Vidhu Vinod Chopra | |
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.jpg) Chopra in 2023 | |
| Born | (1952-09-05)5 September 1952 (age 73) |
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| Children | 3, includingZuni Chopra andAgni Chopra |
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| Website | vinodchoprafilms |
Vidhu Vinod Chopra (born 5 September 1952) is an Indian film director, producer, screenwriter and editor. He is the recipient of several accolades, including fiveNational Film Awards and tenFilmfare Awards. He is known for directing films such as the crime dramaParinda (1989), the patriotic romantic drama1942: A Love Story (1994), the action dramaMission Kashmir (2000) and the biographical drama12th Fail (2023). He is also known for producing theMunna Bhai film series,3 Idiots (2009),PK (2014), andSanju (2018) under his bannerVinod Chopra Films.
Chopra was born and brought up inSrinagar,Jammu and Kashmir, India to aPunjabi Hindu family.[1] His father was D. N. Chopra and veteran filmmakerRamanand Sagar was his half-brother.[2] His brother, Vir K. Chopra, was a scholar of Indian politics and worked as a producer.[3] His parents were originally fromPeshawar,British India.[4] His mother was Shanti Devi Mahalakshmi, who left Kashmir, due to theKashmir conflict in 1990. He dedicated his filmShikara to his mother, which was based on the same.[5] He studied film direction at theFilm and Television Institute of India in Pune.[6]
Chopra's first student short film,Murder at Monkey Hill (1976), won the National Film Award for Best Short Experimental Film and the Guru Dutt Memorial Award for Best Student Film.[7]
This was followed by a short documentary highlighting the plight of India's destitute children, calledAn Encounter with Faces (1976), which was nominated for theAcademy Award for Best Documentary Short Film in 1979. It also won the Grand Prix at theTampere Film Festival in 1980.[8]
Sazaye Maut, his first full-length feature film, was an adaptation of his previous short,Murder at Monkey Hill. It starredNaseeruddin Shah,Radha Saluja andDilip Dhawan.Vanraj Bhatia composed the music for the film.
He founded his own production company,Vinod Chopra Films, in 1985. Since then, the company has gone on to produce major Bollywood films, and is currently one of the biggest and most successful film production houses in India.
ForKhamosh, his next directorial venture, Chopra assembled a cast featuring some of the finest acting talent in India.Shabana Azmi,Amol Palekar,Naseeruddin Shah andPankaj Kapoor, among others, appeared in prominent roles. An inventive metathriller set inKashmir,Khamosh remains one of the notable Indian films in thegenre.
His next directorial, the crime dramaParinda (1989), proved to be a landmark film inHindi cinema. It expanded the orbit of the crime drama and the vocabulary of images used inHindi films while garnering widespread critical acclaim and numerous awards. Several modern Indian filmmakers have expressed their admiration for and drawn inspiration from Chopra's film.
Chopra's next film,1942: A Love Story (1994), was a patriotic romantic drama set during the decline of theBritish Raj. WithAnil Kapoor andManisha Koirala in lead roles, it was also the last film to have its music composed by the legendaryR. D. Burman. Burman received aFilmfare Award for Best Music Director and the film won a total of nine awards at the40th Filmfare Awards. His following two films,Kareeb andMission Kashmir, were also critically and commercially successful.
Chopra then produced 5 films with filmmakerRajkumar Hirani for 5 films:Munna Bhai MBBS,Lage Raho Munna Bhai,3 Idiots,PK, andSanju. The first 3, which Chopra also co wrote, each won theNational Film Award for Best Popular Film Providing Wholesome Entertainment, andLage Raho Munna Bhai also won theNational Film Award for Best Screenplay. They were all also very commercially successful, with3 Idiots andPK becoming the highest grossing Indian films of all time in India and worldwide, also breaking into East Asian markets.[9] He also wrote and producedParineeta,Ferrari Ki Sawaari, andWazir.
However, Chopra's next directorials after 2000 were not as successful. His 2007 filmEklavya: The Royal Guard was a financial disappointment. He also made his Hollywood directorial debut in 2015 with the filmBroken Horses, a remake of his own film Parinda. However, it received aRotten Tomatoes rating of 22%,[10] and was a commercial disaster, only making Rs. 60 lakh in its opening weekend.[11] His 2020 releaseShikara was a romantic drama about theExodus of Kashmiri Hindus. It became his lowest-grossing film since Khamosh.
