The Filmfare Best Director Award is one of the main awards presented given by the annual Filmfare Awards to recognise directors working in Hindi cinema. It was first presented in 1954 in the inaugural year.
Dil Chahta Hai is a 2001 Indian Hindi-language comedy-drama film written and directed by Farhan Akhtar in his directoral debut. It was produced by Ritesh Sidhwani and released under the banner of Excel Entertainment, marking their cinematic debut. The film focuses on a significant transition period in the romantic lives of 3 college-graduate friends. It also stars Preity Zinta, Sonali Kulkarni and Dimple Kapadia.
Farhan Akhtar is an Indian actor, filmmaker, writer, dialogue writer, singer and songwriter who works in Hindi films. Born in Mumbai to screenwriters Javed Akhtar and Honey Irani after establishing a production company named Excel Entertainment along with Ritesh Sidhwani in 1999, made his directorial debut with the coming-of-age comedy-drama Dil Chahta Hai (2001) and received widespread critical acclaim for portraying realistic modern Indian youth in the film, which won the National Award for Best Hindi Film and the Filmfare Award for Best Film (Critics). Following this, he directed the cult war film Lakshya (2004) and made his Hollywood debut through the soundtrack of Bride and Prejudice (2004), for which he and sister Zoya Akhtar served as lyricists. Next came the commercially successful Don (2006), his third directorial venture, post which he directed a short film titled Positive (2007) to spread awareness on HIV-AIDS.
Zoya Akhtar is an Indian film director and screenwriter who works in Hindi cinema. Born to Javed Akhtar and Honey Irani, she completed a diploma in filmmaking from NYU and assisted directors Mira Nair, Tony Gerber and Dev Benegal, before becoming an independent writer and director. She is the recipient of several accolades, including four Filmfare Awards. Akhtar, along with Reema Kagti, founded Tiger Baby Films, a film and web studio in October 2015.
Pyaar Ke Side Effects is a 2006 Indian Hindi romantic comedy film. It was produced under the banner of Pritish Nandy communications and was written and directed by first time director Saket Chaudhary. Mallika Sherawat and Rahul Bose played the lead cast. The film is a romantic comedy, and portrays the intricacies of a modern relationship. The film explores the theme of 'commitment phobia' in a captivating manner, an interesting, witty take on men-women relationships. After the success of this movie the lead pair were repeated in another film, Maan Gaye Mughal-e-Azam, however, that film could not match the success of this. A sequel, Shaadi Ke Side Effects, was released in 2014 with Vidya Balan and Farhan Akhtar in the lead roles.
Excel Entertainment is an Indian production company, founded by Ritesh Sidhwani and Farhan Akhtar in Mumbai in 1999, they mainly produce Hindi films.
Dil Dhadakne Do is a 2015 Indian Hindi-language comedy drama film directed by Zoya Akhtar and produced by Ritesh Sidhwani and Farhan Akhtar under the Excel Entertainment banner. The film has an ensemble cast of Anil Kapoor, Priyanka Chopra, Ranveer Singh, Anushka Sharma, Shefali Shah and Farhan Akhtar with a voice-over narration by Aamir Khan. The supporting cast includes Rahul Bose, Zarina Wahab, Vikrant Massey, Pawan Chopra, Parmeet Sethi, Dolly Mattdo and Manoj Pahwa. The film tells the story of the Mehras, a dysfunctional family who invite their family and friends on a 10 day cruise trip to celebrate the parents' 30th wedding anniversary and later reconcile.
Jim Sarbh is an Indian actor known for his work in films and stage productions. He has received several awards including a Filmfare OTT Award, and an IIFA Award with a nomination for an International Emmy Award. Additionally, he has directed and acted in numerous theatre productions in India.
Gully Boy is a 2019 Indian Hindi-language musical drama film directed by Zoya Akhtar, and written by Akhtar and Reema Kagti. The film was produced by Ritesh Sidhwani, Akhtar and Farhan Akhtar under the banners of Tiger Baby Films and Excel Entertainment productions, with American rapper Nas as an executive producer. It stars Ranveer Singh in the title role alongside Alia Bhatt, Kalki Koechlin, Siddhant Chaturvedi, Vijay Varma, Amruta Subhash and Vijay Raaz in supporting roles. Inspired by the lives of Indian street rappers DIVINE and Naezy, the film is a coming-of-age story about aspiring street rapper Murad Ahmed (Singh), from the Dharavi slums of Mumbai.
