Dibakar Banerjee | |
|---|---|
 Banerjee at the screening ofGangs of Wasseypur in 2012 | |
| Born | (1969-06-21)21 June 1969 (age 55) New Delhi, India |
| Alma mater | National Institute of Design |
| Occupations |
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| Years active | 2006–present |
Dibakar Banerjee (born 21 June 1969) is an Indian film director, screenwriter, producer and advertisement-filmmaker known for his work in Hindi films. Banerjee started his career in advertising, being a feature filmmaker, he still continues to be an ad-filmmaker.[1] He also runs his own film production company, Dibakar Banerjee Productions.[2]
As a filmmaker, he is known forKhosla Ka Ghosla (2006),Oye Lucky! Lucky Oye! (2008), both of which wonNational Film Awards.[3][4] His next film was the experimentalLove Sex Aur Dhokha (2010). It was followed by the political dramaShanghai (2012) andBombay Talkies (2013), which was made as a celebration of the centenary year ofIndian cinema. In 2015, he directedDetective Byomkesh Bakshy!, a film based on the fictional characterByomkesh Bakshi.
Dibakar Banerjee was born and brought up at New Rohtak Road nearKarol Bagh, inWest Delhi, and studied at Bal Bharati Public School, Delhi.[5][6][7] After finishing his schooling, he joined theNational Institute of Design, atAhmedabad to study visual communications and graphic design, but left it two and a half years later. Back in New Delhi, he worked briefly with audio-visual filmmaker Sam Mathews.[7][8]
He is married to Richa Puranesh, who has an FMCG marketing background, and the couple lived in Delhi for many years. After the success ofKhosla Ka Ghosla, they moved to Mumbai and live inParel, Mumbai with their two daughters.[7]
Banerjee joined advertising as a copywriter first with Shems Combit,TBWA Anthem, and then he joined Contract Advertising, Delhi, where he worked withPradeep Sarkar, who was then a creative director at the agency. ScreenwriterJaideep Sahni was also one of his colleagues, who later penned Khosla Ka Ghosla's story, screenplay, dialogues and lyrics.[9] In 1997, he left Contract to launch his own company named 'Watermark', with two ex- NID friends, to develop promos forChannel V andMTV and Ad films for major brands.
With friend and ex-colleague Jaideep Sahni he conceptualised his debut film "about Delhi, based in Delhi",Khosla Ka Ghosla (2006) starringAnupam Kher andBoman Irani, shot in locations in and around New Delhi. The film was a critical and commercial success and won theNational Film Award.[3][10] The film brought Banerjee 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 Mumbai.[11][12]
Banerjee then co-wrote and directed his second feature,Oye Lucky! Lucky Oye! (2008), which was also set in his hometown Delhi. The film starringAbhay Deol,Neetu Chandra andParesh Rawal, premiered at theInternational Film Festival of India, Goa, along withMuseum of Modern Art, New York.[5][13] It was released in the2008 Mumbai attacks weekend to positive reviews and went on to become a sleeper hit.[14][15] Rachel Saltz ofThe New York Times described the film as "a breezy mix of satire and realism".[16]Oye Lucky! Lucky Oye! won theNational Film Award forBest Popular Film.[17]
In 2010, Banerjee directed India's first film shot entirely on Digital Camera, and to be presented in thefound footage style,Love Sex Aur Dhokha. The film was shown through Handycams, CCTV cameras and mobile cameras.[18] Dealing with Issues likehonour killings,MMS scandals, andsting operations,[19] the film was released on 19 March 2010 to positive reception and strong box office results.[20]Rajeev Masand of CNN-IBN rated it 4 out of 5, stating " Dibakar Banerjee's Love, Sex aur Dhoka is the most riveting Hindi film in recent memory. [...] You will be shocked, you will be startled, but walking out of the theatre, you know you have just seen what is possibly the most important Hindi film sinceSatya andDil Chahta Hai. Not only does it redefine the concept of "realistic cinema", it opens a world of possibilities in terms of how you can shoot films now."[21]
Banerjee's next directorial venture wasShanghai (2012), a political drama involving an assassination of a social activist. Starring Abhay Deol,Kalki Koechlin andEmraan Hashmi, the film was based on the 1967 Greek novelZ written byVassilis Vassilikos.Shanghai premiered at the2012 Toronto International Film Festival and released on 8 June 2012.[22][23]
In 2013, Banerjee adaptedSatyajit Ray's short story- Patol Babu, Film Star, starringNawazuddin Siddiqui forBombay Talkies. It was the part of the anthology film made by four directors Including -Anurag Kashyap,Zoya Akhtar andKaran Johar. The film was made as a celebration of 100 years of Indian cinema.[24][25]Bombay Talkies under-performed at the box office,[26] but was well received by critics; specially Banerjee's story.Anupama Chopra in her review mentioned: "Dibakar narrates his story with such tenderness and Siddiqui is so good that by the end, I was wiping away tears".[27]
Next Banerjee went on to adaptByomkesh Bakshi, created by theBengali writerSharadindu Bandyopadhyay, asDetective Byomkesh Bakshy! (2015).[28] The film starringSushant Singh Rajput as the titular character was produced jointly byYash Raj Films and his own film production company Dibakar Banerjee Productions. Set in the Kolkata of 1940s,[29] the film was released on 3 April 2015 and met with mixed to positive reviews from critics.[30][31]
Banerjee co-producedLove Sex Aur Dhokha's co-writerKanu Behl first film as a director,Titli, with Yash Raj Films. The film was selected to take part in theUn Certain Regard section of the2014 Cannes Film Festival.[32][33] It was released in India on 30 October 2015, to positive reviews.[34] The same month he returned the National Award forKhosla ka Ghosla along with 12 other filmmakers, in protest against theMinistry of Information and Broadcasting refusing to roll backFTII's appointment ofGajendra Chauhan.[35]
In 2018, Banerjee again collaborated with Kashyap, Akhtar and Johar for the anthology filmLust Stories. Based on the theme of lust, it had stories told through female perspective.[36] Banerjee's story hadManisha Koirala andSanjay Kapoor. The film was released onNetflix on 15 June 2018.[37]
| Year | Film | Director | Producer | Screenwriter |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 | Khosla Ka Ghosla | Yes | ||
| 2008 | Oye Lucky! Lucky Oye! | Yes | Yes | |
| 2010 | Love Sex Aur Dhokha | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| 2012 | Shanghai | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| 2013 | Bombay Talkies | Yes | Yes | |
| 2015 | Detective Byomkesh Bakshy! | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| 2015 | Titli | Yes | ||
| 2018 | Lust Stories | Yes | Yes | |
| 2020 | Ghost Stories | Yes | Yes | |
| 2021 | Sandeep Aur Pinky Faraar | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| 2024 | Love Sex Aur Dhokha 2 | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| International | |
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| National | |
| Artists | |
