Vidhu Vinod Chopra

{{Infobox person

| name = Vidhu Vinod Chopra

| image = Vidhu Vinod Chopra 2023 (cropped).jpg

| caption = Chopra in 2023

| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|df=yes|1952|09|05}}

| birth_place = Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir Princely State (present{{endash}}day Jammu and Kashmir), India

| occupation = {{hlist|Film director|film producer|screenwriter|editor}}

| notable_works =

| spouse = {{ubl

|{{marriage|Renu Saluja|1976|1983|reason=divorced}}

|{{marriage|Shabnam Sukhdev|1985|1989|reason=divorced}}

|{{marriage|Anupama Chandra|1990}}

}}

| children = 3, including Zuni Chopra and Agni Chopra

| relatives = {{ubl

| Ramanand Sagar (half-brother)

| Kamna Chandra (mother-in-law)

| Vikram Chandra (brother-in-law)

| Tanuja Chandra (sister-in-law)}}

| website = {{URL|vinodchoprafilms.com}}

| signature =

}}

Vidhu Vinod Chopra (born 5 September 1952) is an Indian film director, producer, screenwriter and editor.{{Cite web |title=Vidhu Vinod Chopra |url=http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0006765/ |access-date=2019-07-23 |website=IMDb}} He is the recipient of several accolades, including four National Film Awards and eleven Filmfare Awards. He is known for directing films such as the crime drama Parinda (1989), the patriotic romantic drama 1942: A Love Story (1994), the action drama Mission Kashmir (2000) and the biographical drama 12th Fail (2023). He is also known for producing the Munna Bhai film series, 3 Idiots (2009), PK (2014), and Sanju (2018) under his banner Vinod Chopra Films.

Early life

Chopra was born and grew up in Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir, India to a Punjabi Hindu family.{{cite web |date=6 February 2013 |title=Vidhu Vinod Chopra recalls troubled time in Kashmir – NDTV Movies |url=http://movies.ndtv.com/bollywood/vidhu-vinod-chopra-recalls-troubled-time-in-kashmir-327139 |access-date=30 June 2018 |website=ndtv.com |archive-date=24 July 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150724121125/http://movies.ndtv.com/bollywood/vidhu-vinod-chopra-recalls-troubled-time-in-kashmir-327139 |url-status=dead }} His father was D. N. Chopra and veteran filmmaker Ramanand Sagar was his half-brother.{{cite news |title=In Bollywood, everyone's related! |url=http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/entertainment/hindi/bollywood/news/In-Bollywood-everyones-related/articleshow/4654411.cms |access-date=3 February 2016 |work=The Times of India|date=14 June 2009 }} His brother, Vir K. Chopra, was a scholar of Indian politics and worked as a producer. {{Cite web |title=Obituary: Vir K. Chopra {{!}} Ranbir Singh - Mainstream Weekly |url=https://mainstreamweekly.net/article11240.html |access-date=2025-01-12 |website=mainstreamweekly.net}} His parents were originally from Peshawar, British India.{{Cite news |title=Vidhu Vinod Chopra: I was arrogant, volatile and violent, living with Anu has changed me |url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/entertainment/hindi/bollywood/news/Vidhu-Vinod-Chopra-I-was-arrogant-volatile-and-violent-living-with-Anu-has-changed-me/articleshow/46850792.cms |access-date=2020-08-30 |website=The Times of India |date=9 April 2015 |language=en}} His mother was Shanti Devi Mahalakshmi, who left Kashmir, due to the Kashmir conflict in 1990. He dedicated his film Shikara to his mother, which was based on the same.{{Cite magazine |via=Indo-Asian News Service |date=January 7, 2020 |title=Vidhu Vinod Chopra on Shikara: It is about those who have been refugees in India for over three decades |url=https://www.indiatoday.in/movies/bollywood/story/vidhu-vinod-chopra-on-shikara-it-is-about-those-who-have-been-refugees-in-india-for-over-three-decades-1634727-2020-01-07 |magazine=India Today}} He studied film direction at the Film and Television Institute of India in Pune.

