Vidhu Vinod Chopra (born 5 September 1952) is an Indian film director, producer, editor, screenwriter, lyricist and actor. His well-known films as director are ''
Parinda
''Parinda'' () is a 1989 Indian Hindi-language crime drama film directed, produced and distributed by Vidhu Vinod Chopra. The film stars Jackie Shroff, Anil Kapoor, Nana Patekar and Madhuri Dixit. The story and scenario were written by Chopra, ...
'' (1988), ''
1942: A Love Story'' (1994). He is also known for producing ''
Munna Bhai film series'', ''
3 Idiots
''3 Idiots'' (stylized as ''3 idiots'') is a 2009 Indian Hindi-language coming-of-age comedy-drama film written, edited and directed by Rajkumar Hirani, co-written by Abhijat Joshi and produced by Vidhu Vinod Chopra. Adapted loosely from Cheta ...
'' (2009), ''
PK'' (2014), ''
Sanju
''Sanju'' is a 2018 Indian Hindi-language biographical film directed and edited by Rajkumar Hirani, written by Hirani and Abhijat Joshi and produced by Hirani and Vidhu Vinod Chopra under the banners Rajkumar Hirani Films and Vinod Chopra Film ...
'' (2018) under his banner
Vinod Chopra Films
Vinod Chopra Films is an Indian film production company owned and operated by Hindi film-maker Vidhu Vinod Chopra
Vidhu Vinod Chopra (born 5 September 1952) is an Indian film director, producer, editor, screenwriter, lyricist and actor. ...
.
Early life
Chopra was born and grew up in
Srinagar
Srinagar (English: , ) is the largest city and the summer capital of Jammu and Kashmir, India. It lies in the Kashmir Valley on the banks of the Jhelum River, a tributary of the Indus, and Dal and Anchar lakes. The city is known for its natu ...
,
Jammu and Kashmir, India. His father was D. N. Chopra and veteran filmmaker
Ramanand Sagar
Chandramauli Chopra ( ; 29 December 1917 – 12 December 2005) known professionally as Ramanand Sagar, was an Indian filmmaker, editor, playwright, poet and an author. He is best known for making the television show '' Ramayan'' (1987-1988). The ...
was his half-brother. His father's family originally came from
Peshawar
Peshawar (; ps, پېښور ; hnd, ; ; ur, ) is the sixth most populous city in Pakistan, with a population of over 2.3 million. It is situated in the north-west of the country, close to the International border with Afghanistan. It is ...
,
British India
The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance on the Indian subcontinent. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one ...
. His mother was Shanti Devi Mahalakshmi who left Kashmir with him and family after the exodus and mass killings of Kashmiri Pandits due to the
Kashmir conflict
The Kashmir conflict is a territorial conflict over the Kashmir region, primarily between India and Pakistan, with China playing a third-party role. The conflict started after the partition of India in 1947 as both India and Pakistan claim ...
in 1990. He dedicated his movie ''
Shikara
The shikara is a type of wooden boat found on Dal Lake and other water bodies of Srinagar in Jammu and Kashmir Shikaras are of various sizes and are used for multiple purposes, including transportation. A usual shikara seats six people, with th ...
'' to his mother which is based on the same theme. He studied film direction at the
Film and Television Institute of India
The Film and Television Institute of India (FTII) is a film institute under the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting of the Government of India and aided by the Central Government of India. It is situated on the premises of the erstwhile ...
in Pune.
Career
Chopra's first student short film, ''
Murder at Monkey Hill
''Murder at Monkey Hill'' is 1976 Indian film written and directed by Vidhu Vinod Chopra. The short film in Black-and-white was made by Vidhu Vinod Chopra as his final project while doing his diploma at FTII. Vinod Chopra, himself, played the ...
'', won the
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 ...
for Best Short Experimental Film and the Guru Dutt Memorial Award for Best Student Film.
This was followed by a short documentary highlighting the plight of India's destitute children, called ''
An Encounter with Faces'', which was nominated for an
Academy Award
The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...
in the
Documentary Short Subject category in 1979. It also won the Grand Prix at the
Tampere Film Festival
The Tampere Film Festival ( fi, Tampereen elokuvajuhlat) is a short film festival held every March, mostly at the Finnkino Plevna movie theatre, in Tampere, Finland. It is accredited by the film producers' society FIAPF, and together with the shor ...
in 1980.
