that as it may, coming back to context of her film career, she was no ordinary entrant to films – she entered acting via the convoluted route of film production including its technical fine points and all the other background nuances, thanks to her first husband and long time associate in films, Himanshu Rai....

Manjilas Joseph, whose full name is Manjilas Ouseph Joseph, was a veteran producer of the Malayalam film industry. He was born in Thrissur in the year of 1929. His father managed the Jose Theatre, the first theatre of Kerala. Manjilas was the student of St. Thomas College, Thrissur.

Later,he started working at the Shenoy Theatres, and so Manjilas had to attend Sacred Heart College, Ernakulam. After he graduated, his father advised him to assist T. E. Vasudevan, who was the producer and the distributor of Associated Pictures.

He heeded his father's advice and took up the job of aiding T. E. Vasudevan at the monthly salary of just one hundred and fifty rupees. Manjilas was a good student and learned all the necessary skills quickly. Later, T. E. Vasudevan established his company named Jaya Maruthi Pictures and Joseph ...

Prabhakar Pendharkar was born in 1933 to Bhalji Pendharkar, a prominent director and producer. Bhaji Pendharkar had directed several movies like Bajirao Mastani, Vande Mataram Ashram, Rani Rupmati, Shyam Sundar, Shyam Sundar, Akashwani, Partha Kumar, etc. He has also gained the prestigious Dadasaheb Phalke Award. To be like his father, Prabhakar Pendharkar has worked a lot of times with him. He gained a livelihood in Rajkamal Studio of V. Shantaram in his initial days. Prabhakar Pendharkar took a job in the magazine Deepavali as a writer to follow his passion.

Prabhakar Pendharkar has penned several novels like Chakrivadal, Arey Sansar Sansar, and Racing Dhang. He has also jotted down a story named Pratiksha. The book Pratiksha has helped Prabhakar Pendharkar to gain recognition. Eka Studiochi Atmkatha is hi...

Puttanna Kanagal was known as Chitra Brahma (God of Films). He was born as Shubraveshti Ramaswamiah Seetharama Sharma. He is the most famous filmmaker of Kannada film industry. He has received three National Awards and three Filmfare Awards. Every year an award is held in his memory by the name of Puttanna Kanagal Award in the Karnataka Award Functions. Puttanna was born in a small village of Kanagal in Karnataka in a poor Brahmin family to Subbamma and Ramaswamaiah. Being born in a low income family had its hardships and he struggled a lot to get a decent job and did many odd jobs for money. But the job of publicity boy brought him the opportunity to be closer to the film industry.

He started his career as an assistant director to B. R. Punthulu and later got into filmmaking as a full-fledged ...

Dinen Gupta is a Bengali Director, Writer, Producer and Cinematographer who was born on 30 November 1932 in Calcutta, Bengal presidency of British India. His wife’s name is Kajal Gupta who was an Indian Bengali actor and daughter’s name is Sonali Gupta. He has worked on many movies which includes; The new leaf (1969), Pather Panchali (1955), Antaranga (1988), Nati Binodini (1944), Kato Bhalobasha (1991), Bakulbasar (1990), Tero Sandhyar Galpo (1990), Maha Milan (1987), Sargam (1987), Abasheshe (1985), Rashifal (1984), Indira (1983) and Natun Pata (1969). It was because of his excellent direction that his movie “Natun Pata” was given the award of National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Bengali in 1969.

Brajen Baruah was an Indian director and actor. He was born in 1925 and was popularly known for ‘Dr Bezbarua.’ His other significant movies include ‘Mukuta,’ ‘Sito Bahuto,’ ‘Opaja Sonor Mati,’ and ‘Lalita.’ His younger brothers, ‘Nip Baruah’ and ‘Ramen Baruah’, are also known director and composer respectively. Brajen was the director and the actor of the movie, ‘Dr Bezbarua,’ an Indian Assamese language thriller film. He cast himself in a double role. He debuted as music director in Nip Barua’s film ‘Smitir Parash.’ Baruah was an icon of the Assamese film industry. He died in 1972. Baruah received awards for Best Feature Film in Assamese for the movies ‘Upaja Sonar Maati’ and ‘Dr Bezbarua’ and a Cer...

K K Mahajan was an Indian cinematographer. Mahajan was born in Gurdaspur, Punjab, in 1944. He graduated from Panjab University in Chandigarh and went on to FTII Pune. He received a gold medal in Motion Picture Photography in 1966 and immediately began working on commercials and documentaries. One of Shyam Benegal's widely appreciated documentary films was Child of the Streets (1967). In 1969, he made his cinematic debut as an independent cinematographer with Bhuvan Shome, a landmark picture in Indian cinema. The film won all three elite prizes at the national awards: best feature picture, best director, and best actor. His genuine career breakthrough came as a result of the film. He has also worked on numerous Bollywood classics with Basu Chatterjee, including Swami, Piya ka Ghar, Rajnigandha, Mqanzil, Chitchor, and Choti ...

