Tholu Bommalata, a form of shadow puppetry, belongs to which state?

The correct answer is D, Assam. Ankiya Nat is the one-act devotional play written by Srimanta Sankardeva, the saint of the Vaishnava movement in Assam, and its performance is called a Bhaona, staged in the prayer hall of a satra or naamghar with a narrator, songs and masks. Option A is wrong because Bihar's folk theatre traditions are Bidesia and Reshma-Chuharmal, not Ankiya Nat. Option B is wrong because the street theatre of Tamil Nadu is Therukoothu, with Villu Paatu as its ballad form. Option C is wrong because Odisha shares the Jatra tradition with Bengal and has Prahlada Nataka of its own. Questions on folk theatre are almost always of this shape, a form against four states, so learn the pairs rather than the descriptions.

The correct answer is D, film. The Dadasaheb Phalke Award was instituted in 1969 for lifetime contribution to Indian cinema and is named after Dhundiraj Govind Phalke, who made the first Indian feature film, Raja Harishchandra, in 1913 and is called the father of Indian cinema; the first recipient was the actress Devika Rani. Option A is wrong because the highest sporting honours are the Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award and the Arjuna Award, which cover cricket along with other games. Option B is wrong because hockey is honoured through the same sports awards, and Major Dhyan Chand's name is attached to them. Option C is wrong for the same reason. Note also that the award is presented with the National Film Awards. Phalke's own films, made between 1913 and the coming of sound, were silent, so the award honours a body of work rather than a single film.

The correct answer is D, Bhanu Athaiya. She won the Academy Award for costume design in 1983 for Richard Attenborough's Gandhi, sharing it with John Mollo, and was the first Indian to win an Oscar in any category. Option A is wrong because Satyajit Ray received an honorary Academy Award for lifetime achievement in 1992, which came later and was not a competitive award. Option B is wrong because A. R. Rahman won two Academy Awards in 2009 for Slumdog Millionaire, for original score and for the song Jai Ho, again later than 1983. Option C is wrong because Guru Dutt, the director of Pyaasa and Kaagaz Ke Phool, never received an Academy Award. Resul Pookutty won for sound mixing in the same year as Rahman.

The correct answer is B, Ranveer Singh. In Sanjay Leela Bhansali's Padmaavat he played the Delhi Sultan Alauddin Khalji, whose siege of Chittor in 1303 is the historical background of the story, which is drawn from the Padmavat of Malik Muhammad Jayasi. Option A is wrong because Shahid Kapoor played Maharawal Ratan Singh, the ruler of Chittor, in the same film. Option C is wrong because Ranbir Kapoor was not part of the cast. Option D is wrong because Rana Daggubati, known for the Baahubali films, also had no role in it. Questions of this kind pair a film with an actor or with the historical figure behind the character, so the history is worth remembering along with the cast. Padmaavat was released in 2018 after a long dispute over its content, and Deepika Padukone played the queen Padmavati in it.

The correct answer is B, Raja Harishchandra. Dadasaheb Phalke made it in 1913 as a silent film on the legend of the truthful king, and it is counted as the first Indian feature film. Option A is wrong because Alam Ara, made by Ardeshir Irani in 1931, was the first Indian talkie, the first film with recorded sound and songs. Option C is wrong because Kisan Kanya, made in 1937, was the first Indian colour film and was also produced by Ardeshir Irani. Option D is wrong because Mother India, made by Mehboob Khan in 1957, was the first Indian film nominated for the Academy Award in the foreign film category. The four years 1913, 1931, 1937 and 1957 are the ones examiners shuffle. Phalke shot the film in Bombay with an all-male cast, since women of the time would not appear before the camera.