Manish Jha is an Indian film writer and director. known for film like ''

Matrubhoomi ''Matrubhoomi: A Nation Without Women'' (Hindi: मातृभूमि, translation: ''Motherland'') is a 2003 Indian dystopian tragedy film written and directed by Manish Jha. The film examines the impact of female foeticide and female infa ...

.''

Early life and education

Born in

Dhamaura Dhamaura is a village development committee in Mahottari District in the Janakpur Zone of south-eastern Nepal. At the time of the 1991 Nepal census The 1991 Nepal census was a widespread national census conducted by the Nepal Central Bureau ...

, in

West Champaran district West Champaran is an administrative district in the state of Bihar in India, located just west of Birgunj. It is the largest district in Bihar with an area of 5,228 km²(2,019sq mi). It is a part of Tirhut Division. The district headquarte ...

of Bihar, Jha grew up in

Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, primarily its western or right bank, Delhi shares borders w ...

where he had moved at an early age. He did his graduation in English from

Ramjas College Ramjas College is a college of the University of Delhi located in North Campus of the university in New Delhi, India.The college admits both undergraduates and post-graduates, and awards degrees under the purview of the University of Delhi. R ...

Delhi University Delhi University (DU), formally the University of Delhi, is a collegiate university, collegiate Central university (India), central university located in New Delhi, India. It was founded in 1922 by an Act of the Central Legislative Assembly and ...

, where he also joined its theatre group aiming to become an actor.

Career

After completing his studies, Jha moved to Mumbai and began working as an assistant director in television serials hoping to get a break. When the break never came, he made a five-minute short film on the homeless putting in Rs 30,000, ''A Very Very Silent Film'', which won the Jury Prize for the Best Short Film at the 2002

Cannes Film Festival The Cannes Festival (; french: link=no, Festival de Cannes), until 2003 called the International Film Festival (') and known in English as the Cannes Film Festival, is an annual film festival held in Cannes, France, which previews new films o ...

.A Very Very Silent Film: Award
''

IMDb IMDb (an abbreviation of Internet Movie Database) is an online database of information related to films, television series, home videos, video games, and streaming content online – including cast, production crew and personal biographies, ...

''. Thereafter he made his feature debut with ''

'' (2003) about effects of female infanticide, which won a series of awards and critical acclaim. At the 2003 Venice Film Festival, it was presented in the Critic's Week (Parallel section) and later awarded the

FIPRESCI The International Federation of Film Critics (FIPRESCI, short for Fédération Internationale de la PRESse CInématographique) is an association of national organizations of professional film critics and film journalists from around the world fo ...

Award "For its important theme on women's issues and female infanticide handled with sensitivity by a first-time director". His next was '' Anwar'' (2007), a film set in Lucknow, about stereotyping of Muslims in the post

9/11 The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercial ...

era. In 2008, he directed the segment title, "And it Rained" in anthology film, with 11 directors, ''

Mumbai Cutting ''Mumbai Cutting'' is a 2008 Indian anthology film comprising eleven short films, telling eleven different stories based on life in Mumbai, which are directed by a host of eleven directors: Anurag Kashyap, Sudhir Mishra, Rahul Dholakia, Kundan ...

'', which became the closing film of 10th Osian's Cinefan Festival in Delhi. He next directed a two-hour yoga DVD, ''Shilpa's Yoga'' (2008) for actress

Shilpa Shetty Shilpa Shetty Kundra (born Ashwini Shetty; Née Shetty; 8 June 1975) is an Indian actress who works mainly in Hindi-language films. Shetty made her screen debut in the thriller ''Baazigar'' (1993) which garnered her nominations for two Filmfare ...

, shot against the coastal backdrop of Kerala.

Filmography

;Director *''

'' (2003) * '' Anwar'' (2007) * ''

'' (segment "And It Rained") (2010) * ''

The Legend of Michael Mishra The Legend of Michael Mishra is a 2016 Indian Hindi comedy film written and directed by Manish Jha. It is produced by Kishor Arora and Shareen Mantri Kedia of Eyecandy Films. The film stars Arshad Warsi, Aditi Rao Hydari, Boman Irani and Kayoze I ...

'' (2016) ; Screenwriter *''

'' (2005) * '' Anwar'' (2007) * ''

'' (2016) ;

Awards

;''A Very Very Silent Film'' * Jury Prize for ''Matruboomi'' in the Best Short Film category at the 2002

Award in Parallel Section at the

Venice Film Festival The Venice Film Festival or Venice International Film Festival ( it, Mostra Internazionale d'Arte Cinematografica della Biennale di Venezia, "International Exhibition of Cinematographic Art of the Venice Biennale") is an annual film festival he ...

2003Matrubhoomi Awards
''

''. * Audience Award for Best Film at the Kozlin Film Festival 2003, Poland * Audience Award for Best Foreign Film at

Thessaloniki Film Festival The Thessaloniki Film Festival is a Thessaloniki-based cultural institution focusing on cinema. The Institution organizes the Thessaloniki International Film Festival every November and the Thessaloniki Documentary Festival every March, while its y ...

, 2003 * Nominated for Golden Alexander (Best Film) at

, 2003 * Audience Award for Best Film at River to River. Florence Indian Film Festival, 2003

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Jha, Manish Film directors from Bihar 1978 births Living people People from West Champaran district Delhi University alumni Hindi-language film directors Indian male screenwriters Ramjas College alumni