Career

Chopra's first student short film, Murder at Monkey Hill (1976), won the National Film Award for Best Short Experimental Film and the Guru Dutt Memorial Award for Best Student Film.{{Cite web |title=Murder at Monkey Hill |url=http://www.rudraa.com/main/Master_b%26w.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091003205215/http://www.rudraa.com/main/Master_b%26w.htm |archive-date=3 October 2009 |access-date=8 October 2009 |work=Rudraa |df=dmy-all}}

This was followed by a short documentary highlighting the plight of India's destitute children, called An Encounter with Faces (1976), which was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Documentary Short Film in 1979. It also won the Grand Prix at the Tampere Film Festival in 1980.{{cite web |title=Tampere International Short Film Festival (1980) |url=https://www.imdb.com/event/ev0000641/1980/1/ |access-date=30 June 2018 |website=IMDb}}

Sazaye Maut, his first full-length feature film, was an adaptation of his previous short, Murder at Monkey Hill. It starred Naseeruddin Shah, Radha Saluja and Dilip Dhawan. Vanraj Bhatia composed the music for the film.

He founded his own production company, Vinod Chopra Films, in 1985. Since then, the company has gone on to produce major Bollywood films, and is currently one of the biggest and most successful film production houses in India.

For {{Lang|hi-latn|Khamosh}}, his next directorial venture, Chopra assembled a cast featuring some of the finest acting talent in India. Shabana Azmi, Amol Palekar, Naseeruddin Shah and Pankaj Kapoor, among others, appeared in prominent roles. An inventive meta thriller set in Kashmir, {{Lang|hi-latn|Khamosh}} remains one of the notable Indian films in the genre.

His next directorial, the crime drama {{Lang|hi-latn|Parinda}} (1989), proved to be a landmark film in Hindi cinema. It expanded the orbit of the crime drama and the vocabulary of images used in Hindi films while garnering widespread critical acclaim and numerous awards. Several modern Indian filmmakers have expressed their admiration for and drawn inspiration from Chopra's film.

Chopra's next film, 1942: A Love Story (1994), was a patriotic romantic drama set during the decline of the British Raj. With Anil Kapoor and Manisha Koirala in lead roles, it was also the last film to have its music composed by the legendary R. D. Burman. Burman received a Filmfare Award for Best Music Director and the film won a total of nine awards at the 40th Filmfare Awards. His following two films, Kareeb and Mission Kashmir, were also critically and commercially successful.

Chopra then produced 5 films with filmmaker Rajkumar Hirani for 5 films: Munna Bhai MBBS, Lage Raho Munna Bhai, 3 Idiots, PK, and Sanju. The first 3, which Chopra also co wrote, each won the National Film Award for Best Popular Film Providing Wholesome Entertainment, and Lage Raho Munna Bhai also won the National Film Award for Best Screenplay. They were all also very commercially successful, with 3 Idiots and PK becoming the highest grossing Indian films of all time in India and worldwide, also breaking into East Asian markets.{{Cite web |title=3 Idiots – Lifetime Box Office Collection, Budget, Reviews, Cast, etc |url=https://bestoftheyear.in/movie/3-idiots/ |access-date=2019-07-24 |website=BOTY |date=4 July 2018 |language=en-US}} He also wrote and produced Parineeta, Ferrari Ki Sawaari, and Wazir.

However, Chopra's next directorials after 2000 were not as successful. His 2007 film Eklavya: The Royal Guard was a financial disappointment. He also made his Hollywood directorial debut in 2015 with the film Broken Horses, a remake of his own film Parinda. However, it received a Rotten Tomatoes rating of 22%,{{cite web |title=Broken Horses |url=https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/broken_horses/ |access-date=30 June 2018 |publisher=Rotten Tomatoes}} and was a commercial disaster, only making Rs. 60 lakh in its opening weekend.{{Cite web |title=Broken Horses Is An Epic Disaster – Box Office India |url=https://boxofficeindia.com/report-details.php?articleid=1206 |access-date=2018-06-29 |website=boxofficeindia.com}} His 2020 release Shikara was a romantic drama about the Exodus of Kashmiri Hindus. It became his lowest-grossing film since Khamosh.

Chopra then saw a return to success with his 2023 release, the biopic 12th Fail. Despite a low opening day box office, due to great reviews and word of mouth, it became a financial hit, grossing 70 crores on a 20 crore budget.{{Cite web |title=12th Fail Box Office Collection |url=https://www.bollywoodhungama.com/movie/12th-fail/box-office/#bh-movie-box-office |website=Bollywood Hungama |date=27 October 2023 |access-date=8 February 2024 }} It then won 5 Filmfare Awards, including Best Film, Director, Screenplay, and Editing for Chopra.

