Vivek Agnihotri

Vivek Ranjan Agnihotri is an Indian film director, screenwriter, author and activist. As of 2019, he is a member of the board of India's Central Board of Film Certification.

Vivek Agnihotri
Born
Gwalior, India
EducationIndian Institute of Mass Communication
OccupationDirector, screenwriter, author
Spouse(s)Pallavi Joshi
Children2
Websitevivekagnihotri.com

Agnihotri started his career with advertorial agencies and moved to producing and directing tele-serials. He debuted in Bollywood with the crime thriller Chocolate (2005) and went on to direct multiple films. In 2017, his first short film Mohammad and Urvashi won the Dadasaheb Phalke Award for best actor.

Early life and education

Vivek Agnihotri was born in Gwalior, Madhya Pradesh to Sharda Agnihotri and Dr. Prabhu Dayal Agnihotri.

He studied at the Indian Institute of Mass Communication before enrolling at Harvard Extension School for a Certificate of Special Studies in Administration and Management.[1][2][lower-alpha 1] In interviews with media, he has also mentioned Bhopal School of Social Sciences and Jawaharlal Nehru University among his almae matres.[4][5]

Career

Advertising and television serials

Agnihotri started his career with the advertising agencies Ogilvy and McCann, and served as creative director for campaigns of Gillette and Coca Cola.[1][2] In 1994, he became involved with the directing and production of several television serials; his work was positively received.[1][2][6][7][8]

Filmography

Feature films

Vivek debuted in Bollywood with Chocolate (2005), which is a remake of the 1995 Hollywood neo-noir crime thriller The Usual Suspects. Critical reception of the movie was negative,[9][10] and the film fared poorly at box office.[11][12] Dhan Dhana Dhan Goal is about an all-Asian football team in the United Kingdom that wins trophies while fighting on-field discrimination and the local municipality that wants to sell the team's ground.[13][14] It received poor reception from critics[15] and was a flop.[16][17][18]

Filmography of Agnihotri
Film name Producer Director Screen writer Release
Chocolate Y Y 2005
Dhan Dhana Dhan Goal Y 2007
Hate Story Y 2012
Buddha in a Traffic Jam Y Y Y 2016
Junooniyat Y Y 2016
The Tashkent Files Y Y Y 2019

Hate Story received mixed critical reception[19] and fared moderately at the box office.[20] Buddha in a Traffic Jam featured his wife Pallavi[21] and premiered at Mumbai International Film Festival in 2014[22]; it was received unfavorably by critics[23] and severely under-performed at the box office.[24][25] Junooniyat was also subject to poor reviews[26] and fared similarly.[27]

Zid received poor reviews[28] but did average business at the box office.[29] However, Agnihotri has since claimed that credit for direction and screen-play was wrongly attributed to him, and that he was not involved with the film.[30] The Tashkent Files received mostly mixed reviews from critics but became a sleeper box-office hit.[31][32]Agnihotri was honoured by the Indian Film & Television Directors’ Association for the box-office success of the movie.[33]

As of early 2020, Agnihotri is working on The Kashmir Files, a film chronicling the "unreported exodus of Kashmiri Hindus" which is scheduled to be released on 15 August 2020.[34][35][36]

Short films

Agnihotri's short film Mohammad and Urvashi won a Dadasaheb Phalke Award for best actor in 2017.[37] His film was released the following year and he said he received threats for using the name Mohammad.[38][39]

Film certification

In 2017, Agnihotri was selected as convenor by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting in the preview committee of 48th International Film Festival of India.[40] The same year, he was selected as member on board of India's Central Board of Film Certification.[41][42]

Urban Naxals
Agnihotri signing his best selling book "Urban Naxals"

In 2018, Vivek wrote Urban Naxals: The Making of Buddha in a Traffic Jam,[43][44][45] in which he described individuals in academia and media who were allegedly colluding with Naxalites in a bid to overthrow the Indian government and were thus "invisible enemies of India" as "Urban Naxals".[46][47]

Critics said the term is "vague rhetoric" that is designed to discredit intellectuals who are critical of the establishment and political right and to stifle dissent.[48][49] Reviews in the Organiser and The New Indian Express had praised the work.[47] The Union Minister of Human Resource Development Smriti Irani endorsed Vivek's views of Jadavpur University and Jawaharlal Nehru University for having refused to screen Buddha in a Traffic Jam.[50]

Personal life

Although now based in Mumbai, Vivek is keen traveller and spend considerable time travelling. Painting is his other passion. He is married to the National Film Award winning Indian actor Pallavi Joshi and has two children.[46][2]

Philanthropy

Amidst 2020 coronavirus lockdown in India, Agnihotri conducted online masterclasses to teach new skills regarding film-making without taking any fee.[51] Previously, he also declared that he will sell his paintings to raise money for daily wage workers.[52][53][54]

