Nagesh Kukunoor (born 30 March 1967) is an Indian film director, producer, screenwriter and actor known for his works predominantly in Hindi cinema, and few Telugu language films. He is known for his works in

parallel cinema Parallel cinema, or New Indian Cinema, is a film movement in Indian cinema that originated in the state of West Bengal in the 1950s as an alternative to the mainstream commercial Indian cinema. Inspired by Italian Neorealism, Parallel Cinema ...

, such as ''

Hyderabad Blues ''Hyderabad Blues'' is a 1998 Indian drama film written, directed, and produced by Nagesh Kukunoor. Primarily shot in the English language, the film explores culture clash from an Indian American's perspective, vacationing back home in Hydera ...

'' (1998), '' Rockford'' (1999), ''

Iqbal Iqbal, Eqbal, Ikbal, or Eghbal may refer to: Geography Iran * ''Eqbal, Iran'', a village in West Azerbaijan Province *''Eqbaliyeh'', rural district in Iran * ''Eqbal-e Gharbi Rural District'', western provincial district in Qazvin, Iran * ''Eqbal- ...

'' (2005), '' Dor'' (2006), ''

Aashayein ''Aashayein'' () is a 2010 Indian Hindi-language drama film written and directed by Nagesh Kukunoor, and produced by Percept Picture Company and T-Series. It stars John Abraham and Sonal Sehgal. The film revolves around Rahul, a gambler whose l ...

'' (2010), ''

Lakshmi Lakshmi (; , sometimes spelled Laxmi, ), also known as Shri (, ), is one of the principal goddesses in Hinduism. She is the goddess of wealth, fortune, power, beauty, fertility and prosperity, and associated with ''Maya'' ("Illusion"). Alo ...

'' (2014), and ''

Dhanak ''Dhanak'' () is a 2015 Indian Hindi-language children's road film written and directed by Nagesh Kukunoor. Produced by Manish Mundra, Nagesh Kukunoor, and Elahe Hiptoola, the film features Hetal Gada and Krrish Chhabria as the two children, pla ...

'' (2016). Kukunoor has received seven International Awards, and two National Film Awards for his works. In 2003, he directed '' 3 Deewarein'', which was showcased among the Indian panorama section, at the 2003

International Film Festival of India The International Film Festival of India (IFFI), founded in 1952, is one of the most significant film festivals in Asia. Held annually, currently in the state of Goa, on the western coast of the country, the festival aims at providing a common pla ...

. The film was also premiered at the

Kolkata Film Festival The Kolkata International Film Festival (KIFF) is an annual film festival held in Kolkata, India. Founded in 1995, it is the third oldest international film festival in India. The festival is organized by the West Bengal Film Centre under the W ...

. After having been screened at the

Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles The Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles (IFFLA) is an annual film festival held in Los Angeles, California. Established by Christina Marouda in 2003, as a nonprofit organization devoted to paving the way for a greater appreciation of Indian cinema

, where it was well received, the film was screened at the Commonwealth Festival at

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

, it was nominated as one of the top five films, at the gala presentation. Nagesh Kukunoor has also received the Filmfare Award for Best Story. In 2006, he garnered the National Film Award for Best Film on Other Social Issues, for directing ''

''. In 2014, he received the Mercedes Benz Audience Award, for Best Narrative at the

Palm Springs International Film Festival Palm Springs International Film Festival (sometimes stylized shortly as PSIFF) is a film festival held in Palm Springs, California. Originally promoted by Mayor Sonny Bono and then sponsored by Nortel,here for Table of Contents it started in 1989 ...

for ''

''. In 2015 he directed the

road movie A road movie is a film genre in which the main characters leave home on a road trip, typically altering the perspective from their everyday lives. Road movies often depict travel in the hinterlands, with the films exploring the theme of alienatio ...

, ''

'', which won the

Crystal Bear The Berlin International Film Festival (german: Internationale Filmfestspiele Berlin), usually called the Berlinale (), is a major international film festival held annually in Berlin, Germany. Founded in 1951 and originally run in June, the festi ...

