Nagesh Kukunoor (born 30 March 1967) is an Indian film director, producer, screenwriter and actor known for his works predominantly 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 ...

, and few Telugu language films. He is known for his works in 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 Hyderab ...

'' (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 ...

'' (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"). A ...

'' (2014), and '' Dhanak'' (2016). Kukunoor has received seven International Awards, and two

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 his works. In 2003, he directed ''

3 Deewarein 3 Deewarein () is a 2003 Indian Hindi-language crime film written, directed and co-starred by Nagesh Kukunoor. Juhi Chawla, Jackie Shroff, Naseeruddin Shah, Gulshan Grover and Sujata Mehta form the rest of the cast. The film narrates the story ...

'', 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 p ...

. 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 ...

. After having been screened at the Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles, 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 ...

, 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 The Filmfare Award for Best Story is given by ''Filmfare'' as part of its annual Filmfare Awards for Hindi films, to recognise a writer who wrote a film's story. List of winners 1950s * 1955 Mukhram Sharma – '' Aulad'' * 1956 Rajinder Sing ...

. In 2006, he garnered the

National Film Award for Best Film on Other Social Issues The National Film Award for Best Film on Other Social Issues is one of the category in the National Film Awards presented annually by the Directorate of Film Festivals, the organization set up by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting in In ...

, for directing ''

''. In 2014, he received the Mercedes Benz Audience Award, for Best Narrative at the Palm Springs International Film Festival for ''

''. In 2015 he directed the road movie, '' Dhanak'', 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 fes ...

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 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 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, in the northern part of Southern Indi ...

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 ...

, 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 city, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georgia, Fulton County, the mos ...

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 ...

. 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 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 498,7 ...

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

'' (2003) was premiered at the

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

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 ...

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 Jaikishan Kakubhai Shroff (born 1 February 1957), popularly known as Jackie Shroff, is an Indian actor and former model. He has been in the Bollywood industry for over four decades, and , has appeared in over 220 films in 13 languages namely Hi ...

. In 2006, Nagesh Kukunoor wrote and directed '' Dor'', a drama film featuring Ayesha Takia,

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 ''Dhoo ...

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 Ruk ...

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

, 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 65th Berlin International Film Festival, his feature '' Dhanak'' 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

;

* Best Film on Other Social Issues – ''

'' – 2006 * Best Children's Film – '' Dhanak'' – 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 Palm Springs International Film Festival – ''

'' – 2014 * '' Dhanak'' (2015) ** The Grand Prix, for the best feature-length film – at the 65th Berlin International Film Festival ** 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 ...

– ''

'' – 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