Bhagwan Das Garga was a director and filmmaker based in India. He has worked predominantly in the Bollywood film industry. He was born on 14 November 1924 in Lehragaga, Punjab, India. He studied Cinematography at Xavier’s College, Bombay, India. He initiated his journey as a filmmaker in 1948 with the documentary film Storm over Kashmir. Some of the works he is known for include Family Planning – Why? in 1960, Creative Artists of India – Satyajit Ray in 1964, The Dance of Shiva in 1968, Creative Artists of India – Amrita Sher-Gil in 1969, Sarojini Naidu in 1975, It Is Indian, It Is Good in 1978, Bombay – A City at Stake in 1981, Writing Off the Raj in 1985, and Mamallapuram. He helped to establish the National Film Archive of India (NFAI) in 1964.

He was also appointed as one of the experts on the ...

Mrinal Sen was a renowned and highly skilled Indian film director. Mrinal was born on 14 May 1923 in Faridpur, Bengal Presidency, British India (currently in Bangladesh). Sen has directed various famous films like Raat Bhore, Neel Akasher Neechey, Baishey Shravana, Maitra Manisha, Ek Adhuri Kahani, Calcutta 71, Chorus, Mrigayaa, Kharij, Genesis, Antares, and the list continues. His core focus was on Hindi and Bengali films. Mrinal’s direction positively influenced the whole Indian cinema. He was the only director in India (along with Satyajit Ray) whose films received awards at the three biggest film festivals, Cannes Film Festival, Venice Film Festival, and Berlin Film Festival.

Mrinal’s priceless involvement led him to win India's two most prominent awards, ‘Padma Bhushan Award’ in 1983 and Da...

Bhalji Pendharkar was an Indian film director who received the Dadasaheb Phalke Award, the industry's highest honor. He was born on May 3, 1897. Vande Mataram Ashram (1927), Netaji Palkar (1939), and Shyam Sundar were his films as a director and writer. He died on November 28, 1994. His parents are Radhabai and Dr. Gopal Pendharkar. Several of his close relatives rose to prominence in the Indian film business.  In the 1930s, he married Leela Chandragiri, who appeared and sang in Hindi and Marathi films as Miss Leela. When Leelai first met Bhalji, she already had two children. Bhalji adopted both of them, a boy (Jayasingh) and a girl. Madhavi Desai (died in 2013) was the girl's name who later married novelist Ranjit Desai and penned the book "Naacha Ga Ghumaa." Saroj Chindarkar was the name of his s...

S. Mohinder, also profoundly known as Mohinder Singh Sarna, was well-known and a legendary Indian lyricist, composer, and poet. Mohinder is known for his predominant contributions to the Hindi and Punjabi film industry. Singh was born on the 24th of February in the year 1925. His place of birth is Silanwali, Punjab. He was born to his father, Sardar Sujan Singh Bakshi. Mohinder, after shifting to a new place called Lyallpur, where he encountered a Sikh musician named Sant Sujan Singh. Mohinder learned classical music from him and polished his skills under his guidance. He considers it as one of the special moments of his life. He was also trained under a classical religious musician named Bhai Samund Singh Ji. Mohinder’s love for music was since his childhood.

As he had to frequently move from one place to another, due to...

Telugu film industry has tasted the direction of very few classics. Movies made by Adruthi Subba Rao are one of the finest pieces that Tollywood could ever watch. Born on 16th December 1912 in Rajahmundry, India he grew up in pure Telugu family background. Adruthi Subba Rao is not merely a cine director but he is a multi-talented human and has worked as a scriptwriter, cinematographer, producer and editor. During his mid 20’s he decided to be a cinematographer and against his parents will he attended St. Xavier’s college to pursue cinematography course.

After his studies, Adruthi Subba Rao didn’t succeed immediately but had to work in different branches of Hindi film industry. He did a part-time job in Bombay film lab, developed his skills and got few a...

Marcus Bartley is an Anglo-Indian film actor and renowned cinematographer, who played a significant role in a number of Indian films. He used to be an amateur photographer when he was still studying. He continued his passion until he got the opportunity to work as a press photographer in the newspaper, Times of India, in 1935. Under the patronage of the Times of India, he became the British Movie Tone’s News Reel Cameraman.

Marcus has been the cinematographer of classic films like Chemmeen (1965) and Maya Bazaar (1957). He joined the Pratagi studios when he got to Madras. The first film he worked on was B.N. Reddy’s Swarga Seema in 1945, which shows his Excellency in Black and White photography. This film made him associated closely to B.N. Reddy, Nagi Reddy,...

