BTS(Korean: 방탄소년단;RR: Bangtan Sonyeondan), also known as theBangtan Boys, is a South Koreanboy bandformed in 2010 and debuting in 2013 underBig Hit Entertainment. The septet—consisting of membersJin,Suga,J-Hope,RM,Jimin,V, andJungkook—co-writes and co-produces much of their own material. Originally ahip hopgroup, their musical style has evolved to incorporate a wide range of genres; their lyrics have often discussed mental health, the troubles of school-age youth andcoming of age, loss, the journey towards self-love, and individualism. Their work also frequently references literature, philosophy and psychological concepts, and includes analternate universestoryline.
After launching in 2013 with their single album 2 Cool 4 Skool, BTS respectively released their first Korean-language studio album, Dark & Wild, and Japanese-language studio album, Wake Up, in 2014. The group's second Korean studio album, Wings (2016), was their first to sell one million copies in South Korea. By 2017, BTS had crossed into the global music market, leading the Korean wave into the United States and breaking several sales records. They became the first Korean ensemble to receive a Gold certification from the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for their single "Mic Drop", as well as the first act from South Korea to top the Billboard 200 with their studio album Love Yourself: Tear (2018). BTS became one of the few groups since the Beatles in 1966–1968 with four US number-one albums in less than two years, and Love Yourself: Answer (2018) was the first Korean album certified Platinum by the RIAA. In 2020, BTS became the first all-South Korean act to reach number one on the Billboard Hot 100 and Billboard Global 200 with their Grammy-nominated single "Dynamite". Their follow-up releases "Savage Love", "Life Goes On", "Butter", and "Permission to Dance" made them the quickest act to earn four US number-one singles since Justin Timberlake in 2006.
Malhotra went on to star in such commercially successful films as Hasee Toh Phasee (2014), Ek Villain (2014), and Kapoor & Sons (2016). Following a career downturn, he gained praise for starring as Vikram Batra in the widely streamed war film Shershaah (2021).[3]
Malhotra had his first acting role in 2009 in the television serial Dharti Ka Veer Yodha Prithviraj Chauhan, in which he played the small role of Jaichand.[8] Interested in further pursuing an acting career, he successfully auditioned for a film to be directed by Anubhav Sinha. However, the film was shelved, following which he worked as an assistant director to Karan Johar on the 2010 film My Name Is Khan.[7][9] Eventually, in 2012, he made his acting debut with Johar's teen drama Student of the Year alongside co-debutantes Varun Dhawan and Alia Bhatt. He was cast as Abhimanyu Singh, a scholarship student of limited financial means, who competes with his wealthy best friend Rohan Nanda (Dhawan) to win an annual school championship. Film critic Rajeev Masand of CNN-IBN considered his performance to be "earnest", adding that he had "a pleasing presence."[10]Student of the Year was a financial success,[11] grossing ₹1.09 billion (US$14 million) Worldwide.
Following a year-long absence from the screen, similar to that of co-stars Bhatt and Dhawan who had their second releases after him, Malhotra next starred opposite Parineeti Chopra and Adah Sharma in the 2014 romantic comedy Hasee Toh Phasee, which tells the love story of a scientist and an under-confident aspiring businessman. Mohar Basu of Koimoi found his performance to be "restrained" and described his chemistry with Chopra as "lively" and "heartfelt"; Saibal Chatterjee of NDTV praised his screen presence and compared it to the early work of Amitabh Bachchan.[12] The film performed moderately well at the box office, with global revenues of ₹620 million (US$7.8 million).[13]
Malhotra's second release of 2014 was the Mohit Suri-directed romantic thriller Ek Villain, which saw him portray Guru Divekar, a hardened criminal whose terminally-ill wife Aisha Verma (Shraddha Kapoor) is murdered by a serial killer Rakesh Mahadkar (Riteish Deshmukh). Shubhra Gupta of The Indian Express reviewed his performance as "watchable even if he has a hard time doing menace — he just seems so nice and wholesome all the time, even when he is crunching bones."[14] The film became a commercial success with worldwide revenues of over ₹1.7 billion (US$21 million).[15] The box office performance of the film established him as one of the new generation of actors of Hindi Cinema.[16][17]
Dhoni made his ODI debut on 23 December 2004, against Bangladesh in Chittagong,[14] and played his first Test a year later against Sri Lanka.[15] He played his first T20I also a year later against South Africa.[16] In 2007, he took over the ODI captaincy from Rahul Dravid and he also selected as T20I captain of India in this year.[17] In 2008, he was selected as Test Captain.[18] His captaincy record in this format was mixed, successfully leading India to a series win against New Zealand in 2008 and the Border-Gavaskar Trophy (home series in 2010 and 2013) against Australia while losing to Sri Lanka, Australia, England, and South Africa by big margins in away conditions.[19]
He announced his retirement from Test format on 30 December 2014,[20] and stepped down as captain of T20Is and ODIs in 2017. On 15 August 2020, Dhoni retired from all formats of international cricket.[21][22][23] He continues to play in the IPL.[24]
Allah Rakha Rahman[11] was born as A. S. Dileep Kumar in Madras, Tamil Nadu, on 6 January 1967.[12] His father, R. K. Shekhar from a Mudaliar[13][14] family, was a film-score composer and conductor for Tamil and Malayalam films. Rahman began studying piano at age four.[12] He assisted his father in the studio, playing the keyboard.
