Shaan's Biography

Shaan (born Shantanu Mukherjee, pronounced: Shantonu Mukharji, on 30 September 1972), is an Indian playback singer more active in Hindi, Bengali, Urdu, and Kannada films and a television host. He hosted the shows Sa Re Ga Ma Pa, Sa Re Ga Ma Pa L'il Champs, Star Voice of India and STAR Voice of India 2. In Music Ka Maha Muqabla, his team, Shaan's Strikers, finished as the runners up to Shankar Mahadevan’s team. He has also sung many Pakistani songs. He is considered as the most popular voice for romantic as well as melodious songs and is one of the most versatile singers. He has sung songs of different genres like pop, hip-hop, rock, and many more. He is one of the frontline playback singers of the millennium.

Early life and background

Shaan was born into a Bengali Hindu Kulin Brahmin family on 30 September 1972 in Khandwa, Madhya Pradesh. His grandfather was the lyricist Jahar Mukherjee, his father was the late music director Manas Mukherjee, and his sister is the singer Sagarika.^[1] His father died when Shaan was 13, after which his mother found work as a singer and took care of the whole family. He is married to Radhika and has two sons, Soham and Shubh.

As a child, Shaan began his career singing jingles for advertisements. After giving it up for a brief period he returned and, along with jingles, began to sing remixes and cover versions. In the 1989 movie Parinda, aged only 17, Shaan sang a single line in the song, "Kitni Hai Pyari Pyari Dosti Hamari".
Shaan and his sister's career began when they signed up with Magnasound recording company and recorded a few successful albums, including the hit album Naujawan followed by Q - Funk, which sold a million copies. He entered the pop scene with sister Sagarika, singing Biddu’s melodies and doing re-mixes.Then came Roop Tera Mastana, a remix album of R.D. Burman's songs, that brought them further into the limelight.
Shaan launched Loveology after this, which was well received.^{[citation needed]} He wrote the lyrics of the ballad "Bhool Ja" on his second album Tanha Dil, which appeared in the charts within days of its release and was popular on radio.
In 2000 he won the MTV Asia Music Award for best solo album for his album Tanha Dil. Three years later Shaan launched his album Aksar which was successful and contained songs featuring international stars such as Blue, Mel C and Samira Said.
For both the albums Tanha Dil and Aksar, Shaan sang, composed and wrote the lyrics of all the songs, except the title track "Tanha Dil" which was composed by Ram Sampath, who is also famous for the Bhag DK Bose song from the movie, Delhi Belly.
In 2006, he released a song with MLTR, "Take me to your heart". The song appears on his album Tishnagi which is produced by Ranjit Barot and engineered by Ashish Manchanda. The song "Shuruat" on his album Tishnagi was made into a music video to promote the film, The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.^{[citation needed]}
He released Tomar Aakash in 2004, a Bengali album, along with his sister and featuring his father's unreleased songs.^[2] He also plans to release an album remaking his father's compositions with his sister in Hindi. He recently sang one of his father's compositions on sets of STAR Plus's Music Ka Maha Muqqabla.

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Shreya Ghoshal's Biography

Shreya Ghoshal (born March 12, 1984) is an Indian singer. Best known as a playback singer in Hindi films, she also sings in other Indian languages including Assamese, Bengali, Bhojpuri, Gujarati, Kannada, Marathi, Punjabi, Odiya,^[3] Malayalam, Tamil and Telugu.
Ghoshal's career began when she won the Sa Re Ga Ma Pa contest as an adult. Her Bollywood playback singing career began with Devdas, for which she received National Film Award for Best Female Playback Singer along with Filmfare Award for Best Female Playback Singer and Filmfare RD Burman Award for New Music Talent.^[4] Since then, she has received many other awards. Ghoshal was also honored from the U.S. state of Ohio, wherein governor Ted Strickland declared June 26 as "Shreya Ghoshal Day".^[5]