''
Sazaye Maut
''Sazā-ye Maut'' (English: Death Penalty) is 1981 Indian film directed and produced by Vidhu Vinod Chopra. The films was based on Chopra's diploma film at FTII, ''Murder at Monkey Hill'' (1976). He adapted that into a full-length feature, with ...
'', his first full-length feature film, was an adaptation of his previous short, ''
Murder at Monkey Hill
''Murder at Monkey Hill'' is 1976 Indian film written and directed by Vidhu Vinod Chopra. The short film in Black-and-white was made by Vidhu Vinod Chopra as his final project while doing his diploma at FTII. Vinod Chopra, himself, played the ...
''. It starred
Naseeruddin Shah
Naseeruddin Shah (born 20 July 1950) is an Indian actor. He is notable in Indian parallel cinema. He has also starred in international productions. He has won numerous awards in his career, including three National Film Awards, three Filmfare A ...
,
Radha Saluja
Radha Saluja is an Indian actress who has worked mainly in Hindi cinema, Punjabi cinema and Tamil, with a few Bengali, Malayalam, Telugu and Kannada movies. An alumna of the Film and Television Institute of India, she is known for her films op ...
and
Dilip Dhawan
Dilip Dhawan (1955 – 15 February 2000) was an Indian film and television actor.
He started his career as a child in '' Sangharsh'' (1968), featuring Dilip Kumar, Dhawan acted in over 50 films.
Career
He acted as the hero in the movie ''Arvin ...
.
Vanraj Bhatia
Vanraj Bhatia (Hindi: वनराज भाटिया ; 31 May 1927 – 7 May 2021) was an Indian composer best known for his work in Indian New Wave cinema. He was also one of the leading composers of Western classical music in India.
Bha ...
composed the music for the film. For ''
Khamosh
''Khamosh'' () is 1985 Indian Hindi-language thriller film directed and produced by Vidhu Vinod Chopra. The film starred Naseeruddin Shah, Shabana Azmi, Amol Palekar, Soni Razdan and Pankaj Kapoor. The film became notable for actors Palekar, ...
'', his next directorial venture, Chopra assembled a cast featuring some of the finest acting talent in India.
Shabana Azmi
Shabana Azmi (born 18 September 1950) is an Indian actress of Hindi film, television and theatre. One of India's most acclaimed actresses, Azmi is known for her portrayals of distinctive, often unconventional female characters across several ge ...
,
Amol Palekar
Amol Palekar (born 24 November 1944) is an Indian actor, director and producer of Hindi and Marathi cinema.
Career
Palekar studied fine arts at the Sir JJ School of Arts, Mumbai, and commenced his artistic career as a painter. As a painter, he ...
,
Naseeruddin Shah
Naseeruddin Shah (born 20 July 1950) is an Indian actor. He is notable in Indian parallel cinema. He has also starred in international productions. He has won numerous awards in his career, including three National Film Awards, three Filmfare A ...
and
Pankaj Kapoor
Pankaj Kapur (born 29 May 1954) is an Indian actor who has worked in Hindi theatre, television and films. He has appeared in several television serials and films. He is the recipient of several awards, including a Filmfare Award and three Nati ...
, among others, appeared in prominent roles. An inventive meta
thriller set in
Kashmir
Kashmir () is the northernmost geographical region of the Indian subcontinent. Until the mid-19th century, the term "Kashmir" denoted only the Kashmir Valley between the Great Himalayas and the Pir Panjal Range. Today, the term encompas ...
, ''Khamosh'' remains one of the notable Indian films in the
genre
Genre () is any form or type of communication in any mode (written, spoken, digital, artistic, etc.) with socially-agreed-upon conventions developed over time. In popular usage, it normally describes a category of literature, music, or other for ...
.
''
Parinda
''Parinda'' () is a 1989 Indian Hindi-language crime drama film directed, produced and distributed by Vidhu Vinod Chopra. The film stars Jackie Shroff, Anil Kapoor, Nana Patekar and Madhuri Dixit. The story and scenario were written by Chopra, ...
'' (1989), is a landmark film in
Hindi cinema
Hindi cinema, popularly known as Bollywood and formerly as Bombay cinema, refers to the film industry based in Mumbai, engaged in production of motion pictures in Hindi language. The popular term Bollywood, is a portmanteau of "Bombay" (fo ...