Grand Prix for Best Children's Film, and Special Mention for the Best Feature Film by The Children's Jury for Generation Kplus at the

65th Berlin International Film Festival The 65th annual Berlin International Film Festival was held from 5 to 15 February 2015, with American film director Darren Aronofsky as the President of the Jury. German film director Wim Wenders was presented with the Honorary Golden Bear. The ...

. The film has also garnered the Best Film Award in the main category-Children's Feature Film Competition-

Cinema in Sneakers (film festival) Cinema may refer to: Film * Cinematography, the art of motion-picture photography * Film or movie, a series of still images that create the illusion of a moving image ** Film industry, the technological and commercial institutions of filmmaking ...

, and the Best Film Award – at the Montreal International Children's Film Festival (FIFEM). The film has garnered the

National Film Award for Best Children's Film The National Film Award for Best Children's Film is one of the National Film Awards presented annually by the Directorate of Film Festivals, the organisation set up by Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, India. It is one of several awards ...

for 2016.

Early life

Nagesh Kukunoor was born in

Hyderabad Hyderabad ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Telangana and the ''de jure'' capital of Andhra Pradesh. It occupies on the Deccan Plateau along the banks of the Musi River (India), Musi River, in the northern part ...

to Kusuma and Sudarshan. Kukunoor's mother tongue is

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 as a child he loved watching Telugu, Hindi, and English films in the theatres of his neighbourhood,

Narayanguda Naryanguda is a neighbourhood in Hyderabad, Telangana, India. There is a YMCA that is quite popular for its cultural events and basketball court. There is a famous church in this locality. Resident life Narayanguda was the first area in Hyderaba ...

. He studied at Montfort School, Yercaud. Nagesh Kukunoor attended Osmania University in Hyderabad, India and received his bachelor's degree in Chemical Engineering. He moved to

Atlanta, Georgia Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

in the United States in 1988, and completed his master's degree in Environmental Engineering at

Georgia Institute of Technology The Georgia Institute of Technology, commonly referred to as Georgia Tech or, in the state of Georgia, as Tech or The Institute, is a public research university and institute of technology in Atlanta, Georgia. Established in 1885, it is part of ...

. After graduating from Georgia Tech, he went to work as an Environmental Consultant at Trinity Consultants in Texas, then in Atlanta, during which he attended workshops in film. He studied Acting & direction at the Warehouse Actor's Theater in Atlanta.

Film career

He invested the money he made from his engineering career in USA in producing the 1998 movie ''

''. It is based on a script that he wrote in Atlanta dealing with Indians returning home from the United States of America. He directed and acted in the movie. It had a budget of

Rs. Rupee is the common name for the currencies of India, Mauritius, Nepal, Pakistan, Seychelles, and Sri Lanka, and of former currencies of Afghanistan, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, the United Arab Emirates (as the Gulf rupee), British East Africa, B ...

1.7 million (roughly equivalent to US$40,000) and was shot in 17 days. It was perceived by Sanjay Arora, an independent film maker, to be realistic and one of the first movies to use

Hyderabadi Urdu Hyderabadi ( ur, ) is a variety of Dakhini Urdu, spoken in areas of the former Hyderabad State, corresponding to the Indian state of Telangana, the Marathwada region of Maharashtra and the Kalyana-Karnataka region of Karnataka. It is nati ...

correctly. It became the most successful

independent film An independent film, independent movie, indie film, or indie movie is a feature film or short film that is produced outside the major film studio system, in addition to being produced and distributed by independent entertainment companies (or, i ...

in India. The film was featured at Peachtree International Film Festival in

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

and

Rhode Island Rhode Island (, like ''road'') is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is the List of U.S. states by area, smallest U.S. state by area and the List of states and territories of the United States ...

International Film Festival.

Later features

'' 3 Deewarein'' (2003) was premiered at the

. In contrast to his earlier work, it had a budget of and featured established actors including Naseeruddin Shah,

Juhi Chawla Juhi Chawla (born 13 November 1967) is an Indian actress, film producer and entrepreneur. She established herself as one of the leading actresses of Hindi cinema from the late 1980s through the early 2000s. Recognised for her comic timing and v ...

and Jackie Shroff. In 2006, Nagesh Kukunoor wrote and directed '' Dor'', a drama film featuring

Ayesha Takia Ayesha Takia Azmi (née Takia; born 10 April 1986), is an Indian actress and former model who worked predominantly in Hindi films. Takia made her debut in 2004 with the action thriller '' Taarzan: The Wonder Car'' for which she won Filmfare Bes ...

