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Sriram Raghavan is an Indian filmmaker who works in the Hindi film industry. He is regarded as a writer of neo-noir thrillers that fall under the action genre. He was brought up in Pune, where he attended St. Vincent's High School. He went to Fergusson College in Pune to study economics.
After finishing college, Raghavan first wished to build a career in journalism. He took up a job at Stardust magazine but moved on to join the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII) in Pune to pursue a course in direction.
After completing his studies, Raghavan worked on a short feature, Raman Raghav - A City, A Killer. It was based on the crimes of Raman Raghav (a serial killer of Bombay) and his arrest. Raghavan cast Raghubir Yadav to play the character of Raman. The feature was made on a low budget and was never released.
Raghavan later started writing for television serials. He wrote several episodes of Aahat (1995) and C.I.D. (1998). He also wrote and directed an episode in First Kill.
Raghavan's career took a new turn after Ram Gopal Varma liked his work in Raman Raghav - A City, A Killer. and signed him up to direct Ek Hasina Thi (2004). The film starred Saif Ali Khan and Urmila Matondkar in the lead roles. This thriller received positive reviews from critics. It was shown at the New York Asian Film Festival.
Raghavan's next directorial venture was another thriller, Johnny Gaddaar (2007). It was the debut film of Neil Nitin Mukesh. The story revolves around a group of five individuals who want to make a fortune through a shortcut. But things go out of hand suddenly when one of the group members gets killed, and the money he was holding goes missing. Though the film wasn't a commercial success, it succeeded in impressing the critics.
In 2012, Raghavan released his third film, Agent Vinod (2012), a spy thriller starring Kareena Kapoor and Saif Ali Khan. The story revolves around the secret mission of Agent Vinod to discover the reason behind his colleague's death. The film received mixed reviews from critics and failed to make a mark at the box office.
Raghavan's fourth film was Badlapur (2015), a revenge action thriller that features Varun Dhawan, Nawazuddin Siddiqui, and Yami Gautam in lead roles. The storyline is based on Death's Dark Abyss, a novel written by Massimo Carlotto. The story is based on the theme of revenge and shows a devastated man out to avenge the death of his family. The movie got positive reviews from critics. It also earned him a nomination for Best Director at the 61st Filmfare awards.
Raghavan explored the genre of black comedy in his crime thriller Andhadhun (2018). The film stars Ayushmann Khurrana, Tabu, and Radhika Apte. The movie's storyline revolves around a blind piano player involved in the murder of a former actor. The film earned rave reviews from critics. The worldwide collection for the film surpassed Rs. 450 crores, which made it a huge hit. The movie is also one of Indian cinema's biggest-grossing movies.
Raghavan won several awards for Andhadhun (2018), including the National Film Award 2018 for Best Feature Film in Hindi, IIFA Award 2019 for Best Director, Best Story, and Best Screenplay, and Screen Award 2018 for Best Director and Best Film Writing (Story and Screenplay).- Director
- Producer
- Writer
Cinema entered the ordinary life of a young, sports and soccer enthusiast Shoojit Sircar, studying in Delhi, India, quite by chance when during the XIIth grade a friend suggested accompanying him for the viewing of a film. Unbeknownst to Sircar, this film would mark for him the beginning of a whole new way of looking at life. The film was Satyajit Ray's 'Pather Panchali' ('Song of the Little Road'). Curious and much impacted by this 'art form', Shoojit went on to watch the entire 'Apu trilogy' including 'Aparijito' (The Unvanquished) and 'The World of Apu'; and all other films by Ray, besides films by film-makers Ritwik Ghatak and Mrinal Sen. There are three films however besides Ray's 'Pather Panchali' that Shoojit specifically credits for giving 'birth to the cinema within him'; and for encouraging him to look at everything in life, differently; these are - Truffaut's '400 Blows', Vittorio De Sica's 'Bicycle Thieves' and Oliver Stone's "Platoon". Another important turning point in his journey was when he joined 'ACT ONE', a theatre group in Delhi, led by director, Mr.N.K. Sharma. There Shoojit handled backstage, across all departments - giving him the experience of creating theatre with minimalist resources, along with being rooted in the rigor and discipline that comes with living the life of theatre. His first big break as independent director ironically was a commercial on football, which he followed with a music video, 'MANN KE MANJEERE'. While most music videos of the time catered to the 'pop' form of storytelling - this one explored a more realistic journey, that of a woman, played by Mita Vashisht; a single mother who breaks away from an abusive married life and chooses to become a 'truck driver', then quite the traditional bastion of the male. Composed by Shantanu Moitra, with lyrics by Prasoon Joshi