Thursday, 8 March 2012

South Actress Photos

South Actress Biography
Asha Parekh (born 2 October 1942) is a Bollywood actress, director, and producer. She was one of the top stars in Hindi films from 1959 to 1973.[1]
Asha Parekh was born into a middle-class Gujarati family on 2 October 1942 in Mahuva, Gujarat, India[2] to a Hindu father who was from Paldi near Pirana, Ahmedabad, Gujarat and Muslim mother,[3] and her religious upbringing involved worshipping Sai Baba.[4][5] Her mother enrolled her in Indian classical dance classes at an early age.
[edit]Career
Parekh started her career as a child artist under the screen name Baby Asha Parekh in the film Aasmaan (1952). Famed film director Bimal Roy saw her dance at a stage function and cast her at the age of twelve in Baap Beti (1954). The film's failure disappointed her and even though she did a couple more child roles, she quit to resume her schooling.[6] At sixteen she decided to try acting again and make her debut as a heroine, but she was rejected from Vijay Bhatt's Goonj Uthi Shehnai (1959) in favor of actress Ameeta, because the filmmaker claimed she was not star material. The very next day, film producer Subodh Mukherjee and writer-director Nasir Hussain cast her as the heroine in Dil Deke Dekho (1959) opposite Shammi Kapoor which made her a huge star.[7]
The film also led to a long and fruitful association with Hussain. He went on to cast her as the heroine in six more of his films: Jab Pyar Kisi Se Hota Hai (1961), Phir Wohi Dil Laya Hoon (1963), Teesri Manzil (1966), Baharon Ke Sapne (1967), Pyar Ka Mausam (1969), and Caravan (1971). She also did a cameo role for his film Manzil Manzil (1984). He also got her involved in distribution of films for 21 years, starting with Baharon Ke Sapne (1967). She was primarily known as a glamour girl/excellent dancer/tomboy in most of her films, until director Raj Khosla gave her a serious image by casting her in tragedienne roles in three of her favorite films: Do Badan (1966), Chirag (1969), and Main Tulsi Tere Aangan Ki (1978). Director Shakti Samanta gave her more dramatic roles in her other favorite films, Pagla Kahin Ka (1970), and Kati Patang (1970), the latter earned her the Filmfare Best Actress Award. Many important directors repeated her several times in their films, such as Vijay Anand, Mohan Segal and J.P. Dutta.
Asha acted in her mother tongue Gujarati by starring in three films at the height of her fame in Hindi films, the first film being Akhand Saubhagyavati (1963), which became a huge hit.[8] She also acted in some Punjabi films and a Kannada film Sharavegada Saradara released in 1989.[9]
After her days as a leading lady ended, she took on supporting roles as bhabhi (sister-in-law) and mother, but she called this the "awkward phase" of her career. So she stopped acting in films, and her friends recommended that she become a television director.[10] She took their advice and became a television director in the early 1990s with a Gujarati serial Jyoti. She formed a production company Akruti and produced serials like Palash ke Phool, Baaje Payal, Kora Kagaz and a comedy Dal Mein Kaala.[11] She was the president of the Cine Artistes' Association from 1994 to 2000. Asha was the first female chairperson of the Central Board of Film Certification (Censor Board) of India. She held the post from 1998 to 2001 for which she received no salary but plenty of controversy for censoring films and for not giving clearance to Shekhar Kapur's Elizabeth. Later, she became the treasurer of the Cine and Television Artists Association (CINTAA) and also was later elected to be one of its officebearers.[12]
Asha stopped acting in 1995 to pursue directing and producing television serials, but her acting accomplishments were not forgotten as she received the Filmfare Lifetime Achievement Award in 2002.[13] And she has continued to receive other Lifetime Achievement Awards: Kalakar Award in 2004;[14] International Indian Film Academy Awards in 2006;[15] Pune International Film Festival Award (2007);[16] Ninth Annual Bollywood Award (2007) in Long Island, New York.[17] She received the Living Legend Award from the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry(FICCI).[18]
In 2008, she was a judge on a reality show Tyohaar Dhamaaka on the Indian entertainment channel 9X.[19]
[edit]Personal life
Asha has remained unmarried, claiming that her reputation of being unapproachable made people hesitate in asking for her hand in marriage. There were rumors that she was romantically involved with her married director Nasir Hussain.[20][21] In her later years, Asha said that she had a longtime boyfriend but declined to elaborate on the relationship, only stating that "it was nice while it lasted."[22] She said she hadn't seen Nasir Hussain the last year of his life, as he became reclusive because of his wife's death,[23] but she did speak to him the day before he died in 2002.[24]
Today, she concentrates on her dance academy Kara Bhavan and the Asha Parekh Hospital in Santa Cruz, Mumbai, named in her honor because of her many humanitarian contributions.[4]