^{Early life and background}

Shreya Ghoshal was born on March 12, 1984, to a Bengali Hindu family in Baharampur, West Bengal. Thereafter, she spent the next three months in her birthplace in West Bengal.^[2] She grew up in Rawatbhata, a small town near Kota, Rajasthan, where her father was transferred. Her father, Mr Bishwajit Ghoshal is a nuclear power plant engineer and works for the Nuclear Power Corporation of India, and her mother, Mrs Sarmistha Ghoshal is a literature post-graduate.^[6] She lived there for thirteen years and completed her schooling up to Eighth Standard at Rawatbhata at the Atomic Energy Central School.
In 1997, when her father was transferred to Mumbai, Ghoshal had to shift to Mumbai with her family. In Mumbai, she studied at Atomic Energy Central School in Anushaktinagar. She joined the Atomic Energy Junior College for studying Science. However, she felt difficulty in studying Science as her musical career in Bollywood had already began by the time. So, she dropped out from there and enrolled at SIES College at Sion in Mumbai for graduation, where she took up Arts with English as Major.^[2][6]

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Sonu Nigam's Biography

Sonu Nigam (born 30 July 1973 in Faridabad, Haryana,to Agam Kumar Nigam and Shobha Nigam)^[1] is an Indian singer whose songs have been featured mainly in Hindi and Kannada languages. He has also sung many songs in Urdu, Odia, Tamil, Assamese, Punjabi, Bengali, Malayalam, Marathi, Telugu and Nepali movies. He has released Indian pop albums and acted in a few movies. He had changed the spelling of his last name from 'Nigam' to 'Niigaam' in accordance with numerology, but later reverted to the original spelling.^[2]

^{Early life and background}

Sonu Nigam began his singing career at the age of four, when he joined his father Agam Kumar Nigam on stage to sing Mohammed Rafi's song "Kya Hua Tera Vaada, Wo Kasam Wo Irada". From then on, Sonu accompanied his father on his singing appearances at weddings and parties.^[3] In his teenage years, he successfully participated in music. He moved to Mumbai with his father to begin his Bollywood singing career at the age of 19.^[4] He was trained by classical singer Ustad Ghulam Mustafa Khan.

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Ayesha Takia's Biography

Ayesha Takia-Azmi (born on 10 April 1986) is an Indian actress who mainly appears in Bollywood films. She made her film debut in Taarzan: The Wonder Car for which she won the Filmfare Best Debut Award in 2004. Her most recent commercial successful was the 2009 film Wanted (2009).^[1]

^{Early life and background}

Takia was born in Mumbai to a Gujarati father and an Anglo-Indian mother. Her mother is half British and half Maharashtrian. She has a younger sister named Natasha who is three years younger than her.Takia attended St. Anthony’s High School, but never went to college because she started to work when she turned sixteen.

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Akshay Kumar's Biography

Akshay Kumar (born Rajiv Hari Om Bhatia^[3] on September 9, 1967)^[3] is an Indian film actor, producer and martial artist who has appeared in over a hundred Hindi films. He has been nominated for Filmfare Awards several times, winning it two times. He has appeared in over 125 films.^[4] When he began his acting career in the 1990s, he primarily starred in action films and was particularly known for his appearances in feature films commonly called the "Khiladi series", which included Khiladi (1992), Main Khiladi Tu Anari (1994), Sabse Bada Khiladi (1995), Khiladiyon Ka Khiladi (1996), Mr. and Mrs. Khiladi (1997), International Khiladi (1999), Khiladi 420 (2000) and Khiladi 786 (2012), as well as other action films such as Waqt Hamara Hai (1993), Mohra (1994), Elaan (1994), Suhaag (1994), Sapoot (1996), Angaaray (1998), Keemat – They Are Back (1998) and Sangharsh (1999).^[5]
Later he also gained fame for his drama, romance and comic roles.^[6] He started becoming known for his performances in romance films like Yeh Dillagi (1994), Dhadkan (2000) and Namastey London (2007), as well as drama films such as Waqt: The Race Against Time (2005) and Patiala House (2011). His comic performances in comedy films such as Hera Pheri (2000), Mujhse Shaadi Karogi (2004), Garam Masala (2005), Bhool Bhulaiyaa (2007), and Singh Is Kinng (2008) met with acclaim. His success had soared in 2007, when he starred in four consecutive commercial hits. Kumar hit a rough patch since 2009 to 2011 but came back with two successes, Housefull 2 (2012) and Rowdy Rathore (2012) with both of them grossing over 100 crore (US$17 million). His other films like OMG (2012) and Special 26 (2013) were highly successful critically and commercially. On February 16, 2013, many media outlets reported that the boxoffice collection of Kumar films has crossed 2,000 crore (US$340 million) and till date is the only Bollywood actor to do so.^{[7][8][9][10][11][12][13]} Having done so, he has established himself as a leading contemporary actor of Hindi cinema.
Apart from acting, Kumar has worked as a stunt actor; he has often performed many dangerous stunts in his films,^[14] which has earned him a reputation as the "Indian Jackie Chan".^[5] 2008 marked his television debut as the host of the show Fear Factor – Khatron Ke Khiladi. In 2009, Kumar founded the Hari Om Entertainment production company.^[15]
In 2008, the University of Windsor conferred an Honorary Doctorate of Law on Kumar in recognition of his contribution to Indian cinema. The following year he was awarded the Padma Shri by the Government of India. In 2011 The Asian Awards honoured Kumar for his outstanding achievement in Cinema.^[6]

