“You will always have a tough fight when you are expressing yourself and not impressing people. The path of truth is a lonely journey.”

Vivek Agnihotri is a name doing household rounds today as an exceptional director for making a movie on the plight and exodus of Kashmiri Pandits in the valley during the 1990s, caused by terrorism. An accomplished director, screenwriter, and filmmaker, he has managed to set extraordinary standards when it comes to film making. Born in a Brahmin family, on 10 November, 1973 in Gwalior, Madhya Pradesh, Vivek’s career initiated with direction and production of tele-series and ads .

Vivek has a graduation and post-graduation certificate in Economics from the School of Social Science. He also has an advertising degree from the Indian Institute of Mass Communication, Delhi. Furthermore, he also undertook the Organization & Management course from the Harvard University.

“I have to be a risk-taker and just tell the truth the way it is. Everything that bothers me. Everything that must be told fearlessly. My loyalty is to the inner vision. There is no other way work of artistic worth can be done.”

He started his career as a creative director for brands such as Coca Cola and Gillette. He made his directional debut through the movie Chocolate: Deep Dark Secrets, a suspense drama. Besides, he also started the production house Vivek Agnihotri Creates Pvt. Ltd. Other movies under his bucket include Dhana Dhan Goal, Hate Story, and Buddha in a Traffic Jam. The film The Tashkent Files received a lot of worldwide acclaim because of its refreshingly different topic and atypical storytelling. It also received the National Film Award for Best Screenplay – Dialogues for The Tashkent Files. However, till date, Kashmir Files has received the most response, with its turnover crossing over INR 200 crores, the highest grossing movie ever after the pandemic.

“I am extremely honored by Indian Council For Culture Relations, India’s apex body on the promotion of great Indian culture across the world for including cinema, and I am deeply honored for being the first person from the Indian film industry to represent the cause of this industry in the overall cultural promotion globally.”

He is married to Pallavi Joshi, a known actor, anchor in the Marathi and Hindi film industry. Recently, he teamed up with NGOs to help kids and their families affected by Covid-19. His net worth is estimated to be around USD 3 million. We hope that he continues making such exceptional films and adds more feathers to his cap.

“That day, I learnt that in the big fat world of Bollywood, the problem isn’t whether the pyramid should be inverted or not. The problem is there isn’t any pyramid.“

Birth Score – 3/5
Pride Score – 4/5
An impressive 7/10 Notable Brahmin Score.

“While the film Life of Christ was rolling past before my eyes, I was mentally visualizing the gods, Shri Krishna, Shri Ramachandra their Gokul and Ayodhya. I was gripped by a strange spell. I bought another ticket and saw the film again. This time I felt my imagination taking shape in the screen. Could this really happen? Could we the sons of India, ever be able to see Indian images on the screen. The whole night passed in this mental agony.”

Popularly known as ‘Father of Indian Cinema’, Dadasaheb Phalke if the man behind the introduction of motion pictures in India. He was born in April 30, 1870 in a Maharashtrian Brahmin family as Dhundiraj Govind Phalke. He was the first to direct India’s first feature film, giving birth to the huge cinema industry today.

Schooled at J.J. School of Art in Mumbai, he had myriad of interests including painting,  photography, dramatics, and architecture. He even started a printing business, but it could not sustain for a longer time. Although initially, he pursued a passion for photography, it was a silent French movie “Life of Christ” that motivated him to consider filmmaking. He was mesmerized by the art of developing a film and developed keen interest in it and even went to London to learn the art from filmmaker Cecil Hepworth. After returning, he released his first movie Raja Harishchandra in 1913. Initially, he underwent many hurdles and his family helped in the entire production process. Interestingly, he even learnt magic tricks from a German magician and used trick photography while filming his movies. He watched movies everyday to understand more about the art, which strained his eyes to that extent that he developed cataract and was on the verge of losing his eyesight. However, with timely treatment he could restore his eyesight with the help of spectacles.

The entire movie was produced, directed, written, and distributed by him, marking a beginning of the Indian film industry. He went on release successful movies such as Shri Krishna janma, Lanka Dahan, Satyavan Savitri, and Shakuntala. Later with the advent of sound cinema, Phalke’s popularity received a setback and he announced his retirement after creative differences with partners at the Hindustan Cinema Films Company. His first and last sound film was Gangavataran, after which he spent his last few days at Nashik until his death in 1944.

Honoring his contribution, the Government of India constituted the Dadasaheb Phalke Award for outstanding work in the film industry. A film based on his life, Harishchandranchi Factory was released in 2009, which became a hit and was also submitted as Indian entrant for the Oscars.

Phalke’s struggle to bring motion picture to India set a milestone and the Indian movie industry will remain forever indebted to him for his contribution.

Birth Score – 4/5

Pride Score – 5/5

An super-impressive 9/10 Notable Brahmin Score.