- Dibakar Banerjee
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Dibakar Banerjee Born 1969
New DelhiNationality Indian Occupation film director, screenwriter Years active 2006-present Dibakar Banerjee (born 1969) is an Indian film director and screenwriter, who is most known for films, Khosla Ka Ghosla (2006), Oye Lucky! Lucky Oye! (2008), which he also wrote, both of which won National Film Awards.[1][2] He started his career in advertising, and continues as an ad filmmaker, in 2010 he also directed a Coca Cola commercial.[3][4]
In 2010, he made his third film, Love Sex aur Dhokha, where one of the three sub-plots in the movie is loosely based on the infamous 2004 DPS MMS scandal.[5]
Contents
Early life and education
Dibaker Banerjee was born and brought up at New Rohtak Road near Karol Bagh, in West Delhi, and studied at Bal Bharati Public School, Ganga Ram Hospital Marg, Delhi.[6][7][8]
After finishing his schooling he joined the National Institute of Design (NID), Ahmedabad to study visual communications and graphic design, but left it two and a half years later. Back in Delhi, seven months later he started working with corporate audio-visual filmmaker Sam Mathews, as a trainee.[8][9]
Career
He joined advertising as a copywriter first with Shems Combit and then TBWA Anthem, and later he joined Contract Advertising, Delhi, where he worked under Pradeep Sarkar, who was then a creative director at the agency. Screenwriter Jaideep Sahni was also one of his colleagues, who later penned Khosla Ka Ghosla’s story, screenplay, dialogues and lyrics.
In 1997, he left Contract to launch his own company, 'Watermark', with two ex- NID friends, making ad films and promos for Channel V and MTV.
He was contacted for directing a movie "about Delhi, based in Delhi" by producers for Pritish Nandy Films, and shot his debut feature film, Khosla Ka Ghosla (2006) starring Anupam Kher and Boman Irani, in 45 days in locations in and around New Delhi. The film went on to receive not just accolades for him but also a National Film Award amongst others,[1][10] and brought him in the list of new filmmakers who were bringing about a marked shift in Bollywood themes, which typically focuses on stories & characters from in and around Bombay.[11][12]
In 2008, he co-wrote and directed his second feature, also set in his hometown Delhi,[3] Oye Lucky! Lucky Oye!, with Abhay Deol and Paresh Rawal, it was premiered at the IFFI, Goa,[6] and also at MoMA, New York.[13] Commercially it was released in the 26/11 weekend, though it went on to become a sleeper hit;[14] later New York Times described it as "a breezy mix of satire and realism",[15] and the film won three Filmfare Awards.
Dibaker continues to make ad films under his new banner, Freshwater Films. This includes recent films for Promise Toothpaste and a series for Horlicks Malted Milk Drinks Brands.
In 2010, he directed India's first film shot entirely on Digital Camera, Love Sex aur Dhokha (LSD),which won him critical acclaim. A cutting satire on lapsing social mores fueled by materialistic greed and technological media advancement, it continued his ouevre of grappling with the life of anchor-less middle-class & the completely amoral nouveau riche thrown up by India's economic boom of the 90's.
Up coming projects
Shanghai, his next project, is slated to be a political thriller involving an assassination, wherein Abhay Deol, who was the lead in his previous film Oye Lucky!, is set to play one of the three principal characters of the film, a Tamil boy. The film based on a European novel published in the mid-1960s, is set go on the floors late in 2011.[16][17]
Personal life
Dibakar Banerjee is married to Richa Puranesh, who also has an advertising background,[8] and the couple lived in Delhi for many years. After the success of Khosla Ka Ghosla, the couple moved to Bombay and is currently living in Parel, suburb of Mumbai with their 2 year old daughter Ira.
Controversies
In March 2011, Bollywood actress Payal Rohatgi accused Dibakar of asking sexual favors in exchange for a role in his upcoming film Shanghai. However, Dibakar clarified that although he was friends with Payal, he made the comment about her putting on weight in the studio in front of a lot of people and not at her place. He did visit her home, but nothing happened there that can be termed as “sexual favors”.