^{Early life and background}

Akshay Kumar was born in Amritsar in the Indian state of Punjab.^[3] His father was an army officer. His mother's name is Aruna Bhatia. From a very young age, he was recognised as a performer, particularly as a dancer. Kumar was raised in Delhi's Chandni Chowk neighbourhood before moving to Mumbai.^[16] In Mumbai, he lived in Koliwada, which was another Punjabi dominated area.^[16] He studied at Don Bosco School in Mumbai and then Guru Nanak Khalsa College in Mumbai.^[16] Akshay has one sister also, Alka Bhatia.^[17][18][19]
After having obtained a black belt in Taekwondo while in India,^[20] he studied martial arts in Bangkok, Thailand,^[16] where he learned Muay Thai^[20] and worked as a chef^[16] and waiter.^[20] He then came back to Mumbai, where he started teaching martial arts. One of his students happened to be a photographer and recommended him to do modelling. The student gave him a modelling assignment for a small company. For his two hours posing in front of the camera, Kumar got 5,000, compared to his previous monthly salary of 4,000. That was one of the main reasons why he chose to be a model. One morning he missed his flight for an ad-shoot at Bangalore. Disappointed with himself, he went for his usual rounds at various film studios with his portfolio. Luckily that same evening, Kumar was signed for a lead role by producer Pramod Chakravarthy for the movie Deedar.^[16]

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Saif Ali Khan's Biography

Saif Ali Khan (pronounced [ˈsɛːf əˈli ˈxaːn]; born Sajid Ali Khan^[2] August 16, 1970) is an Indian actor known for his work in Bollywood films. He is the son of the cricket player and last titular Nawab of Pataudi, Mansoor Ali Khan, and actress Sharmila Tagore, a great-grandnephew of poet Rabindranath Tagore.
Having made his acting debut in 1992 with Yash Chopra's Parampara, Khan had his first success with the 1994 films Main Khiladi Tu Anari and Yeh Dillagi. After going through several years of decline throughout the 1990s, he rose into prominence with his performance in Farhan Akhtar's Dil Chahta Hai (2001), which marked his professional turning point.^[3] His work in Kal Ho Naa Ho (2003) won him the Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actor, and he was awarded the National Film Award for Best Actor for his performance in Hum Tum (2004).
Khan subsequently had further mainstream success with films like Salaam Namaste (2005) and Race (2008) and starred in critically acclaimed projects such as Parineeta (2005), Being Cyrus and Omkara (2006).^[4] In 2009, Khan branched out into film production with his company Illuminati Films' first film Love Aaj Kal, which became a box-office success. These accomplishments have established him as one of the leading actors of Hindi cinema.^[5] He was awarded the Padma Shri by the government of India in 2010.^[6] Khan was married to actress Amrita Singh from 1991 to 2004, having two children together. In 2012, he married actress Kareena Kapoor on Oct 16, 2012 after a five-year relationship.^[7][8]

