The lingering voice, the melting melody, and the soulful approach – the ghazal is but a journey of words that takes you deep inside the alleys of your mind. It knocks upon your heart and leaves you in the familiar embrace of memories. Time and again, he has taken us down this trail of thoughts where poetry turns the pages of the mind – a hidden away moment that was once cherished, incomplete dreams that had once been and broken promises that still linger in the heart. Silent summers, winter hues – they have all witnessed the brilliance of Pankaj Udhas and his love for music and poetry.

Born in Persia, as an ode to the beloved – the ghazal, has been a silent witness to the change of tunes. She stands alone in a crowd of frivolous songs and raunchy numbers. Her worth undermined by the youth of today. Yet she remains poised and pure. Her strength lies in weaving pictures with words, teasing hearts with soulful verse. Pankaj has been her custodian – he hopes the youth will take forward the gift of this music genre and welcomes the listeners to receive it with pride.

A man of simple words with a velvet voice – his is a story that personifies the romance of the ghazal and the beauty of fate. He earned a degree in science but chose music to earn his bread. He sang Mukesh’s songs at bars in the initial years of his struggle. His first public performance fetched him only 51 rupees in payment! No matter how difficult things were he kept at it until he got his big break with Mahesh Bhatt’s Naam.

Pankaj loves to listen to Begum Akhtar and Mehdi Hassan. He also enjoys music by the Beatles. He is a big fan of the American singer Diana Ross whose song Endless Love is his favourite.

He has tried to make best use of this window of opportunity – reviving classic poetry of old poets in his upcoming albums. Perhaps this is a genre that has little scope for innovation but he would like to believe otherwise and he moves on with the promise that there is more to come.

A maestro of melody with a heart that is pure. Pankaj works extensively for eradication of leprosy, thalassemia, and cancer and for the cause of the mentally retarded. He has been felicitated and honoured for his contribution to music and society – not just in India but also across different parts of the world.

He is classy. He is cool. He has a thing for bikes and he loves to cook! Yes, that’s Zayed Khan for you. Born in a khaandan that knows how to live life king-size – he has inherited the large heartedness of his father, the dynamic Sanjay Khan and the spirit of adventure from his uncle, the flamboyant Feroz Khan.

His debut film, Chura Liya Hai Tumne came 8 years back. He starred opposite school friend, Eisha Deol and was nominated for the Zee Cinema Best Debut Male award. Among his success stories are films like Main Hoon Na, for which he won the Filmfare Best Supporting Actor nomination. He given his best in movies Rocky: The Rebel, Yuvraaj, Cash and Blue. He confesses that he is more comfortable working in multi starers as he hasn’t had much success as a solo hero.

He is a no frills attached star who enjoys everything. He is very easy going on his sets and often takes pride in cooking for his co-stars. He loves sharing his taste for good things with his friends. He confesses that had he not belonged to a family of film stars, he would have chosen to be a travel chef since he loves to cook.

Zayed does come from a filmi clan but prefers to hold his own ground and star status. Being a star son or brother is not how he likes to be referred. His journey in the industry has been small but the characters he played as Yash in Shabd, Vikas in Mission Istanbul and Kunal in Anjaana Anjaani are all honest portrayals.

Religiously dedicated to his work, Zayed has never given less than his best. He remembers how he had prepared himself for the climax scene of Mission Istanbul by piling on 11 kgs! That was the first time in his life that he weighed 75kg. He also sported a stunt injury during the shoot of a movie and stayed in bed for over a month. But that did stop the charming Khan, he still enjoys doing his own stunts and hates body doubles being used. His all time favourite is the breathtaking underwater stunt that he did for Cash.

These days Zayed is busy with his best buddies Dia Mirza and Sahil Sangha as they team up to launch their maiden production, Love Breakups Zindagi under their production banner, Born Free Entertainment.

Zayed became a family man at a rather young age. He says he always knew he wanted to marry Mallika, his friend at Kodaikanal International School. He just needed to understand the when and how! The happily married couple is blessed with a 7-year-old boy, Zidaane. The proud father appreciates coming home to the woman he loves.

