Faisal Saif
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Faisal Saif (27 April 1976 – 13 September 2022) was an Indian film director, film critic and writer. He began his film career as an assistant director on '' Aur Ek Prem Kahani'', ''Angaar'' and '' Grahan''. He mostly chose controversial horror themes and stories for his films and directed '' Jigyaasa'', '' Main Hoon Rajinikanth'' and ''Islamic Exorcist''.


Life and career

Saif was born in
Mumbai Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the secon ...
on 27 April 1976. He started his career as an independent music video director. He directed videos for Catrack Music and Vital Records. Saif made his first feature film ''
Come December Faisal Saif (27 April 1976 – 13 September 2022) was an Indian film director, film critic and writer. He began his film career as an assistant director on ''Aur Ek Prem Kahani'', ''Angaar'' and ''Grahan''. He mostly chose controversial horror ...
'' in 2003 which received the International Special Award of Cultural Vision in storytelling from the Indianapolis LGBT Film Festival. He then made '' Jigyaasa'' (2006). India media believed that '' Jigyaasa'' was based on the life of the sex symbol ''
Mallika Sherawat Reema Lamba (born 24 October 1976), better known as Mallika Sherawat, is an Indian actress who predominantly works in Hindi language films. Known for her bold onscreen attitude in films like '' Khwahish'' (2003) and '' Murder'' (2004), Sheraw ...
'', but Faisal has denied this. He made the film '' Paanch Ghantey Mien Paanch Crore'' with Pakistani actor '' Meera''. Faisal was also co-editor of ''
Global Movie ''Global Movie'' is a magazine, published monthly in India. It is owned by Seema Pimpley. It is primarily a Bollywood magazine and features articles on Bollywood films, actors, stars and reviews. It also features articles on celebrities, tourism ...
'' magazine and a film critic and feature writer for
Bollywood Hindi cinema, popularly known as Bollywood and formerly as Bombay cinema, refers to the film industry based in Mumbai, engaged in production of motion pictures in Hindi language. The popular term Bollywood, is a portmanteau of "Bombay" (fo ...
for a number of news portals. During creative sessions with veteran filmmaker
Rituparno Ghosh Rituparno Ghosh (31 August 1963 – 30 May 2013) was an Indian film director, actor, writer and lyricist. After pursuing a degree in economics, he started his career as a creative artist at an advertising agency. He received recognition for his ...
while he was directing '' Chitrangada: The Crowning Wish'' in 2012, Saif discussed having a transgender antagonist dealing their gender identity with Ghosh, something which Saif later incorporated in his upcoming film '' Amma''. The character is played by acclaimed actor ''
Rajpal Yadav Rajpal Yadav (born 16 March 1971) is an Indian actor which works in Hindi, Punjabi Marathi, Telugu and one Gujarati and one Bengali and one avadhi, comedian and film maker known for his work in Indian Film industry. His breakthrough came in ...
''.


Awards and honors

* In 2006, Saif won the ''Best Story'' in cultural vision international award for his Festival Film ''
Come December Faisal Saif (27 April 1976 – 13 September 2022) was an Indian film director, film critic and writer. He began his film career as an assistant director on ''Aur Ek Prem Kahani'', ''Angaar'' and ''Grahan''. He mostly chose controversial horror ...
'' from Indianapolis LGBT Film Festival. * Network 7 Media Group awarded Saif the "Best Director" title in 2015 at the 6th Annual ''Indian Leadership Conclave''.


Controversy


''Main Hoon Rajinikanth''

On 17 September 2014, Tamil actor
Rajinikanth Shivaji Rao Gaikwad (born 12 December 1950), known professionally as Rajinikanth, is an Indian actor, producer and screenwriter. In a career spanning over five decades, he has done 160 films that includes films in Tamil, Hindi, Telugu, Kannad ...
moved the Madras High Court to stop the release and screening of the film '' Main Hoon Rajinikanth'' directed by Saif stating that various press releases, video releases, web articles, posters and information from other sources about this film revealed that the producer had lifted/exploited the image of Rajinikanth from various movies by including in the forthcoming feature film. Saif, after filing counter to the case denied the allegation about the film being a biopic on the superstar, He also stated he hasn't used any names/image/likeness/caricature and the case being filed on the film is baseless and done with lack of knowledge. On 3 February 2015,
Madras High Court The Madras High Court is a High Court in India. It has appellate jurisdiction over the state of Tamil Nadu and the union territory of Puducherry. It is located in Chennai, and is the third oldest high court of India after the Calcutta High ...
ruled out the decision in favor of Rajinikanth and restricted Faisal against using the actor's name in his upcoming film. Saif, however agreed finally to change his film's title under the pressure of his film's producers.


''Bigg Boss 8''

On 20 November 2014, Saif was supposed to enter the Indian reality show ''
Bigg Boss ''Bigg Boss'' is an Indian reality television game show franchise based on the Dutch reality show ''Big Brother''. It is produced by Endemol Shine India through Viacom18 and Disney Star. Subsequently, the various versions of the show are made ...
'' as a Wild Card contestant Saif, however praised the show by refusing his participation and quoted "Why would I be a wild card contestant when ''
Rajinikanth Shivaji Rao Gaikwad (born 12 December 1950), known professionally as Rajinikanth, is an Indian actor, producer and screenwriter. In a career spanning over five decades, he has done 160 films that includes films in Tamil, Hindi, Telugu, Kannad ...
'' has proved the world that I am a strongest contender?".


''For Adults Only''

In 2015, Saif announced plans to make a film titled ''For Adults Only''. Few details were released about the nature of the proposed film, but media outlets quoted Saif in describing it as "bold" and "dirty". On
social media Social media are interactive media technologies that facilitate the creation and sharing of information, ideas, interests, and other forms of expression through virtual communities and networks. While challenges to the definition of ''social me ...
outlet
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, Saif called the film "The most dirtiest film you'll ever see". Saif planned to write and direct the film, and said that the film was slated for production by Dimension Pictures, which would have been the company's first Bollywood film, according to Saif. The film was planned to be produced in
Hindi Hindi (Devanāgarī: or , ), or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi (Devanagari: ), is an Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in the Hindi Belt region encompassing parts of North India, northern, Central India, centr ...
,
Telugu Telugu may refer to: * Telugu language, a major Dravidian language of India *Telugu people, an ethno-linguistic group of India * Telugu script, used to write the Telugu language ** Telugu (Unicode block), a block of Telugu characters in Unicode S ...
and Tamil. Saif was looking to cast an international actress as the main character in the film and ultimately chose
Dubai Dubai (, ; ar, دبي, translit=Dubayy, , ) is the most populous city in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the capital of the Emirate of Dubai, the most populated of the 7 emirates of the United Arab Emirates.The Government and Politics ...
-based actress
Andria D'Souza Andria D'Souza (AKA Ria D'Souza) is an Indian born in Dubai. She is a TV presenter for Zee Connect, a TV Anchor on'' Zee TV'' and an actor based in India, and is mainly active in Hindi and Malayalam films, such as ''Six X''. Filmography ...
for the lead role. On 1 September 2015, Saif officially announced that the film had been shelved in deference to conservative Indian sentiments and the Indian censor board.


Filmography


As director and writer


As producer


Web series


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Saif, Faisal 1976 births 2022 deaths 21st-century Indian film directors Film directors from Mumbai Hindi-language film directors Horror film directors