The Sky Is Pink is a 2019 biographical romantic comedy-drama film written and directed by Shonali Bose and produced by Siddharth Roy Kapur, Ronnie Screwvala and Priyanka Chopra Jonas under their production companies Roy Kapur Films, RSVP Movies, and Purple Pebble Pictures, respectively, in association with Ivanhoe Pictures. A co-production between India and the United States, the film stars Priyanka Chopra Jonas, Farhan Akhtar, Zaira Wasim and Rohit Suresh Saraf, and is based on the true story of Aisha Chaudhary, who suffered from severe combined immunodeficiency and pulmonary fibrosis, and tells the story of her parents Aditi and Niren as they navigate their marriage while dealing with their daughter's illness. The film marked the last film of Wasim's career prior to her retirement from Bollywood.
Made In Heaven is a 2019 Indian romantic drama web series that premiered on Amazon Prime Video on 8 March 2019. Produced by Excel Entertainment, the series chronicles the lives of Tara and Karan, two wedding planners in Delhi running an agency named Made in Heaven. The series is Amazon Video’s fourth original fictional Indian series and stars Sobhita Dhulipala, Arjun Mathur, Jim Sarbh, Shashank Arora, Kalki Koechlin and Shivani Raghuvanshi.
Ankur Rathee is an Indian born-American actor. He is best known for his role in the Amazon Prime Video show Four More Shots Please (2019-2020).
Taish is a 2020 Indian Hindi-language neo-noir action thriller drama film directed by Bejoy Nambiar. The film stars Pulkit Samrat, Jim Sarbh, Harshvardhan Rane, Kriti Kharbanda and Sanjeeda Shaikh. It is produced by Deepak Mukut, Bejoy Nambiar, and Nishant Pitti. The film was released on ZEE5 on 29 October 2020 as a feature film and six episodic series, simultaneously.
Betaal, Betāl or Betāla (transl. "Demon") is an Indian zombie horror streaming television series based in a remote village that serves as the battleground between East India Company Army officer Lt. Col John Lynedoch, his battalion of zombie redcoats from the Indian Rebellion of 1857, and the fictional CIPD force. The series is written and directed by Patrick Graham and co-directed by National Award winner, Nikhil Mahajan. Produced by Blumhouse Productions and Red Chillies Entertainment, the web series stars Vineet Kumar Singh and Aahana Kumra in significant roles. The series received generally negative reviews, with praise for its performances and the use of mythology and zombie, but criticism for its lack of thrill and editing.
Tiger Baby is an Indian film production company owned by film directors Zoya Akhtar and Reema Kagti. The company was founded in October 2015.
The Archies is a 2023 Indian Hindi language teen musical comedy film, directed by Zoya Akhtar, who also produced it with Reema Kagti under Tiger Baby Films, and Sharad Devarajan under Graphic India. This film is a live-action adaptation of "The Archies," a fictional rock band who appeared in the 1960's animated cartoon, The Archie Show. The film stars Agastya Nanda, Khushi Kapoor, Suhana Khan, Vedang Raina, Mihir Ahuja, Aditi "Dot" Saigal and Yuvraj Menda.
Rana Naidu is a 2023 Indian Hindi language action crime drama streaming television series on Netflix directed by Karan Anshuman and Suparn Verma. Produced by Sunder Aaron under the banner Locomotive Global Inc., it is the official adaptation of the 2013 American crime TV series, Ray Donovan. It stars Venkatesh Daggubati, Rana Daggubati, Suchitra Pillai, Gaurav Chopra and Surveen Chawla in lead roles. The series released on 10 March 2023, via Netflix.
Vihaan Samat is an Indian actor who works in Hindi Web Series and Films. He is best known for playing the lead part in the Netflix series Eternally Confused and Eager for Love and a primary part in the Netflix romantic comedy series Mismatched.
Kho Gaye Hum Kahan is a 2023 Indian Hindi-language coming-of-age drama film directed by Arjun Varain Singh, in his directorial debut. Written by Singh, Zoya Akhtar, Reema Kagti and produced by Ritesh Sidhwani, Akhtar, Kagti, and Farhan Akhtar under the banners of Excel Entertainment and Tiger Baby Films, the film stars Siddhant Chaturvedi, Ananya Panday, and Adarsh Gourav as three friends who navigate their goals and relationships against the pressures of social media. Kalki Koechlin, Anya Singh and Rohan Gurbaxani appear in supporting roles.
