Vishal Bhardwaj Birthday: Vishal Bhardwaj is an Indian filmmaker, music composer, and playback singer. He received wider recognition with his compositions in Gulzar`s "Maachis." He went on to compose music for the films "Satya" and "Godmother." For the latter, he won the National Film Award for Best Music Direction. Bhardwaj made his directorial debut with the children`s film "Makdee," for which he also composed the music. He garnered widespread critical acclaim and numerous accolades for writing and directing the Indian adaptations of three tragedies by William Shakespeare: "Maqbool" from "Macbeth," "Omkara" from "Othello," and "Haider" from "Hamlet." On his birthday, we look back at his "Sit With Hitlist" interview, where he talked about how he became a musician and gained confidence in his talent when he received validation from Usha Khanna.    

AR Rahman was recently awarded the prestigious Lata Deenanath Mangeshkar Award at a ceremony in Mumbai. During his acceptance speech, AR Rahman shared that his father had deep respect for the Mangeshkar family. He said, “My father, when he was working in the film industry down south, used to get up facing Lata Mangeshkar ji’s photograph. So, when I became a composer from the south and the enormous love I got from you guys, changed my life. One thing I tell my family – my kids – is that look at the Mangeshkar family. The dedication they have. today we need that, today we need to celebrate the dedication of Lata ji, Asha ji, Hridaynath ji and the whole family. Hridaynath ji keeps asking me what I like about him. I say, ‘everything’.”