Onir
Born
Anirban Dhar

(1969-05-01) 1 May 1969[1]
Samchi, Bhutan
Occupations
  • Film director
  • film producer
  • film editor
  • screenwriter
Years active2005–present

Onir (born Anirban Dhar, 1 May 1969)[1] is an Indian film and TV director, editor, screenwriter and producer. He is best known for his film My Brother…Nikhil, based on the life of Dominic d'Souza,[2] starring Sanjay Suri and Purab Kohli it was one of the first mainstream Hindi films to deal with AIDS and same-sex relationships.

Onir won the National Award for his film I Am.[3] He has won 16 film awards in total.

Life and career

Early life

Onir was born as Anirban Dhar[4] in Samchi, Bhutan.[5] His father Aparesh Dhar and mother Manjushree[6] are of Bengali origin. Onir spent much of his childhood going to the cinema.[7] The family moved to Kolkata around 1990.

In Kolkata, Onir studied comparative literature and took a few film classes at Chitrabani film school.[8] He graduated from Jadavpur University in 1989, but left before getting his post-graduate degree when he received a scholarship to study film editing at SFB/TTC in Berlin. He later returned to India and worked as an editor, scriptwriter, art director, music album producer and song/music video director before becoming an independent Producer and Director.

Early career

In 1992 Onir directed and produced his first documentary film, Fallen Hero based on painter Bijan Choudhury's life.[9] He also served as an assistant to Kalpana Lajmi on Daman: A Victim of Marital Violence (2001) where he had his first experience directing a full-length feature film.[10]

While working on a documentary about Dominic D'Souza, a champion swimmer and AIDS patient in Goa, Onir conceived the idea for his first film.[8][11] His directorial debut My Brother... Nikhil (2005) starring co-producer Sanjay Suri and actress Juhi Chawla deals with the Goan government's harsh treatment of AIDS patients in the 1980s and the stigma attached to them.[12] My Brother... Nikhil was screened at several international film festivals, and Juhi Chawla received an IIFA nomination for her role as the main character's supportive sister. The film was screened at over 40 international film festivals, and won the Audience Choice Awards in Milan, LGBT film festival, Best Film & Jury Audience Choice Award at Montreal, image+nation Film Festival amongst others.[13]

In 2006 he released his second film Bas Ek Pal with Urmila Matondkar, Sanjay Suri and Jimmy Shergill. He received a nomination for the Best Director Critic's Award at the Global Indian Film Awards for the film. This film was not a financial success, only collecting 15–20 percent at the box office.[14] His next film Sorry Bhai! also failed to do well as it released the week of the terrorist attacks in Mumbai.[15]

Critical acclaim

Onir's eighth film was I Am, which consists of four short films exploring such themes as single motherhood, displacement, child abuse and same-sex relationships.[16][17] I Am won the National Award in two categories; Best Film and Best Lyrics. It was also the winnerof I-VIEW 2010s Engendered Award (New York) for Outstanding Contribution.[18]

Onir was awarded the 2008/9 Triangle Media Group Honorary Award on 7 February 2010, and won Best Film awards at both the London Asian Film Festival and the River to River. Florence Indian Film Festival. He won the IRDS film awards for Best Director for Social Concern.[19][20][21][22]

In 2018 he received Likho Award (Trailblazer Award).

Onir has received the Diversity Award from Film Victoria Australia and La Trobe University at Indian Film Festival Of Melbourne 2019.

Onir received the Jury Special mention for Outstanding work On LGBT Issues at the Indus Valley International Film Festival Oct 2020.

Recent work

Together with Sanjay Suri, Onir started Anticlock Films, a production company that will concentrate on promoting young directors. So far Anticlock has promoted people such as Bikas Ranjan Mishra who directed Chauranga, which was released on Netflix India.[10][23]

He also worked on Raising the Bar - an Indo-Australian documentary about six youth with Down syndrome, which won the Hollywood International Independent Documentary Award.[24]

Onir fifth directional film titled Shab (The Night) starring Raveena Tandon, Ashish Bisht, Arpia Chatterjee and French actor Simon Frenay. The film was released on 14 July 2017. The film premiered at the New York Indian Film Festival and also screened at River to River Indian Film Festival Florence, Melbourne Indian Film Festival.