. It expanded the orbit of the crime drama and the vocabulary of images used 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 de ...
films while garnering widespread critical acclaim and numerous awards. Several modern Indian filmmakers have expressed their admiration for and drawn inspiration from Chopra's film.
Chopra's next film, ''
1942: A Love Story'', was a patriotic romantic drama set during the decline of the
British Raj
The British Raj (; from Hindi ''rāj'': kingdom, realm, state, or empire) was the rule of the British Crown on the Indian subcontinent;
*
* it is also called Crown rule in India,
*
*
*
*
or Direct rule in India,
* Quote: "Mill, who was himsel ...
. With
Anil Kapoor
Anil Kapoor (born 24 December 1956) is an Indian actor and producer who works primarily in Hindi films, besides television and international films and television. In a career spanning over 40 years as an actor and since 2005 as a producer, Kapo ...
and
Manisha Koirala
Manisha Koirala (; born 16 August 1970) is a Nepalese actress who works in Cinema of India, Indian films, predominantly in Hindi and Tamil language, Tamil films and has also worked in few Telugu language, Telugu, Bengali language, Bengali, Mala ...
in leading roles, it was also the last film to have its music composed by the legendary
R. D. Burman
Rahul Dev Burman (27 June 1939 – 4 January 1994) was an Indian music director who is considered one of the most influential composers of India. From the 1960s to the 1990s, Burman composed musical scores for 331 films. Burman did major work w ...
. Burman received a
Filmfare Award for Best Music Director
The Filmfare Best Music Album Award is given by the '' Filmfare'' magazine as part of its annual Filmfare Awards for Hindi films, to the best composer/arranger of a soundtrack. This category was first presented in 1954. Naushad Ali was the fir ...
and the film won a total of nine awards at the
40th Filmfare Awards
The 40th Filmfare Awards were held on 25 February 1995.
''1942: A Love Story'' and ''Hum Aapke Hain Koun..!'', which is one of the most successful films of Bollywood, led the ceremony with 13 nominations each, followed by ''Mohra'' with 9 nom ...
.
He founded his own production company,
Vinod Chopra Films
Vinod Chopra Films is an Indian film production company owned and operated by Hindi film-maker Vidhu Vinod Chopra
Vidhu Vinod Chopra (born 5 September 1952) is an Indian film director, producer, editor, screenwriter, lyricist and actor. ...
, in 1985. Since then, the company has gone on to produce major Bollywood films, and is currently one of the biggest and most successful film production houses in India. Bengali filmmaker
Ritwik Ghatak
Ritwik Kumar Ghatak (; 4 November 19256 February 1976) was a noted Indian film director, screenwriter, and playwright. Along with prominent contemporary Bengali filmmakers Satyajit Ray, Tapan Sinha and Mrinal Sen, his cinema is primarily rememb ...
affectionately gave him the name 'Vidhu'.
Films
His critically acclaimed films include ''
Parinda
''Parinda'' () is a 1989 Indian Hindi-language crime drama film directed, produced and distributed by Vidhu Vinod Chopra. The film stars Jackie Shroff, Anil Kapoor, Nana Patekar and Madhuri Dixit. The story and scenario were written by Chopra, ...
'', ''
1942: A Love Story'', ''
Mission Kashmir
''Mission Kashmir'' is a 2000 Indian Hindi-language action thriller film directed and produced by Vidhu Vinod Chopra. The film stars Sanjay Dutt, Hrithik Roshan, Jackie Shroff, Preity Zinta, and Sonali Kulkarni. It deals with terrorism and the tr ...
'', the ''
Munna Bhai
Murliprasad Sharma, better known as Munna Bhai, is an Indian fictional character who appears in the ''Munna Bhai'' film series. The character is created by Rajkumar Hirani and portrayed by Sanjay Dutt.
Films overview
Murli Prasad Sharma (port ...
'' series, ''
Parineeta'', and ''
3 Idiots
''3 Idiots'' (stylized as ''3 idiots'') is a 2009 Indian Hindi-language coming-of-age comedy-drama film written, edited and directed by Rajkumar Hirani, co-written by Abhijat Joshi and produced by Vidhu Vinod Chopra. Adapted loosely from Cheta ...
