Showing all artists born in 1951

Sajid Khan (born 28 December 1951 in Mumbai, India) is a former Indian actor. He is the adopted son of Indian film producer Mehboob Khan, founder of Mehboob Studios, in India. Sajid started acting as a child appearing as the younger version of Sunil Dutt's character in his father Mehboob's 1957 film Mother India. He played a more central role in his father's next and last film Son of India in 1962. He went on to achieve fame in the United States with a co-starring role alongide Jay North in the 1966 film Maya. The film's success led to a television series of the of the same name airing on NBC from September 1967 to February 1968. He also had a short-lived singing career in 1969 releasing an album titled Sajid. In the 1970s and early 1980s he appeared in several films and then quit acting in 1983.

Mammootty (born 7 September 1951) is an Indian film actor and producer who has mainly worked in Malayalam cinema. He has also acted in Tamil, Hindi, Telugu, and Kannada films. During a career spanning more than three decades, he has acted in more than 360 films, and is only next to Prem Nazir in the number of lead roles in Indian films. He has also appeared in the highest number of dual roles (nine) in Malayalam films. Mammootty is involved in more than half a dozen philanthropic projects aimed at helping needy people.

He has been awarded the National Film Award for Best Actor three times. He has also won five Kerala State Film Awards and eleven Filmfare Awards. In 1998, he was awarded the Padma Shri for his contributions towards the arts. He was also honoured a Doctor of Letters by the University of Kerala in January 2010  and by the University of Calicut in December 2010.Mammootty is one of the Malayalam actors who has attained huge popularity in Tamil Nadu and in others states. Mammootty is the chairman of Malayalam Communications, which runs the Malayalam television channels Kairali TV, People TV and WE TV. Mammootty is also the goodwill ambassador of the Akshaya project

Mammootty was born and raised in the village of Chempu near Anakapalli in the Kottayam district of the state of Kerala, India in a middle class, Muslim family. He was the eldest son of the family. His father Ismail was a farmer and his mother Fatima was unemployed. Mammootty's father shifted his family to Ernakulam during the 1960s; his school life was at St. Albert's School and Government School Ernakulam. He did his Pre-University course (pre-degree) at Maharajas College, Kochi, and then graduated with a L.L.B. (Bachelor of Laws) from Ernakulam Government Law College. He also practised law for two years in Manjeri. He married Sulfath in 1980 and has a daughter, Surumi (b. 1982) and a son, Dulquer Salman (b. 1986). Mammootty's younger brother Ebrahimkutty is a television and film actor in Malayalam. Ebrahimkutty's son Maqbool Salmaan is also a film actor.

Mammootty's debut was an uncredited appearance in the 1971 film Anubhavangal Paalichakal directed by K. S. Sethumadhavan, which starred Sathyan, Prem Nazir and Sheela in the lead roles.  His only scene in the film was being one among a running crowd along with the lead actor Sathyan. Mammootty then was a student at the Maharajas College. His second film was Kaalachakram, a 1973 Malayalam film directed by K. Narayanan, and starring Prem Nazir and Jayabharathi. This was the first dialogued appearance of Mammootty, who appeared only in one scene in the film. He acted under the screen name Sajin, but later dropped it. His professional film career began in 1979, when he played his first lead role in Devalokam, directed by veteran M. T. Vasudevan Nair. However, this film was never completed.

 Mammootty with Ramachandra Babu, who served as cinematographer in his debut film and actor Saiju Kurup.His next film was the 1980 film, Vilkkanundu Swapnangal, directed by Azad, written by M. T. Vasudevan Nair, and starring Sukumaran in the lead role. The film featured Mammootty, as an antagonist in a supporting role. The voice for Mammootty in this film was dubbed by Sreenivasan.

Sarath Babu is an Indian film actor, who has acted in almost all the major south Indian languages - Telugu, Tamil, Kannada and Malayalam.  He has been in the industry for nearly 37 years and has acted in more than 200 movies, most of them in a supporting role. 

He has acted in 80 films each in Telugu and Tamil, 20 in Kannada and a few in Malayalam.

He entered the film industry in 1973 through a Telugu movie and later became popular through the Tamil movie Nizhal Nijamagiradhu directed by K. Balachander. He is well known for his supporting roles to actors like Sivaji Ganesan, Kamal Haasan, Rajini kanth, Chiranjeevi and Nandamuri Balakrishna. He refers to K. Balachander as his mentor and has acted in some of his films.