The lessons taught at her school are focused with personalized attention. There are many misconceptions about finishing schools being only for the elite and that they are often an excuse to idle time way. But it isn’t so. Mastering diplomacy, language, table manners, housekeeping and cookery brings out the lady in you and that has always been her promise to make elegant ladies of the young girls who come to her family run school. Here style is not taught, it is a lived. As the head of the school, she has touched the lives of many families. Grooming the girl changes the generations ahead and before her. The students take back a lot more than she can teach them. The bonds forged with her are so deep that they are forever. The sense of respect, the feeling of awe and the inspiration she gives is so beautiful that one can only try to not fumble. She is a stern teacher – she believes in delivering the best.

At Institute Villa Pierrefeu, different kinds of courses and programmes are offered. Students sometimes even come back for refresher courses, some join back as teachers to give back what they have learnt. For the convenience of students, she also arranges for home school and tailor made seminars. For her, it all about being the change to bring about change.

In many ways she is like the Alps, she is pure, she is known and people from afar know of her being. She is also calm and serene with so many admirers. She stands tall and unchallenged in her work because etiquette is beyond books and lessons to her. It is an inheritance, it is a legacy.

Like a mother, she has equipped her students with the tools to accept different cultures, respect differences, be tolerant and grow as a person from within. Her contribution has been to the world at large. She is the reason many corporate houses are now homes. She adds the glow of self-confidence to young lives and that reflects in the softness of her smile and the content eyes…

He was born Ramesh Gopi but we now know him as Remo, or rather Remo Sir from his Dance India Dance fame. He has worn many hats, tried his hand at different things – dancing, acting, directing and choreography.

But what finally stuck was his love for dance and his passion for B-boying. A humble human who has no airs about new found success. Remo has not forgotten his days of dancing to improve. He would take his old and antique radio set to the beach and practise religiously. Coming to Mumbai was the only way to find success and so soon after he finished school – he arrived. His first big break came when did a part in a song in Ram Gopal Varma’s Rangeela. Having a close up and opening shot in 70mm screen in Hindi film was a very big thing – he says it made his career!

Remo assisted dance directors like Ahmad Khan, he worked steadily to grow independent and never left his ground. Success did not come easy to him so he knows the worth of it. He has not only managed to do work in Bollywood but is also working international projects and artists now.

His most memorable has been the choreography with Jermaine, singer and elder brother of Michael Jackson. He shot a song titled “Go to Mumbai City” in India with Pakistani singer Adnan Sami. The song is Jermaine’s tribute to all Jackson fans in the country and rightfully Remo was on the team. “It was always my dream to meet my idol. But the wish remained unfulfilled due to MJ’s death. I did make Jermaine dance to my steps. It was exciting nonetheless!”

A man who takes a lot of joy from the little things – Remo has often been shell shocked on the sets of DID. He was once surprised when his sons visited the stage as his fans and on his last birthday, the grand master Mithun Chakraborthy gave him the biggest blessing of all when his parents were welcomed on the show. Remo comes about as a very down to the Earth and simple person who has not lost touch with his roots. He carries a hurt in the corner of his heart that he may have neglected his family in the process of find his footing in the industry. They however are proud of him.

Remo, who has done the choreography for films like Wake up Sid, Do Knot Disturb and London Dreams among others, turned director with Bengali film Lal Paharer Katha. He now plans to wield the megaphone for the Bollywood film Faltu.

Born with the proverbial silver spoon in her mouth, Farah Khan Ali has proved to the world that she is more than just daddy’s little girl. She now stands close two decades into her sparkling career of gems and jewels. Decked with honours and awards for her creativity this doll face designer is known not just for her eye for detail and out of this world designs but also for her addiction to tweeting. She updates her status at least ten times a day and the confession brings a big sparkle of mischief in her eyes!

A woman of substance who appreciates all things pure and real – an its not just the fancy stones we are talking about here! She connects closely with her twitter family even though these are people she has never met or interacted with. “I guess strangers can also become friends.” And why not because that is exactly how she met her husband, DJ Aqeel. They met as strangers at a party where he was mixing music – one meeting led to another and soon they were friends. Friendship graduated to courtship and courtship led to marriage and kids.