Chopra then saw a return to success with his 2023 release, the biopic12th Fail. Despite a low opening day box office, due to great reviews and word of mouth, it became a financial hit, grossing 70 crores on a 20 crore budget.[12] It then won 5Filmfare Awards, including BestFilm,Director,Screenplay, andEditing for Chopra.
| Year | Film | Credit as | Notes | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Director | Writer | Producer | |||
| 1976 | Murder at Monkey Hill | Yes | Yes | No | Diploma film; also Actor |
| 1978 | An Encounter with Faces | Yes | No | No | Documentary film, nominated for the Oscars. |
| 1981 | Sazaye Maut | Yes | Yes | Yes | |
| 1983 | Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro | No | No | Production Controller | also Actor |
| 1986 | Khamosh | Yes | Yes | Yes | |
| 1989 | Parinda | Yes | Yes | Yes | |
| 1994 | 1942: A Love Story | Yes | Yes | Yes | |
| 1998 | Kareeb | Yes | Yes | Yes | |
| 2000 | Mission Kashmir | Yes | Yes | Yes | |
| 2003 | Munna Bhai MBBS | No | Yes | Yes | |
| 2005 | Parineeta | No | Yes | Yes | Supervising Editor |
| 2006 | Lage Raho Munna Bhai | No | Yes | Yes | Associate writer; lyricist |
| 2007 | Eklavya: The Royal Guard | Yes | Yes | Yes | |
| 2009 | 3 Idiots | No | Yes | Yes | Screenplay Associate |
| 2012 | Ferrari Ki Sawaari | No | Yes | Yes | |
| 2014 | PK | No | No | Yes | |
| 2015 | Broken Horses | Yes | Yes | Yes | English Film |
| 2016 | Wazir | No | Yes | Yes | also Editor |
| 2018 | Sanju | No | No | Yes | |
| 2019 | Ek Ladki Ko Dekha Toh Aisa Laga | No | No | Yes | |
| 2020 | Shikara | Yes | Yes | Yes | co-writers: Rahul Pandita and Abhijat Joshi |
| 2023 | 12th Fail | Yes | Yes | Yes | Also Editor; Singer, "Restart" and "Restart" (Rap 'N' Folk) |
| 2024 | Zero Se Restart | No | No | Yes | Documentary |
| Title | Year | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Yeh Jo Hai Zindagi (DD National) | 1984 | Himself | Episode 32: "Dieting" |
| Year | Name | Co Writer(s) | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | Unscripted: Conversation on life and cinema | Abhijat Joshi | [13] |
| Year | Category | Nominated work | Result | Ref. | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| National Film Awards | |||||
| 2003 | Best Popular Film Providing Wholesome Entertainment | Munna Bhai MBBS | Won | ||
| 2006 | Best Popular Film Providing Wholesome Entertainment | Lage Raho Munna Bhai | Won | ||
| Best Screenplay | Won | ||||
| 2009 | Best Popular Film Providing Wholesome Entertainment | 3 Idiots | Won | ||
| 2023 | Best Feature Film | 12th Fail | Won | ||
| Filmfare Awards | |||||
| 1990 | Best Film | Parinda | Nominated | ||
| Best Director | Won | ||||
| 1995 | Best Film | 1942: A Love Story | Nominated | ||
| Best Director | Nominated | ||||
| 2001 | Best Film | Mission Kashmir | Nominated | ||
| Best Director | Nominated | ||||
| 2004 | Best Film | Munna Bhai MBBS | Nominated | ||
| Best Screenplay | Won | ||||
| 2007 | Best Film | Lage Raho Munna Bhai | Nominated | ||
| Best Story | Won | ||||
| Best Dialogue | Won | ||||
| 2010 | Best Film | 3 Idiots | Won | ||
| Best Screenplay | Won | ||||
| 2014 | Best Film | PK | Nominated | ||
| 2019 | Best Film | Sanju | Nominated | ||
| 2024 | Best Film | 12th Fail | Won | ||
| Best Director | Won | ||||
| Best Film (Critics) | Nominated | ||||
| Best Screenplay | Won | ||||
| Best Dialogue | Nominated | ||||
| Best Editing | Won | ||||
He has been married thrice, his first wife was noted editorRenu Saluja (m. 1976–1983), he was then married to filmmaker Shabnam Sukhdev (m. 1985–1989), the daughter of S. Sukhdev (1933–1979) a well known director of documentaries for theFilms Division of India. He has a daughter with Shabnam, Ishaa Chopra, who works as a dance instructor and choreographer.[14]
He is currently married to Indian film criticAnupama Chopra, whom he married on 1 June 1990.[15] He has two children with her, a son,Agni and a daughter,Zuni Chopra.[16]
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