He has received numerous awards, including eight Nandi awards from the government of Andhra Pradesh for his roles in Telugu movies.

He is reported to have said that: 

My dad was a hotelier, he wanted me to handle his business but I wanted to be a police officer. During college days, I developed shortsight and my dreams crashed as clear eye sight was a pre requisite to join the police. People told my mother that her son was good looking and he should try to get into films.. the lecturers in college said the same and that was playing on my mind. 

My father was against it but my mother supported me. I thought even if I failed, I could fall back on the family business. In my heart, I knew that I don't fit into business or politics. I responded to an advertisement in the paper for fresh faces for a film and I got through the audition more easily than I had expected. My first break was in Tamil directed by Balachander. The same was remade in Telugu as Idhi Katha Kadu with me, Kamal Haasan and Chiranjeevi and the movie was a hit.

Hamsalekha (born Govindaraju Gangaraju on 23 June 1951) is an Indian film composer and a songwriter who works in South Indian cinema, predominantly in the Kannada film industry since the late 1980s. He is also a screenplay writer, dialogue writer, instrumentalist and a conductor. Composed and written for over 300 feature films.

Hamsalekha is usually referred to by the title Naadha Brahma (English: The Brahma of Music) who is considered to be the major cause for the change in the music composing and lyric writing style which would appeal much to the younger generation.He integrated folk and introduced western musical sensibilities into the mainstream cinema. He is also accredited for introducing many musical talents (singers, composers and lyricists) to the industry.

Hamsalekha has won one National Film Awards and six Filmfare Awards in the Best Music Director Category; seven Karnataka State Film Awards - four for music direction and three for lyrics - and is a recipient of honorary doctorate, conferred by the Bangalore University.

Hamsalekha was born Govindaraju Gangaraju in Mysore, India. After his studies, he was employed in his father's printing press and subsequently joined his brother Balakrishna's orchestra group.He had a huge flair for writing poetry and forming a tune for his works. He renamed himself as "Hamsalekhani" since he always used to write with a "Swan"(Kannada : Hamsa) brand pen. Later, his teacher modified his name as "Hamsalekha".

He was introduced into feature films by director M. N. Prasad, who provided an opportunity to write a song for the film Triveni (1973). The song "Neena Bhagavantha" was his first release picturised on actor Uday Kumar. His debut film as a musician was the 1981 unreleased film Rahuchandra. Officially, his cinema career started as a dialogue and lyric writer for the film Naanu Nanna Hendthi (1985). Later his popularity soared only after his association with actor-director Ravichandran. Premaloka, released in 1987, brought them together for a collaboration that would endure for over 12 years.

Hamsalekha is married to Latha who was a playback singer in the 1990s. The couple have a son named Alankar and a daughter named Nandini. Alankar is associated with films as an actor and musician. Few of his released and unreleased movies are Sugghi, Tapori and Roja. Nandini began her playback singing career with the film Sixer (2006).

After working on Premaloka, Hamsalekha became one of the most prolific music directors in Kannada film, with many hits. He made occasional use of many genres of music, including Western, pop, rock, hip hop, Indian classical, folk, ghazals, Sufi, and item songs.

"Chandakinta Chanda", a ghazal he composed for the film Sparsha, was a major hit. He has created songs ranging from the philosophical ("Le Le Marula" in Shaapa, a film whose story he wrote himself) to the naughty ("Kaayi Kaayi Nuggekaayi Mahimege" in Halli Maestru), the patriotic ("Huttidhare Kannada Nadalli Hutta Bekku" in Rajkumar's Aakasmika, a song which has become an unofficial anthem of Karnataka) and love songs ("Ele Hombisile..." in Halunda Tavaru).

He composed the background score for one movie using a single instrument and made the music for Kona Eedaite with no instruments at all. His music in the film Hagalu Vesha had a rustic and folk feel without the use of synthetic sounds. His music in the 2010 movie Naanu Nanna Kanasu was appreciated by critics as well as audiences.He also composed for the National Award winning movie Puttakkana Highway in 2011.

The melodic structure of his songs demand considerable vocal virtuosity, and have found expressive platform amongst some of India's respected vocalists and playback singers, such as Dr. Rajkumar, P. B. Sreenivas, P. Susheela, K. J. Yesudas, S. P. Balasubrahmanyam, Vani Jairam, S. Janaki, K. S. Chithra, Kavita Krishnamurthy, Manjula Gururaj, Sonu Nigam, Hariharan and Shreya Ghoshal with majority of the songs recorded by S. P. Balasubrahmanyam, S. Janaki and K. S. Chithra. He recorded some of the rare and distinct voices like M. Balamuralikrishna for a song in Muthina Haara (1990), C. Ashwath for Hoovu Hannu (1993) and Pankaj Udhas for Sparsha (2001).