^{Early life and background}

Saif Ali Khan is of Muslim, Afghan ancestry through the Nawabs of Pataudi lineage from his father's side and of Bengali Tagore ancestry from his mother's side.^[9] His paternal grandfather, Iftikhar Ali Khan Pataudi, was the Nawab of Pataudi as well as an accomplished cricketer who played for England and then for India as the captain of the team.^[9] His paternal grandmother was Sajida Sultan, Begum of Bhopal and his great-uncle was Pakistani general Sher Ali Khan Pataudi. His father was Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi, a former captain of the Indian cricket team and the ninth Nawab of Pataudi until the abolition of titles by India in 1971.^[9] Following the death of his father in 2011, Saif Ali Khan was proclaimed the Nawab of Pataudi by the villagers of Pataudi State in deference to tradition, although the title carries no official or legal significance.^[10]
Khan has two sisters, Saba Ali Khan and actress Soha Ali Khan.^[11] Khan's mother is Sharmila Tagore, a film actress and a member of Bengal's Tagore family. She is the head of the Indian film censorship board^[12] and the grand-niece of Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore.^[13]
Khan initially studied at the Lawrence School, Sanawar^[14] and later attended Lockers Park School in Hertfordshire. He then followed in his father's

footsteps by attending Winchester College, an independent school for boys in the UK. Khan can speak his native languages of Urdu/Hindi and Bengali fluently, as well as English.^[15]

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Aishwarya Rai Bachchan's Biography

Aishwarya Rai (Tulu pronunciation [əjɕʋərjaː rəj]; born 1 November 1973), also known as Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, is an Indian film actress and model. She was the first runner-up of the Miss India pageant, and the winner of the Miss World pageant of 1994. She is a leading contemporary actress of Indian cinema and has received two Filmfare Awards, two Screen Awards, and two IIFA Awards for her performances in Hindi language films of Bollywood. Rai is regarded as one of the most popular and influential celebrities in India, and is often cited in the media as the "most beautiful woman in the world".^{[3][4][5][6][7][8]}
Rai made her acting debut in the 1997 biographical film Iruvar and starred in the commercially successful 1998 film Jeans. She earned wide public recognition and Best Actress awards at Filmfare for her leading roles in Sanjay Leela Bhansali's 1999 melodrama Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam and the 2002 period film Devdas. She gained critical appreciation for her portrayal of Tagore's heroine Binodini in Rituparno Ghosh's 2003 film Chokher Bali, and a depressed woman in Ghosh's 2004 relationship drama Raincoat. Following a series of commercially unsuccessful films, Rai featured in the 2006 blockbuster adventure film Dhoom 2, the 2008 historical romance Jodhaa Akbar, and the 2010 science fiction film Enthiran. She garnered wide critical acclaim for her work in Bhansali's 2010 romantic drama Guzaarish.
Following a tumultuous relationship with actor Salman Khan, Rai married actor Abhishek Bachchan in 2007. Her off-screen roles include duties as a brand ambassador for several charity organisations and campaigns; she is a Goodwill Ambassador for the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS). She was awarded with the Padma Shri by the Government of India in 2009, and the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres by the Government of France in 2012.

