Nikkhil Advani | |
|---|---|
 Nikkhil in 2020 | |
| Born | Nikhil Suresh Advani (1971-04-28)28 April 1971 (age 53) Bombay,Maharashtra, India |
| Occupations |
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| Years active | 1996–present |
| Spouse | Suparna Gupta |
| Children | 1 |
Nikkhil Suresh Advani (born 28 April 1971) is an Indian director, producer and screenwriter who works inHindi cinema.[1] He along with his sister, Monisha Advani and Madhu Bhojwani, co-founded the entertainment companyEmmay Entertainment.[2]
Advani was born and raised inBombay,Maharashtra, India, into aSindhi Hindu family. His father is a retired professional who worked in senior management positions with multinationals in the chemical andpharmaceuticals industry and his mother is anadvertising professional. His father is Sindhi whilst his mother isMaharashtrian.
He studied at Green Lawns High School,Breach Candy,[3] and later did hisMasters inchemistry atSt. Xavier's College, Mumbai.[4] He married his college friend Suparna Gupta with whom he has a daughter Keya.[5] Advani is the grand nephew of late producer N. N. Sippy and second cousin of actorTusshar Kapoor and producerEkta Kapoor.
His wife, Suparna Gupta is a child rights activist. Winner of the Ashoka Fellowship For Leading Social Entrepreneurship (2009) she graduated as an Edward S. Mason Fellow from Harvard Kennedy School of Government (2012) and co-founded a non-profit organization, Aangan which works on child trafficking, child marriage, and child labor.
Nikkhil’s film career spans over twenty five years. He began assisting art-house film directors, Saeed Mirza, Kundan Shah, andSudhir Mishra. Subsequently, he worked underDharma Productions, the production house of the lateYash Johar, father ofKaran Johar andYash Raj Films.
Advani started his career by assistingSaeed andAziz Mirza in directing Naya Nukkad (1994), and his very first outing as a co-screenplay writer forIss Raat Ki Subah Nahin (1996) was critically appreciated. Then, he was an assistant director and assisted Karan Johar in his first two directorial projects,Kuch Kuch Hota Hai (1998) andKabhi Khushi Kabhi Gham (2001). Advani also had an acting guest appearance in Kuch Kuch Hota Hai, along withFarah Khan during the Neelam Show sequence. Similarly, he assistedAditya Chopra onMohabbatein (2000).
Advani made his directorial debut with the critically acclaimed filmKal Ho Naa Ho (2003), is aromanticcomedy-drama film starringJaya Bachchan,Shah Rukh Khan,Saif Ali Khan, andPreity Zinta, withSushma Seth,Reema Lagoo,Lillete Dubey, andDelnaaz Paul in supporting roles. The film received positive critical feedback and was commercially successful, and was the highest-grossing Indian film of the year. It explores several themes, such as the depiction ofnon-resident Indians,inter-caste marriage, terminal illness, and homosexuality through innuendo andhomosocial bonding. It won twoNational Film Awards, eightFilmfare Awards, thirteenInternational Indian Film Academy Awards, sixProducers Guild Film Awards, threeScreen Awards, and twoZee Cine Awards in 2004.
Advani directed and co-wrote the screenplay forSalaam-e-Ishq (2007) an Indianromantic drama film directed by Advani, it featured anensemble cast ofSalman Khan,Priyanka Chopra,Anil Kapoor,Juhi Chawla,Akshaye Khanna,Ayesha Takia,John Abraham,Vidya Balan,Govinda,Shannon Esra,Sohail Khan andIsha Koppikar in lead roles. The film weaves 6 love stories together thanks to the relationships of the people within it. The film was Advani's second directorial venture afterKal Ho Naa Ho (2003) and the unofficial remake of Hollywood filmLove Actually (2003).
In 2009, Advani directedChandni Chowk to China, anaction comedy film that starsAkshay Kumar andDeepika Padukone in the lead roles withMithun Chakraborty andHong Kong action cinema actorGordon Liu. The film revolves around a vegetable cutter fromChandni Chowk inDelhi who finds himself on an adventure in China after the residents of an oppressed village deem him to be thereincarnation of a slain Chinese revolutionary. The film was distributed in the U.S. and co-produced byWarner Bros. It isWarner Bros. Pictures first Hindi film. Released on 16 January 2009, it was the third highest-grossing film of the year at the Indian Box Office.
Following this Advani producedJaane Kahan Se Aayi Hai (2010), aBollywoodscience fictionromance film directed byMilap Zaveri. It starsRiteish Deshmukh,Jacqueline Fernandez,Sonal Sehgal, and Ruslaan Mumtaz in lead roles.