Filmography

class="wikitable"
rowspan=2\|Year !rowspan=2\| Film !colspan=3\|Credit as !rowspan=2\| Notes
Director !Writer !Producer
1976 \|Murder at Monkey Hill \|{{Yes}}	{{Yes}}	{{No}} \|Diploma film; also Actor
1978 \|An Encounter with Faces \|{{Yes}}	{{No}}	{{No}} \|Documentary film, nominated for the Oscars.
1981 \|Sazaye Maut \|{{Yes}}	{{Yes}}	{{Yes}} \|
1983 \|Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro \|{{No}}	{{No}}	{{partial\|Production Controller}} \|also Actor
1986 \|Khamosh \|{{Yes}}	{{Yes}}	{{Yes}} \|
1989 \|Parinda \|{{Yes}}	{{Yes}}	{{Yes}} \|
1994 \|1942: A Love Story \|{{Yes}}	{{Yes}}	{{Yes}} \|
1998 \|Kareeb \|{{Yes}}	{{Yes}}	{{Yes}} \|
2000 \|Mission Kashmir \|{{Yes}}	{{Yes}}	{{Yes}} \|
2003 \|Munna Bhai MBBS \|{{No}}	{{yes}}	{{Yes}} \|
2005 \|Parineeta \|{{No}}	{{Yes}}	{{Yes}} \|Supervising Editor
2006 \|Lage Raho Munna Bhai \|{{No}}	{{partial\|Yes}}	{{Yes}} \|Associate writer; lyricist
2007 \|Eklavya: The Royal Guard \|{{Yes}}	{{Yes}}	{{Yes}} \|
2009 \|3 Idiots \|{{No}}	{{partial\|Yes}}	{{Yes}} \|Screenplay Associate
2012 \|Ferrari Ki Sawaari \|{{No}}	{{Yes}}	{{Yes}} \|
2014 \|PK \|{{No}}	{{No}}	{{Yes}} \|
2015 \|Broken Horses \|{{Yes}}	{{Yes}}	{{Yes}} \|English Film
2016 \|Wazir \|{{No}}	{{Yes}}	{{Yes}} \|also Editor
2018 \|Sanju \|{{No}}	{{No}}	{{Yes}} \|
2019 \|Ek Ladki Ko Dekha Toh Aisa Laga \|{{No}}	{{No}}	{{Yes}} \|
2020 \|Shikara \|{{Yes}}	{{Yes}}	{{Yes}} \|co-writers: Rahul Pandita and Abhijat Joshi
2023 \| 12th Fail \|{{Yes}}	{{Yes}}	{{Yes}} \|Also Editor; Singer, "Restart" and "Restart" (Rap 'N' Folk)
2024 \| Zero Se Restart	\| \|

class="wikitable"

rowspan=2|Year

!rowspan=2| Film

!colspan=3|Credit as

!rowspan=2| Notes

Director

!Writer

!Producer

1976

|Murder at Monkey Hill

|{{Yes}}

|Diploma film; also Actor

1978

|An Encounter with Faces

|{{Yes}}

|Documentary film, nominated for the Oscars.

1981

|Sazaye Maut

|{{Yes}}

1983

|Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro

|{{No}}

|also Actor

1986

|Khamosh

|{{Yes}}

1989

|Parinda

|{{Yes}}

1994

|1942: A Love Story

|{{Yes}}

1998

|Kareeb

|{{Yes}}

2000

|Mission Kashmir

|{{Yes}}

2003

|Munna Bhai MBBS

|{{No}}

2005

|Parineeta

|{{No}}

|Supervising Editor

2006

|Lage Raho Munna Bhai

|{{No}}

|Associate writer; lyricist

2007

|Eklavya: The Royal Guard

|{{Yes}}

2009

|3 Idiots

|{{No}}

|Screenplay Associate

2012

|Ferrari Ki Sawaari

|{{No}}

2014

|PK

|{{No}}

2015

|Broken Horses

|{{Yes}}

|English Film

2016

|Wazir

|{{No}}

|also Editor

2018

|Sanju

|{{No}}

2019

|Ek Ladki Ko Dekha Toh Aisa Laga

|{{No}}

2020

|Shikara

|{{Yes}}

|co-writers: Rahul Pandita and Abhijat Joshi

2023

| 12th Fail

|{{Yes}}

|Also Editor; Singer, "Restart" and "Restart" (Rap 'N' Folk)

