Meet the director who studied at IIT Bombay, quit a high-paying job to join Bollywood, and made India’s highest-grossing films
Film director Nitesh Tiwari is an IIT Bombay alumnus. He left his job as chief creative officer at advertising agency Leo Burnett to make films. He directed India’s highest-grossing film, Dangal, starring Aamir Khan. Tiwari’s next film is the much-awaited ‘Ramayana’ starring Ranbir Kapoor and Yash.
India’s highest-grossing film was the 2016 biographical sports drama “Dangal.” The film stars Aamir Khan, Fatima Sana Sheikh and Sanya Malhotra as real-life wrestlers Mahavir Singh Phogat, Geeta Phogat and Babita Kumar. Dangal collected Rs 387 million net in India and grossed Rs 2.07 billion worldwide, of which around Rs 120 billion came from China, making it the highest grossing Indian film ever. did.
But did you know that this film was directed by an IIT graduate? Yes, Dangal director Nitesh Tiwari studied metallurgy and materials science and engineering at IIT Bombay. Tiwari became interested in advertising when he was working on a project for advertising agency RK Swamy BBDO in engineering college and after graduation he joined advertising agency Draftfcb Ulka in 1996 as a copywriter. He worked at Lowe Lintas and Leo Burnett, where he even became chief creative officer. However, Tiwari quit his well-paid job at Leo Burnett to become a filmmaker.
In 2011, Nitesh made his directorial debut with Chillar Party, whose star cast mostly consisted of several child artistes. He co-directed this comedy film with Vikas Bahl, which won both the National Film Award for Best Children’s Film and the National Film Award for Best Original Screenplay. His next release was the 2014 supernatural comedy Boosas Returns, which featured cameos from Amitabh Bachchan and Shah Rukh Khan. Two years later, Tiwari joined hands with Aamir Khan for Dangal.
In 2019, the filmmaker co-starred with late actors Sushant Singh Rajput and Shraddha Kapoor in the youth drama Chhichhore, which won the National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Hindi. Tiwari’s next film is Bawar, starring Varun Dhawan and Janhvi Kapoor, which was released direct to digital on Prime Video India last year. The romantic drama was called “insensitive” and “tone-deaf” due to its references to Adolf Hitler and the Holocaust.
After facing a minor setback with ‘Bawal’, Tiwari is all set to make a grand comeback with ‘Ramayana’, one of the most awaited films in Indian cinema. The planned trilogy will reportedly feature Ranbir Kapoor, Yash, Sai Pallavi and Sunny Deol as Lord Rama, Lord Ravana, Sita and Lord Hanuman respectively. According to reports, the mythological drama will be announced next month on the occasion of Ram Navami on April 17, and the first part will be released on Diwali in 2025.
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(Tag Translation) Nitesh Tiwari
