- Milan Luthria
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Milan Luthria 
Milan LuthriaBorn India Occupation Film director Years active 1999 – present Milan Luthria is an Indian film director of Hindi films. He is the son of noted hindi film director Raj Khosla. He is most known for his films, Taxi Number 9211 (2006) and Once Upon a Time in Mumbai (2010).
Contents
Career
Starting his career as an assistant director to Dharmesh Darshan, for Lootere in 1993, Luthria made his directorial debut in 1999 with the action thriller film Kachche Dhaage.[1] The film, released under the Tips Films banner, starred Ajay Devgan as a smuggler on the Rajastan-Kashmir, Pakistan border and Saif Ali Khan, on the run from the Border Security Force, the Central Bureau of Investigation, and the border mafia.[2] Luthria shot the film in Rajasthan and Switzerland. The film received a mixed reception. Although the photography of the film was praised with the scenic backdrop of the Rajasthani desert and the green valley and snow capped peaks of Switzerland, it was seen as a weaker film than that of Soldier, a film with similar themes which had been released the year previously.[2]
In 2002, Luthria once again worked with Devgan when he directed Chori Chori, also starring Rani Mukerji and Sonali Bendre. The film was initially scheduled for release in 2002 but during the filming the producer died and its release was delayed a year, eventually released on 1 August 2003.[3][4] The film received a mixed reception. Taran Adarsh, although remarking that Luthria "handled a few sequences with flourish", believed that despite an interesting storyline, the script was fundamentally flawed, "hackneyed" as he put it, believing that interest in it fizzled out by the second half of the film, becoming "sluggish" with its progression.[5] However, Sukanya Verma described the film as "heartwarming", remarking that "like most feel good romances, Chori Chori is about letting the heart rule the head."[4]
In 2004, Luthria directed the war drama Deewaar, from a script written by Anurag Kashyap. The film, starring Bollywood veteran Amitabh Bachchan, Akshaye Khanna and Sanjay Dutt is set during the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971. It features Bachchan, a major who is captured by the Pakistani army, along with over 30 soldiers during the war and only freed 33 years later by his son, who he has not seen since he was a child, on a rescue mission. The film was generally panned by the critics although was a commercial success, going straight to number 1 in the Indian film charts in the week of release.[6]Film4 wrote of the film, "A Bollywood thriller with plenty of explosive action, yet which fails to come to life. Plotting is familiar, characters bland and a predictable storyline fails to excite or engage."[7]
in February 2006, Luthria released Taxi Number 9211.[8] Working with producer Ramesh Sippy, with a soundtrack composed by soundtrack were composed by new age music composing duo, Vishal Dadlani and Shekhar Ravjiani, Luthria shot the film in 2005. The film, a comedy thriller, features John Abraham and Nana Patekar (as the taxi driver) involved in a cat and mouse game during a two hour taxi trip, with financial implications. The film was major commercial and critical success, becoming the 16th highest grossing film in India in 2006.[9] Film critics were impressed with the originality of the script and the unpredictability and innovative devices used in the script, as the men progress through the metropolis.[10]
In 2007, Luthria directed the cricket comedy Hattrick, featuring Paresh Rawal, Rimi Sen, Kunal Kapoor, Nana Patekar and Danny Denzongpa. In 2010 he directed Once Upon a Time in Mumbai. The film again stars Ajay Devgan, but this time he plays character called Sultan Mirza who is Messiah of the poor, fear of the rich and authority of the powerful, the one whom people turned to when there was nowhere else to look. The silent ruler of the streets of Bombay, he did everything that was wrong according to the law, but right according to him i.e. Indian version of Robin Hood. The film is produced by Balaji Telefilms and Popcorn Entertainment and was released on 30 July 2010. According to Luthria, "My film for Ekta will take a penetrating look at gangsterism in the 1980s. I’m quite enamoured by the period, quite taken up by the period and its flamboyance. There was a lot of action and inner life in some of the films during that period. I think the last film that looked at gangsterism from inside was Anurag Basu’s ‘Gangster - A Love Story".[11].
In 2011, Milan is now directing Vidya balan in The Dirty Picture.
Filmography
- Kachche Dhaage (1999)
- Chori Chori (2003)
- Deewaar (2004)
- Taxi Number 9211 (2006)
- Hattrick (2007)
- Once Upon a Time in Mumbai (2010)
- The Dirty Picture (2011)
References
- ^ India today international, Volume 1, Issues 1-8. Living Media International Ltd.. 2002. p. 24.
- ^ a b Verma, Suparn (February 19, 1999). "Brothers in arms". Rediff.com. http://www.rediff.com/movies/1999/feb/19kach.htm. Retrieved May 29, 2010.
- ^ Verve: the spirit of today's woman, Volume 10. Indian and Eastern Engineer Ltd.. 2002. p. 75.
- ^ a b "Chori Chori is heartwarming". August 1, 2003. http://www.rediff.com/movies/2003/aug/01chori.htm. Retrieved May 29, 2010.
- ^ Adarsh, Taran (August 3, 2003). "Chori Chori". IndiaFM. http://www.bollywoodhungama.com/movies/review/6966/index.html. Retrieved May 29, 2010.
- ^ Adarsh, Taran (July 1, 2004). "Deewar falls, Lakshya off the mark". The Times of India. http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/760529.cms?prtpage=1. Retrieved May 29, 2010.
- ^ "Deewar Review". Film4. http://www.film4.com/reviews/2004/deewaar. Retrieved May 29, 2010.
- ^ "Taxi 9 2 11 premiere in Dubai". BBC Shropshire. http://www.bbc.co.uk/shropshire/content/image_galleries/taxi_dubai_gallery.shtml. Retrieved May 29, 2010.
- ^ "Box Office 2006". Box Office India. http://www.boxofficeindia.com/showProd.php?itemCat=212&catName=MjAwNg. Retrieved May 29, 2010.
- ^ Adarsh, Taran (February 24, 2006). "Taxi Number 9211". IndiaFM. http://www.bollywoodhungama.com/movies/review/12455/index.html. Retrieved May 29, 2010.
- ^ "Ekta Kapoor gives Milan Luthria an ultimatum". Thaindian News. May 15, 2008. http://www.thaindian.com/newsportal/entertainment/ekta-kapoor-gives-milan-luthria-an-ultimatum_10048839.html. Retrieved May 29, 2010.
External links
Categories:- Indian film directors
- Living people
- Hindi-language film directors
- People from Mumbai
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