• Movies (instituted in 2007-08)

Anupam Kher (2010-11)

Anupam Kher's voyage as an actor has taken him to several places in the world. His passion that catapulted Padma Shri award for him, have made him one of the greatest actors of contemporary cinema. In 2005, he established his dream project "Actor Prepares"-a premier acting school where he personally imparts some of his acting secrets to tomorrow's actors and superstars. He was recently awarded the Teacher's Lifetime Achievement for his contribution to cinema and social work. Shredding the comfortable cocoon that a star of his stature would live within, concerned with giving back something to society and those less privileged then him, he has been a teacher to differently-abled children for many years now and is one of the founder members of ‘The People For Animals’. In 2008, he established The Anupam Kher Foundation- a public charitable trust, to spread education among less privileged children and to provide palliative care to people with life-limiting diseases. Through these interactions and associations, he has developed a sensitivity towards the plight of destitute children for whom enjoying their childhood becomes a luxury. This foundation is a tribute to these countless, nameless children and through this journey, he attempts to bring happiness to the lives of such children and ensure that they become agents of change in the society as they grow along the years.

Kajol (2008-09)

The endearing Indian actress, Kajol has several bees on her bonnet right now. Besides the fact that she is a professional, a wife and a mother, she also works side by side on her dream project - of opening an orphanage for deprived children in Mumbai. Her association with the deprived is a multifaceted one - Kajol is also the goodwill ambassador and patron of the UK based Loomba Trust, a charity devoted to educating widow's children, particularly in India. Attended by Kajol, the annual Diwali dinner organised by the trust raised 150,000 GBP for charity to provide scholarships for the children of poor widows in India

Rahul Bose(2007-08)

Rahul is one of the premier actors of alternative Indian cinema. Apart from working primarily on cinema that sends a message, noteworthy among his work in the social sector is his post-tsunami effort in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. Subsequently, he successfully established his own NGO- The Foundation, which works on preventing discrimination of all kinds, with special focus on communal harmony, children and gender equality. He is a global ambassador of Oxfam, on the advisory board of 'Breakthrough', a New York-based NGO committed to gender equality and human rights, on the Board of the citizen venture- Citizens for Justice and Peace, and a global ambassador of the American India Foundation

• Music

MUSIC BAND, Indian Ocean

Asheem Chakravarty (2010-11)

Asheem was a man with golden voice. He was the co-founder of Indian Ocean band. He played traditional Indian percussion instruments in completely innovative ways, and even played rhythm structures on a bass guitar. Brought up in an atmosphere of Indian classical, folk and other Indian forms, Asheem showed his rhythmic spark at an extremely early age. Asheem was into osho, numerology, astrology, naturotherapy, yoga, mediation. Asheem was known to make people whose job required them to be intimidating, like a US visa officer or security guards, smile. The band is known for the Indo-rock fusion with jazz-spiced rhythms that integrates shlokas, sufism, environmentalism, mythology and revolution. Kandisa- an album released in March 2000 was one of the best-loved albums produced in India. Kandisa acquired cult status and propelled Indian Ocean into the status of one of India’s most original and creative bands. The band has played at several of the country's most prestigious venues including the Red Fort, the Gateway of India, Vasanthabba (Bangalore) and the Temples of Khajuraho.

Susmit Sen (2010-11)

Susmit is convinced that destiny is created on earth, not written in heaven or hell. Self-motivation and direction make lives, according to him, and he has certainly lived as per this dictum so far. Classical music interests him more than jazz or rock. The band is known for the Indo-rock fusion with jazz-spiced rhythms that integrates shlokas, sufism, environmentalism, mythology and revolution. Kandisa- an album released in March 2000 was one of the best-loved albums produced in India. Kandisa acquired cult status and propelled Indian Ocean into the status of one of India’s most original and creative bands. They are known to bring a new aspect to sound. Today, they are India’s leading global band. The international scene opened up dramatically for the band and they have played abroad across four continents: New Zealand, USA, UK, Japan, Australia and Indonesia. The band has played at several of the country's most prestigious venues including the Red Fort, the Gateway of India, Vasanthabba (Bangalore) and the Temples of Khajuraho..

Amit Kilam (2010-11)

Amit is the only business-oriented person in the Indian Ocean band. He is fond of Indian culture and attends every single religious festival invented, or to be invented. Amit loves listening to various kinds of music – Hindi filmi, rock, pop etc. The band is known for the Indo-rock fusion with jazz-spiced rhythms that integrates shlokas, sufism, environmentalism, mythology and revolution. Kandisa- an album released in March 2000 was one of the best-loved albums produced in India. Kandisa acquired cult status and propelled Indian Ocean into the status of one of India’s most original and creative bands. They are known to bring a new aspect to sound. Today, they are India’s leading global band. The international scene opened up dramatically for the band and they have played abroad across four continents: New Zealand, USA, UK, Japan, Australia and Indonesia. The band has played at several of the country's most prestigious venues including the Red Fort, the Gateway of India, Vasanthabba (Bangalore) and the Temples of Khajuraho.