They are strong individuals with completely different lifestyles – but they blend and have stayed one through the thick and thin of life. Deeply in love after 15 years of marriage, she feels its important for partners to give each other space and respect. Only then does the spark remain forever.

Farah is the eldest of the four children of parents Actor-Producer-Director Sanjay Khan and his wife Interior Designer Zarine Khan. She finished her graduation (BA) at Sophia College, Mumbai. Not knowing what she wanted to do, she tried her hand at everything raging from Ad films to interior design and even television production.

Farah’s foray into the jewellery line was purely by chance when she decided to accompany her friend on a whim to do a course in Gemology at the renowned Gemological Institute of America in Santa Monica, California in 1992. Farah Khan graduated at the top of her class in 1993.

Creating the Farah Khan Fine Jewellery Brand has not been an easy one and she faced a lot of obstacles along the way but she stuck to her beliefs and her brand philosophy. When she looks back, she does see flaws but she is happy that she was able to correct them too. “I am proud of my body of work for I dream and then work towards making that dream a reality.”

Never content with what she has achieved, she keeps the fire burning to scale greater heights. She may have been brought up in the lap of luxury but had she not worked towards her goal and put in the effort required to achieve she would have been an ordinary rich spoilt brat wasting her life doing lunches with bored socialites discussing the weather, the handbags, shoes and clothes that one possessed. She is grateful to her father for giving her the opportunity to educate herself, explore her talent and trust her capacity…

It’s not where you are born…It’s what you make of your life…I have seen the rich squander away their legacy and have seen the poor man make history….Carve your own destiny…Only YOU can..

I made mine……

Imran Khan is proof that you don’t have to live on a soil to love it. You can be in any part of the world, far far away from where the melody grows and still be influenced by the beats and the beauty of that world. Punjabi is his passion and he wants to pay it forward…

Born to Pakistani parents who moved to the Netherlands from Gujranwala in Pakistan. Imran Khan grew up in a foreign land devoid of dhol beats and bhangra yet he remained true to his roots. He loved the joy for life that Punjabi music had and he developed a place for himself in the spotlight!

Singing came naturally to him, and he took to the stage when he was only 6! He followed Bhangra music and singers closely. In Holland, the craze of Bhangra music is not the same as the UK but he feels his work will help develop the presence of the music and language in his country.

For him, it’s not about the money or fame. He wants to help, nurture, and support people with his work. He wants to make a place for the Asian music industry in places where it is lesser known. His is a style of Bhangra where the music is enjoyed by one and all, it is a style that attracts everyone regardless of their origin or language. Many purist argue that this is not Bhangra due to its electronic feel but others welcome the new and fresh sound into the arena of Punjabi music with Imran’s lyrics fused with dance floor pumping music that has its place on the music players of fans, desi radio stations, television and media, all classing it as Bhangra.

His songs are very catchy despite their cheeky lyrics! Packaged with creativity, they paint a world of romance, love and deceit. The upbeat tempo and the sway of the rhythm make them the right combo to enjoy the evening and party hard with friends.

Surprisingly when he released his first song, Ni Nachle with Prestige Records he didn’t even have an album to release back then. It was just a single that was put out to test the music scene and boy did it that the world by surprise. From that learning, he worked for two years on his second album, Unforgettable and created a wave of bhangra for music lovers.

A singer who enjoys narration, a musician who loves to break the mould and a dreamer who wishes to work with some of his favourite music artists some day. Music to him is a creative discovery of mix and match. On his to do list are such interesting combo albums – “The most amazing artist in music for me is T-Pain. I would love to work with him as his music is something everybody likes and I really think I could create a smash hit club banger with this guy! Also this might shock everybody but I would love to work with Cheryl Cole, she is just great, her genre of pop music mixed with my urban bhangra sound I think that we could have a hit record, and of course she is gorgeous! I know people wouldn’t expect a Punjabi singer like me to work with them but in music you never know what can happen!”