In 1897, a European exhibitor first screened a selection of silent short films at the Victoria Public Hall in Madras.[2] The films all featured non-fictional subjects; they were mostly photographed records of day-to-day events. In Madras (present-day Chennai), the Electric Theatre was established for the screening of silent films.[2] It was a favourite haunt of the British community in Madras. The theatre was shut down after a few years. This building is now part of a post office complex on Anna Salai (Mount Road). The Lyric Theatre was also built in the Mount Road area.[2] This venue boasted a variety of events, including plays in English, Western classical music concerts, and ballroom dances. Silent films were also screened as an additional attraction. Swamikannu Vincent, an employee of the South Indian Railways in Trichy, purchased a film projector and silent films from the Frenchman Du Pont and set up a business as film exhibitor.[3] He erected tents for screening films. His tent cinema became popular and he travelled all over the state with his mobile unit.[4] In later years, he produced talkies and also built a cinema in Coimbatore.[5]
To celebrate the event of King George V's visit in 1909, a grand exhibition was organised in Madras. Its major attraction was the screening of short films accompanied by sound. A British company imported a Crone megaphone, made up of a film projector to which a gramophone with a disc containing prerecorded sound was linked, and both were run in unison, producing picture and sound simultaneously. However, there was no synched dialogue. Raghupathy Venkiah Naidu, a successful photographer, took over the equipment after the exhibition and set up a tent cinema near the Madras High Court.[2] R. Venkiah, flush with funds, built in 1912 a permanent cinema in the Mount Road area named Gaiety Theatre. It was the first in Madras to screen films on a full-time basis. The theatre later closed for commercial developments.[6]
Samikannu Vincent, who had built the first cinema of South India in Coimbatore, introduced the concept of "Tent Cinema" in which a tent was erected on a stretch of open land close to a town or village to screen the films. The first of its kind was established in Madras, called "Edison's Grand Cinemamegaphone". This was due to the fact that electric carbons were used for motion picture projectors.[7] Full-fledged film studios were built in Salem (Modern Theatres Studio) and Coimbatore (Central Studios, Neptune, and Pakshiraja). Chennai became the hub of studio activity with two more movie studios built in Chennai, Vijaya Vauhini Studios and Gemini Studios. Thus, with the undivided Madras Presidency, being the Capital to most of South India, Chennai became the center for South Indian language films.
AVM studios in Chennai, the oldest surviving studio in India
First South Indian movies
The year 1916 marked the birth of Tamil cinema with the first Madras production and South Indian film release Keechaka Vaadham (The Destruction of Keechaka), produced and directed by R. Nataraja, who established the India Film Company Limited.[8] During the 1920s, silent Tamil language film were shot at makeshift locations in and around Chennai, and for technical processing, they were sent to Pune or Calcutta. Later, some films featuring M. K. Thyagaraja Bhagavathar were shot in those cities as well. Telugu artists became active with the production of Bhisma Pratighna, a silent film, in 1921. The film was directed by Raghupathi Venkaiah Naidu and his son R. S. Prakash.[9] The two, along with Yaragudipati Varada Rao, would go on to produce and direct dozens of films throughout the decade, casting theater actors in major roles.[10] They established a long-lasting precedent of focusing exclusively on religious themes; Nandanar,[11] Gajendra Moksham, and Matsyavatar, three of their most famous productions, centered on religious figures, parables, and morals.[12]
Bhakta Prahlada, the first south Indian talkie film directed by H. M. Reddy[13]
In 1931, the first South Indian film with audible dialogue, Bhakta Prahlada, was produced by H.M. Reddy.[14] Popularly known as talkies, films with sound quickly grew in number and popularity. In 1934, the industry saw its first major commercial success with Lavakusa. Directed by C. Pullaiah and starring Parupalli Subbarao and Sriranjani in lead roles, the film attracted unprecedented numbers of viewers to theaters and thrust the young film industry into mainstream culture.[15]
