Neeraj Pandey | |
---|---|
Born | Howrah, West Bengal, India | 17 December 1973
Occupations | |
Years active | 2008-present |
Notable work |
Neeraj Pandey (born 17 December 1973) is an Indian film director, producer and screenwriter who works in Hindi cinema. Pandey made his directoral debut in A Wednesday! , which was largely praised by critics and which later became a recipient of many accolades. [1] His second film was Special 26 (2013), which was followed by Baby (2015), both of them received critical acclaim and became commercial success. He served as a producer in Rustom (2016). Pandey returned to directing in 2016 helming the biopic movie M.S. Dhoni: The Untold Story based on Indian cricketer M.S.Dhoni which fared well critically and commercially. Besides being a filmmaker, Pandey is also a writer and has written a novel named Ghalib Danger in 2013. [2]
In 2016, his production house Friday Filmworks entered into a joint venture with Reliance Entertainment and formed Plan C Studios.
He has also directed a Web Short 'Ouch' with Manoj Bajpayee and Pooja Chopra which is nominated for Filmfare Short Film Award 2017. He was the co-producer of the film Toilet- Ek Prem Katha . His next release was Aiyaary which starred Sidharth Malhotra and Manoj Bajpayee and was both critically and commercially unsuccessful, becoming his first failed venture.
In March 2020, Neeraj Pandey presented and directed his first web series Special Ops on Hotstar . [3] [4] [5] The eight episode series, the first production of Friday Storytellers, the digital arm of Friday Filmworks, was extremely well received by the critics. He is currently working on his next feature film Chanakya . [6]
Pandey was born and brought up in Howrah, West Bengal. [7] His father is originally from Arrah, Bihar but worked for Bosch in Calcutta. [8] He did his schooling from St. Aloysius High School, Howrah (till Class X) and then St. Thomas' High School, Dasnagar, Howrah (Class XI and XII). [9] Pandey moved to New Delhi, where he graduated in English from Sri Aurobindo College, a constituent of University of New Delhi. [10]
Pandey started his career working with Delhi-based 'Legacy Entertainment', a company started by the Dalmia Group to make television programs.
In 2000, he moved to Mumbai, where a friend got a grant to produce a documentary, and offered him the project. [11] Soon he started making documentaries and ad films. Thereafter, he formed a production company 'Quarter Inch Productions', along with his colleague Shital Bhatia which specialized in making television programmes, ad films and documentaries. In 2008, Neeraj and Shital Bhatia formed a production house named Friday Filmworks, which was the original producer of his debut film, A Wednesday!. The film's script was inspired by the 11 July 2006 Mumbai train bombings. [12]
In 2011, Pandey produced the film Taryanche Bait .
After directing his first movie in 2008, Neeraj Pandey directed his second movie Special 26 in 2013, starring Akshay Kumar and Kajal Aggrawal. Neeraj is very fluent in Bengali and also produced a Bengali film, The Royal Bengal Tiger in 2014. In the same year he also produced the film Total Siyappa starring Yami Gautam and Ali Zafar. In 2015, he directed the movie Baby starring Akshay Kumar. [13] In 2016, he produced the film Saat Uchakkey which was a comedy film starring Manoj Bajpayee, Kay Kay Menon, Anupam Kher, Vijay Raaz, Anu Kapoor, Jatin Sarna and Aditi Sharma.
In 2016, Anil Ambani-owned Reliance Entertainment announced a joint venture with Pandey and Friday Filmworks to form Plan C studios for production of films. Akshay Kumar starrer Rustom was the first film for the company. It is an equal partnership joint venture between the two.[ citation needed ] [14]
Pandey has also written his debut novel titled Ghalib Danger which was launched on 6 December 2013. The novel is soon going to be made into a motion picture.[ citation needed ] [15]
In 2017, having co-produced Toilet- Ek Prem Katha , a satirical take on the open defecation scenario in India went on to become a critically acclaimed movie.
He has also directed the short film Ouch with Manoj Bajpayee and Pooja Chopra which is nominated for the Filmfare Short Film Award 2017.
