Sriram Raghavan

Early life

Raghavan was born in Bombay (Mumbai), Maharashtra in Iyer family of Tamil Brahmin to a botanist father and a film-enthusiast mother. He grew up in Pune, where he did his schooling at the St. Vincent's High School. He also studied economics at Fergusson College in Pune.

He is a graduate of Film and Television Institute of India (FTII), Pune. Rajkumar Hirani, one of his batch-mates, edited his diploma film, The Eight Column Affair, which went on win the National Film Award in 1987.

Career

Raghavan started his career before joining the FTII for Stardust, but left since he wasn't interested in it. Post his FTII studies, he made a documentary Raman Raghav, with Raghuvir Yadav. Later he worked as a writer for television soaps, writing many episodes of CID and Aahat, and also directed one episode of the Star Bestsellers called 'First Kill' Later, he met Ram Gopal Varma, who liked his work in Raman Raghav, and signed him up for the film Ek Hasina Thi, a dark thriller starring Saif Ali Khan and Urmila Matondkar. The film borrows elements from the novel If Tomorrow Comes as well films Double Jeopardy and The Bone Collector

Raghavan later went on to direct another thriller, Johnny Gaddaar, which marked the debut of Neil Nitin Mukesh. The film was an uncredited adaptation of the 1962 French novel Les Mystifies by Alain Reynaud Fourton. The film was positively received by critics, though it didn't fare well at the box office; it has since been considered a cult classic. His third film was the spy thriller Agent Vinod which is not a remake of the 1977 action film of the same name Starring Saif Ali Khan as the titular character alongside Kareena Kapoor, it received mixed reviews from critics and failed at the box office.

Raghavan next directed and wrote the revenge thriller Badlapur starring Varun Dhawan, Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Huma Qureshi, Yami Gautam which was released on 20 February 2015. Based on the novel Death's Dark Abyss by Italian writer Massimo Carlotto, it received positive reviews from critics. Sudhish Kamath from The Hindu wrote "Sriram Raghavan's latest is a fantastic return to form and the kind of cinema he revels in making: character-driven narratives with funny, dark, explosive situations, a realistic exploration of filmy tropes." The film won six Filmfare Awards including Best Film and Best Director. It was a moderate box office success, grossing over worldwide.

Raghavan's next venture was the black comedy crime thriller Andhadhun, starring Ayushmann Khurana, Tabu, and Radhika Apte, which released on 5 October 2018 to critical acclaim. Raghavan saw L'Accordeur (The Piano Tuner), a 2010 French short film about a blind pianist, in 2013 at the recommendation of his friend, filmmaker Hemanth M Rao and was inspired by it. In a positive review of the film, Sushant Mehta of India Today wrote, "Raghavan's ability to shock an entire cinema hall including the most immovable, emotionless fan coupled with his ability to make the audience laugh during these moments where your heart is in your mouth defines his unique brand of cinema". The film earned worldwide, a majority of which came from the Chinese box office, to become his highest-grossing release and one of Indian cinema's biggest grossers.

His next film Merry Christmas was based on the French novel Le Monte-charge (Bird in a Cage).

Filmography

Awards

References

References

1. "Urmila is not emotionally disturbed".
2. (5 February 2019). "BONUS: Q&A with Sriram and Sridhar Raghavan".
3. Anupama Chopra. (February 2, 2004). "Film review: 'Ek Hasina Thi' starring Urmila Matondkar, Saif Ali Khan".
4. Rangan, Baradwaj. (22 January 2004). "Review: Ek Hasina Thi / Bhoot". Baradwaj Rangan.
5. Ronjita Kulkarni (15 January 2004), [https://www.rediff.com/movies/2004/jan/15ek.htm "Who's better: Urmila or Saif?"] {{Webarchive. link. (20 October 2018, ''Rediff''. Retrieved 30 March 2019.)
6. "Sriram Raghavan interview: 'Every movie is a commitment, you have to be damn sure about it'".
7. "Johnny Gaddaar - Movie - Box Office India".
8. (12 October 2007). ""Agent Vinod is not a remake of Rajshri film" – Sriram Raghavan". Bollywood Hungama.
9. "Agent Vinod". Box Office India.
10. IANS. "Varun Dhawan: Playing an old man will be my toughest role". NDTV.
11. "Badlapur (2015)".
12. Kamath, Sudhish. (20 February 2015). "Badlapur: Darkly ambitious, and very well made". [[The Hindu]].
13. (12 March 2015). "Top Worldwide Grossers 2015". Box Office India.
14. (7 June 2008). "Profile: Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang, But Slowly". [[Tehelka]] Magazine, Vol 5, Issue 22.
15. (6 October 2018). "Andhadhun box office collection Day 1: Ayushmann Khurrana film riding on positive reviews". [[The Indian Express]].
16. Kumar, S. Shiva. (22 August 2019). "'Andhadhun' inspired from French short film, reveals National Award-winning scriptwriter Hemanth Rao".
17. Kulkarni, Ronjita. (1 November 2018). "Sriram Raghavan explains Andhadhun". Rediff.com.
18. Bhatia, Uday. (29 September 2018). "Andhadhun: Blind man's bluff". Mint.
19. Mehta, Sushant. (4 October 2018). "Andhadhun Review: Ayushmann Khurrana-Radhika Apte film is deliciously dark". India Today.
20. (16 May 2019). "Top All Time All Format Worldwide Grossers - Andhadhun 13th".
21. Sen, Raja. (20 February 2015). "Review: Badlapur is a dark, unflinching, fantastic film". [[Rediff]].
22. Chatterjee, Saibal. (12 January 2024). "Merry Christmas Review: Katrina Kaif-Vijay Sethupathi Thriller Bewitches Even When It Baffles". NDTV.
23. "Filmfare Awards Winners From 1953 to 2019". filmfare.com.
24. (11 January 2016). "Nominations for the 61st Britannia Filmfare Awards". filmfare.com.
25. "66th National Film Awards". Directorate of Film Festivals.
26. (12 March 2019). "Nominations for the 64th Vimal Filmfare Awards 2019". filmfare.com.
27. (23 March 2019). "Winners of the 64th Vimal Filmfare Awards 2019". [[Filmfare]].
28. (17 December 2018). "Star Screen Awards 2018 complete winners list". [[Hindustan Times]].
29. (16 December 2018). "Winners of Star Screen Awards 2018".
30. (2019-03-13). "Zee Cinema To Air Zee Cine Awards 2019 In March".
31. "IIFA Awards 2019: Book Your Tickets Now". Wizcraft International Entertainment.
32. "IIFA - International Indian Film Academy".
33. (19 September 2019). "IIFA 2019 full winners list: Alia Bhatt's Raazi wins big".
34. (November 23, 2019). "Ridwan Kamil Hopes Bandung Film Festival to Become a World Class Event".
35. (21 July 2019). "THE JURY AND THE AUDIENCE OF THE ASIAN SUMMER FILM FESTIVAL AWARD THE DIVERSITY OF THE FESTIVAL PROGRAMME".
36. (28 January 2019). "Seven Day film festival comes to an end in Delhi". Times of India.