and sung by Shubha Mudgal, the video was viewed by over 20 million people at the time, its impact described as '"Mann ke Manjeeré has made a breakthrough by claiming public space for women's aspirations." Shoojit's first major directorial feature 'YAHAAN' (2005), on the turmoil faced by the Kashmiri people - won him the best director award in the Osian Film Festival 2005. He followed that with "VICKY DONOR" (2012), a film that dealt with the issue of infertility and brought the taboo topic of sperm donation onto a dining table conversation, 'Vicky Donor' went on to win three national awards including 'Best Entertainer of the year'. He followed that up with the hard - hitting political thriller 'MADRAS CAFE' (2013), throwing light on one of the most tumultuous periods in the sub-continent history - the Sri Lankan civil war. A year later, he brought us the much loved slice of life, 'PIKU' (2015) - a father-daughter comic drama, centered around an ageing, possessive father and his constant 'bowel problem'; aptly played out by Amitabh Bachchan and Deepika Padukone; winning over 18 awards from across the nation. And then came, 'PINK' (2016) - a film that gave voice to millions of Indian women; that proclaimed a 'No means No'; a film that proved to be not just a movie but a 'movement'; With 'OCTOBER' (2018), Shoojit Sircar shared a most poetic, soulful, personal take on love... And with the absurdist satire, 'GULABO SITABO' (2020), an unapologetic take on human greed! And most recently, the powerful and cinematically rich period biographical drama, 'SARDAR UDHAM' (2021), a film about India's pre independence movement with a compelling take on the 'revolutionary vs. terrorist' debate. With such a diverse and distinct repertoire of films, Shoojit Sircar today stands out as one of the most important and original voices of Indian Cinema. Besides bringing forth such quality cinema, Shoojit Sircar has also taken up the mantle of backing projects as a producer, producing the much appreciated and well received (Bengali) features, "Aparajita Tumi" and "Open Tee Bioscope"
As an ad film maker, Shoojit has been recognized internationally through works like the Cannes award winning, 'Lead India campaign' by The Times of India group, which brought together most respected Indian icons. His last (digital) campaign, an authentic reflection on modern parenting, has become a major talking point, going on to garner millions of hits on social media.- Composer
- Writer
- Producer
Vishal Bhardwaj is an Indian film director, writer, composer, singer and producer. He has directed ten feature films, produced five and composed music for more than forty. His directorial work includes Makdee, The Blue Umbrella, Kaminey, 7 Khoon Maaf, Matru Ki Bijli Ka Mandola, Rangoon, Pataakha as well as the internationally acclaimed Shakespeare Trilogy - Maqbool, Omkara and Haider (adapted from Macbeth, Othello and Hamlet, respectively). Prominent films written and produced by him are Ishqiya, Dedh Ishqiya and Talvar (based on the Noida double murder case).
He has received 3 international awards: Makdee (2002) received the Best Film award at the Chicago International Children's Film Festival, Omkara (2006) won the Best Artistic Contribution in Cinema award at the Cairo International Film Festival and Haider (2014) won the People's Choice award at the Rome Film Festival. He has also received 7 National Awards: Best Music Direction for Godmother (1999), Best Children's Film for The Blue Umbrella (2005), Special Jury Award for Omkara (2006), Best Music Direction for Ishqiya (2010), Best Dialogues and Best Music Direction for Haider (2014) and Best Screenplay for Talvar (2015).- Producer
- Writer
- Actor
Anurag Singh Kashyap (born 10 September 1972) is an Indian film director, producer and screenwriter. Kashyap made his directorial debut with as yet unreleased Paanch, with Kay Kay Menon as the lead. As a filmmaker, he is known for Black Friday (2004), a controversial and award-winning Hindi film about the 1993 Mumbai bombings, followed by No Smoking (2007), Dev D (2009), Gulaal (2009), That Girl in Yellow Boots (2011) and Gangs of Wasseypur (2012). As a screenwriter, he wrote the scripts for the Filmfare Award-winning Satya (1998) and the Academy Award-nominated Canadian film Water (2005). He founded his film production company, Anurag Kashyap Films Pvt. Ltd. in 2009.- Writer
- Director
- Producer
Abhishek, a renowned Indian filmmaker who co-wrote and directed the critically acclaimed dacoit action film, Sonchiriya, an RSVP production. He began his career as an associate director and co-writer to Vishal Bhardwaj for his debut Makdee (2002) & went on to assist him in his subsequent films, and most notably co-wrote Vishal's trendsetting Omkara (2006) and Kaminey (2009). Abhishek's directorial debut, the dark comedy Ishqiya (2010) and its sequel Dedh Ishqiya (2014), both starring Naseeruddin Shah received rave reviews. His following film, Udta Punjab (2016), highlighted the heroin epidemic in Punjab and was released to critical acclaim. He made his debut as a producer with Konkona Sen Sharma's A Death in the Gunj (2016), which premiered at MAMI Mumbai Film Festival.