Controversery

Allegation of sexual harassment

Bollywood actor Tanushree Dutta had accused Vivek of inappropriate behaviour during the filming of Chocolate. He allegedly asked her to strip and dance to give expression cues to her male co-star Irrfan Khan during a close-up shot and retreated only after Irrfan and Suniel Shetty rebuffed him. Vivek had refuted the allegations as "false and frivolous", and filed a defamation case against Dutta.[55][56] Sattyajit Gazmer, the film's assistant director, has also refuted Tanushree's allegations.[57][58][59]

Twitter

Fact checkers have noted Agnihotri to have shared misleading content from his Twitter account.[60][61] In September 2018, Twitter had locked his account until he agreed to delete a tweet abusing Swara Bhaskar. In response to Swara calling out politician P. C. George, who called an alleged rape victim a prostitute, Vivek tweeted "Where is the placard - '#MeTooProstituteNun'?". The tweet was interpreted as calling Swara a prostitute. Agnihotri defended his tweet and said he was making a point about the placarding by liberals at selective instances of alleged perpetrators belonging to the Hindu community.[62]

Notes & References

Notes
  1. CSS was started in 1980 as a certificate course for students with a bachelor's degree but no prior training in business or management.[3]:130 In 2007 it was converted into a full Master of Liberal Arts in Extension Studies (ALM) in management.[3]:200

