Shirish Kunder

Shirish Kunder
Shirish Kunder in 2016
Born	(1973-05-24) 24 May 1973 (age 52) [1] Mangalore, Karnataka, India
Occupations	Film director editor screenwriter music composer
Spouse	Farah Khan ​ (m. 2004)​
Children	3

Shirish Kunder (born 24 May 1973) is an Indian filmmaker and film editor. ^[2] After working as an editor for several films, Kunder made his directorial debut with Jaan-E-Mann (2006). He is married to choreographer and film director Farah Khan whom he met while working on her 2004 film Main Hoon Na . ^[3]

Early and personal life

Kunder was born on 24 May 1973 in Mangalore, Karnataka, India. He was brought up in Mumbai. He studied Electronics & Telecommunications Engineering at the SDM College of Engineering and Technology in Dharwad.

Career

Kunder worked as an electronics engineer for Motorola for four years before changing profession. ^[4] He worked as an editor for several films beginning with Champion (2000), before turning to direction with Jaan-E-Mann . The film starred Salman Khan, Akshay Kumar and Preity Zinta, and was released on 20 October 2006. The film was critically acclaimed for its innovative visual narrative style. ^{[5] [6]}

He co-produced his wife's directorial Tees Maar Khan , alongside Twinkle Khanna and Ronnie Screwvala. Kunder had also co-written the film with his brother Ashmith Kunder and composed the title track and film score. ^[7] The film starred Akshay Kumar, Katrina Kaif and Akshaye Khanna, and was released on 24 December 2010. ^[8]

Kunder's second directorial venture was the sci-fi comedy Joker , which he wrote, produced, directed, edited, and score. The film starred Akshay Kumar, Sonakshi Sinha and Shreyas Talpade, and was released on 31 August 2012. ^[9]

Kunder's third directorial venture was an 18-minute short film titled Kriti , a psychological thriller, featuring Manoj Bajpayee, Radhika Apte and Neha Sharma. It was released on YouTube on 22 June 2016. ^[10]

Kunder also wrote the humour column "Shirishly Speaking" for the Indian national daily newspaper DNA between 2016 and 2017. ^[11]

Kunder's fourth directorial was the Netflix Original Mrs. Serial Killer , starring Jacqueline Fernandez, Manoj Bajpayee and Mohit Raina in the main lead roles. It was released on 1 May 2020. ^{[12] [13]}

Personal life

Shirish Kunder and Farah Khan in 2015

On 9 December 2004, Kunder married director and choreographer Farah Khan. She gave birth to their triplets (following an in vitro procedure) son Czar and daughters Diva and Anya, on 11 February 2008 at Mumbai's Jaslok hospital. ^{[14] [15]}

Filmography

Year	Film	Director	Writer	Producer	Note
2006	Jaan-E-Mann	Yes	Yes	No
2010	Tees Maar Khan	No	Yes	Yes
2012	Joker	Yes	Yes	Yes
2016	Kriti	Yes	Yes	No	Short film
2020	Mrs. Serial Killer	Yes	Yes	Yes

Composer

• Jaan-E-Mann (2006)
• Tees Maar Khan (2010) - Also lyricist
• Joker (2012) - Also lyricist
• Kriti (2016)
• Mrs Serial Killer (2020)

Editor

• Champion (2000)
• Yeh Raaste Hain Pyaar Ke (2001)
• Aankhen (2002)
• Koi Mere Dil Se Poochhe (2002)
• Na Tum Jaano Na Hum (2002)
• Armaan (2003)
• Calcutta Mail (2003)
• Chura Liyaa Hai Tumne (2003)
• Matrubhoomi (2003)
• Sandhya (2003)
• Main Hoon Na (2004)
• Uuf Kya Jaadoo Mohabbat Hai (2004)
• Paisa Vasool (2004)
• Socha Na Tha (2005)
• Waqt: The Race Against Time (2005)
• Benaam (2006)
• Jaan-E-Mann (2006)
• Om Shanti Om (2007)
• Tees Maar Khan (2010)
• Joker (2012)
• Kriti (2016)
• Mrs Serial Killer (2020)

Sound editor

• Split Wide Open (1999)

References

1. "16 times birthday boy Shirish Kunder rocked it on Twitter". The Indian Express. 24 May 2016. Archived from the original on 21 February 2018. Retrieved 17 August 2016.
2. Kanetkar, Riddhima. "Meet director who gave super flop films with Salman Khan, Akshay Kumar, has no theatrical releases since 2012, married 8 years older woman, he is Farhan Akhtar's..., name is." DNA India. Retrieved 26 October 2025.
3. "When Farah Khan spoke about marrying Shirish Kunder, who gave her an 'ultimatum': 'Karan Johar did my tarot card reading and said..'". The Indian Express. 26 June 2025. Retrieved 26 October 2025.
4. Joshi, Namrata (2 December 2017). "An outsider will remain an outsider: Shirish Kunder". The Hindu . Retrieved 18 July 2018.
5. "Jaan-E-Mann Review 3.5/5 | Jaan-E-Mann Movie Review | Jaan-E-Mann 2006 Public Review | Film Review". Bollywood Hungama . 20 October 2006.
6. "Movies Ahead of Their Time: Jaan-E-Mann". 18 February 2020.
7. Naval-Shetye, Aakanksha (12 November 2010). "Sonu Nigam sings in 54 voices for one 'Tees Maar Khan' song". DNA. Retrieved 9 August 2020.
8. "From Bollywood: Making a Movie to Cover Up a Crime (Published 2010)". 23 December 2010. Retrieved 26 October 2025.
9. Tuteja, Joginder (17 August 2012). ""A good story can be a mass entertainer" - Shirish Kunder in conversation with Koimoi on 'Joker'". Koimoi. Retrieved 26 October 2025.
10. "Shirish Kunder's short film 'Kriti' garners three million views on YouTube". Firstpost. 18 July 2016. Archived from the original on 21 August 2016. Retrieved 16 August 2016.
11. "DNA Celebrity Column: Shirishly Speaking - Shirish Kunder is the agony uncle you never saw coming". dnaindia.com. 8 July 2017. Archived from the original on 18 July 2017. Retrieved 8 July 2017.
12. "Mrs Serial Killer: Shirish Kunder introduces first look of Jacqueline Fernandez, Manoj Bajpayee from upcoming Netflix thriller-Entertainment News , Firstpost". Firstpost. 15 April 2020. Archived from the original on 26 October 2023. Retrieved 26 October 2025.
13. "Jacqueline to star in Netflix's Mrs Serial Killer, produced by Farah Khan". Hindustan Times. 24 April 2019. Retrieved 26 October 2025.
14. "Farah Khan gives birth to triplets". Hindustan Times . 11 February 2008. Archived from the original on 14 September 2016. Retrieved 16 August 2016.
15. "Farah Khan gives birth to bonny triplets". Zee News . 10 February 2008. Archived from the original on 11 October 2016. Retrieved 16 August 2016.

External links

• Shirish Kunder at IMDb  
• Shirish Kunder at Bollywood Hungama