Music is universal – it never is for a set audience or target group. Its for the world, its for the listeners, its for those who listen when the beats boom!

In terms of career years in the industry, he is not even a teenager. But his cinema is meaningful and his messages are strong. He is a name that is synonymous with real cinema – a man who took the world by storm by giving us movies like Corporate, Fashion and Chandni Bar. It’s difficult to say what really goes on in Madhur Bhandarkar’s mind, but we do know his thoughts spell out genius on screen. From the 10 films he made in the last 12 years, he won three national awards and was nominated for the Filmfare honours too.

Often accused of producing judgmental movies Madhur claims that his movies merely hold up a mirror to society, they are not exposes of any kind. “I just show what happens in our society, sometimes there could be a solution and sometimes there may be none. Life goes on.”

His story is much like the tale of Eklaviya, where he learnt from observing his gurus but never really took any lessons from them. He worked as an errand boy at the local video library. He dropped off cassettes to people from many walks of life including dance bar girls and film stars. He has also sold chewing gum at traffic signals, worked as an assistant to small time directors for a measly pay of a thousand rupees. He also travelled to Dubai in search of work. His only sibling, his elder sister was based here. He had to use the bus for travel, his pay was lowly, he was mocked at by his juniors –but never felt belittled. He was always confident about better things to come.

After an insignificant role in Rangeela, he made his a forgettable directorial debut with Trishakti. The movie was a half hearted attempt to give the audience what they want – Madhur was himself not too convinced of its strengths and surely it bombed badly. He took this as a sign to reinvent himself and do what he really wanted – along came Chandni Bar and as they say there has been no looking back!

His movies are hard hitting often spiced with a dash of realism. He also likes giving the reigns to the female lead – Tabu in Chandni Bar, Raveena Tandon in Satta, Konkona Sen Sharma in Page 3, Bipasha Basu in Corporate, and Priyanka Chopra in Fashion. Apart from the awards and nominations Madhur is honoured to have his films preserved in the Indian Government’s Archival data for Indian Films.

A master who believes in experimental subjects, a director who connects the real world with the reel industry and an artist who enjoys challenging his own art – Madhur Bhandarkar is indeed a man who proves that one does not need a godfather or sugar daddy behind them to make a place in the industry. He has picked from the lessons of life, his interaction with everyday people and events – he understands the value of what he has. He has grown from it and he will continue to grow forever more…

Ruled by the Scorpio sun sign, Raveena Tandon comes across as determined, forceful and intuitive. She wears a profound power of self-confidence – it reflects not just in her eyes but also in the way she carries herself. Being observant is her nature though she comes across as withdrawn to the unknowing stranger. Resilient not demure – she is like the volcano not far under the sea. Often her decisions have been sharp but progressive. She dropped out of college to be part of the movies, she flew sparks with her dance numbers, she suddenly turned to realistic cinema and then she made a few heads turn when she chose family life instead of moving on into the number 1 slot.
Today she is happily married with three daughters – she had adopted two of them when she was single. She has been the chairperson of the Children’s Film Society of India and has also signed on to support the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals. A rebel with a cause, she chose to be herself not just in the industry but always.
She holds great respect for her father, the veteran, Dada Saheb Palke award winning filmmaker, Ravi Tandon and adores her mother, Veena. Her name actually is an amalgamation of her parents’ names – Ravi and Veena. She has always done them proud.
Raveena debuted in 1991with the film Patthar Ke Phool, which was a hit. The role found her place in the industry, she even received the Filmfare Lux New Face Award for her performance. Soon followed a series hits and misses with movies like Mohra, Dilwale, Imtihaan, Diljale, etc. Steadily she became the queen of song and dance. Ravishing Raveena as she was popularly known decided to dump the glamour and turned to artistic, real cinema. That was the best she did for the actor she was. Before letting go of the screen presence she gave commendable performaces in movies like Daman, Shool and Aks.
She may have withdrawn from the silver screen, she may have changed the way she lives but she always will be the actor we loved and the bubbly honesty within.