Salim Ahmed Ghoush (22 April 1951 – 2 February 2010), better known by his stage name Cochin Haneefa, was an Indian film actor, director, and screenwriter. He started his career in the 1970s mainly portraying villainous roles, before going on to become one of the most popular comedians of Malayalam cinema.  He has acted in more than 300 films in Malayalam, Tamil and Hindi.  As a director he is best known for the films Aankiliyude Tharattu (1987) and Valtsalyam (1993).

Haneefa was born in Kochi to Kochi Velthedathu Tharavattil A.B. Muhammed and Hajira. He studied at Kochi St. Augustine's School and St. Albert's College and graduated with a degree in Botany.

He was a member of the famed comedy troupe Cochin Kalabhavan, whose members included Jayaram, Kalabhavan Mani, Harisree Ashokan, Salim Kumar, and Bindhu Panicker. He made his film debut in 1972 in Azhimukham directed by Vijayan and went on to act in over 300 films in Malayalam. He also acted in over 80 Tamil films, including popular movies like Mahanadi with Kamal Haasan, Sivaji and Enthiran with Rajinikanth.

Haneefa played memorable roles in many Malayalam films, including Mannar Mathai Speaking, Devaasuram, Kireedam, Punjabi House and Swapnakoodu, C.I. Mahadevan 5 Adi 4 Inchu.  He also directed around 20 films, including Valtsalyam and Moonu Masangalkku Munbu. The last Tamil films in which he appeared were Madrasapattinam and Enthiran. His final Malayalam film was the 2010 film Bodyguard.

Kerala State Film Awards:
2001 – Second Best Actor – Soothradharan
Death
Haneefa died on 2 February 2010, aged 58, in Chennai, from multiple organ failure. He had been treated for liver cancer.  He is survived by his wife Fasila and twin children Safa and Marwa.

Salim Ahmed Ghoush, better known by his stage name Cochin Haneefa, was an Indian film actor, director, and screenwriter. He started his career in the 1970s mainly portraying villainous roles, before going on to become one of the most popular comedians of Malayalam cinema. He has acted in more than 300 films in Malayalam, Tamil and Hindi. As a director he is best known for the films Aankiliyude Tharattu (1987) and Valtsalyam (1993).


Haneefa was born in Kochi to Kochi Velthedathu Tharavattil A.B. Muhammed and Hajira. He studied at Kochi St. Augustine's School and St. Albert's College and graduated with a degree in Botany. He was married to Fasila. The couple have a twins, Safa and Marva.

He was a member of the famed comedy troupe Cochin Kalabhavan, whose members included Jayaram, Kalabhavan Mani, Harisree Ashokan, Salim Kumar, and Bindhu Panicker. He made his film debut in 1972 in Azhimukham directed by Vijayan and went on to act in over 300 films in Malayalam. He also acted in over 80 Tamil films, including popular movies like Mahanadi with Kamal Haasan, Sivaji and Enthiran with Rajinikanth.

Haneefa played memorable roles in many Malayalam films, including Mannar Mathai Speaking, Devaasuram, Kireedam, Punjabi House and Swapnakoodu, C.I. Mahadevan 5 Adi 4 Inchu. He also directed around 20 films, including Valtsalyam and Moonu Masangalkku Munbu. The last Tamil films in which he appeared were Madrasapattinam and Enthiran. His final Malayalam film was the 2010 film Bodyguard.

Senthil has acted in many popular movies with several of the leading actors and comedians in the south Indian cine industry. He usually appears in films with Goundamani in a slapstick double act. Together they have formed a comic pair in many Tamil films. Recently, Senthil has started acting in Tamil teleserials. 

Personal life

He was born on 23 March 1951 in a small village called Ilanjambore near Mudukulathur in Ramanathapuram District. His parents were Ramamoorthi and Thirukammal. He ran away from his village at the age 12 due to his fathers scolding. He first joined an oil mart, then a private wine shop as bar attender and then landed up in drama where he started developing his skills. He slowly entered the Tamil film industry in small characters and finally landed a good role in the movie Malayoor Mambattiyan.  He married Kalaiselvi in 1984. He has two sons, Dr. Manikanda Prabhu and Hemachandra Prabhu.