Early life and background

Rai was born into an ethnic Bunt^[9] family in Mangalore, Karnataka.^[10] Her father, Krishnaraj, was a marine biologist, while her mother, Brindya, is a housewife.^[1] She has one elder brother, Aditya Rai, who is an engineer in the merchant navy. He co-produced one of her movies, Dil Ka Rishta (2003).^[11] Rai's values and lifestyle were influenced by her family, and even as her fame continues to rise, she holds strong to a religious, value-based life, influenced early on by her parents.^[12]
The family moved to Mumbai, where Rai attended the Arya Vidya Mandir High School.^[1] Rai did her intermediate schooling at Jai Hind College for a year,^[13] and then joined DG Ruparel College^[14] in Matunga, securing 90 percent in the HSC exams.^[1][15] She trained in classical dance and music for five years during her teens.^[15] Her favourite subject was zoology, so she initially considered a career in medicine but was unsuccessful later on.^[15] Then with plans to become an architect, she enrolled at Raheja College, but later gave up her education to pursue a career in modelling.^[13] In 1991, Rai won a supermodel contest (organised by Ford) and was eventually featured in the American edition of Vogue.^[14][16] After abandoning an idea to pursue a career in medicine, Rai enrolled for a course in architecture at the Raheja College of Arts.^[15] However, she dropped out of college to pursue a full-time career as a model.^[13]
In 1993, Rai gained public recognition for her appearance in a Pepsi commercial with actor Aamir Khan.^[16][17] In the 1994 Miss India she won second place, behind Sushmita Sen, and was crowned Miss India World.^[18] With Sen representing India at the Miss Universe pageant, Aishwarya's duties as the first alternate included representing India in the rival Miss World Pageant, held that year in Sun City, South Africa. She went on to win the Miss World^[19] title the same year, where she also won the "Miss Photogenic" award and Miss World Continental Queen of Beauty − Asia & Oceania.^[20] After winning the pageant, Rai spoke of her dream for peace for this world, and her desire to be an ambassador of peace during her one-year reign in London.^[18][21] In 2000, she was named the "Most Beautiful Miss. World" of all time.^[12] Rai continued to pursue a career as a model until she became an actress.^[22]

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Shahid Kapoor's Biography

Shahid Kapoor (born Shahid Khattar on February 25 1981) is an Indian film actor. He started his career by working in music videos and advertisements, and made his Bollywood debut with Ishq Vishk (2003) and won a Filmfare Award for Best Male Debut for his performance. He followed it with films like Fida (2004) and Shikhar (2005), and had his first major commercial success with Sooraj R. Barjatya's Vivah (2006, his biggest economic success to date). His performances in Jab We Met (2007) and Kaminey (2009) earned him nominations for the Filmfare Best Actor Award.^[1][2]

Early life and background

Kapoor was born to actor Pankaj Kapur and actor/classical dancer Neelima Azeem on 25 February 1981. Kapoor's parents divorced when he was 3. He continued living with his mother and maternal grandparents in Press Enclave, Saket in Delhi. He shares a cordial relationship with his father and stepmother Supriya Pathak.^[3]
As a child, he studied in the school Gyan Bharathi in Delhi until the forth grade, where he shifted to Rajhans Vidyalaya, Mumbai.^[4] Kapoor has three half siblings: a sister named Sanah Kapur and brothers named Ishaan Khattar and Ruhaan Kapur; Ishaan acted with him in the movie Vaah! Life Ho To Aisi (2005). His maternal grandfather was Anwar Azeem, a noted Marxist journalist and author from Bihar.^[5] His great great grandfather was the film director, screenwriter, Urdu novelist and journalist Khwaja Ahmad Abbas more popularly known as K. A. Abbas. K.A. Abbas in turn was the grandson of Hali, the chief protégé of Urdu poet, Ghalib.^[6][7]

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Aamir Khan's Biography

Aamir Khan (pronounced [ˈaːmɪr ˈxaːn]) (born: Aamir Hussain Khan on 14 March 1965) is an Indian film actor, director, and producer who has established himself as one of the leading actors of Hindi cinema.^[1][2]
Starting his career as a child actor in his uncle Nasir Hussain's film Yaadon Ki Baaraat (1973), Khan began his professional career eleven years later with Holi (1984) and had his first commercial success with Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak (1988). He received his first National Film Award as a Special Jury Award for his roles in the films Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak (1988) and Raakh (1989).^[3] After eight previous nominations during the 1980s and 1990s, Khan received his first Filmfare Award for Best Actor for his performance in the major grosser Raja Hindustani (1996)^[4][5] and later earned his second Best Actor award for his performance in the Academy Award-nominated Lagaan, which also marked the debut of his own production company.
Following a four-year break from acting, Khan made his comeback playing the title role in the historical drama Mangal Pandey: The Rising (2005), and later won a Filmfare Critics Award for Best Actor for his role in Rang De Basanti (2006). The following year, he made his directorial debut with Taare Zameen Par, for which he received the Filmfare Award for Best Director. This was followed by the thriller Ghajini (2008), which became the highest grossing film of that year, and the comedy 3 Idiots (2009), which became the highest-grossing Bollywood film of all-time.^[6]
On 30 November 2011, Khan was appointed as national brand ambassador of UNICEF to promote child nutrition.^[7] He is part of the government organised IEC campaign to raise awareness about malnutrition.^[8]
The Government of India honoured him with the Padma Shri in 2003 and the Padma Bhushan in 2010 for his contributions towards the arts.^[9][10][11] In April 2013, he was among TIME magazine's 100 Most Influential People in the World List.^[12][13]

