Umesh Vinayak Kulkarni is a

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 * * ...

film director. He is an alumnus of the Film and Television Institute of India ( FTII),

Pune Pune (; ; also known as Poona, (List of renamed Indian cities and states#Maharashtra, the official name from 1818 until 1978) is one of the most important industrial and educational hubs of India, with an estimated population of 7.4 million ...

. He is known for Marathi films such as ''

Valu Valac is a demon described in the goetic grimoires ''The Lesser Key of Solomon'' (in some versions as Ualac or Valak and in Thomas Rudd's variant as Valu), Johann Weyer's ''Pseudomonarchia Daemonum'' (as Volac), the ''Liber Officiorum Spirituum' ...

'' (The Wild Bull), ''

Vihir ''Vihir'' (English: The well) is a 2009 Marathi film directed by Umesh Vinayak Kulkarni which was released in March 2010 and was featured in Berlin film festival and Rotterdam International Film Festival 2010, the Netherlands. This is AB Corp L ...

'' (The Well), ''

Deool ''Deool'' () is a 2011 Indian Marathi dark comedy directed by Umesh Vinayak Kulkarni and produced by Abhijeet Gholap. The film stars Girish Kulkarni, Nana Patekar, Dilip Prabhawalkar, Sharvani Pillai, Sonali Kulkarni in lead roles. The film ...

'' (The Temple) and ''

Highway A highway is any public or private road or other public way on land. It is used for major roads, but also includes other public roads and public tracks. In some areas of the United States, it is used as an equivalent term to controlled-access ...

''. He is known for short films such as ''Girni'' (Grinding Machine), ''Three Of Us'', ''Vilay'', ''Gaarud'' and ''Darshan''. He received a National Film award for Best Debut Director for his short film ''Girni''. His other short film ''Three Of Us'' was also appreciated world wide. ''Deool'' (The Temple), his feature film, received a National Film Award for best film in the year 2011.

Early life and career

Umesh Kulkarni was born on 6 December 1976 in Pune to Vinayak and Vishakha Kulkarni. He graduated in commerce from BMCC, Pune besides acquiring a law degree. He joined FTII Pune in February 2000. Kulkarni also directed short films such as ''Girni, Three of Us, Vilay'' and ''Gaarud''. ''Girni'' won the National Film Award for the Best Non Feature Film. His first feature film ''

'' was a significant film for Marathi cinema. It is amongst the few Marathi films that kept the box office collection on an upward swing and also traveled to more than 30 International film festivals, including the

Berlin film festival 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 ...

. He then went on to work on features like ''

'' and ''

. Vihir'' was featured in

and

Rotterdam International Film Festival The International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR) is an annual film festival held at the end of January in various locations in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. Since its foundation in 1972, it has maintained a focus on independent and experimental fi ...

2010, the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

. ''Deool'' won the 59th

National Film Awards 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 Directorat ...

for

Best Feature Film Best or The Best may refer to: People * Best (surname), people with the surname Best * Best (footballer, born 1968), retired Portuguese footballer Companies and organizations * Best & Co., an 1879–1971 clothing chain * Best Lock Corporatio ...

, Best Actor (

Girish Kulkarni Girish Pandurang Kulkarni (born 25 November 1977) is an Indian actor, writer, and producer. He is a recipient of two National Film Awards namely, National Film Award for Best Actor in 2011 for his performance in ''Deool'' and National Film Award ...

) and Best Dialogue (Girish Kulkarni).

Filmography

Divine Sight (Short) (2003) Girni (Short) (2004)

Dhappa ''Dhappa'' is a 2019 Indian Marathi-language drama film directed by Nipun Dharmadhikari in his directorial debut. The film features several debutante child actors and was inspired by a true incident. The film was shown at various film festivals ...

(2019) (co-producer)

References

External links

* *https://web.archive.org/web/20130412173702/http://www.ftiindia.com/students_awards.html *http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/entertainment/marathi/movies/news/Highway-Huma-Qureshi-Girish-Kulkarni-Umesh-Kulkarni-Tisca-Chopra-Taare-Zameen-Par/articleshow/40342139.cms? *http://www.filmimpressions.com/home/2012/11/interview-umesh-kulkarni-part-1.html {{DEFAULTSORT:Kulkarni, Umesh Vinayak Film directors from Maharashtra Living people 1976 births Directors who won the Best Feature Film National Film Award