His next release was Aiyaary which starred Sidharth Malhotra and Manoj Bajpayee and was both critically and commercially flop emerging as his first failure. This film was written, directed by himself and produced under the banner of Plan C Studios, the film was an action thriller on the Indian borders. Malhotra and Bajpayee played the lead characters Jai Bakshi and Abhay Singh respectively. Naseeruddin Shah reunited with the filmmaker after their first venture, A Wednesday!. The film was based on true incidents, a theme seen in several of his previous films as well.
In March 2020, Neeraj Pandey presented and directed his first web series Special Ops on Disney+ Hotstar . The eight episode series, the first production of Friday Storytellers, the digital arm of Friday Filmworks, was extremely well received by the critics. Neeraj Pandey also directed and produced web series such as 'Special OPS 1.5: The Himmat Story,' 'Khakee: The Bihar Chapter,' and 'The Freelancer' under Friday Storytellers. Currently he is working on Special OPS 2 and Khakee: The Bengal Chapter, which are soon to be released in 2024.
In 2022, Neeraj Pandey co-founded Boot Room Sports Media LLP with his business partners Shital Bhatia and Sudip Tewari. The label has produced Kaun Pravin Tambe? and Bandon Mein Tha Dum!.[ citation needed ]
Currently, he is also working on his next film, a full length feature film, Auron Mein Kahan Dum Tha. [16] This will be his first association with Ajay Devgn. [6]
Year | Title | Director | Producer | Writer |
---|---|---|---|---|
2008 | A Wednesday | |||
2011 | Taryanche Bait | |||
2013 | Special 26 | |||
2014 | The Royal Bengal Tiger | |||
Total Siyapaa | ||||
2015 | Baby | |||
2016 | Rustom | |||
M.S. Dhoni: The Untold Story | ||||
Saat Uchakkey | ||||
2017 | Naam Shabana | |||
Toilet: Ek Prem Katha | ||||
2018 | Aiyaary | |||
Missing | ||||
2022 | Operation Romeo | |||
Vikram Vedha | ||||
2023 | Chengiz | |||
2024 | Auron Mein Kahan Dum Tha | |||
Sikandar Ka Muqaddar † |
Year | Title | Creator | Director | Producer | Writer |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
2020–present | Special OPS | ||||
2021 | Special Ops 1.5: The Himmat Story | ||||
2022 | Khakee: The Bihar Chapter | ||||
2023 | The Freelancer | ||||
2024 | Khakee: The Bengal Chapter | ||||
2024 | Special OPS 2 | ||||
Year | Title | Platform | Creator | Director | Producer | Writer |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2021 | Secrets of Sinauli | Discovery+ | ||||
2022 | Secrets of the Koh-i-noor | Discovery+ | ||||
Bandon Mein Tha Dum! | Jio Cinema | |||||
2024 | Secrets of The Buddha Relics | Discovery+ |
Film | Award Name | Year | Status | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
A Wednesday! | National Film Awards - Best First Film of a Director | 2008 | Won | [17] |
54th Filmfare Awards - Best Director | 2009 | Nominated | ||
Star Screen Awards - Best Film, Best Story, Best Director, Most Promising Debut Director | Won | |||
Star Screen Awards - Best Screenplay, Best Dialogue | Nominated | |||
IIFA Awards - Best Story. Best Dialogue | Won | |||
Rustom | Zee Cine Awards - Best Film | 2017 | Nominated | |
Stardust Awards - Best Film of the Year | Nominated | |||
Special OPS [18] | Filmfare OTT Awards - Best Director | 2020 | Nominated |
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A Wednesday! is a 2008 Indian Hindi-language action thriller film written and directed by Neeraj Pandey and produced by Ronnie Screwvala, Anjum Rizvi and Shital Bhatia under UTV Motion Pictures and Friday Filmworks. The film stars Naseeruddin Shah and Anupam Kher, and is set between 2 pm and 6 pm on a Wednesday. The film depicts a confrontation between a police commissioner and an anonymous caller who threatens to detonate bombs throughout Mumbai if four terrorists are not freed from police custody.