His first stage appearance was in a fancy dress show at his school when he was in grade 1, where he performed as Imran Khan, the former captain of Pakistan’s national cricket team. Though music always played in the background for this young lad from Wazirabad, Pakistan his ambition in life was to be a fast bowler for the Pakistan team. Cricket was his passion – it still is! An ace student in school. Often the youngest in his class. Atif was never behind in his studies, sports or songs; he infact even got a double promotion for being such an outstanding all rounder.
He had no formal training in songs but picked up quickly by ear. He’d listen to the music that his elder brother had and soon mastered control over his voice. On and off he’s sing religious songs (Naats and Hamds) at college and people began to see the singing sparks. He however was still bent upon being a cricket star! Between singing songs for his friends in the college canteen and winning competitions for his performances on stage; he put in a lot of practise for professional cricket. But when the game started taking a toll on his grades, he left the field but continued to entertain those who loved his voice.
He was inspired by Kishore Kumar and Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan. With each recognition that he got for his sing skill he was pulled deeper into the art. He got support from his brothers and his friends. Together they set up a band. They created music and gave performances at local events and restaurants. Everything was going pretty smooth until Atif decided to split from the group due to personal differences. He went solo. Fame and fortune did not take long to find him.
A success story written by fate, his first solo album Jal Pari was a best seller. It was liked in India too. His second solo album, Doorie broke all records and was a hit in India. Then came Meri Kahani, a soulful, poignant album that tells the story of his life. Song after song he created a closer bond with his fans. His voice transcended borders. His melody touched hearts and he grew as the singer with a magnificent soul.
Atif gave his first major concert at Al Hamra Hall in Lahore, where he performed during the break of a stage drama Moulin Rouge. Soon after, he was blessed with a chance to sing at the prestigious Royal Albert Hall. Between then and now, he has given many international performances in USA and Canada with RDB and Annie. He is also working on an international project titled The Dreamer Awakes with the American rock band, Guns n Roses – the song is due for release later this year.
He has received honours and awards both in India and Pakistan. He loved all over the world – not just for the smooth flow in his songs but also for the simplicity of his being.

In academic schools, if learning begins with ‘A’ and ends with ‘Z’, in acting schools, it begins with ‘A’ and ends with a ‘K’. And why not? His is a name that resonates success, positivity and poise. Indeed, Anupam Kher is nothing but confidence personified. A typical Piscean with a large imagination and a magnetic intellect – he is versatile, adaptable and youthful at 56.
Having started off his career with a heart wrenching performance in the iconic Saaransh, Anupam went onto mould his career with such élan and grace, that he today is an international phenomenon to reckon with.
From villain to funny guy to character roles, he has a variety of performances under his belt in his nearly three-decade-long career. If he scared people as a ruthless villain in Karma and Hum, he made them emotional with Daddy, Maine Gandhi Ko Nahin Mara and Khosla Ka Ghosla. He has even entertained fans by playing light-hearted characters in Lamhe, Shola Aur Shabnam, Darr and Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge.
Also in his cap are some feathers of crossover films like Bend It Like Beckham, Bride and Prejudice and The Mistress of Spices.
Anupam comes from the ‘yes I can’ school of thought. He is not just an actor par excellence but also a wonderful human being with a caring soul. Among other things, he runs the Anupam Kher Foundation, which reaches out to destitute children and aims to give them a better way of life.
He has had his share of hardships and struggles. He believes they mould the man. He has used the medium of theatre to share his life journey with the world. His monoact play, Kuch Bhi Ho Saktha Hai is a window to his steady climb to being the institution that he is.
Having done 400 films so far, the Padma shree awardee is now staying away from the big screen. He says it is sometimes important to stay away from the cameras and lights to make one’s presence felt. It is important to lay the foundation and understand that at this age what is it that you want to do and achieve.
Right now it’s television that excites him more as it allows him to be himself. After hosting shows like Say Na Something To Anupam Uncle, Sawaal Dus Crore Ka and Lead India, he has returned to the small screen as the host of quiz show Discover India.