2024

| Zero Se Restart

Television

class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center;"
scope="col" style="width:25em;"\| Title ! scope="col" style="width:1em;"\| Year ! scope="col" style="width:10em;"\| Role ! scope="col" class="unsortable"\| Notes
scope="row"\| Yeh Jo Hai Zindagi (DD National) \| 1984 \| rowspan="12" \| Himself \| style="text-align:left;"\| Episode 32: "Dieting"

class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center;"

scope="col" style="width:25em;"| Title

! scope="col" style="width:1em;"| Year

! scope="col" style="width:10em;"| Role

! scope="col" class="unsortable"| Notes

scope="row"| Yeh Jo Hai Zindagi (DD National)

| 1984

| rowspan="12" | Himself

| style="text-align:left;"| Episode 32: "Dieting"

Bibliography

class="wikitable sortable"

!Year

!Name

!Co Writer(s)

!Notes

2021

|Unscripted: Conversation on life and cinema

|Abhijat Joshi

|{{Cite news |title=Vidhu Vinod Chopra's New Book 'Unscripted' 2021 |url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/life-style/books/features/vidhu-vinod-chopra-talks-about-his-bollywood-journey-in-new-book/articleshow/80228864.cms |access-date=12 January 2021 |website=Times Of India|date=12 January 2021 }}

Awards and nominations

class="wikitable sortable" style="width: 100%; text-align: center; \|+ List of Vidhu Vinod Chopra awards and nominations
scope="col" \| Year ! scope="col" \| Category ! scope="col" \| Nominated work ! scope="col" \| Result ! class="unsortable" scope="col" \| {{Abbr\|Ref.\|Reference(s)}}
colspan="6" style="background:FFC1CC;" \| National Film Awards
rowspan="1"\|2003 \|Best Popular Film Providing Wholesome Entertainment \|rowspan="1" \|Munna Bhai MBBS \|{{Won}}
rowspan="2"\|2006 \|Best Popular Film Providing Wholesome Entertainment \|rowspan="2" \|Lage Raho Munna Bhai \|{{Won}}
National Film Award for Best Screenplay \|{{Won}}
rowspan="1"\|2009 \|Best Popular Film Providing Wholesome Entertainment \|rowspan="1" \|3 Idiots \|{{Won}}
colspan="6" style="background:FFC1CC;" \| Filmfare Awards
rowspan="2"\|1990 \|Best Film \|rowspan="2" \|Parinda \|{{nom}}
Best Director \|{{Won}}
rowspan="2"\|1995 \|Best Film \|rowspan="2" \|1942: A Love Story \|{{nom}}
Best Director \|{{nom}}
rowspan="2"\|2001 \|Best Film \|rowspan="2" \|Mission Kashmir \|{{nom}}
Best Director \|{{nom}}
rowspan="2"\|2004 \|Best Film \|rowspan="2" \|Munna Bhai MBBS \|{{nom}}
Best Screenplay \|{{Won}}
rowspan="3"\|2007 \|Best Film \|rowspan="3" \|Lage Raho Munna Bhai \|{{nom}}
Best Story \|{{Won}}
Best Diaolgue \|{{Won}}
rowspan="2"\|2010 \|Best Film \|rowspan="2" \|3 Idiots \|{{Won}}
Best Screenplay \|{{Won}}
rowspan="1"\|2014 \|Best Film \|rowspan="1" \|PK \|{{nom}}
rowspan="1"\|2019 \|Best Film \|rowspan="1" \|Sanju \|{{nom}}
rowspan="6"\|2024 \|Best Film \|rowspan="6" \|12th Fail \|{{Won}}
Best Director \|{{Won}}
Best Film (Critics) \|{{nom}}
Best Screenplay \|{{Won}}
Best Diaolgue \|{{nom}}
Best Editing \|{{Won}}

class="wikitable sortable" style="width: 100%; text-align: center;

