Trivial Pursuit 151

'X' was a resident of a village on the Indo-Pak border. Following in the footsteps of his father, he took up Law as a profession. 

He also did an M.A. in Sanskrit and loved composing and reciting Hindi Poems. 

An ardent fan of Mahatma Gandhi, he was arrested by the British government during the Quit India movement. 

‘X’ was made the Secretary of the Congress Party in Gurdaspur, but after independence, he switched his loyalties to the Jan Sangh, and left his law practice to join a local bank as its manager. 

The first President of India, Dr. Rajendra Prasad had once spent a night as a guest of X’s family. 

As a Lyricist, ‘X’ wrote two songs in the award winning film 'Neecha Nagar' (1946). 

The family of 'X' are descendants of Punjabi Khatri warriors from emperor Raja Ranjit Singh’s time. 

Not many are aware of 'X', but his siblings are immortal in the field of Indian entertainment. 


Identify 'X' or his family name. 




                                     Additional Trivia : 

'X' had three younger sisters Savitri, Kanti and Sheela. 

He also had three younger brothers _____, _____, _____ .

'X' was a resident of Bhag Singh Road of Gurdaspur. 

Gharota is the ancestral village of X's family. Gharota Kalan is a Village in Pathankot Mandal , Gurdaspur District in Punjab. Gharota Kalan is 16 km from the town of Pathankot. 

'X' had three sisters; Savitri, Kanti and Sheela (a journalist). 

Sheela married Doctor Kulbhushan Kapur and gave birth to their son Shekhar and two daughters, Neelu and Aruna. 

Neelu married actor Navin Nischol, and Aruna married Balraj Sahni saab’s son Ajay (Parikshat) Sahni. 





                             'Neecha Nagar' (1946) Trivia :

'Neecha Nagar' (1946) was based on a Hindi story, ‘Neecha Nagar’, written by Hayatulla Ansari, which in turn was inspired by Russian writer Maxim Gorky’s play 'Lower Depths'. 


Actress Kamini Kaushal (born Uma Kashyap) and Music Director Ravi Shankar made their Hindi Film debut with ‘Neecha Nagar’.


'Neecha Nagar' shared the Grand Prix du Festival International du Film (Best Film) award with Sir David Lean’s ‘Brief Encounters’ (1945), at the first Cannes Film Festival in 1946. 


Rafiq Anwar (who played Kamini Kaushal’s brother Balraj) was the father of Indian born British film Editor Tariq Anwar, who was nominated for an Oscar for ‘The King’s Speech’ (2010). 

Trivial Pursuit 150

Justice M. C. Chagla

                            

Mohammedali Currim Chagla, better known as Justice M.C. Chagla was a Union Minister of Education who had also been the Chief Justice of the Bombay High Court and the Ambassador to the USA, Mexico and Cuba, besides being the Vice-Chancellor, University of Bombay and the High Commissioner to England. 


Ashok Kumar played the role of a Judge in one of his films and based the character on Justice M. C. Chagla. 



Identify the film. 

Trivial Pursuit 149

                                Mohammad Rafi with 'X'

'X' was a Musician who was well versed in the language of Urdu. 
An accomplished violinist, he served briefly as a staff artist at the
All India Radio. 




In the 1970’s, he released a ghazal disc with the legendary 
Mohammad Rafi and Shobha Gurtu. In fact, Mohammad Rafi’s 
first film song in Marathi, "Arre he dukhi jeeva", was composed 
by 'X'. 




'X' was so passionate about music that after marriage, he named 
his newly married wife 'Madhuwanti', after a Raag in Hindustani Classical Music. He even named his daughter 'Jayjaywanti', which 
is also the name of a Raag.




X's son was named 'Y', which means 'King of Musical Notes'. 
'Y' is married to the daughter of famous Marathi Theatre/Film 
Actor-Producer-Director Mohan Wagh. 






Identify 'X' and 'Y'.