A free society, no communal violence, peace with Pakistan and no corruption - such are the aspirations that feature on the wish list of our film stars as India celebrated another independence day.

Kareena Kapoor, actress, 24: First and foremost, I want peace and happiness for my mom, sister and dad. And I want my little niece to be the prettiest Kapoor in India... I also want Mumbai and the rest of the country to be free of calamities like the one we in Mumbai faced the other day. Life is short. But it should be fun. I feel we the young should learn to shoulder our responsibilities more seriously. As a recipient of the Rajiv Gandhi memorial award for young achievers, I somehow feel more responsible. I am proud to be an Indian. And I want to make sure I don't do anything on screen and in my private life to shame my country or family.

Urmila Matondkar, actress, 30: I wish for a cleaner, healthier and more positive attitude among Indians. If more of us had these qualities, the catastrophe in Mumbai could have been avoided. Unfortunately, we think of a catastrophe only after it strikes us. So this independence day I want all of us to start thinking ahead and into the past for solutions to our present problems.

Amitabh Bachchan, actor, 63: I dream of a truly free and fair society and I wish we could get there soon. I wish for a greater quotient of literacy and discipline for our countrymen. I firmly believe education and discipline are the factors largely responsible for progress in our country, specially education. If proper education is given, discipline automatically comes out of it.

For myself, I wish for life... I want to continue to work. I didn't expect Kaun Banega Crorepati (KBC) to take off in such a big way. Now that it has, I wish to maintain the success. This year has been very fortunate. I've had several successes. There has been great variety and success in our cinema in 2005. The cinema viewing public is becoming more discerning and is ready to enjoy good films.

Lata Mangeshkar, singer, 76: I want to wish Indians all over the world an independence day free of stress, strife and discord. All of us have had enough of violence and ugliness. Maybe I am being over-optimistic. But I dream of a beautiful new India where everyone will be equal and tolerant of one another. I find too much intolerance all around me. I also want better relations with our neighbours. And yes, I want our cricket team to uphold that spirit of victory which this country symbolizes in the rest of the world.

Hema Malini, actress, 50: Let us stop fighting over caste, communal and political issues. Let us take a vow that we won't let politicians exploit, cheapen and compromise us. I say this although I am half a politician myself. I want to make a difference to politics and society. On the home front, I want (daughter) Esha's career to take off in a bigger way. I want the paparazzi to stop peeping unnecessarily in my daughter's life. Please do so if there is reason. But why look for fire when there is no smoke?

Abhishek Bachchan, actor, 27: I dream of a pollution-free, hassle-free, stress-free and strife-free India. I know it is just a dream, and probably hard to achieve, but it is not impossible. I pray for the country to be healed, hale and healthy. Mumbai and Maharashtra have gone through tumultuous times lately. Nature's warning must be taking seriously. Stop messing around with the environment. Do not take what we have for granted. Because we will lose it.

Akshay Kumar, actor, 35: To coincide with independence day this year I visited our soldiers at the border. I loved the experience. I always wanted to join the army. I wanted to protect the country, to serve the nation. I still do. In my own way that is exactly what I am doing. I make sure that the roles I do, do not ridicule any community or individual. We need to show a lot of compassion towards those who are less privileged than us. In our own way, by being true to our own conscience, we can do a lot for our country.

Madhavan, actor, 32: This independence day I want lots of laughter for all my countrymen. And I'm going to provide it very soon. My new Hindi film "Ramji Londonwale" is a laugh riot. No communal riots, only laugh riots, please! How many times do we hope for a better future? Now I'm praying more anxiously than ever before. Since I'm going to be a father this month, I've become selfish. I want things to improve so I can gift a strong, safe, secure and peaceful world to my child.

Adnan Sami, Pakistan-born singer, 31: The best thing about independence day is that I and the Indian subcontinent share the same birthday. That's right, my birthday is 15 August. So the occasion is doubly auspicious. The independence of the sub-continent is a landmark event for India. It represents a struggle and sacrifice that has been hard to match by people of any other land. We and all generations to come must keep that spirit of resilience alive. We must keep alive the democratic spirit. We must work hard towards a progress that would make our ancestors' struggle for freedom worthwhile.