Rahul Ram (2010-11)

Rahul is the most active amongst the Indian Ocean band members at live shows. He has been an activist and a supporter with the Narmada Bachao Andolan. By training, he is an environmentalist and he is also into ornithology. The band is known for the Indo-rock fusion with jazz-spiced rhythms that integrates shlokas, sufism, environmentalism, mythology and revolution. Kandisa- an album released in March 2000 was one of the best-loved albums produced in India. Kandisa acquired cult status and propelled Indian Ocean into the status of one of India’s most original and creative bands. They are known to bring a new aspect to sound. Today, they are India’s leading global band. The international scene opened up dramatically for the band and they have played abroad across four continents: New Zealand, USA, UK, Japan, Australia and Indonesia. The band has played at several of the country's most prestigious venues including the Red Fort, the Gateway of India, Vasanthabba (Bangalore) and the Temples of Khajuraho.

Susmit Bose (2010-11)

Susmit Bose, as he describes himself in one of his songs is, "poet, singer and a common man". He is also one of the few singers who have held on to his own genre of balladeering despite pressures to meet the superficial demands of commercialization. Described as a "man of causes" by the national media, Susmit is a poet and social activist who voices his dissent freely, frankly and fearlessly. His song lyrics portray the hard realities of political machinations and raise awareness about and advocate social issues at various platforms. In a forty year long career, he has participated in Cuba at the International Folk Song Festival, was invited to the Berlin Festival of folk and political song by the Oktober Club, performed with renowned flautist Paul Horn for an international project on World Music, released “Man of Conscience” an album to coincide with the 1990 visit of Dr. Nelson Mandela, performed for the India50 concert, featured on British Television as one of the most innovative artistes, and has produced several well-known music albums, TV serials, reportage, documentaries and corporate films. He is also founder of the Centre for International Arts and Culture.

Singer (2010-11)

Deepika T(2010-11)

Deepika, a software engineer and a Playback singer by profession, believes that because of her multi-tasking ability she has been given a unique strength, wherein she can spend a certain amount of time working for the society. She has been involved not only in National but International causes also, such as singing for an Album "Haiti we are there for you", which was done in order to raise funds for Haiti children. She is also a general secretary for United Youth of India where she has been involved in helping the youth to come together and work for a cause. Apart from this she has been actively involved in upliftment of the weaker members of the society. She has nominated many underprivileged girls for Rai University for Free education and has performed at many charity shows so as to raise funds for various causes. She has also been actively involved in getting youth together in planting tree all over Bangalore, thus becoming a strong and active youth environmentalist for the society.

D J Narain (2009-10)

"Presently the front person and lead singer cum composer of one of India’s biggest Pop & Rock Band ‘The Aryans’, Dhamendra Jai Narain, popularly known as DJ Narain, has 5 successful albums , more than 800 concerts and numerous awards to his credit. Through his meaningful music,  Narain has reached out to millions of Indians, especially the youth over the last decade.  A youth  & rock icon, he has also been a notable Civil Services officer and a professor of Mass Communication at the elite Indian Institute of Mass Communication, New Delhi. He is perhaps the only person in India who can be dubbed as rockstar and civil servant simultaneously. A brilliant scholar throughout, Narain has been recipient of perhaps every single academic scholarship which Goveremnment had to offer. A keen student of economics as well, Mr Narain has also been a lecturer of Monetery Economics in Lucknow University, prior to joining the civil services and making it big as Aryans. A multifaceted personality , DJ Narain is one of the founders  of Kshitij, an NGO  in the field of non-formal education and universal health campaigns for over 7 years . He has always been very supportive of any initiatives taken in the field of literacy and shown active involvement in launching Universal Literacy campaigns in Andhra Pradesh and Himachal Pradesh. In Delhi, he is actively supporting the cause of several NGO's to help raise awareness about their key domain issues .  His book ‘Soldiering On’ is an anthology of the saga of Indian Armed forces during the last 100 years and has been widely reviewed and appreciated by the media".

Gautam Ghosh (2008-09)

Gautam Ghosh worked with Bangladesh’s leading Bengali-Rock vocalist Mac (Maqsood –al-Haq) from the most famous band in Dhaka called Feedback, on the country’s 25th independence anniversary and the album went on to become a mega hit. In 1997, his songs “fifty-fifty” and “ley sunn ley” from his human rights private album called “OPEN YOUR EYES” were labelled ‘anti-establishment’. In 2001 he was appointed an honorary Human Rights Ambassador by the British Council and brand ambassador by ACTION AID INDIA. He is the first Indian musician to be thus honoured. Under the British Council’s program on Human Rights, he toured UK and Europe with his songs and participated in the most prestigious Edinburgh Festival 2001, Notting Hill fest 2001 and the Bastille Day fest 2001 in Paris. The Gautam Ghosh collective has been promoting 9/11 every year as the Global ONEness Day, which began as the Sadbhavna (ONEness) movement with MTV and other partners in 2002

Ritika Sahni(2008-09)

