- ... that the 1899 play Sangeet Sharada was "a pioneer in social drama in India" and that the 1929 Child Marriage Restraint Act, called the "Sarda Act" for its sponsor, was soon known as the "Sharada Act"?
- ... that for the film Samaantharangal (1998), Balachandra Menon worked on nine aspects of the film-making and also won the National Film Award for Best Actor at the 45th National Film Awards?
- ... that 1992's Marathi film Ek Hota Vidushak featured P. L. Deshpande's first new screenplay with dialogue since 1953, after a hiatus of 39 years?
- ... that the soundtrack of the Marathi film Kaksparsh (2012) was released after the film's theatrical release on public demand and features songs rendered without any musical accompaniment?
- ... that Paresh Mokashi's debut film, Harishchandrachi Factory, depicts the making of India's first feature film, Raja Harishchandra (1913), and in 2009 was India's official entry to the Academy Awards?
- ... that the 1955–56 Marathi radio programme Geet Ramayan describing the events from an Indian epic Ramayana (central characters pictured) has been translated to eight Indian languages, English, and also transliterated in Braille?
- ... that Indian filmmaker Satyajit Ray (pictured) made his last documentary in 1987 on his father, as a tribute to celebrate the centenary of his birth?
- ... that Indian composer A. R. Rahman (pictured), known for Slumdog Millionaire, released his single "Infinite Love" to "instill faith and optimism in people" prior to the predicted doomsday on 21 December 2012?
- ... that Indian filmmaker Satyajit Ray paid tribute to the silent film genre through his short film Two (1964), made without any dialogue, which also makes "a strong anti-war statement"?
- ... that though Balasaraswati was called "a revolutionary Bharata Natyam dancer", she was only filmed at the age of 58 in Bala, a documentary made by Satyajit Ray?
- ... that Meenakshi Shirodkar stunned the traditional audience when she appeared in a swimsuit in the 1938 Marathi film Brahmachari?
- ... that when a French television channel approached Satyajit Ray for Pikoo (1980), he was told "you can place your camera at your window and shoot the house next door—we will accept that"?
- ... that for the film Rabindranath Tagore, Satyajit Ray did not use any of Tagore's poems as he believed that people who heard the English translations would not consider Tagore "a very great poet"?
- ... that Satyajit Ray's documentary, The Inner Eye (1972), features an artist's journey to blindness with his own words, "Blindness is a new feeling, a new experience, a new state of being"?
- ... that after a common career span of 27 years, Madhuri Dixit and Juhi Chawla are costarring for the first time in the upcoming film Gulaab Gang?
- ... that when Charles O'Rear took a photograph of a green, lush hillside near Napa Valley, he did not expect it to be "the most viewed image of the world"?
- ... that the season three premiere episode of Game of Thrones was dedicated in the memory of its cinematographer, Martin Kenzie?
- ... that some historians believe that presumed reels of India's first feature film Raja Harishchandra (1913) are actually of its remake Satyavadi Raja Harishchandra (1917)?
- ... that advertised as a "Photographed Play", Satyawadi Raja Harishchandra (1917) is India's first remake feature film?
- ... that on Earth Day, HBO apologized to the elephants?
- ... that two years after the mission that killed Osama bin Laden, HBO aired a documentary on the decade-long hunt, narrated by the CIA agents involved?
- ... that the Russian newspaper Moskovsky Korrespondent was shut down after running a story that President Vladimir Putin was to divorce his wife and marry gymnast Alina Kabaeva?
- ... that Ashok Patki has composed more than 5,000 jingles and also composed "Mile Sur Mera Tumhara"?'
- ... that during the 17th century many couples performed "erotic" acts near The Iron Lady (pictured), and it was thrown into the river twice for being an object of pagan veneration?
- 22... that Bollywood director Rahul Rawail paid tribute to his father H. S. Rawail's film Sunghursh (1968) by titling one of his films as Jeevan Ek Sanghursh (1990)?
- ... that in 2013, the Bharat Ratna – India's highest civilian award – was conferred on Sachin Tendulkar, the youngest recipient and first sportsperson to receive the honour?
- ... that the Indian filmmaker Satyajit Ray was awarded both India's highest civilian award and France's highest decoration?
- ... that the Padma Bhushan, India's third highest civilian award, was instituted in 1954, and the "father of the Indian bomb" was one of its first recipients?
- ... that as of 2015, India's second highest civilian award has been conferred upon 18 non-citizen recipients including Edmund Hillary, one of the first climbers to reach the summit of Mount Everest?
- ... that Indian composer and singer Shankar Mahadevan made his acting debut in the 2015 Marathi film Katyar Kaljat Ghusali?
- ... that some recipients of the Padma Vibhushan, India's second highest civilian award, have refused or even returned their medals?
- ... that Sairat, which is set to be released today, is the first Indian film to include a symphonic score recorded in Hollywood?