Kaifi Azmi is born as Sayyid Akhtar Hussein Rizvi. He is a famous poet, songwriter, and lyricist. He was born on January 14, and the year 1919. He was born in Azamgarh district of United Province (British India), now Uttar Pradesh, India. His wife's name is ShaukatKaifi. They have two children. They have a daughter and a son.

His son name is Baba Azmi, who is an Indian cinematographer. His daughter name is Shabana Azmi, who is an Indian actor for television, movie, And Theater. Kaifi was born in a Shia Muslim family in the village name as Mizwaa. Kaifi is a famous Urdu poet. He has combined the Urdu Literature with the Indian motion pictures. He also joins the Mushairas.

He has participated in the mushairas with the PirzadaQasim, Jon Elia. He has well established himself for the poetry, literature, ...

Khwaja Ahmad Abbas was also well-known as K. A. Abbas. Abbas was an Indian screenwriter, film director and novelist. He had also served as a Hindi, Urdu, English journalist. He has widely contributed to the most popular Hindi movies like Do Boond Pani, Saat Hindustani, Shehar Aur Sapna, Pardesi His movie were widely appreciated by everyone and hence he was honoured with the National Film Award for the Best Feature Film on National Integration, His movies were even nominated at the Cannes Film Festival.

He is measured as one of the most significant personalities whose movies were appreciated worldwide and he was the one who motivated everyone to showcase their special talent on an international platform. He used to write them for the column Last Page one of the longest and most-read columns featured in the Bomba...

K. S. Sethumadhavan is a famous screenwriter and film director in India dedicating his works to Malayalam movies. Madhavan is famous for his movies in Tamil, Oriya, Kannada, Telugu and Hindi also. Some of the landmark films directed by him are Yakshi, Odeyil Ninnu, Achanum Bappayum, Anubhavangai Palichakal, etc. He won 9 Kerala State Film Awards and 10 National Film Awards. He was born in the city of Palakkad in the state of Kerala. His mother's name was Lakshmi and father's name was Subrahmanyam. Initially, he worked as an assistant director.

He later worked with many directors like A. S. A. Swamy, L. V. Prasad, and Nandakarni. The first movie for which he worked as a film director was the Singhalese film named "Veera Vijaya" in the year 1960. "Jn...

Hrishikesh Mukherjee is a film director, writer and producer in Bollywood. He is well known for giving a facelift to the career of Amitabh Bachchan, Dharmendra, Jaya Bhaduri, Rekha and Rajesh Khanna. 
Hrishikesh was born in Calcutta on 30 September 1922. He began his career as an editor and assistant director under Bimal Roy. Much earlier, he was associated with Calcutta’s New Theatres (owned by B.N.Sircar) where he learnt camera techniques and editing part of filmmaking. Later he moved to Mumbai in 1952 and got associated with Bimal Roy and had associated with the editing of classics like ‘Do Bigha Zamin’, ‘Madhumati’ and ‘Devdas’. After working as an assistant director, he chose to become an independent director by making films like ‘Musafir&rsquo...

Sachin Dev Burman (S.D. Burman) is a renowned classical Hindi music composer who is known for many melodious songs. He understood the technique ‘hummable’ in music so well that every song that he had composed remained close to music lover’s heart. He was distinguished from other famous Hindi music directors as he was very careful with the understanding of lyrics and gave close attention to the situation of the song. He even focused on the scene of the song that he composed. 

Burman also used folk music in his tunes. This composer actually made folk songs acceptable to the masses. He lent his baritone voice to many films that he had composed. He got a National award for ‘Aradhana’ for which he had composed the songs. Although Burman did ...

Utpal Dutt is a Veteran in Indian cinema who was a popular theatre actor. He had acted in many Hindi movies too. He has acted over 100 movies in a career spanning over four decades. His most critically acclaimed and box-office successful films include ‘Bhuvan Shome’, Agantuk, Golmaal, Shaukheen, Amanush, Barsaat Ki Ek Raat, The Great Gambler. Although he acted in many Bengali plays, he took a keen interest in English theaters.

He was associated with Prithvi Theatres and even acted in many Shakespearean plays. He has been instrumental in securing a place for serious theater among urban Indian audiences since the mid-1950s. He had always stated audiences should be our first concern and matter of form and content can come second. He is undoubtedly a revolutionar...

Kailasam Balachander or most popularly known as K. Balachander is a legendary film producer, director and screenwriter who dedicate his life in the film industry for almost half of his life. He was born on July 9, 1930 in a Tamil family in the Tanjore District of Nannilam, Madras Presidency, British India. He stated that, since his eight year, he’s been seeing cinema and as he recalls, he remembers that his interest and passion towards the cinema grew after he watched the films of the renowned Tamil actor and producer, M.K. Thyagaraja Bhagavathar. At 12, he has done theatre and drama, which subsequently helped him in developing his passion for writing, acting and directing. He studied Zoology at the Annamalai University and even until his graduation, his fondness towards theatre continues t...

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