subject: Nagesh Kukunoor - Bollywood Film Maker [print this page] Born in 1967 to Kusuma Sudershan and KS Naidu in Hyderabad, Nagesh was addicted to films right from his childhood. He was sent to Tamil Nadu for schooling at Montfort Anglo Indian School, where he watched more and more Hollywood films.
He received a Bachelor degree in Chemical Engineering at Osmania University in Hyderabad. He, for his Masters in Chemical Engineering, moved to Atlanta, U. S. in 1988 and enrolled in Georgia Institute of Technology. Nagesh, after completing his studies, decided to settle in the U. S. for a while.
He worked as an environmental consultant at Trinity Consultants in Dallas, Texas, and later in Atlanta, Georgia. Meanwhile, he rekindled his passion for films by attending film and television workshops, and studying acting at the Warehouse Actor Theatre in Atlanta.
In the year 1995, Nagesh co produced and directed the short film, ONE CULTURE AT A TIME. Nagesh came back to India with the hope to pursue a career in film making. But, he didnt have enough money to make a film. So he decided to return to the U. S. and work there till sufficient wealth had been accumulated.
In the year 1998, Nagesh returned to India to finally become a film maker. In the year 1998, Nagesh, with his own wealth that he had gained in the U. S. , invested in producing his first feature film HYDERABAD BLUES. A story, he had written when he was in Atlanta, about a NRI returning home and finding himself a foreigner in his own land.
The film was made on a teeny budget of Rs. 1. 7 million and was completed in just 17 days. It was a trilingual film, primarily in English and Telugu and some dialogues in Hindi. Of course, he directed it, but Nagesh was also the protagonist (the NRI) in the film.
Hyderabad blues became the most successful low budget independent film in india. It featured in about ten international film festivals and its theatrical performances ran for more than six months in hyderabad, mumbai and bangalore.
In the year 1999, Nagesh came up with yet another very well appreciated low budget film rockford starring nandita das and Nagesh himself. It chronicled the arrival of a hindu student to a strict all boys Christian boarding school in India and his adjustment with the school.
Bollywood calling (2001) was his third directorial which was about a satirical look at bollywood through the eyes of an unsuccessful hollywood actor. It starred om puri, navin nischol and perizaad zorabian. Nagesh also wrote and starred in the movie. The film was received with positive reviews.
In 2003, Nagesh, inspired by the hollywood film the shawshank redemption (1994), came up with his own adaptation in teen deewarein. It starred Nagesh as a prisoner alongside naseeruddin shah, juhi chawla and jackie shroff. Written and directed by Nagesh, the film was generally praised by critics.
He received the filmfare award for best story for the film. In the year 2004, Nagesh made the sequel to his highly appreciated film hyderabad blues, hyderabad blues 2. The film, though, failed. It couldnt repeat the magic of the original.
But, soon Nagesh struck big with the highly applauded iqbal, produced by subhash ghai mukta searchlight films, in the year 2005. Unlike his earlier movies, Nagesh did not star in the film. It starred shreyas talpade and naseeruddin shah.
It was about a deaf mute cricketer hailing from a poor family of indian muslims, who wanted to make it to the indian cricket team. The film won immense critical acclaim and was nominated for several awards at many prestigious awards ceremonies.
After the highly acclaimed iqbal, Nagesh continued his good work with the film dor in the year 2006. It was a remake of the award winning malayalam film perumazhakkalam (2004); it starred shreyas talpade, ayesha takia and gul panag.
The film was about two women who came from different backgrounds and how fate brought them together. The film, though, did not garner much at the box office, but received strong positive reviews from critics. Nagesh, after a string of successful films, came up with three very poorly received films in the later half of the decade.
In 2006, Nagesh directed bombay to bangkok which was produced by subhash ghai mukta searchlight films and starred sheryas talpade and thai actress lina christianson. The film failed; it received negative reviews and didnt do much at the ticket window too.
