Ashutosh Gowariker

Biography

Ashutosh Gowariker (born 15 February 1964) is an Indian film director, actor, screenwriter, and producer who works in Hindi cinema. He is known for directing films “set on a huge canvas while boasting of an opulent treatment”.

He is best known for helming the epic musical sports drama Lagaan (2001), the social drama Swades (2004), and the epic historical romantic drama Jodhaa Akbar (2008), winning the Filmfare Award for Best Film and Best Director for Lagaan and Jodhaa Akbar.

Lagaan was nominated for the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film at the 74th Academy Awards, which makes him a voting member of the Academy Awards. He returned to acting by playing the lead role in the critically acclaimed comedy-drama Ventilator (2016).

Gowariker started his career as an actor, making his debut in 1984 in director Ketan Mehta's picture Holi. On the Holi sets, Gowariker met Aamir Khan with whom he later went on to collaborate on different film projects. After that, he acted in several television serials, including Kacchi Dhoop (1987), Circus (1989), C.I.D. (1998), and several films, including Naam (1986), Goonj (1989), Chamatkar (1992), and Kabhi Haan Kabhi Naa (1993).

He returned to acting by playing the lead role in the critically acclaimed Marathi comedy-drama Ventilator (2016), which was produced by Priyanka Chopra. Allegedly, he took about 6 months to agree to do the film.

Gowariker made his directorial debut with the thriller Pehla Nasha (1993), followed by another thriller Baazi (1995), both of which received negative reviews upon release and emerged as commercial disasters at the box office.