Rahul Dholakia

Rahul Dholakia
Dholakia in 2012
Born	Mumbai, India
Occupation(s)	Film director, producer, screenwriter
Years active	2002–present
Website	Rahul Dholakia

Rahul Dholakia is an Indian film director-producer-screenwriter, most known for his National Film Award-winning film, Parzania (Heaven & Hell On Earth) (2005),^[1][2] prior to which he also made documentaries like Teenage Parents and New York Taxi Drivers.

Early life and education

Born in Mumbai, to Raksha and Parry Dholakia, an advertising professional, Rahul also has an elder sister Moha. After completing his schooling from Campion School, Mumbai and Jamnabai Narsee School in Mumbai, he went on to do his Bachelors in Science from St. Xavier's College, Mumbai. He is an Indian.^[3]

Career

While still in college he started working in his father's advertising agency, Mora Ava. He also worked with producer Babla Sen, for project for Channel 4, London, as production assistant and 10 documentaries later became a producer himself. Later, he started working with Everest Advertising in Mumbai as an assistant, growing up to become a producer.

Thereafter, he moved to New York City in 1990, where, he did his master's degree in filmmaking from the New York Institute of Technology, and has been in India and Corona, California, United States ever since.^[4][5] After making a couple of documentaries and commercials, and even running TV station, called 'TV Asia' for a while,^[6] he made his feature film debut with the Hindi-English bilingual, Kehtaa Hai Dil Baar Baar (2002), starring Paresh Rawal and Jimmy Shergill. His next film based on a real-life story of 10-year-old Parsi boy, Azhar Mody, known as Parzan, who disappeared during the 28 February 2002 Gulbarg Society massacre, which took place during communal riots in Gujarat in 2002, Parzania won him the National Film Award for 2006.^[2]

After shooting in Kashmir, his next film Lamhaa, where Sanjay Dutt and Bipasha Basu played the leads in a story based in Kashmir, was released to mixed reviews.^[7][8] he has directed the film Raees, which was released on 25 January 2017 and received positive reviews. Dholakia's upcoming film Agni is set to release in 2024.^[9]

Filmography

Year	Film	Director	Producer	Writer	Notes
2002	Kehtaa Hai Dil Baar Baar	Yes	No	No
2007	Parzania[10]	Yes	Yes	Yes	National Film Award for Best Direction
2008	Mumbai Cutting	Yes	No	Yes	segment "Bombay Mumbai Same Shit"
2010	Lamhaa	Yes	No	Yes
2017	Raees	Yes	No	Yes
2025	Vijay Salaskar	Yes	Yes	Yes

Awards and honours

Year	Award	Film	Category	Result	Ref
2007	National Film Awards	Parzania	Best Director	Won	[11]
2008	Filmfare Awards		Best Story	Nominated	[12]
			Best Screenplay	Nominated
	Screen Awards		Ramnath Goenka Memorial Award	Won	[13]

References

1. And the award goes to... The Times of India, 9 August 2007
2. In India, Showing Sectarian Pain to Eyes That Are Closed The New York Times, 20 February 2007.
3. Jhunjhunwala, Jhunjhunwala (16 January 2017). "Actors want to play gangsters because of the characters' sex appeal: Rahul Dholakia". Mint. Retrieved 8 February 2018.
4. "About IMI - Faculty". Institute of Moving Images. Retrieved 24 March 2015.
5. director-turned-distributor Rahul Dholakia^{[dead link]} The Indian Express.
6. Parzania director: 2006's National award winner Rediff.com, 30 August 2006.
7. 'Lamha' Interview^{[permanent dead link]} entertainment.in.msn.com.
8. Kazmi, Nikhat (15 July 2010). "Lamhaa: Movie Review". Times of India.
9. "Farhan Akhtar, Ritesh Sidhwani Update Excel Slate, 'Don 3,' 'Jee Le Zara' (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety.
10. Rahul Dholakia The New York Times.
11. "53rd National Film Awards – 2006". Directorate of Film Festivals. p. 30. Archived from the original on 15 August 2016. Retrieved 1 December 2012.
12. "53rd Filmfare Awards". IMDb. Retrieved 13 March 2022.
13. 'Rahul Dholakia' Wins Ramnath Goenka Memorial Award IndiaGlitz, 11 January 2008.

External links

• http://www.rahuldholakia.com/
• Rahul Dholakia at IMDb
• Rahul Dholakia at Allmovie.