Girish Kulkarni | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Kulkarni in 2012 | |
| Born | (1977-11-25)25 November 1977 (age 47) |
| Occupations | |
| Known for | Dangal |
| Parent | Lata Kulkarni (Mother) |
| Awards | |
Girish Pandurang Kulkarni (born 25 November 1977) is an Indian actor, writer, and producer. He is a recipient of twoNational Film Awards namely,National Film Award for Best Actor in 2011 for his performance inDeool andNational Film Award for Best Screenplay for the same film. He is well known forMarathi films such asValu,Vihir,Deool,Gabhricha Paus andJaundya Na Balasaheb.[1][2][3] He is known to Hindi audiences for his role in theAamir Khan starrerDangal andAnurag Kashyap's movieUgly. He received acclaim for his portrayal of gangster 'Appa' in the 2017 Marathi crime thrillerFaster Fene oppositeAmey Wagh.[4] He also starred in India's firstNetflix original seriesSacred Games as the Maharashtra home minister Bipin Bhosale character.
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Kulkarni was born on 25 November 1977 in theParanda Taluka ofOsmanabad district and grew up in Pune. He pursued his Diploma in Mechanical Engineering fromPuranmal Lahoti Government Polytechnic Latur. He was involved in local stage plays. After Post Graduation, he worked for private IT companies for a while but soon enough he decided to pursue a career in writing. Kulkarni then joined theMarathi film industry.
Kulkarni began his career as a Cluster Programming Head forRadio Mirchi.[5]
Valu, released in 2008, was a light, enjoyable movie portraying various stereotypical characters found in an Indian village through the simple story of a wild bull which needs to be captured. Inspired by his observations, and many of the characters he writes reflect authentic village people.
In 2009'sGabhricha Paus, he portrayed the tragic story of an Indian farmer from a small village inVidarbha, who is suffering because of sparse rain, evil money lenders and the negligence of the Indian government towards farmers. His second release in 2009,Vihir, was an abstract movie which told the story of an adolescent boy who sets out to understand the meaning of life and death after his cousin and close friend dies. Vihir was screened atBerlin International Film Festival in 2010 and garnered praise and critical appreciation from all over the world.
His following movieDeool, released in 2011, which depicted how politicians manipulate the beliefs of innocent masses in the name of God. The film earned him twoNational Film Awards, for best actor and for best screenplay.
His next writing and acting venture in Marathi cinema, the movieMasala released in 2012 quickly became a family favourite, unveiling new aspects of his talents. In 2013, he made his acting debut in Bollywood with film-makerAnurag Kashyap's thrillerUgly, in which his performance as the inadvertently funny cop brought him the attention and praise of the industry as well as the masses.
Currently,[when?] work on his upcoming films is underway. His next is a Marathi movie titledHighway, starringHuma Qureshi andTisca Chopra, which he has written, acted in, and co-produced. He is also working on a comedy film, with which he will mark his directorial debut, apart from acting in it.[6]
He has acted as the National coach for Geeta Phogat in the acclaimed movieDangal (film). The character had shades of grey and is shown to have issues with on-screen Mahavir Phogat. This was his biggest role in Bollywood, with Dangal earning over $300 million to become the 5th highest grossing non-English film of all time.[7] He was also seen inKaabil as Inspector Nalawade. Later in 2017, Kulkarni portrayed local gangster Appa inFaster Fene, based on the popular book series written byBhaskar Ramachandra Bhagwat.
In 2018, Kulkarni portrayed politician Bipin Bhonsle in the Netflix originalSacred Games, based on the 2006 thriller byVikram Chandra of the same name. With a star studded cast, includingSaif Ali Khan,Nawazuddin Siddiqui, andRadhika Apte, Sacred Games has been lauded by critics as one of the best web series to come out of India.[8][9][10]
| Year | Title | Role | Language | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 | Badha | Bevda | Marathi | |
| 2008 | Valu | Jeevan | ||
| 2009 | Gabhricha Paus | Kisna | ||
| Gandha | Mangesh | |||
| Vihir | Bhavasha Mama | |||
| 2011 | Deool | Keshya | ||
| 2012 | Masala | Revan Patil | [11] | |
| 2013 | Pune 52 | Amar Aapte | ||
| Postcard | Postman | |||
| 2014 | Ugly | Vijay Jadhav | Hindi | |
| 2015 | Highway | Shekhar | Marathi | |
| 2016 | Jaundya Na Balasaheb | Balasaheb | Marathi | |
| Dangal | Wrestling Coach Pramod Kadam | Hindi | ||
| 2017 | Kaabil | Inspector Nalawade | ||
| Faster Fene | Appa | Marathi | ||
| 2018 | Fanney Khan | Karan Kakkad | Hindi | |
| Boyz 2 | Madan Bondwe | Marathi | ||
| 2019 | Firebrand | Madhav Patkar | ||
| Dithee | Govinda | |||
| 2020 | Bhaag Beanie Bhaag | Hindi | ||
| 2022 | Bhirkit | Tatya | Marathi | |
| 2023 | Thankam | Inspector Jayant Sakhalkar | Malayalam | [12][13] |
| Jailer | Bal Singh | Tamil | ||
| Ganapath | Senior | Hindi | [14] | |
| Boyz 4 | Madan Bondwe | Marathi | ||
| Ekda Yeun Tar Bagha | Shravan Dada | [15] | ||
| 2024 | Gaarud | RK | Marathi | [16] |
| Year | Title | Role | Language | Platform | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 | Sacred Games | Bipin Bhosle | Hindi | Netflix | [17] |
| 2021 | Sunflower | S.I. Chetan Tambe | Hindi | ZEE5 | [17] |
| 2022 | Guilty Minds | Bhandari | Hindi | Amazon Prime Video | [18] |
| Year | Film | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 2008 | Valu | Story, screenplay, Dialogues and producer |
| 2009 | Vihir | Story, screenplay, Dialogues |
| 2011 | Deool | Story, screenplay, Dialogues |
| 2012 | Masala | Story, screenplay, Dialogues |
| 2016 | Jaundya Na Balasaheb | Story, screenplay, Dialogues, Direction |
| 2018 | Dhappa | Writer, Co-producer |
