Neeraj Vora

Biography

Neeraj Vora (22 January 1963 – 14 December 2017) was an Indian film director, writer, actor, and composer from Gujarat. He made a mark in Bollywood with his work as a writer for Ram Gopal Verma's film Rangeela (1995).

His directorial debut was Akshay Kumar starrer Khiladi 420 in 2000 which was also directed by Phir Hera Pheri (2006). He has written screenplay and dialogues for some popular Bollywood comedy films including Hera Pheri franchise, Garam Masala (2005), Bhagam Bhag (2006), Golmaal : fun unlimited (2006), Bhool Bhulaiya (2007). 

As an actor, His notable work includes Mann (1999), Hello Brother (1999), Khatta Meetha (2010), and Bol Bachchan (2012).

He suffered a stroke n October 2016, putting him in a coma. He was working on Hera Pheri 3 before he went into a coma and died on 14 December 2017 at 4 a.m. in Criticare Hospital, Mumbai.

Vora was born in Bhuj, Gujarat in a Gujarati family in 1963. But he grew up in Santacruz, a suburb of Mumbai, Maharashtra. 

His father, Pandit Vinayak Rai Nanalal Vora[4] was a classical musician and a proponent of Tar-Shehnai. His father popularised Tar-Shehnai as the solo instrument for classical music

During his college days, he started working professionally as an actor and he received intercollegiate awards for drama. In 1984, he worked on the film Holi, by Ketan Mehta, and later did a television show Choti Badi Baatien, Circus.

He first directed Khiladi 420, which did not fare well. After that, he decided to produce movies and took up Familywala.

 After writing Awara Paagal Deewana and Deewane Huye Paagal for Firoz Nadiadwala, they collaborated for Phir Hera Pheri, which was to be directed by Satish Kaushik, but following the problems with dates, Neeraj Vora got the chance to direct it.

Neeraj Vora, who had been suffering from an illness for a long time, died at the age of 54 on 14 December 2017. The actor-director was reportedly in a coma for 13 months after suffering from a massive heart attack and brain stroke.

 He reportedly breathed his last at 4 am at Criti Care Hospital in Andheri, Mumbai. Vora had been staying at producer Firoz Nadiadwala’s house since October 2016 after slipping into a coma due to a heart attack followed by a brain stroke. 

Nadiadwala had brought him to his home and converted a room into a makeshift Intensive Care Unit (ICU).