''. ''3 Idiots'' went on to become one of the most successful films in India, and became the first film in the country to cross Rs. 200 crore at the boxoffice.
It also found popular appeal in markets like Taiwan and Korea. His other films,PK and Sanju were one of the highest grossing Indian films.
He also made his Hollywood directorial debut with the film ''
Broken Horses
'' Broken Horses'' is a 2015 American mystery thriller film directed by Vidhu Vinod Chopra and starring Anton Yelchin, Chris Marquette, Vincent D'Onofrio, María Valverde
María Valverde Rodríguez (born 24 March 1987) is a Spanish actress ...
'' in 2015. However, it received a
Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...
rating of 22%,
and was a commercial disaster, only making Rs. 60 lakh in its opening weekend.
His latest film, ''
Shikara
The shikara is a type of wooden boat found on Dal Lake and other water bodies of Srinagar in Jammu and Kashmir Shikaras are of various sizes and are used for multiple purposes, including transportation. A usual shikara seats six people, with th ...
'' is a Hindi language historical romance film released on 7 February 2020 marking his return to direction in India after 13 years. His last directorial feature film, ''
Eklavya: The Royal Guard'' released in 2007.
Filmography
Bibliography
Awards and nominations
Vidhu Vinod Chopra has received one nomination at the
Academy Awards
The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...
, six
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 ...
, and five awards from fourteen nominations at the
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 ...
.
IIFA Awards
The International Indian Film Academy Awards, popularly known as IIFA, is an annual awards ceremony for Bollywood. Produced by Wizcraft International Entertainment Pvt. Ltd, the winners of the awards are decided by fans, who vote online for th ...
* 2007: Winner,
IIFA Best Screenplay Award for ''
Lage Raho Munna Bhai
''Lage Raho Munna Bhai'' (; ) is a 2006 Indian Hindi-language satirical comedy drama film written, edited and directed by Rajkumar Hirani, who co-wrote the screenplay with Abhijat Joshi and produced by Vidhu Vinod Chopra. It is the follow-up ...
''
* 2001: ''Nominated'',
IIFA Best Director Award for ''
Mission Kashmir
''Mission Kashmir'' is a 2000 Indian Hindi-language action thriller film directed and produced by Vidhu Vinod Chopra. The film stars Sanjay Dutt, Hrithik Roshan, Jackie Shroff, Preity Zinta, and Sonali Kulkarni. It deals with terrorism and the tr ...
''
* 2010: Winner,
IIFA Best Screenplay Award for ''
3 Idiots
''3 Idiots'' (stylized as ''3 idiots'') is a 2009 Indian Hindi-language coming-of-age comedy-drama film written, edited and directed by Rajkumar Hirani, co-written by Abhijat Joshi and produced by Vidhu Vinod Chopra. Adapted loosely from Cheta ...
''
Stardust Awards
The Stardust Awards was an award ceremony for Hindi movies, which was sponsored by '' Stardust'' magazine. Here is a list of the award winners and the films for which they won. The first ceremony was held in 2004 for films released in 2003. The ...
* 2009: Winner, Readers' Choice Award for ''
3 Idiots
''3 Idiots'' (stylized as ''3 idiots'') is a 2009 Indian Hindi-language coming-of-age comedy-drama film written, edited and directed by Rajkumar Hirani, co-written by Abhijat Joshi and produced by Vidhu Vinod Chopra. Adapted loosely from Cheta ...
''
FICCI Awards
* 2009: Winner, Most Successful Film of the Year for ''
3 Idiots
''3 Idiots'' (stylized as ''3 idiots'') is a 2009 Indian Hindi-language coming-of-age comedy-drama film written, edited and directed by Rajkumar Hirani, co-written by Abhijat Joshi and produced by Vidhu Vinod Chopra. Adapted loosely from Cheta ...
''
Zee Cine Awards
The Zee Cine Award (ZCA) is an Indian awards ceremony for the Hindi film industry. They were instituted in November 1997 to award "Excellence in cinema - the democratic way".
They were first held in Mumbai until 2004, when the ZCA went internat ...