In 2006, Advani directed and wrote the story and screenplayPatiala House (2011) starringRishi Kapoor,Dimple Kapadia,Akshay Kumar andAnushka Sharma in the title roles.
Advani is a National Award-winning filmmaker whose children's filmDelhi Safari (2012) was India's first 3-D Stereoscopic animation feature. It advocated for wildlife conservation and is currently being developed into a full-fledged franchise in Hollywood.
After this release, Advani partnered with Monisha Advani and Madhu Bhojwani to formEmmay Entertainment, a motion picture production company. The first feature film produced by Emmay Entertainment wasD-Day (2013), a film directed by Advani, in association with DAR Motion Pictures, which was released on 19 July 2013, which was received with positive reviews along with a few awards.
Advani's recent directorial work has been produced under theEmmay Entertainment banner, founded by Monisha Advani, Madhu Bhojwani, and himself. The production house is one of Mumbai’s leading production companies creating innovative and edgy content for both feature films and Web and is currently working withDisney,Fox Star India,Netflix,Amazon Prime, andSony.
Headlined by Emmay Entertainment, the production house released films likeAirlift (2016), starringAkshay Kumar andNimrat Kaur, based on true-life events of the evacuation of 170,000 Indians from Kuwait during the first Gulf War. Airlift is produced byT-Series, Cape of Good,Emmay Entertainment, and Abundantia Entertainment. The film was their first to cross 1 billion on the box office and also their first to receive aNational Award.[6]
Advani then teamed up withSiddharth Roy Kapur under the banner ofUTV Motion Pictures to produce & directKatti Batti (2015) a romantic comedy-drama film starringImran Khan andKangana Ranaut in the lead roles. For his next film, Advani directedHero (2015) aromanticaction film co-written by Umesh Bist and himself, a remake ofSubhash Ghai's 1983 blockbuster filmof the same name. The film starred debutantesSooraj Pancholi andAthiya Shetty,
Advani’s latest release wasBatla House (2019), anaction thriller film written byRitesh Shah.[7] Inspired by theBatla House encounter case that took place on 19 September 2008, the film starsJohn Abraham as a police officer named Sanjeev Kumar Yadav, the film follows who played a crucial role in the encounter. The story showcases the encounter and in its aftermath, Sanjeev's struggle to catch the fugitives and prove the encounter wasn't a fake one while dealing with nationwide hatred andpost traumatic stress disorder. The film was theatrically released in India on 15 August 2019 duringIndependence Day weekend. It became commercially successful at the box office.
In addition to his directorial work, he has produced several films by other directors under the Emmay banner. LikeAirlift (2016),Lucknow Central (2017),Satyameva Jayate (2018),Baazaar (2018),Marjaavaan (2019),Indoo Ki Jawani (2020),Bell Bottom (2021),Satyameva Jayate 2 (2021).
In 2020, Advani produced and co-wrote his first web series,Hasmukh, forNetflix. It was directed by Nikhil Gonsalves and written bySuparn Verma,Vir Das, Nikkhil Advani, Amogh Ranadive, andNeeraj Pandey. Headlined byVir Das as ‘Hasmukh’ andRanvir Shorey as ‘Jimmy’ the show also consisted of Amrita Bagchi,Mantra,Ravi Kishan,Manoj Pahwa, Joanna Robaczewska,Raza Murad, among others. Adavni'sEmmay Entertainment created the show in association withApplause Entertainment.
On 26 November 2020, Advani announced his second web series,Mumbai Diaries 26/11, based on26/11, forAmazon Prime Video. It was directed by both Nikkhil Advani and Nikhil Gonsalves and starred a huge cast ofMohit Raina,Tina Desai,Konkona Sen Sharma,Shreya Dhanwanthary,Prakash Belawadi,Mishal Raheja,Satyajeet Dubey,Natasha Bharadwaj, andMrunmayee Deshpande amongst others. It released on 9 September 2021 to critical acclaim and became the most-watched web series on Prime Video.
Emmay produced the short film,Guddu Engineer (2016) for the Zeal for Unity in 2016. Targeted at Indo-Pak unity, it was based onRumi’s poem, "Your task is not to seek for love, but merely to seek and find all the barriers within yourself that you have built against it". Directed by Advani,Guddu Engineer it won awards at the 5th Mumbai Shorts International Film Festival.