During the same time, the first Kannada talkie, Sati Sulochana,[16] appeared in theatres, followed by Bhakta Dhruva (aka Dhruva Kumar). Both Sati Sulochana and Bhakta Dhruva were major successes. But prospective filmmakers in Karnataka were handicapped by the lack of studios and technical crews. Sati Sulochana was shot in Kolhapur at the Chatrapathi studio; most filming, sound recording, and post-production was done in Madras. It was difficult, as well, to find financial backing for new film projects in the region; thus, very few movies in Kannada were released during the early years of Indian sound cinema. The first talkie in Malayalam was Balan, released in 1938. It was directed by S. Nottani with a screenplay and songs written by Muthukulam Raghavan Pillai. Malayalam films continued to be made mainly by Tamil producers until 1947, when the first major film studio, Udaya, was established in Alleppey, Kerala by Kunchacko, who earned fame as a film producer and director.
Social influences and Superstars
The Madras presidency was divided into linguistic States, known today as Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu. The division marked the beginning of a new era in South Indian cinema. Cinema was celebrated regionally and exclusively in the language of the respective State. By 1936, the mass appeal of film allowed directors to move away from religious and mythological themes.[15] One such film, Jeevitha Nouka (1951), was a musical drama which spoke about the problems in a joint family. This movie became very popular and was probably the first "Superhit" of Malayalam cinema. Earlier, dozens of immensely successful 'social films', notably Prema Vijayam, Vandemataram and Maala Pilla, have ben released in Telugu. Touching on societal problems like the status of Untouchables and the practice of giving dowry, Telugu films increasingly focused on contemporary living: 29 of the 96 films released between 1937 and 1947 had social themes.[17]
A still from Chandralekha, the first successful pan-Indian film
Attempts made by some Congress leaders in Tamil Nadu to use stars of Tamil cinema were limited since this media remained inaccessible to the rural population, who were in the majority.[18] The politicizing of movies by the Congress virtually stopped soon after Indian Independence in 1947.[19] With the introduction of electricity to rural areas in the 1950s Dravidian politicians could implement movies as a major political organ.[18] Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) was the first — at the time the only — party to take advantage of visual movie media.[18] Actors and writers of guerrilla theater, who were inspired by the ideologies of Periyar E. V. Ramasamy, brought the philosophies of Tamil nationalism and anti-Brahminism to celluloid media.[20] The movies not only made direct references to the independent Dravida Nadu that its leaders preached for[18] but also at many times displayed party symbols within the movie.[18]
Meanwhile, Tamil film Chandralekha crossed all language borders and became the first all-India blockbuster. It was the time, when M. G. Ramachandran became one of the most remembered actors of India. His popularity enabled him to found a political party, the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, which is regularly part of the Government of Tamil Nadu. A posthumously Bharat Ratna winning actor, he has won also the hearts of millions of Tamils, exemplified by dozens of deaths out of hysteria during his funeral. The time was hailed as "the period of giants" in Malayalam film industry, due to the work of film stars Sathyan and Prem Nazir. Nazir catapulted to the row of the finest actors of India with the film Iruttinte Athmavu (1967). Playing a demented youth — Velayadhan, Nazir discovered his prowess as a dramatic actor of great intensity. Many critics have evaluated this role as his masterpiece, and as one of the finest onscreen performances ever. He holds the record for having acted in the most leading roles – about 700 films. Another record is for the most enduring screen team along with actress Sheela. They played opposite each other in 130 movies. It was also the time when Kannada cultural icon Rajkumar shot to fame. Rajkumar acted in more than 200 movies, but won his National Award for singing the song Naadamaya Ee Lokavella from the movie Jeevana Chaitra. He later turned towards politics and spearheaded the Kannada language movement, followed by millions of his fans. Rajkumar was kidnapped by Veerappan in the year 2000 and was released only after 108 days.
source:http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?search=indian+south+actress+long+biography&title=Special%3ASearch

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Divya Unni South Actress Getting Hot in Movie

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