After his father's death when Rahman was nine years old, the rental of his father's musical equipment provided his family's income.[15] Raised by his mother, Kareema (born Kashturi),[16] Rahman, who was studying in Padma Seshadri Bala Bhavan had to work to support his family. which led to him to routinely miss classes and fail exams. Therefore, the Principal Rajalakshmi Parthasarathy summoned Rahman and his mother and told them that Rahman should focus on academics irrespective of family circumstances. However, in an interview in 2012, Rahman said that his mother was summoned and was told to take him to the streets of Kodambakkam to beg and not to send him to the school anymore.[17][18]
Rahman attended another school called MCN for a year,[19] and later joined the Madras Christian College Higher Secondary School, where he was admitted on his music talent and formed a band with his high school classmates.[20][21] However, after discussing with his mother, he later dropped out of school to pursue a career as a full-time musician.[22][23] Rahman was a keyboard player and arranger for bands such as Roots (with childhood friend and percussionist Sivamani, John Anthony, Suresh Peters, JoJo and Raja)[24] and founded the Chennai-based rock group Nemesis Avenue.[25] He mastered the keyboard, piano, synthesizer, harmonium and guitar, and was particularly interested in the synthesizer because it was the "ideal combination of music and technology".[26]
Studying in Madras, Rahman graduated with a diploma in Western classical music from the school.[30] Rahman was introduced to Qadiritariqa when his younger sister was seriously ill in 1984. His mother was a practising Hindu.[31][32][33] At the age of 23, he converted to Islam with other members of his family in 1989, changing his name to Allah Rakha Rahman (A. R. Rahman).[16][34][35][36][37]
Career
Soundtracks
Rahman initially composed scores for different documentaries and jingles for advertisements and Indian television channels. In 1987 Rahman, then still known as Dileep, composed jingles for a line of watches introduced by Allwyn.[38] He also arranged the jingles for some advertisements that went on to become very popular, including the popular jingle for Titan Watches, in which he used the theme from Mozart's Symphony no.25.[39][40][41]
Rahman (left) receiving a platinum award at the MagnaSound Awards; MagnaSound released his first film soundtrack, Roja, in 1992.
In 1992, he was approached by director Mani Ratnam to compose the score and soundtrack for his Tamil film, Roja.[42][43]
Rahman's film career began in 1992 when he started Panchathan Record Inn, a recording and mixing studio in his backyard. It would become the most-advanced recording studio in India,[42] and arguably one of Asia's most sophisticated and high-tech studios.[44] Cinematographer Santosh Sivan signed Rahman for his second film Yoddha, a Malayalam film starring Mohanlal and directed by Sivan's brother Sangeeth Sivan that released in September 1992.
His score for his first Hollywood film, the 2009 comedy Couples Retreat, won the BMI London Award for Best Score.[76] Rahman's music for 2008's Slumdog Millionaire won a Golden Globe and two Academy Awards (a first for an Asian), and the songs "Jai Ho" and "O... Saya" from its soundtrack were internationally successful. His music on 2008's Bollywood Jaane Tu... Ya Jaane Na was popular with Indian youth; that year, his score and songs for Jodhaa Akbar won critical acclaim, a Best Composer Asian Film Award nomination and IIFA awards for best music direction and score.
The year 2014 was one of the busiest years for Rahman, with him claiming to have worked in 12 films in various languages.[85] While his first release for the year was the Imtiaz Ali's road movie Highway which garnered positive reviews, his very next release was the performance captured animation film Kochadaiiyaan, a Rajinikanth starrer directed by Soundarya Rajinikanth. The film's soundtrack was long-listed at the forthcoming Academy Awards.[86] His next were the scores for the two back to back Hollywood films, Million Dollar Arm and The Hundred Foot Journey, both of which got into the contended list for the original score category nomination at the Oscars.
BTS (Korean: 방탄소년단; RR: Bangtan Sonyeondan), also known as the Bangtan Boys, is a South Korean boy band formed in 2010 and debuting in 2013 under Big Hit Entertainment. The septet—consisting of members Jin, Suga, J-Hope, RM, Jimin, V, and Jungkook—co-writes and co-produces much of their own material. Originally a hip hop group, their musical style has evolved to incorporate a wide range of genres; their lyrics have often discussed mental health, the troubles of school-age youth and coming of age, loss, the journey towards self-love, and individualism. Their work also frequently references literature, philosophy and psychological concepts, and includes an alternate universe storyline.
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