- ... that when poet G. Sankara Kurup's (pictured) poem Odakkuzhal was nominated for the first Jnanpith Award, the Kerala Sahitya Akademi had opined that no Malayalam language work was worthy of this inaugural prize?
- ... that Indian scientist Pushpa Mittra Bhargava, one of the recipients of the Padma Bhushan award in 1980s, returned it in 2015?
- ... that the Padma Bhushan, along with other Indian civilian awards, was briefly suspended in the 1990s?
- ... that historian Romila Thapar refused to accept the Padma Bhushan, India's third-highest civilian award, but was still listed among the recipients of the 2000s?
- ... that in 1968, Indian philosopher and statesman Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan was the first recipient of the Sahitya Akademi fellowship?
- ... that India's Sangeet Natak Akademi fellowship for the performing arts is usually not conferred on anyone under the age of 50?
- 2 ... that the Neurological Society of India was founded in 1951 by Jacob Chandy, Balasubramaniam Ramamurthi, S. T. Narasimhan, and Baldev Singh, pioneers of epilepsy surgery in India?
- ... that following the tradition of Urdu poets, Bollywood lyricist Naqsh Lyallpuri took his surname from his birthplace, and his family also adopted it?
- ... that India's lifetime achievement sporting honour is named after field hockey player Dhyan Chand, who scored more than 1000 goals during his career?
- ... that the Dronacharya Award is an Indian sports coaching honour, named after Drona, the royal preceptor from the Sanskrit epic Mahabharata?
- 2 ... that India's third highest civilian award was bestowed upon Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn of Thailand in 2017?
- ... that the Adiyogi Shiva statue is the world's tallest bust of the Hindu god Shiva?
- 2 ... that Bonnie Burnard's 1999 debut novel, A Good House, won the Scotiabank Giller Prize?
- ... that in 1994, the fantasy novel The Kingdom of Kevin Malone by Suzy McKee Charnas won the Mythopoeic Society Award in the Children's Literature category?
- ... that Roz Chast's graphic memoir Can’t We Talk About Something More Pleasant?, about her parents in their final years, was No. 1 New York Times Bestseller in 2014?
- ... that the 2015 film Ringan, set against the backdrop of farmers' suicides in India, won the National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Marathi?
- ... that Richard B. Wright was nominated for the Governor General's Awards and the Scotiabank Giller Prize for The Age of Longing (1995), but eventually won both for Clara Callan (2001)?
- ... that Stanley Elkin won the National Book Critics Circle Award in fiction for his novels George Mills (1982) and Mrs. Ted Bliss (1995)?
- 3 ... that the Sahitya Akademi, India's National Academy of Letters, conferred its fellowship on Kanhu Charan Mohanty (1994) and Arjan Hasid (2013), and elected Ronald E. Asher (2007) as an honorary fellow?
- ... that the title for Elizabeth Nunez's novel Anna In-Between (2009) was inspired by M. G. Vassanji's novel The In-Between World of Vikram Lall (2003)?
- ... that during the Holocaust in Italy, doctors at Fatebenefratelli Hospital protected Jews from the Nazis by diagnosing them with a fictitious disease called "Syndrome K"?
- ... that anthropologist Verrier Elwin's autobiography The Tribal World of Verrier Elwin was published posthumously and won the Sahitya Akademi Award in 1965?
- ... that the Bollywood writer Mukhram Sharma won the inaugural Filmfare Award for Best Story in 1955 for Aulad (1954)?
- 2 ... that Canadian author David Bergen won the McNally Robinson Book of the Year Award for A Year of Lesser (1996), The Time in Between (2005), and The Retreat (2009)?
- ... that Flood of Fire, the final volume of the Ibis trilogy by Amitav Ghosh, won the Crossword Book Jury Award in Fiction in 2015?
- 6 5 ... that the National Film Awards in various categories have been presented to the films Doghi (Other Social Issues), Vastupurush (Best Feature Film in Marathi), Devrai (Environment Conservation/Preservation), Samhita (Best Music Direction), Astu (Best Dialogue) and Kaasav (Best Feature Film), all by filmmaker duo Sumitra Bhave–Sunil Sukthankar?
- ... that Barbadian-Canadian author Austin Clarke listened to Miles Davis while writing his Scotiabank Giller Prize-winning novel The Polished Hoe?
- ... that Us Conductors, the debut novel by Sean Michaels depicting a fictionalized account of the relationship between Léon Theremin and Clara Rockmore, won the 2014 Scotiabank Giller Prize?
- ... that Science Express, a scientific exhibition for children mounted on a train, is included in the Limca Book of Records for being the largest, the longest running and the most visited mobile exhibition?
- ... that as the film negatives used for the first Indian feature film were of limited spectral sensitivity, red color was avoided in sets, costumes, and make-up?
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