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Special 26 is a 2013 Indian Hindi-language period heist thriller film written and directed by Neeraj Pandey. Based on the 1987 Opera House heist, the plot follows a team of criminals, who pose as CBI officers and conduct raids, robbing politicians and businessmen of their black money. With the real CBI on their trail, they decide to pull off their biggest heist yet. The film also stars Jimmy Sheirgill, Kajal Aggarwal, Rajesh Sharma, Divya Dutta and Kishor Kadam.
Friday Filmworks is an Indian film production house founded by film director Neeraj Pandey and producer Shital Bhatia in 2008.
Ghalib Danger is a 2013 novel by Neeraj Pandey, who is best known for writing and directing the films A Wednesday! and Special 26.
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Plan C Studios is an Indian motion picture production company founded as an alliance between Anil Ambani’s Reliance Entertainment and Neeraj Pandey and Shital Bhatia’s Friday Filmworks. It is the result of a 50:50 joint venture between the two production houses.
Shital Bhatia is an Indian film producer and co-founder of Friday Filmworks, best known for his movies like A Wednesday! (2008), Special 26 (2013), Baby (2015), M.S. Dhoni: The Untold Story (2016), Rustom (2016) and Toilet: Ek Prem Katha (2017).
Aiyaary is a 2018 Indian Hindi-language action thriller film written and directed by Neeraj Pandey. Produced by Shital Bhatia, Dhaval Gada & Motion Picture Capital and distributed by Reliance Entertainment, Plan C Studios, Friday Filmworks & Pen India Limited. The film features Sidharth Malhotra, Manoj Bajpayee, Rakul Preet Singh, Pooja Chopra, Adil Hussain, Kumud Mishra, Naseeruddin Shah and Anupam Kher. Inspired by the Adarsh Housing society scam, the film's narrative centers around the relation between a colonel and his protege that gets affected when the latter becomes disillusioned upon overhearing a conversation and goes rogue with sensitive data related to his covert organization, prompting the colonel to race against time and hunt him down.
Special Ops is an Indian Hindi-language action espionage thriller series for Hotstar Specials created and directed by Neeraj Pandey, with Shivam Nair serving the credits for co-direction. Pandey also produced the series under his Friday Storytellers, a division of his production house, for providing content to the digital medium. It stars Kay Kay Menon as Himmat Singh, a member of Research and Analysis Wing, forms a team of five agents, in order to track down a person, who is the mastermind of the terror attacks which took place in India.
Special Ops 1.5: The Himmat Story is a Hindi action thriller series created and directed by Neeraj Pandey for Disney+ Hotstar. The series is set inside the Special Ops Universe and stars Kay Kay Menon as Himmat Singh. The series premiered on 12 November 2021.
Operation Romeo is a 2022 Indian Hindi-language romantic thriller film directed by Shashant Shah. It is an official remake of the 2019 Malayalam film Ishq. This film is produced by Shital Bhatia and Neeraj Pandey under the banner of Friday Filmworks and Plan C Studios, the film stars Sidhant Gupta and Vedika Pinto. The supporting cast includes Sharad Kelkar, Bhumika Chawla and Kishor Kadam.
The Freelancer is an Indian Hindi-language action thriller television series created and written by Neeraj Pandey, with Bhav Dhulia serving as the director after Khakee: The Bihar Chapter (2022). Produced by Shital Bhatia under the banner of Friday Storytellers, the series features Mohit Raina, Anupam Kher and Kashmira Pardeshi. It premiered on Disney+ Hotstar on 1 September 2023.
Ouch is a 2016 Hindi dark comedy short film directed by Neeraj Pandey, starring Manoj Bajpayee and former miss India Pooja Chopra.
Deepak Kingrani is an Indian screenwriter from Bhatapara, Chhattisgarh. He is best known for writing the Hotstar Specials espionage thriller series, Special OPS, and writing the courtroom drama, Sirf Ek Bandaa Kafi Hai.
Sikandar Ka Muqaddar is an upcoming Indian Hindi-language thriller film, written and directed by Neeraj Pandey, and starring Jimmy Sheirgill, Avinash Tiwary and Tamannaah Bhatia. The film is produced by Shital Bhatia under the banner of Friday Storytellers. It is scheduled release on Netflix on 29 November 2024.