References
  1. ""Terrorism interests and fascinates me":Vivek Agnihotri". Indian Television Dot Com. 2 January 2002. Retrieved 29 October 2019.
  2. "About". Vivek Agnihotri. Retrieved 3 January 2020.
  3. Shinagel, Michael (2009). "The Gates Unbarred": A History of University Extension at Harvard, 1910-2009. Harvard University Press. ISBN 978-0-674-03616-1.
  4. Nationalist Ravi (16 June 2016). "Risk it with Ravijot - Talk 01, Vivek Agnihotri" – via YouTube.
  5. Modi, Chintan Girish (8 April 2016). "The contrarian Kanhaiya Kumar". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 29 October 2019.
  6. "'How soon the viewer flows into the story determines my success' : Vivek Agnihotri". Indian Television Dot Com. 6 June 2001. Retrieved 3 January 2020.
  7. "The chocolate lawyer". The Hindu. 19 September 2005. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 12 January 2020.
  8. "One... gearing up to two!". The Hindu. 14 November 2005. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 12 January 2020.
  9. "Jaspreet Pandohar review of Chocolate (Deep Dark Secrets) (2005)". BBC. 11 September 2005. Retrieved 4 March 2012.
  10. "Shoplifted and shopworn". The Hindu. 23 September 2005. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 12 January 2020.
  11. "Chocolate - Movie - Box Office India". boxofficeindia.com. Retrieved 23 October 2019.
  12. Dundoo, Sangeetha Devi (28 February 2011). "Business meets Bollywood". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 12 January 2020.
  13. Glynn, Stephen (3 May 2018). The British Football Film. Springer. p. 137. ISBN 9783319777276.
  14. Krämer, Lucia (2 June 2016). Bollywood in Britain: Cinema, Brand, Discursive Complex. Bloomsbury Publishing USA. pp. 74–78. ISBN 9781501307584.
  15. Reviews of Dhan Dhana Dhan Goal:
  16. "Dhan Dhana Dhan Goal - Movie - Box Office India". boxofficeindia.com. Retrieved 23 October 2019.
  17. Business Today. 17. Living Media India Limited. 2008. p. 60.
  18. Dundoo, Sangeetha Devi (28 February 2011). "Business meets Bollywood". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 12 January 2020.
  19. Reviews of Hate Story:
  20. "Hate Story - Movie - Box Office India". boxofficeindia.com. Retrieved 23 October 2019.
  21. "Jamming away". The Hindu. 7 April 2011. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 12 January 2020.
  22. Thakkar, Mehul S. (10 April 2016). "Barjatyas bails Vivek Agnihotri's 'Buddha' out of a 'Jam'". Deccan Chronicle. Retrieved 22 February 2020.
  23. Reviews of Buddha in a Traffic Jam:
  24. "Arunoday Singh: I don't consider myself any less successful right now". Hindustan Times. 26 April 2018. Retrieved 15 March 2019.
  25. "Buddha In A Traffic Jam - Movie - Box Office India". boxofficeindia.com. Retrieved 23 October 2019.
  26. Reviews of Junooniyat:
  27. "Junooniyat - Movie - Box Office India". boxofficeindia.com. Retrieved 23 October 2019.
  28. Reviews of Zid:
  29. "Zid - Movie - Box Office India". boxofficeindia.com. Retrieved 23 October 2019.
  30. Sources which say he disassociated with film:
  31. "Bhakt Vivek Agnihotri's stars". www.telegraphindia.com. Retrieved 23 October 2019.
  32. Reviews of The Tashkent Files:
  33. "Vivek Ranjan Agnihotri honoured by Indian Film & Television Directors' Association". Box Office India. 10 July 2019. Retrieved 11 February 2020.
  34. "Bollywood Turns To Plight Of Kashmiri Pandits, At Last". Outlook India. Retrieved 31 January 2020.
  35. MumbaiAugust 14, Indo Asian News Service; August 14, 2019UPDATED; Ist, 2019 12:47. "Vivek Agnihotri film The Kashmir Files to release in August 2020: Not an easy story to tell". India Today. Retrieved 31 January 2020.CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  36. "After 'The Tashkent Files', Vivek Agnihotri's next titled 'The Kashmir Files' starring Anupam Kher". Free Press Journal. Retrieved 31 January 2020.
  37. IANS (13 May 2017). "Vivek Agnihotri's 'Mohammad and Urvashi' bags Dadasaheb Phalke award (Movie Snippets)". Business Standard India. Retrieved 18 February 2020.
  38. IANS (14 April 2018). "Vivek Agnihotri's 'Mohammad and Urvashi' to release on April 24". Business Standard India. Retrieved 18 February 2020.
  39. "Vivek Agnihotri claims getting threats over 'Mohammad And Urvashi'". The Statesman. 20 April 2018. Retrieved 18 February 2020.
  40. "Forty-Member Panel to Curate Films for IFFI With Agnihotri As Convenor". The Wire. Retrieved 11 February 2020.
  41. "Pahlaj Nihalani replaced by Prasoon Joshi: Vidya Balan, Vivek Agnihotri in CBFC Board; meet all new members". The Financial Express. 11 August 2017. Retrieved 12 February 2020.
  42. Staff, Scroll. "Pahlaj Nihalani removed as chief of Central Board of Film Certification". Scroll.in. Retrieved 11 February 2020.
  43. IANS (15 June 2018). "Not easy to attract eyeballs from government: Vivek Agnihotri". Business Standard India. Retrieved 20 June 2018.
  44. "Vivek Agnihotri's Urban Naxals: The Making of Buddha in a Traffic Jam | Going beyond the Maoist myth". The New Indian Express. Retrieved 30 October 2019.
  45. "Urban Naxals - The Making of Buddha In A Traffic Jam". Indic Today. 30 May 2018. Retrieved 30 October 2019.
  46. "He's making a list of 'Urban Naxals', but who is Vivek Agnihotri?". ThePrint. 29 August 2018. Retrieved 26 March 2019.
  47. "Book Review: The Untold Story of Communist Terrorism". www.organiser.org. Retrieved 23 October 2019.
  48. Coverage and commentary on the term in mainstream media:
  49. Coverage and commentary on the term in scholarly sources:
  50. Singh, Vivashwan (5 June 2015). "'Ghoul' and the Spectre of Totalitarianism". Economic and Political Weekly. 53 (42): 7–8.
  51. Sources which say he conducted online masterclass:
  52. Mankad, Himesh MankadHimesh; Mar 24, Mumbai Mirror | Updated:; 2020; Ist, 09:09. "Coronavirus outbreak: Vivek Agnihotri selling paintings to raise money for daily wage workers". Pune Mirror. Retrieved 22 April 2020.CS1 maint: extra punctuation (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  53. "Coronavirus Outbreak: Vivek Agnihotri to sell his paintings and raise money". mid-day. 24 March 2020. Retrieved 22 April 2020.
  54. Service, Tribune News. "Creativity for a cause". Tribuneindia News Service. Retrieved 22 April 2020.
  55. Sources covering the episode:
  56. Starkey, Jesse C.; Koerber, Amy; Sternadori, Miglena; Pitchford, Bethany (1 October 2019). "#MeToo Goes Global: Media Framing of Silence Breakers in Four National Settings". Journal of Communication Inquiry. 43 (4): 437–461. doi:10.1177/0196859919865254. ISSN 0196-8599.
  57. "Assistant director turns down Tanushree Dutta's claims, gives detailed account of the incident on sets of Chocolate". Hindustan Times. 5 October 2018. Retrieved 13 February 2020.
  58. Hungama, Bollywood (6 October 2018). "Tanushree Dutta controversy: Chocolate's associate director Ranjit Shah comes in support of Vivek Agnihotri, SLAMS the actress and calls her erratic : Bollywood News - Bollywood Hungama". Retrieved 13 February 2020.
  59. "Not strip, but take off bathrobe worn above costume: 'Chocolate' Associate Director Sattyajit Gazmer on Tanushree Dutta's allegations". Free Press Journal. Retrieved 13 February 2020.
  60. Sources which say Agnihotri shared misleading content
  61. Chowdhury, Archis (10 January 2020). "Vivek Agnihotri Posts A Doctored Image Of Anti-CAA Protester". www.boomlive.in. Retrieved 18 February 2020.
  62. Sources covering the episode:

Vivek Agnihotri on IMDb

Vivek Agnihotri on Twitter

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