Laxman Utekar is an Indian filmmaker, cinematographer and director known for his work in

Hindi Hindi ( Devanāgarī: or , ), or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi (Devanagari: ), is an Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in the Hindi Belt region encompassing parts of northern, central, eastern, and western India. Hindi has been ...

and

Marathi Marathi may refer to: *Marathi people, an Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic group of Maharashtra, India *Marathi language, the Indo-Aryan language spoken by the Marathi people *Palaiosouda, also known as Marathi, a small island in Greece See also * * ...

films. Utekar started his career as a

director of photography The cinematographer or director of photography (sometimes shortened to DP or DOP) is the person responsible for the photographing or recording of a film, television production, music video or other live action piece. The cinematographer is the ch ...

in Hindi cinema with films such as ''

English Vinglish ''English Vinglish'' is a 2012 Indian Hindi-language comedy-drama film written and directed by Gauri Shinde. The film stars Sridevi as Shashi Godbole, a small entrepreneur who makes snacks. Shashi enrolls in an English-speaking course to sto ...

'' and ''

Dear Zindagi ''Dear Zindagi'' () is a 2016 Indian Hindi-language coming-of-age drama film written and directed by Gauri Shinde. It was produced by Gauri Khan, Karan Johar, and Shinde under the banners of Red Chillies Entertainment, Dharma Productions, and ...

''. He made his directorial debut in 2013 with ''Tapaal''. He went on to direct the

romantic comedy Romantic comedy (also known as romcom or rom-com) is a subgenre of comedy and slice of life fiction, focusing on lighthearted, humorous plot lines centered on romantic ideas, such as how true love is able to surmount most obstacles. In a typica ...

'' Luka Chuppi'' (2019) and the drama '' Mimi'' (2021).

Career

Utekar started his career as a

in Hindi cinema in 2007 with Khanna & Iyer. He then went on to work on ''

'', ''

Hindi Medium ''Hindi Medium'' is a 2017 Indian Hindi-language comedy-drama film written and directed by Saket Chaudhary, and produced by Dinesh Vijan and Bhushan Kumar under their respective banners Maddock Films and T-Series. It stars Irrfan Khan, Sa ...

'' and '' 102 Not Out''. He made his directorial debut in 2013 with

film ''Tapaal''. He then directed '' Lalbaugchi Rani'' (2016), a

slice of life Slice of life is a depiction of mundane experiences in art and entertainment. In theater, slice of life refers to naturalism, while in literary parlance it is a narrative technique in which a seemingly arbitrary sequence of events in a characte ...

drama about a mentally challenged girl who gets lost in Mumbai. Utekar first Hindi film as director was the

'' Luka Chuppi'' (2019) which starred

Kartik Aaryan Kartik Aaryan Tiwari (born 22 November 1990), is an Indian actor who works in Hindi films. After pursuing a degree in engineering, he made his acting debut with Luv Ranjan's buddy film ''Pyaar Ka Punchnama'' (2011). He went on to star in the ...

and

Kriti Sanon Kriti Sanon (born 27 July 1990) is an Indian actress who works in Hindi and Telugu-language films. After pursuing a degree in engineering from the Jaypee Institute of Information Technology, she briefly worked as a fashion model. Sanon began ...

as a couple in a live in relationship and the chaos ensues when their traditional families assume them to be married to each other. The film received generally positive reviews and emerged as commercial success at the box office, with a total gross collection of . In 2021, Utekar directed and co-wrote with Rohan Shankar the drama '' Mimi''. A remake of the Marathi film ''

Mala Aai Vhhaychy! ''Mala Aai Vhhaychy!'' (, ) is a 2011 Indian Marathi-language film produced and directed by Samruoddhi Porey. The story deals with growing surrogacy practices in India where women are used as surrogates by foreigners. The film is an emotional d ...

'' (2011). the film reunited him with Sanon, in the titular role of a young woman who opts to be a

surrogate mother Surrogacy is an arrangement, often supported by a legal agreement, whereby a woman agrees to delivery/labour for another person or people, who will become the child's parent(s) after birth. People may seek a surrogacy arrangement when pregnan ...

for a foreign couple. Following the non-existent theatrical releases due to

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

, the film was released through the streaming services

Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fi ...

and

JioCinema JioCinema is an Indian subscription video on-demand and over-the-top streaming service, owned by Viacom 18, a subsidiary of TV18. Launched on 5 September 2016, JioCinema's content library includes films, television shows, web series, music v ...

. The film received positive reviews from critics, with Renuka Vyahare of ''

The Times of India ''The Times of India'', also known by its abbreviation ''TOI'', is an Indian English-language daily newspaper and digital news media owned and managed by The Times Group. It is the third-largest newspaper in India by circulation and largest ...

'' nothing that "it picks a relevant topic and turns it into an engaging, empowering and compassionate tale on humanity and motherhood".

Taran Adarsh Taran Adarsh (born 13 June 1965) is an Indian film critic and trade analyst. He is best known for giving trade figures and box office updates on social media. Career Taran Adarsh started his journalism career at the age of 15 with ''Trade Gui ...

wrote, “Mimi is a heartwarming saga, aimed at families and it will keep the audience thoroughly entertained.”

Filmography

References

External links

* Cinematographers from Maharashtra Hindi-language film directors 21st-century Indian film directors Living people Year of birth missing (living people) {{India-film-director-stub He started life selling vada pao in mumbai. His cart was confiscated by BMC and then he got a job as a peon in an editing studio.