Sriram Raghavan
{{Short description|Indian film director and screenwriter}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2018}}
{{Use Indian English|date=July 2018}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Sriram Raghavan
| image = Sriram Raghavan at News 18 Reel Movie Awards 2019.jpg
| caption = Raghavan in 2019
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1963|06|22|df=y}}
| birth_place = Bombay, Maharashtra, India
| years_active = 1987-present
| occupation = {{hlist|Film director|screenwriter}}
| alma_mater =
| website =
| signature =
| relatives = Shridhar Raghavan (brother)
}}
Sriram Raghavan (born 22 June 1963) is an Indian film director and screenwriter who works in Hindi cinema. He is primarily considered an auteur of neo-noir action thrillers.
Raghavan made his directorial debut with Ek Hasina Thi (2004). He then went on to direct the critically acclaimed Johnny Gaddaar (2007), an adaptation of the 1962 French novel Les mystifiés by Alain Reynaud-Fourton; followed by the action spy film Agent Vinod (2012) starring Saif Ali Khan; a critical and commercial failure. Raghavan's followup Badlapur (2015), a film based on Death's Dark Abyss by Massimo Carlotto met with positive reviews and was a moderate commercial success at the box office.
Raghavan's prominence increased with Andhadhun (2018) which tells the story of a blind piano player who unwittingly becomes embroiled in the murder of a retired actor. The film received critical acclaim and was commercially successful. He is the recipient of several accolades, including two National film Awards and two Filmfare Awards.
Early life
Raghavan was born in Bombay (Mumbai), Maharashtra in a Tamil Iyer Brahmin family 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.{{cite web|url=http://www.rediff.com/movies/2004/jan/15sriram.htm|title=Urmila is not emotionally disturbed|website=Rediff}} 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. He is the brother of Sridhar Raghavan, a writer known for the television series, C.I.D., and the 2019 action thriller, War.{{Cite web|url=https://indianexpress.com/audio/express-interviews/bonus-qa-with-sriram-and-sridhar-raghavan/5570056/|title=BONUS: Q&A with Sriram and Sridhar Raghavan|date=5 February 2019}}
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.{{Cite magazine|url=https://www.indiatoday.in/magazine/your-week/story/20040202-film-review-ek-hasina-thi-starring-urmila-matondkar-saif-ali-khan-790626-2004-02-02|title=Film review: 'Ek Hasina Thi' starring Urmila Matondkar, Saif Ali Khan|author=Anupama Chopra |date=February 2, 2004 |magazine=India Today|language=en|access-date=2019-10-16}}
File:Johnny Gaddaar Music Launch.jpg
Raghavan later went on to direct another thriller, Johnny Gaddaar, which marked the debut of Neil Nitin Mukesh. 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.{{Cite web|url=https://boxofficeindia.com/movie.php?movieid=247|title=Johnny Gaddaar - Movie - Box Office India|website=boxofficeindia.com|access-date=2019-10-16}} His third film was the spy thriller Agent Vinod which is not a remake of the 1977 action film of the same name{{cite web |url=http://www.bollywoodhungama.com/features/2007/10/12/3121/index.html |title="Agent Vinod is not a remake of Rajshri film" – Sriram Raghavan |work=Bollywood Hungama |agency=IndiaFM News Bureau |date=12 October 2007 |access-date=31 May 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080521013428/http://www.bollywoodhungama.com/features/2007/10/12/3121/index.html |archive-date=21 May 2008 |url-status=dead}} Starring Saif Ali Khan as the titular character alongside Kareena Kapoor, it received mixed reviews from critics and failed at the box office.{{cite web |url=http://www.boxofficeindia.com/movie.php?movieid=16 |title=Agent Vinod |publisher=Box Office India |access-date=30 November 2016}}
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.{{cite web|last=IANS|title=Varun Dhawan: Playing an old man will be my toughest role|url=http://movies.ndtv.com/bollywood/varun-dhawan-playing-an-old-man-will-be-my-toughest-role-506305|publisher=NDTV|access-date=10 April 2014}}{{cite web |url=https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/badlapur |title=Badlapur (2015) |website=Rotten Tomatoes |access-date=30 December 2017}} 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."{{cite news |url=http://www.thehindu.com/features/cinema/darkly-ambitious-and-very-well-made/article6916944.ece |title=Badlapur: Darkly ambitious, and very well made |first=Sudhish |last=Kamath |work=The Hindu |date=20 February 2015 |access-date=12 March 2015}} The film won six Filmfare Awards including Best Film and Best Director. It was a moderate box office success, grossing over {{INRConvert|81.3|c}} worldwide.