Gul Panag Gul Panag (born Gulkirat Kaur Panag, 3 January 1979; Chandigarh, India) is an Indian actress, voice actress, model, and former beauty queen who competed in the Miss Universe pageant. Panag began her career in Bollywood with the 2003 film '' Dho ...

and

Shreyas Talpade Shreyas Talpade (born 27 January 1976) is an Indian actor, film director and producer who appears in Hindi and Marathi films. He has appeared in several critically and commercially successful films. He is better known for his role as Shah Rukh ...

as the lead actors. Nagesh also acted in the film, playing businessman Chopra. The film is about two women who come from different backgrounds and how fate brings them together. Meera (Ayesha Takia), a young woman who becomes a widow shortly after marriage, is trapped by tradition. Zeenat (Gul Panag), on the other hand, faces the daunting task of saving the life of her husband, who is on trial for murder. A bahuroopiya (Shreyas Talpade) helps her reach Meera, who holds the "string" to Zeenat's hope. The companionship that develops between Meera and Zeenat results in redemption for both. The film was well received by both the critics and film buffs. It was, however, his film ''

'' featuring

and Naseeruddin Shah, which won him a lot of critical acclaim and recognition for the simple yet heart rending script by Nagesh and the acting by all actors. His next film '' 8 x 10 Tasveer'', an action-thriller featuring

Akshay Kumar Rajiv Hari Om Bhatia (born 9 September 1967), known professionally as Akshay Kumar (), is an Indian-born naturalised Canadian Quote: "(Former prime minister Stephen) Harper campaigned in 2011 alongside one of Modi's biggest celebrity backer ...

in the lead role fared poorly at the box office but was considered to be Nagesh's most self-reflective work to date. "I like to cast characters who are close to me. And this one gets as close to me as possible. I was once an environmental consultant. Akshay plays the part of an environment protection officer," Kukunoor said in an April 2009 interview. In 2015, at the

, his feature ''

'' won The Grand Prix of the Generation Kplus International Jury for the best feature-length film, and received a Special Mention by Children's Jury in Generation Kplus Section.

Filmography

Films

Television

Awards

; National Film Awards * Best Film on Other Social Issues – ''

'' – 2006 * Best Children's Film – ''

'' – 2016 ;International Awards * Audience Award for best film at the Peachtree International Film Festival in

, Georgia – ''

'' – 1999 * Audience Award for best film at the Rhode Island International Film Festival – ''Hyderabad Blues'' – 1999 * Best Film – Mercedes Benz Audience Award, for Best Narrative at the

– ''

'' – 2014 * ''

'' (2015) ** The Grand Prix, for the best feature-length film – at the

** Special Mention for the Best Feature Film by The Children's Jury for Generation Kplus at the 65th Berlin International Film Festival ** Best Film Award in the main category-Children's Feature Film Competition-

** Best Film Award – at the Montreal International Children's Film Festival (FIFEM) ;

Filmfare Awards The Filmfare Awards are annual awards that honour artistic and technical excellence in the Hindi-language film industry of India.Al The Filmfare ceremony is one of the most famous film events in India. The awards were first introduced by th ...

* Filmfare Award for Best Story – '' 3 Deewarein'' – 2004 ;Other Awards * Teacher's Achievement Award for Creative and Performing Arts – 2002

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kukunoor, Nagesh 1967 births Georgia Tech alumni Male actors in Hindi cinema Telugu male actors Hindi-language film directors Indian male film actors Filmfare Awards winners 20th-century Indian film directors Hindi film producers Film producers from Hyderabad, India Living people Film directors from Hyderabad, India 21st-century Indian film directors 20th-century Indian male actors 21st-century Indian male actors Screenwriters from Hyderabad, India Male actors from Hyderabad, India 20th-century Indian dramatists and playwrights 21st-century Indian dramatists and playwrights Directors who won the Best Children's Film National Film Award Directors who won the Best Film on Other Social Issues National Film Award Telugu film directors