|+ List of Vidhu Vinod Chopra awards and nominations

scope="col" | Year

! scope="col" | Category

! scope="col" | Nominated work

! scope="col" | Result

! class="unsortable" scope="col" | {{Abbr|Ref.|Reference(s)}}

colspan="6" style="background:FFC1CC;" | National Film Awards

rowspan="1"|2003

|rowspan="1" |Munna Bhai MBBS

|{{Won}}

rowspan="2"|2006

|rowspan="2" |Lage Raho Munna Bhai

|{{Won}}

National Film Award for Best Screenplay

|{{Won}}

rowspan="1"|2009

|rowspan="1" |3 Idiots

|{{Won}}

colspan="6" style="background:FFC1CC;" | Filmfare Awards

rowspan="2"|1990

|Best Film

|rowspan="2" |Parinda

|{{nom}}

Best Director

|{{Won}}

rowspan="2"|1995

|Best Film

|rowspan="2" |1942: A Love Story

|{{nom}}

Best Director

|{{nom}}

rowspan="2"|2001

|Best Film

|rowspan="2" |Mission Kashmir

|{{nom}}

Best Director

|{{nom}}

rowspan="2"|2004

|Best Film

|rowspan="2" |Munna Bhai MBBS

|{{nom}}

Best Screenplay

|{{Won}}

rowspan="3"|2007

|Best Film

|rowspan="3" |Lage Raho Munna Bhai

|{{nom}}

Best Story

|{{Won}}

Best Diaolgue

|{{Won}}

rowspan="2"|2010

|Best Film

|rowspan="2" |3 Idiots

|{{Won}}

Best Screenplay

|{{Won}}

rowspan="1"|2014

|Best Film

|rowspan="1" |PK

|{{nom}}

rowspan="1"|2019

|Best Film

|rowspan="1" |Sanju

|{{nom}}

rowspan="6"|2024

|Best Film

|rowspan="6" |12th Fail

|{{Won}}

|{{Won}}

|{{nom}}

|{{Won}}

|{{nom}}

|{{Won}}

= [[International Indian Film Academy Awards|IIFA Awards]] =

2007: Winner, Best Screenplay for Lage Raho Munna Bhai
2001: Nominated, IIFA Award for Best Director for Mission Kashmir
2010: Winner, Best Screenplay for 3 Idiots

= [[Stardust Awards]] =

2009: Winner, Readers' Choice Award for 3 Idiots

= [[Filmfare Awards|FICCI Awards]] =

2009: Winner, Most Successful Film of the Year for 3 Idiots

= [[Screen Awards]] =

2006: Winner, Best Film for Lage Raho Munnabhai
2006: Nominated, Best Screenplay for Lage Raho Munna Bhai
2009: Winner, Best Film, 3 Idiots
2009: Winner, Best Screenplay, 3 Idiots

= [[Zee Cine Awards]] =

2007: Winner, Best Screenplay for Lage Raho Munna Bhai
2005: Winner, Best Dialogue for Parineeta
2005: Winner, Best Director for Mission Kashmir

= [[Tampere Film Festival|Tampere International Short Film Festival]] =

1980: Winner, Grand Prix for An Encounter with Faces

Personal life

He has been married thrice, his first wife was noted editor Renu Saluja (m. 1976–1983), he was then married to filmmaker Shabnam Sukhdev (m. 1985–1989), the daughter of S. Sukhdev (1933–1979) a well known director of documentaries for the Films Division of India. He has a daughter with Shabnam, Ishaa Chopra, who works as a dance instructor and choreographer.[https://scroll.in/reel/988189/watch-a-documentary-revisits-s-sukhdevs-life-and-career Watch: A documentary revisits S. Sukhdev's life and career]. Scroll.in.

He is currently married to Indian film critic Anupama Chopra, whom he married on 1 June 1990.{{Cite web |date=6 May 2010 |title=Sleeping with the Enemy |url=http://www.openthemagazine.com/article/art-culture/sleeping-with-the-enemy |access-date=2019-07-23 |website=OPEN Magazine |language=en}} He has two children with her, a son, Agni and a daughter, Zuni Chopra.{{Cite web |title=Zuni Chopra, the quirky millennial author, at her candid best |url=https://www.in.com/news/other/zuni-chopra-the-quirky-millennial-author-at-her-candid-best-228117.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181019115122/https://www.in.com/news/other/zuni-chopra-the-quirky-millennial-author-at-her-candid-best-228117.htm |archive-date=2018-10-19 |access-date=2019-07-23 |website=in.com |language=en}}