{{cite web |url=http://boxofficeindia.com/Details/art_detail/topworldwidegrossers2015#.VQFyz9KUcl8 |title=Top Worldwide Grossers 2015 |publisher=Box Office India |date=12 March 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150314182347/http://boxofficeindia.com/Details/art_detail/topworldwidegrossers2015 |archive-date=14 March 2015}}{{cite web|title=Profile: Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang, But Slowly|url=http://www.tehelka.com/story_main39.asp?filename=hub070608kissbangslowly.asp|date=7 June 2008|publisher=Tehelka Magazine, Vol 5, Issue 22|access-date=11 January 2012|archive-date=5 November 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081105100441/http://www.tehelka.com/story_main39.asp?filename=hub070608kissbangslowly.asp|url-status=dead}}
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.{{cite news|title=Andhadhun box office collection Day 1: Ayushmann Khurrana film riding on positive reviews|url=https://indianexpress.com/article/entertainment/bollywood/box-office-collection/andhadhun-collection-day-1-ayushmann-khurrana-5388212/|newspaper=The Indian Express|date=6 October 2018|access-date=6 October 2018}} 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. {{Cite web |last=Kumar |first=S. Shiva |date=22 August 2019 |title='Andhadhun' inspired from French short film, reveals National Award-winning scriptwriter Hemanth Rao |url=https://www.thehindu.com/entertainment/movies/hemanth-rao-co-writers-for-the-national-award-winning-andhadhun-interview/article29221861.ece |website=The Hindu}}{{Cite news |last=Kulkarni |first=Ronjita |date=1 November 2018 |title=Sriram Raghavan explains Andhadhun |work=Rediff.com |url=http://www.rediff.com/movies/report/sriram-raghavan-explains-andhadhun/20181101.htm |url-status=live |access-date=7 November 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181107161519/http://www.rediff.com/movies/report/sriram-raghavan-explains-andhadhun/20181101.htm |archive-date=7 November 2018}} 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".{{Cite news |last=Mehta |first=Sushant |date=4 October 2018 |title=Andhadhun Review: Ayushmann Khurrana-Radhika Apte film is deliciously dark |work=India Today |url=https://www.indiatoday.in/movies/reviews/story/andhadhun-review-ayushmann-khurrana-radhika-apte-film-is-deliciously-dark-1355675-2018-10-04 |url-status=live |access-date=17 November 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181006004422/https://www.indiatoday.in/movies/reviews/story/andhadhun-review-ayushmann-khurrana-radhika-apte-film-is-deliciously-dark-1355675-2018-10-04 |archive-date=6 October 2018}}
The film earned {{INRConvert|4.56|b}} 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.{{cite web|title=Top All Time All Format Worldwide Grossers - Andhadhun 13th|url=https://boxofficeindia.com/report-details.php?articleid=5012|website=Box Office India|date=16 May 2019|access-date=16 May 2019}}{{cite news |title=Review: Badlapur is a dark, unflinching, fantastic film|url=http://www.rediff.com/movies/review/review-badlapur-is-a-dark-unflinching-fantastic-film/20150220.htm |publisher=Rediff |date=20 February 2015 | first=Raja | last=Sen | access-date=22 July 2018 }}
Filmography
| class=wikitable
! Year !! Film !! Notes | |
| 1987
|The Eight Column Affair | Student film |
| 1991
|Raman Raghav: A City, A Killer | Documentary |
| 2004 | |
| 2007 | |
| 2012 | |
| 2015
| Badlapur | |
| 2018 | |
| 2024 | Simultaneously shot in Tamil; Tamil debut |
| 2025
|{{pending film|Ikkis}} | |
Awards
References
External links
- {{IMDb name|1437189}}
- {{cite news |title=Interview (2008) |url=http://ibnlive.in.com/news/todays-films-lack-innocence-sriram-raghavan/76222-8.html |publisher=CNN-IBN |access-date=11 January 2012 |archive-date=8 August 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130808181703/http://ibnlive.in.com/news/todays-films-lack-innocence-sriram-raghavan/76222-8.html |url-status=dead }}
{{National Film Award Best Screenplay}}
{{IIFAAwardBestDirector}}
{{ScreenAwardBestDirector}}
{{Filmfare Award for Best Screenplay}}
{{Sriram Raghavan}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Raghavan, Sriram}}
Category:Film and Television Institute of India alumni
Category:Indian male screenwriters
Category:Hindi-language film directors
Category:Filmfare Awards winners
Category:Screen Awards winners
Category:Film directors from Maharashtra
Category:21st-century Indian people
Category:Indian experimental filmmakers
Category:Best Adapted Screenplay National Film Award winners