Filmography
- Khosla Ka Ghosla (2006)
- Oye Lucky! Lucky Oye! (2008)
- Love Sex aur Dhokha (2010)
Awards
- National Film Award
- Zee Cine Award
References
- ^ a b "The first rush". The Telegraph (Kolkata). October 14, 2006. http://www.telegraphindia.com/1061014/asp/weekend/story_6841164.asp.
- ^ Mukherjee, Aparajita (25 January 2010). "Dibakar gets lucky with Oye Lucky....". Times of India. http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/entertainment/bollywood/news-interviews/Dibakar-gets-lucky-with-Oye-Lucky/articleshow/5494926.cms.
- ^ a b "Banerjee ready with second film". The Hindu. October 31, 2008. http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/holnus/009200810310931.htm.
- ^ "Imran Khan makes debut in Coke ad". Indiatimes.com Movies. 11 Feb, 2010. http://movies.indiatimes.com/Gossip/Imran-Khan-makes-debut-in-Coke-ad/articleshow/5560108.cms.
- ^ "Delhi MMS scandal inspires Dibakar's 'Love, Sex Aur Dhoka'". The Indian Express. Dec 29, 2009. http://www.expressindia.com/latest-news/Delhi-MMS-scandal-inspires-Dibakar--s---Love--Sex-Aur-Dhoka--/560969/.
- ^ a b "Out to steal hearts". The Hindu. Nov 29, 2008. http://www.hindu.com/mp/2008/11/29/stories/2008112952970800.htm.
- ^ "CUT TO DELHI". The Indian Express. Feb 15, 2009. http://www.indianexpress.com/news/cut-to-delhi/422666/0.
- ^ a b c "The Quiet Riot: The middle class loves Dibakar Banerjee’s films..". Tehelka. February 20, 2010. http://www.tehelka.com/story_main43.asp?filename=hub200210the_quiet.asp.
- ^ Sahu, Shambhu (23 October 2006). "'You have to create a believable reality'". The Times of India. http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/2235849.cms.
- ^ Taran Adarsh (September 22, 2006). "Movie review: Khosla Ka Ghosla, Rocky". The Indian Express. http://www.expressindia.com/news/fullstory.php?newsid=74272.
- ^ Singh, Madhur (Oct. 11, 2007). "Bollywood Changes Its Tune". TIME. http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1670547,00.html.
- ^ "The old in the new: By subverting popular idioms, a new wave of filmmakers are redefining Hindi cinema". Screen (magazine). Aug 28, 2009. http://www.screenindia.com/news/the-old-in-the-new/507468/.
- ^ Dasgupta, Priyanka (5 June 2009). "I plan to do a political thriller: Dibakar". The Times of India. http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Entertainment/Bollywood/I-plan-to-do-a-political-thriller-Dibakar/articleshow/4617183.cms.
- ^ "Role play". Screen (magazine). Jul 03, 2009. http://www.screenindia.com/news/role-play/484611/.
- ^ Rachel Saltz (June 4, 2009). "The Variety of Life, Real and Imagined, in Movie-Mad India". New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/05/movies/05indi.html.
- ^ "Abhay Deol in Dibakar’s political thriller". Screen (magazine). Dec 25, 2009. http://www.screenindia.com/news/abhay-deol-in-dibakars-political-thriller/557825/.
- ^ "Abhay to learn Tamil". The Times of India. 24 December 2009. http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/entertainment/bollywood/news-interviews/New-Article/articleshow/5372470.cms.
- ^ "National Film Awards: Priyanka gets best actress, 'Antaheen' awarded best film". The Times of India. 23 January 2010. http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/National-Film-Awards-Priyanka-gets-best-actress-Antaheen-awarded-best-film/articleshow/5492275.cms.
External links
- Dibakar Banerjee website
- Dibakar Banerjee at the Internet Movie Database
- Dibakar Banerjee Dibakar Banerjee's Blog on PassionForCinema.com
- Dibaker Banerjee Bollywood Hungama
Categories:- 1969 births
- Living people
- People from Delhi
- Indian film directors
- Hindi-language film directors
- Indian screenwriters
- Advertising directors
- National Film Award winners
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