^{Early life and background}

^{Khan was born in Bandra's Holy Family Hospital, Mumbai, India, to a family that has been actively involved in the Indian motion picture industry for several decades. His father, Tahir Hussain, was a film producer while his uncle, Nasir Hussain, was a film producer as well as a director and an actor.[14] Aamir Khan's mother is Zeenat Hussain.[15][16][17] His siblings are Faisal Khan, Farhat Khan and Nikhat Khan. Imran Khan is the nephew of Aamir Khan. Aamir Khan belongs to the family of Indian freedom fighter Abul Kalam Azad. He is also a descendant of former President of India, Dr. Zakir Hussain He is also a second cousin to former Chairperson of Rajya Sabha and the current vice president of the Bharatiya Janata Party, Dr Najma Heptullah.[18][19][20] His father, Tahir Hussain, died on 3 February 2010.[21]}

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Salman Khan's Biography

Salman Khan (pronunciation : [səlˈmaːn ˈxaːn]; born Abdul Rashid Salim Salman Khan on 27 December 1965)^[2] is an Indian film actor, producer, television presenter, and philanthropist. The son of actor and screenwriter Salim Khan, Khan began his acting career with Biwi Ho To Aisi but it was his second film Maine Pyar Kiya in which he acted in a lead role that garnered him the Filmfare Award for Best Male Debut. Khan has starred in several commercially successful films, such as Saajan (1991), Hum Aapke Hain Koun..! (1994), Karan Arjun (1995), Judwaa (1997), Pyar Kiya To Darna Kya (1998), Biwi No.1 (1999), and Hum Saath Saath Hain (1999), having appeared in the highest grossing film nine separate years during his career, a record that remains unbroken.^[3]
In 1999, Khan won the Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actor for his extended guest appearance in Kuch Kuch Hota Hai (1998). In 2011, he won the Screen Award for Best Actor for his performance in Dabangg and in 2012, he won the Best Actor Popular Choice for his performances in Ek Tha Tiger and Dabangg 2. Eight of the films he has acted in, have accumulated gross earnings of over 100 crore (US$17 million) worldwide.^[4][5] He played leading roles in five consecutive blockbusters including Dabangg, Ready, Bodyguard, Ek Tha Tiger, and Dabangg 2. He has starred in more than 80 Hindi films and thus far^[6] has established himself as a leading actor of Hindi cinema.^[7]

Early life

Khan is the eldest son of screenwriter Salim Khan and his first wife Salma (née Sushila Charak). His paternal grandfather was a Muslim from Afghanistan^[8][9] who immigrated to India and settled in Indore, Madhya Pradesh. Charak is a surname of Dogra Rajput clan. Khan belongs to Pathan Muslim family through his father while Khan's mother is reported to be a Dogra Hindu. His family celebrate Islamic and Hindu festivals such as Maha Shivaratri and Ganesh Chaturthi.^[10][11] In 2010 Khan said that he is "half Muslim and half Hindu".^[12] His stepmother is Helen, a former actress, who has co-starred with him in a few films. He has two brothers, Arbaaz Khan and Sohail Khan, and two sisters, Alvira and Arpita. Alvira is married to actor/director Atul Agnihotri. Khan finished his schooling at St. Stanislaus High School in Bandra, Mumbai, as did his younger brothers Arbaaz and Sohail. Earlier, he studied at The Scindia School, Gwalior for a few years along with younger brother Arbaaz.^[13][14]

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