Vikas Bahl is an Indian filmmaker, best known for directing and scripting the comedy drama film ''

Queen Queen or QUEEN may refer to: Monarchy * Queen regnant, a female monarch of a Kingdom ** List of queens regnant * Queen consort, the wife of a reigning king * Queen dowager, the widow of a king * Queen mother, a queen dowager who is the mother ...

'' (2013).

Early life and education

Bahl was born and brought up in

Lajpat Nagar Lajpat Nagar is a residential and commercial neighborhood in the South East Delhi district of Delhi. It was named in honor of Lala Lajpat Rai and is today most known for the Lajpat Nagar Central Market. This area is not to be confused with the ...

in Delhi, and his father worked with the Indian Oil Corporation. After his schooling from

Sardar Patel Vidyalaya Sardar Patel Vidyalaya (SPV) is an education school located in Lodhi Estate, New Delhi, India. The school is named after a leader of the Indian independence movement, and independent India's first Home Minister and Deputy Prime Minister, Sardar ...

and graduation from

Ramjas College Ramjas College is a college of the University of Delhi located in North Campus of the university in New Delhi, India.The college admits both undergraduates and post-graduates, and awards degrees under the purview of the University of Delhi. ...

, Delhi, he moved to Mumbai to pursue an MBA degree from SVKM's NMIMS.

Career

Bahl started his career with advertising, working for several years in client servicing, before joining UTV Spotboy. In 2011, he started

Phantom Films Phantom Films was an Indian film production and distribution company established by Anurag Kashyap, director Vikramaditya Motwane, producer Madhu Mantena and the former head of UTV Spotboy, Vikas Bahl. It was founded in 2011 by all four of ...

, along with Anurag Kashyap,

Vikramaditya Motwane Vikramaditya Motwane (born 6 December 1976) is an Indian film director, producer and screenwriter who works in Hindi cinema. He is known for films like '' Udaan'' (2010), ''Lootera'' (2013) and '' AK vs AK'' (2020). His directorial debut '' ...

and Madhu Mantena. Over the years as a director he has worked with film directors such as Vishal Bhardwaj, Anurag Kashyap, Rajkumar Gupta and Vikramaditya Motwane. In 2011, Bahl made his directorial debut under UTV Spotboy alongside co-director

Nitesh Tiwari Nitesh Tiwari is an Indian film director, screenwriter, and lyricist known for his works in Bollywood. He debuted as a co-director in '' Chillar Party'' (2011) which won the National Film Award for Best Children's Film for that year. He then he ...

with '' Chillar Party'' and won the

National Film Award for Best Screenplay The National Film Award for Best Screenplay is one of the categories in the National Film Awards presented annually by the Directorate of Film Festivals, the organisation set up by Ministry of Information and Broadcasting in India. It is one o ...

, with

Vijay Maurya Vijay Maurya is an Indian actor, writer and director who works in Hindi films and theatre. He is best known for his work in the 2019 Hindi musical film ''Gully Boy.'' Early life Maurya was born and raised in Mumbai, Maharashtra. His brother, ...

. The film also 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 ...

. In 2014 came his independent directorial venture ''

'', starring

Kangana Ranaut Kangna Amardeep Ranaut (; born 23 March 1987) is an Indian actress and filmmaker who works in Hindi films. Known for her work in female-led films, she is the recipient of several awards, including four National Film Awards and five Filmfar ...

, which received critical and popular acclaim. Bahl's 2015 film '' Shaandar'', a

destination wedding A wedding is a ceremony where two people are united in marriage. Wedding traditions and customs vary greatly between cultures, ethnic groups, religions, countries, and social classes. Most wedding ceremonies involve an exchange of marriage ...

film, was a flop and received neutral to negative responses. In October 2014, he directed a short film ''Going Home'', featuring

Alia Bhatt Alia Bhatt (; born 15 March 1993) is a British actress of Indian descent who predominantly works in Hindi films. She has received List of awards and nominations received by Alia Bhatt, several accolades including four Filmfare Awards. One of I ...

, on women's safety, which went viral on social media. Bahl next directed a biopic on mathematician and

IIT-JEE The Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) is an engineering entrance assessment conducted for admission to various engineering colleges in India. It is constituted by two different examinations: the JEE-Main and the JEE-Advanced. The Joint Seat ...

coach

Anand Kumar Anand Kumar (born 1 January 1973) is an Indian Mathematics educator best known for his Super 30 programme, which he started in Patna, Bihar in 2002, known for coaching underprivileged students for JEE- Main & JEE-Advanced, the entrance exam ...

called

Super 30 Super 30 is an Indian educational program started in Patna, India under the banner of Ramanujan School of Mathematics. It was founded by Anand Kumar, a mathematics teacher, and Abhayanand, the former D.G.P of Bihar. The program selects 30 tale ...

, which featured

Hrithik Roshan Hrithik Roshan (; born 10 January 1974) is an Indian actor who works in Hindi films. He has portrayed a variety of characters and is known for his dancing skills. One of the highest-paid actors in India, he has won many awards, including six ...

as Kumar. Bahl is now reported to helm the first instalment of

Tiger Shroff Jai Hemant "Tiger" Shroff (born 2 March 1990) is an Indian actor and martial artist known for his work in the Indian cinema. He is best known for his Baaghi action franchise, ''Heropanti'' (2014) and ''War'' (''2019''). He has featured in For ...

's recently announced action franchise, titled ''Ganapath - Part 1'', which is scheduled to release in January 2022 and will be produced by

Jackky Bhagnani Jackky Bhagnani (born 25 December 1984) is an Indian actor, film producer and entrepreneur. Early life Bhagnani was born in Kolkata, West Bengal in India to a Sindhi family. After schooling, he got a degree in commerce from H.R. College of Comm ...

under

Pooja Entertainment Pooja Entertainment is an Indian production and distribution company established by Vashu Bhagnani in 1995. It is located in Mumbai, Maharastra, India. The company is known for Movies such as Coolie no.1, Biwi no.1, Rangrezz, Shaadi no.1 ...

, as well as Bahl's new production house, Good Co.

Sexual harassment allegations

In October 2018, in an interview with '' Huffington Post'' India, a former employee of

accused Bahl of sexually harassing her on the set of the 2014 film

. Later, the film's lead actress

, in support of the former employee, also accused Bahl of sexual misconduct. Following this, Nayani Dixit, Ranaut's co-star in the movie, levelled similar accusations against Bahl. As a result, Phantom Films announced its dissolution on 5 October 2018, largely in response to the sexual assault allegation against Bahl by another former Phantom employee, which was reported in 2015. The other three founders, Kashyap, Motwane, and Mantena, all issued statements on Twitter confirming the company's disbanding and moving on to independent projects. After, Phantom Films subsequently disbanded, and founders Anurag Kashyap and

made formal statements against Bahl and his sexual misdemeanors. Bahl, in turn, sent them legal notices, citing defamation of character.

Filmography

Films

Television

Awards and nominations

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Bahl, Vikas 1971 births Living people Film producers from Delhi Hindi-language film directors Indian male screenwriters Hindi film producers Film directors from Delhi Best Original Screenplay National Film Award winners Directors who won the Best Children's Film National Film Award Screen Awards winners Ramjas College alumni