Amazon Prime Video unveiledUnpaused – Apartment (2020), an anthology of five Hindi short films filmed during the pandemic and featuring stories about new beginnings. Amongst which one such short film is Apartment directed by Advani, starringRicha Chadha,Sumeet Vyas, andIshwak Singh. The plot focuses on the fall and ultimate rise of Chadha's character as she comes to terms with her husband's indiscretions with the help of a friendly neighbor.
A TV Film called Shaadi Vaadi And All That, an hour-long film for MTV, produced by Advani is a love triangle with a twist. The show is Kaashvi Nair's directorial debut who worked with Advani as an assistant director.
Advani has directed a finite TV SeriesP.O.W.- Bandi Yuddh Ke forStar Plus.[8] The show is an official adaption of an Israeli TV seriesHatufim. The series was premiered on 7 November 2016. SeveralBollywood celebrities have praised the trailer. The show was premiered at the MAMI film fest followed by a talk withGideon Raff.
In his spare time, Advani enjoys working with Bittu Sahgal and is a member of the Board of Sanctuary Nature Foundation, which advocatesclimate change, biodiversity, nature conservation and save the tiger's cause.[9] He is also actively involved in the restoration of Classic Films working along with Shiven Dungarpur and theFilm Heritage Foundation. He also collaborates with Srila Chaterjee and Mahesh Mathai, curating the art house cinema for Baro Film Night. An avid Soccer fan, he works with Sarah White, Head of Partnership Marketing – APAC, City Football Marketing, to advocate and promote Manchester City Football Club in Mumbai.
| Year | Title | Functioned as | Notes | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Director | Writer | Producer | ||||
| 1996 | Is Raat Ki Subah Nahin | No | Yes | No | ||
| 1998 | Kuch Kuch Hota Hai | Associate | No | No | ||
| 2000 | Mohabbatein | Associate | No | No | ||
| 2001 | Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham... | Associate | No | No | ||
| 2003 | Kal Ho Naa Ho | Yes | No | No | ||
| 2007 | Salaam-e-Ishq | Yes | Yes | No | ||
| 2009 | Chandni Chowk to China | Yes | No | No | ||
| 2010 | Jaane Kahan Se Aayi Hai | No | No | Yes | ||
| 2011 | Patiala House | Yes | Yes | No | ||
| 2012 | Delhi Safari | Yes | Yes | No | ||
| 2013 | D-Day | Yes | Yes | No | ||
| 2014 | Shaadi Vaadi & All That | No | No | Yes | Television film | |
| 2015 | Hero | Yes | Yes | No | ||
| Katti Batti | Yes | Yes | No | |||
| 2016 | Airlift | No | No | Yes | ||
| Guddu Engiineer | Yes | No | No | Short film | ||
| 2017 | Lucknow Central | No | No | Yes | ||
| 2018 | Satyameva Jayate | No | No | Yes | ||
| Baazaar | No | No | Yes | |||
| 2019 | Batla House | Yes | No | No | ||
| Marjaavaan | No | No | Yes | |||
| 2020 | Indoo Ki Jawani | No | No | Yes | ||
| Unpaused | Yes | No | No | Segment: "Apartment" | ||
| 2021 | Sardar Ka Grandson | No | No | Yes | ||
| Satyameva Jayate 2 | No | No | Yes | |||
| Bell Bottom | No | No | Yes | |||
| 2023 | Mrs Chatterjee Vs Norway | No | No | Yes | ||
| Dry Day | No | No | Yes | |||
| 2024 | Vedaa | Yes | No | No | ||
| 2026 | Satyameva Jayate 3 | No | No | Yes | ||
| 2026 | Delhi Safari 2 | Yes | Yes | Yes | A Sequel ofDelhi Safari (2012) | |
| Year | Title | Functioned as | Notes | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Creator | Director | Writer | Producer | |||
| 2016-2017 | P.O.W. - Bandi Yuddh Ke | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | |
| 2017 | The Mini Truck | No | No | No | Yes | Reality show |
| 2020 | Hasmukh | Yes | No | No | Yes | |
| 2021–2023 | Mumbai Diaries 26/11 | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Co-directed with Nikhil Gonsalves |
| 2021 | The Empire | Yes | No | No | No | |
| 2022 | Kaun Banegi Shikharwati | No | No | No | Yes | |
| 2022-2023 | Rocket Boys | Yes | No | No | No | |
| 2023 | Adhura | No | No | No | Yes | |
| 2024-present | Freedom at Midnight | Yes | Yes | No | No | |
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1998 | Kuch Kuch Hota Hai | Guest on The Neelam Show | Uncredited cameo |
| International | |
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| National | |
| Other | |