* 2007: Winner, Best Screenplay Award for ''
Lage Raho Munna Bhai
''Lage Raho Munna Bhai'' (; ) is a 2006 Indian Hindi-language satirical comedy drama film written, edited and directed by Rajkumar Hirani, who co-wrote the screenplay with Abhijat Joshi and produced by Vidhu Vinod Chopra. It is the follow-up ...
''
* 2005: Winner, Best Dialogue Award for ''
Parineeta''
* 2005: Winner, Best Director Award for ''
Mission Kashmir
''Mission Kashmir'' is a 2000 Indian Hindi-language action thriller film directed and produced by Vidhu Vinod Chopra. The film stars Sanjay Dutt, Hrithik Roshan, Jackie Shroff, Preity Zinta, and Sonali Kulkarni. It deals with terrorism and the tr ...
''
Tampere International Short Film Festival
* 1980: Winner, Grand Prix for ''
An Encounter with Faces''
Star Screen Awards
The Screen Awards is an annual awards ceremony held in India honouring professional excellence in Bollywood. The nomination and award selection is done by a panel of distinguished professionals from the industry. The awards were introduced by t ...
* 2006: Winner,
Best Film
This is a list of categories of awards commonly awarded through organizations that bestow film awards, including those presented by various film, festivals, and people's awards.
Best Actor/Best Actress
*See Best Actor#Film awards, Best Actress#F ...
for ''
Lage Raho Munnabhai
''Lage Raho Munna Bhai'' (; ) is a 2006 Indian Hindi-language satirical comedy drama film written, edited and directed by Rajkumar Hirani, who co-wrote the screenplay with Abhijat Joshi and produced by Vidhu Vinod Chopra. It is the follow-up t ...
''
* 2006: ''Nominated'',
Best Screenplay for ''
Lage Raho Munna Bhai
''Lage Raho Munna Bhai'' (; ) is a 2006 Indian Hindi-language satirical comedy drama film written, edited and directed by Rajkumar Hirani, who co-wrote the screenplay with Abhijat Joshi and produced by Vidhu Vinod Chopra. It is the follow-up ...
''
* 2009: Winner, Star Screen Award for Best Film, ''3 Idiots''
* 2009: Winner, Star Screen Award for Best Screenplay, ''3 Idiots''
Personal life
He has been married thrice, his first wife was actress
Renu Saluja
Renu Saluja (5 July 1952 – 16 August 2000) was an Indian film editor. In the 1980s and 1990s, she worked with both mainstream and art house Hindi cinema directors, including Govind Nihalani, Vidhu Vinod Chopra, Sudhir Mishra, Shekhar Kapoor, ...
(m. 1976–1983), he was then married to filmmaker Shabnam Sukhdev (m. 1985–1989), the daughter of S. Sukhdev (1933–1979) a well known director of documentaries for the
Films Division of India
The Films Division of India (FDI), commonly referred as Films Division, was established in 1948 following the independence of India. It was the first state film production and distribution unit, under the Ministry of Information and Broadcastin ...
. He has a daughter with Shabnam, Ishaa Chopra, who works as a dance instructor and choreographer.
He is currently married to Indian film critic
Anupama Chopra
Anupama Chopra () is an Indian author, journalist, film critic and director of the MAMI Mumbai Film Festival. She is also the founder and editor of the digital platform Film Companion, which offers a curated look at cinema. She has written sev ...
, whom he married on 1 June 1990. He has two children with her, a son, Agni and a daughter,
Zuni Chopra.
References
External links
*
Official Websiteat
Rediff
Rediff.com (stylized as ''rediff.com'') is an Indian news, information, entertainment and shopping web portal. It was founded in 1996. It is headquartered in Mumbai, with offices in Bangalore, New Delhi and New York City.
, it had more than 300 e ...
{{DEFAULTSORT:Chopra, Vidhu Vinod
Living people
1952 births
Film directors from Jammu and Kashmir
Hindi-language film directors
People from Srinagar
Telstra People's Choice Award winners
Film and Television Institute of India alumni
Film producers from Jammu and Kashmir
Indian documentary filmmakers
Indian male screenwriters
Filmfare Awards winners
Punjabi people
Hindi film editors
Film editors from Jammu and Kashmir
Best Original Screenplay National Film Award winners
Producers who won the Best Popular Film Providing Wholesome Entertainment National Film Award
Producers who won the Best Debut Feature Film of a Director National Film Award