Ritika has an exciting dual career - as a playback & pop singer and as a social activist. She not only sings as a professional, but also converges her talents towards the cause of disability. Being an active social worker as well as a disability activist, she is on the board of trustees of the NGO 'SAHAY' and is associated with similar organizations and people working in this field within the country and abroad. She is the secretary-trustee of her own welfare trust called TRINAYANI. She holds regular workshops for teachers, parents and students on disability related issues. Ritika was also a Consulting Communication Therapist in the Unicef project (2001-2003), undertaken by The Spastics Society Of India, and presently is a faculty member of their university affiliated Teacher Training Course on Special Education, which is also recognized by the Rehabilitation Council of India. She is presently working on a series of books, which tries to take a small step towards erasing the lines between “us” and “them” through stories, character sketches of people with disabilities, and information handbooks that sensitize people to disability issues.

Bobby Cash(2008-09)

In these days of culture blending, Asian Indian Bobby Cash is a unique musician who has proved to the world that music knows no boundaries and that indeed it is a language that brings together people from different lands and different cultures. Bobby Cash is India's only Country Music Artist, he bears the honor of being the first Indian ever to release albums of Country Music. It was in Tamworth in 2003, that Bobby came to the World Stage. Starting with busking in the street, Bobby became the smash hit of the festival, drawing huge crowds to him. His documentary film has appeared on ABC Television Network, Discovery and other channels and has won Bobby many admirers. In 2005, Nashville called, after Bobby Cash was nominated in the Global Artist category by the CMA, where Bobby got a standing ovation from the President of the CMA, Ed Benson. Bobby has played at some of the top venues in Nashville, appeared on WSM Midnite Jamboree at E.T. Troubadour Theatre, and other places including Billy Bobs in Dallas, Fort Worth. This outstanding best selling Independent, continues to spread his music, proving to the world that music indeed is a common language.

Remo Fernandes (2007-08)

Remo is India’s leading and highest selling rock musician. Writing songs on socio-political protest from an early age onwards, Remo has risen far from where he started- hitch-hiking across Europe armed with nothing but his talent and his guitar, passing a hat around to earn for basic necessities. His songs have campaigned for responsible action against drug abuse, promiscuity leading to HIV- AIDS, awareness about SARS, bird flu and much more. Now an internationally renowned star, he has not only been awarded the Padmashree by the President of India, he has even played and sung with rock giants Jethro Tull and George Harrison.

• TV ( to be instituted in 2009-10)

• Theatre

Lushin Dubey(2008-09)

Lushin Dubey is best known for her involvement in promoting children's theatre in Delhi and has always been engaged in some or the other social cause. 2005 saw her present her solo show Bitter Chocolate, dealing with the subject of child abuse. Never one to shy away from controversial topics, she says an effective play is one that moves the audience, something that this production sure did. Her innovative solo performance in 'Untitled' gave voice to a woman's plight in a world dominated by men, winning many accolades. Besides being the director of Theatre Group which has staged many plays in Delhi and other metros, Lushin has also acted in several TV serials, and an experimental production in New York called 'Chaos Theory'.

Arvind Gaur(2008-09)

Arvind Gaur is the face of socially and politically relevant theatre today. Some of the core issues he deals with are Communalism, Caste Issues, Feudalism, Domestic Violence, Crime of State, Politics of Power, Violence, Injustice, Social Discrimination, Marginalization and Racism. This prolific theatre director has organized many theatre workshops for children in schools, slums and on the Street. In last 15 years he directed 52 plays with Asmita, collaborated with various theatre artists and worked with several organizations and forums. According to him, "Theatre has a purpose of awakening the audience to contemporary issue and creating a dialogue on prevailing social problems."

Sushma Veer (2007-08)

Sushma is a multi faceted and multi talented award-winning artist. She is a respected Actor, Dancer, Painter, Singer, Composer & Producer. She retired from acting in main stream cinema and now is solely concentrating on producing high quality and meaningful theatre and cinema through her brain child, Katha-kar. She is the founder-manager of an NGO, Akanksha, which works for the visually impaired children, children with special needs and cancer patients. She produced a path breaking music video ‘KASH’ to raise funds for Akanksha. The video starts the biggest Indian sports stars, actors, musicians and eminent politicians.

Dance

Geeta Chandran (2008-09)

Dancer Geeta Chandran is a role model in the arts of social responsibility. Even while she upholds the pristine classicism of Bharatanatyam, she has ventured to make her dance relevant in both- the way she teaches the dance and in the way she performs it. She is the founder of Natya Vriksha, an institution that enshrines the highest value of Indian culture. Currently over hundred - including some from deprived backgrounds - are being trained in classical dance at Natya Vriksha. Geeta has constantly striven to create new spaces for the classical dancer of today. She continuously attempts to raise and spread social issues through her classical dance performances around the country and around the world to reach out to young audience and spread awareness and concern. She raised and highlighted issues like female infanticide, issues of stigma and discrimination in society, issues like terrorism, traumatizing children, discrimination based on caste and religion in society etc. Geeta Chandran leverages her position as a society leader and a role model.

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