In 2017, a short film "Aaba" (Grandfather) that he co-produced premiered at the Berlin International Film Festival.[25]

In 2017 Onir started shooting for his 6th directorial venture Kuchh Bheege Alfaaz with National Award-winning actor Geetanjali Thapa and introducing a young Kashmiri actor Zain Khan Durrani. The film released on 16 February 2018 . The film won the audience Choice Award at the Jagaran Film Festival and has been screened at The London Asian Film Festival, Stuttgart Indian Film Festival, Melbourne Indian Film Festival and Karachi International Film Festival.

In 2018 Onir directed a documentary named Widows Of Vrindavan which won the Best Documentary at the Jagran Film festival 2019. It has also been screened at the Stuttgart Indian Film Festival and Melbourne Indian Film Festival in 2019.

Onir directed a documentary "SAMA: Symbols and Gestures in Contemporary Art of Italy and India" in 2021 which explores the world of contemporary art in the Indian sub-continent as well as in Italy and lends context by investigating the signs and symbols surrounding them in history and culture. It offers a glimpse into the aesthetics of the two regions, while also excavating rare forms of craftsmanship.

Personal life

Onir has one younger brother, Aryan Dhar. Abhishek Dhar is a theoretical physicist at International Centre for Theoretical Sciences, TIFR Bangalore, adjunct faculty at Raman Research Institute and winner of the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize for Science and Technology.[26] Onir's sister Irene Dhar Malik[5] is a film and television editor.[27]

Onir is an atheist. He can speak Bengali, Russian, German and Tamil. His favourite film directors are Ritwik Ghatak, Satyajit Ray, Luis Buñuel and Andrei Tarkovsky[28] while he cites Shyam Benegal's Junoon as the reason he became a filmmaker.[29] He is also one of the few openly gay directors in Bollywood.[30]

Filmography

Year Film Director Producer Writer Editor Notes
2001 Rahul Yes
2001 Daman: A Victim of Marital Violence Yes
2003 Fun 2shh: Dudes In the 10th Century Yes
2003 Bhoot Yes
2005 My Brother... Nikhil Yes Yes Yes Yes
2006 Bas Ek Pal Yes Yes
2008 Sorry Bhai! Yes Yes
2011 I Am Yes Yes Yes Yes Won National Award for Best Hindi Feature Film 2011
2015 Chauranga Yes
2016 Raising the Bar Yes Yes Documentary
2017 Shab Yes Yes Yes Yes
2018 Kuchh Bheege Alfaaz Yes
2019 Widows of Vrindavan Yes Yes Best Documentary at the Jagran Film festival 2019
2021 "SAMA: Symbols and Gestures in Contemporary Art of Italy and India" Yes
2022 Pine Cone Yes Yes Yes Yes In last stage of Post- Production

Awards and nominations

Year Film Award Category Result
2005 My Brother…Nikhil Montreal (Image+ Nation film festival) Best Film (Jury) Won
Best Film (Audience) Won
The Saathi Rainbow Film Awards, Kolkatta Best Director Won
TMG Global Awards Best Director/Producer Won
2006 20th Milan International Lesbian & Gay Film Festival Best Film (Audience) Won
2011 I Am National Award Best Hindi Feature Film Won
Jagran Film Festival Best Director Won
London Asian Film Festival Best Film Won
IFFK 2010 NETPAC Award - Best in Asian Cinema Won
Special Mention – International Jury Won
KASHISH Mumbai International Queer Film Festival Best Narrative Feature Won
River to River Film Festival, Florence, 2010 Best Film (Audience) Won
I-VIEW, 2010 Engendered Award for Outstanding Contribution Won

