Nagraj Popatrao Manjule (Marathi pronunciation: aɡɾaːd͡ʒ maɲd͡ʒuɭeː born 24 August 1978) is an Indian film director, actor, producer, scriptwriter, poet, screenwriter, filmmaker and he works in the

Marathi Cinema Marathi cinema is an Indian film industry of Marathi-language motion pictures. It is based in Mumbai, Maharashtra. Based in old Mumbai, it is the oldest film industry of Indian cinema. The first Marathi film to be released in India was ''Shre ...

, best known for his Marathi film Sairat, short-film Pistulya for which he received

National Film Award The National Film Awards is the most prominent film award ceremony in India. Established in 1954, it has been administered, along with the International Film Festival of India and the Indian Panorama, by the Indian government's Directora ...

in Non-Feature Film category. At the

61st National Film Awards The 61st National Film Awards ceremony was an event during which the Directorate of Film Festivals of India presented its annual National Film Awards to honour the best films of 2013 in the Indian cinema. The ceremony was held on 3 May 2014. ...

Fandry ''Fandry'' () is a 2013 Marathi-language film, written and directed by Nagraj Manjule in his directorial debut. It stars Somnath Avghade and Rajeshwari Kharat. The story focuses on a young boy's love amidst caste-based discrimination. The fil ...

won the

Indira Gandhi Award for Best Debut Film of a Director The Indira Gandhi Award for Best Debut Film of a Director is one of the National Film Awards presented annually by the Directorate of Film Festivals, the organization set up by Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, India. It is one of sev ...

. In 2018, Manjule published a book of poetry in

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 * * ...

titled ''Unhachya Katavirudhha'' which won the ''Bhairuratan Damani Sahitya Puraskar''. He owns a

Wrestling Wrestling is a series of combat sports involving grappling-type techniques such as clinch fighting, throws and takedowns, joint locks, pins and other grappling holds. Wrestling techniques have been incorporated into martial arts, combat ...

team called 'Veer Marathwada' in Zee Maharashtra Kusti Dangal.

Early life and education

Manjule grew up in Jeur village in the

Solapur district Solapur District (Marathi pronunciation: olaːpuːɾ is a district in Maharashtra state of India. The city of Solapur is the district headquarters. It is located on the south east edge of the state and lies entirely in the Bhima and Seena basi ...

Maharashtra Maharashtra (; , abbr. MH or Maha) is a states and union territories of India, state in the western India, western peninsular region of India occupying a substantial portion of the Deccan Plateau. Maharashtra is the List of states and union te ...

. He belongs to the traditionally-nomadic

Waddar Waddar is a caste of Hinduism in India. Waddar, sometimes called Vodra, Odde, or Boyi, is a community from the Deccan Plateau whose traditional occupation is construction. Their major concentration is in Maharashtra, but there are also populations ...

community, a Dravidian tribe. He earned his M.A. in Marathi literature from

University of Pune Savitribai Phule Pune University (SPPU), formerly the University of Poona, is a collegiate public state university located in the city of Pune, India. It was established in 1949, and is spread over a campus in the neighbourhood of Ganeshk ...

, followed by a master's in communication studies from

New Arts, Science and Commerce College, Ahmednagar New Arts, Commerce and Science College is an educational institution in Ahmednagar city of state of Maharashtra in India. The college established in 1970 by Ahmednagar Jilha Maratha Vidya Prasarak Samaj. Objective The main object of the instit ...

Career

Manjule is strongly inspired by

Dr. B. R. Ambedkar Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar (14 April 1891 – 6 December 1956) was an Indian jurist, economist, social reformer and political leader who headed the committee drafting the Constitution of India from the Constituent Assembly debates, served a ...

, the emancipator of downtrodden and the father of the

Indian constitution The Constitution of India ( IAST: ) is the supreme law of India. The document lays down the framework that demarcates fundamental political code, structure, procedures, powers, and duties of government institutions and sets out fundamental r ...

. His films are deeply rooted in his own experience growing up as a

dalit Dalit (from sa, दलित, dalita meaning "broken/scattered"), also previously known as untouchable, is the lowest stratum of the Caste system in India, castes in India. Dalits were excluded from the four-fold Varna (Hinduism), varna syste ...

in rural Maharashtra. His films have focused on the plights faced by members of these communities, including social discrimination at the hands of high-caste communities as well as the resulting economic hardships. His first National Award-winning short film ''Pistulya'' is a reflection of his 'felt experience'. The film focuses on the desire of a dalit boy to attend school, and his inability to do so because of his family's poverty and a deep-seated disdain for formal education within his community. His debut feature film, ''

'', was released in February 2014; the word means "pig" in the

Kaikadi language The Kaikadi language is a Dravidian language The Dravidian languages (or sometimes Dravidic) are a family of languages spoken by 250 million people, mainly in southern India, north-east Sri Lanka, and south-west Pakistan. Since the colonial ...

. Manjule's second film, ''

Sairat ''Sairat'' () is a 2016 Indian Marathi-language romantic tragedy film directed by Nagraj Manjule and produced by Manjule himself under his banner Aatpat Production along with Nittin Keni and Nikhil Sane under Essel Vision Productions and ...

'', premiered at the 66th Berlin International Film Festival. Like ''Fandry'' and ''Pistulya'', it deals with caste discrimination and honour killing, a practice still widespread in parts of India. ''Sairat'' also seeks to address the role of women in society, with the character of Archie (Archana Patil), the female protagonist of Sairat, garnering both popular and critical acclaim. ''Sairat'' is currently the highest grossing Marathi film of all time. Manjule made his directorial debut in Hindi films with '' Jhund'' starring

Amitabh Bachchan Amitabh Bachchan (; born as Amitabh Shrivastav; 11 October 1942) is an Indian actor, film producer, television host, occasional playback singer and former politician known for his work in Hindi cinema. He is regarded as one of the most succe ...

. In 2019, Manjule hosted Marathi

Kaun Banega Crorepati ''Kaun Banega Crorepati'' (also simply known as ''KBC'') is an Indian Hindi-language television game show. It is the official Hindi adaptation of the ''Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?'' franchise. It has been presented by actor Amitabh Bachchan ...

Filmography

Books

* ''Unhachya Kataviruddha'' - poetry.

Awards

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Manjule, Nagraj Film directors from Maharashtra Living people Marathi film directors Indian male screenwriters People from Solapur district Savitribai Phule Pune University alumni Marathi-language poets Indian male poets Poets from Maharashtra Director whose film won the Best Debut Feature Film National Film Award 1977 births