References

  1. 1 2 "(ONIR) ANIRBAN DHAR". Indian Film and Television Directors' Association. Retrieved 9 April 2011.
  2. ↑ Ferrão, R. Benedito. "My Friend... Dominic". Retrieved 24 July 2014.
  3. ↑ "'I Am' is the first gay film to win national award". The Times of India. Retrieved 23 November 2016.
  4. ↑ Sriram, Jayant (14 May 2017). "The shining legacy of Dominic D'Souza". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 30 July 2021.
  5. 1 2 "Penguin to publish memoir of award-winning film-maker Onir". The New Indian Express. IANS. 2 March 2021. Retrieved 30 July 2021.
  6. ↑ "Let's talk about 377 | Whom we love, can't be dictated by an IPC section: Filmmaker Onir's parents". Hindustan Times. 6 February 2018. Retrieved 30 July 2021.
  7. ↑ Anandan, S. (19 December 2010). "He holds a mirror up to Indian society". The Hindu. Chennai, India. Archived from the original on 9 November 2012. Retrieved 9 April 2011.
  8. 1 2 "How Onir made Karan Johar cry!". Rediff. Retrieved 9 April 2011.
  9. ↑ "I Am From Calcutta - The Telegraph". The Telegraph. Calcutta, India. 27 April 2011. Archived from the original on 30 April 2011. Retrieved 22 November 2016.
  10. 1 2 Pereira, Priyanka (28 April 2010). "Seriously speaking". Indian Express. Retrieved 9 April 2011.
  11. ↑ Roy, Sandeep. "Ripples of Change in Indian Film". AlterNet. Pacific News Service. Archived from the original on 28 May 2010. Retrieved 9 April 2011.
  12. ↑ Sengupta, Somoni (6 April 2005). "Gay-Themed Film Tests Sensibilities in India". New York Times. Retrieved 27 August 2009.
  13. ↑ "ONIR| Queer Ink". Queer Ink. 12 August 2014. Archived from the original on 23 November 2016. Retrieved 22 November 2016.
  14. ↑ "Here's a look at what the BO booed". CNN-IBN. 16 September 2006. Archived from the original on 14 October 2012. Retrieved 9 April 2011.
  15. ↑ "Oye Lucky! performs better than Sorry Bhai! amidst crisis". Businessofcinema.com. 2 December 2008. Archived from the original on 24 March 2012. Retrieved 9 April 2011.
  16. ↑ "Onir's next ventures into issues of gay sex, child abuse". Indian Express. 12 August 2009. Retrieved 27 August 2009.
  17. ↑ Mendes, AC. (2018). "Indie crowdfunded narratives of commercial surrogacy, or the contested bodies of neoliberalism: Onir’s "I Am Afia" and Arpita Kumar’s Sita". Ashvin Devasundaram (org.), Indian Cinema Beyond Bollywood: The New Independent Cinema Revolution. Routledge, 78-99. ISBN 978-0-815-36860-1.
  18. ↑ "News18.com: CNN-News18 Breaking News India, Latest News Headlines, Live News Updates". News18. Archived from the original on 9 March 2012.
  19. ↑ "Onir's I AM awarded Best Film in London Asian Film festival". IBN Live. PTI. 4 April 2011. Archived from the original on 10 April 2011. Retrieved 9 April 2011.
  20. ↑ "Rahul Wows Florence". The Times of India. 15 December 2010. Archived from the original on 4 November 2012.
  21. ↑ "IRDS Awards: Vidya Balan wins best actress for THE DIRTY PICTURE – Yahoo!". My.entertainment.yahoo.com. 17 January 2012. Retrieved 1 August 2012.
  22. ↑ Kotwani, Hiren (22 June 2010). "Mira Nair to help Onir release I Am in US, Europe". Hindustan Times. Archived from the original on 25 January 2013. Retrieved 9 April 2011.
  23. ↑ Dasgupta, Priyanka (8 October 2011). "We'll shoot in Jharkhand: Onir, Sanjay Suri". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 17 July 2012. Retrieved 8 October 2011.
  24. ↑ "Onir wins an award for indo-australian documentary". New Indian Express. Retrieved 5 December 2016.
  25. ↑ Singh, Rajesh Kumar (16 January 2017). "Short Film AABA to premiere at Berlin International Film Festival". Bollywood Trade. Retrieved 17 January 2017.
  26. ↑ "Bhatnagar award for six from Bangalore". Deccan Herald. DH News Service. 26 September 2009. Retrieved 9 April 2011.
  27. ↑ "Irene Dhar Malik". Internet Movie Database. Retrieved 9 April 2011.
  28. ↑ "Every film has a message-Onir". One India.com. Archived from the original on 9 July 2012. Retrieved 9 April 2011.
  29. ↑ "'I Pretend To Have Seen Rang De Basanti'". Tehelka. 23 May 2009. Archived from the original on 8 April 2011. Retrieved 9 April 2011.
  30. ↑ Kumar, Sunaina (2 April 2011). "I Am, India's first truly indie film, gets ready for the Friday test". Tehelka. Archived from the original on 19 September 2012. Retrieved 9 April 2011.
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