Shashank Khaitan
Born (1982-02-28) 28 February 1982
Calcutta, West Bengal, India
NationalityIndian
Occupation(s)Director, Screenwriter, Actor, Film producer

Shashank Khaitan is an Indian film writer, director, actor and producer who works in Hindi films. He is known for his association with Dharma Productions.

Khaitan made his directorial debut with Humpty Sharma Ki Dulhania and went on to direct its spiritual sequel Badrinath Ki Dulhania (2017).[1][2] His work on the latter earned him a nomination for the Filmfare Award for Best Director. He also directed the romantic drama Dhadak (2018) and a segment of the anthology film Ajeeb Daastaans (2020). In 2019, he became a producer for Dharma Productions, his first production being Good Newwz.

Early life

Khaitan was born in Calcutta and raised in Nashik, Maharashtra, in a Marwari business family.[1] Khaitan was initially more interested in sports, playing in cricket and tennis tournaments. At the age of 17, he decided to pursue a career in entertainment.[1][3] He started off as a dance instructor. He soon moved to Mumbai.[4] Khaitan joined Whistling Woods International Institute, a film institute started and supported by veteran filmmaker Subhash Ghai, to break into the film industry. He credits the institute with giving him the technical background.[3] While at Whistling Woods, Khaitan worked on his first attempted film, Sherwani Kahaan Hai, with some of his fellow students, but it was not successfully completed.[5]

In 2008, Khaitan starred as Manohar in Roorkee By-Pass, a 22-minute drama directed by Arundhati Sen Verma,[6] and assisted on the set of Ghai's films Black & White and Yuvvraaj.[3] He also made a brief appearance in Disney's ABCD 2, a sequel to the dance-drama ABCD: Any Body Can Dance.

Career

Khaitan made his directional debut with the romantic comedy Humpty Sharma Ki Dulhania. His initial plan with Humpty Sharma Ki Dulhania was to make it a story of two con artists, similar to Bunty Aur Babli but the script eventually became a story of flirtatious Punjabi boy who engages in a romantic affair with an engaged Punjabi woman.[7] After finishing the first draft of his script, then with the title Humpty Sharma Di Love Story, Khaitan sent it to Dharma Productions which approved producing it with a first time writer-director at the helm.[8] Khaitan cited Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge (DDLJ) and Casablanca as inspiration for his script, and the film itself pays homage to DDLJ as well as Kuch Kuch Hota Hai.[1] The film was released on 11 July 2014 to positive critical reception and earned over ₹1.11 billion (US$14 million) worldwide.[9]

Khaitan's next director venture was the romantic comedy Badrinath Ki Dulhania (2017)—which reunited hm with Bhatt and Dhawan.[10] It tells the story of an independent young woman (Bhatt) who refuses to conform to patriarchal expectations from her chauvinistic fiancée (Dhawan). Rachel Saltz of The New York Times took note of the film's statement on gender equality.[11] The film proved to be commercial successes, earning over ₹2 billion (US$25 million) at the box office.[12] It earned him a nomination for the Filmfare Award for Best Director.[13]

in 2017, Khaitan co-wrote the screenplay and dialogue for the Hindi adaptation of John Green's 2012 novel The Fault in Our Stars with the intent to direct it for Dharma Productions with Janhvi Kapoor and Ishaan Khatter as leads.[14] However, after the production house opted out of the film, he eventually went on to direct them instead in Dhadak, a remake of Marathi film Sairat (2016) which released the following year.[15] While Dhadak received negative reviews from film critics for glossing over the subject of caste-based discrimination and for being a poor remake of the original,[16] it emerged as a commercial success with worldwide earnings of over ₹1.1 billion (US$14 million).[17][18]

Khaitan turned producer for Dharma Productions with the comedy Good Newwz (2019), which emerged as one of highest-grossing Bollywood film of 2019 and the horror thriller Bhoot – Part One: The Haunted Ship (2020).[19] In 2021, he directed a segment titled Majnu in the Netflix anthology Ajeeb Daastaans.[20] Khaitan has completed working on the Vicky Kaushal, Kiara Advani and Bhumi Pednekar starter, a comedy thriller titled Govinda Naam Mera which is set to release on 10 June 2022.[21] His next directorial project, Bedhadak, has also been announced.[22] A film that he will also write and produce.[22]

Filmography

Key
† Denotes films that have not yet been released

Films

YearTitleDirectorWriterProducerNotes
2014 Humpty Sharma Ki Dulhania Yes Yes No Nominated—Filmfare Award for Best Debut Director
2017 Badrinath Ki Dulhania Yes Yes No Nominated—Filmfare Award for Best Director
2018 Dhadak Yes Yes No
2019 Good Newwz No No Yes
2020 Bhoot – Part One: The Haunted Ship No No Yes
Dil Bechara No Yes No Released on Disney Plus Hotstar
2021 Ajeeb Daastaans Yes No No Segment: "Majnu"
Netflix anthology film
2022 Govinda Naam Mera Yes Yes Yes Released on Disney Plus Hotstar[23]
2023 Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani No Yes No
Yodha † No No Yes Post-Production

As assistant director

YearFilm
2008 Black & White
Yuvvraaj

As actor

YearFilmRole
2012 Ishaqzaade Dharma Chauhan
2015 ABCD 2 Dance judge
2022 Govinda Naam Mera Anand Joshi

Television

Year Show Channel Role Notes
2018–2019 Dance Deewane Colors TV Judge Seasons 1 and 2

Awards and nominations

List of Shashank Khaitan awards and nominations
Year Category Nominated work Result
Filmfare Awards
2015 Best Debut Director Humpty Sharma Ki Dulhania Nominated
2018 Best Director Badrinath Ki Dulhania Nominated
2024 Best Screenplay Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani Pending
Best Story Pending

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Ghosh, Sankhayan (21 July 2014). "'Humpty Sharma Ki Dulhania' director says he wanted to tell a story of "eternal love": For writer-director Shashank Khaitan his debut film Humpty Sharma Ki Dulhania is a reaction to love in today's cynical times". Indian Express. Retrieved 7 July 2015.
  2. ↑ Singh, Prashant (22 December 2014). "New Direction: From Shashank Khaitan to Omung Kumar, freshers who made a mark in 2014". Hindustan Times. Archived from the original on 14 July 2015. Retrieved 7 July 2015.
  3. 1 2 3 "In conversation with 'Humpty Sharma Ki Dulhania' director Shashank Khaitan". Whistling Woods International Institute on YouTube. 8 July 2014. Retrieved 7 July 2014.
  4. ↑ "Blame it on Yash Raj".
  5. ↑ "Humpty Sharma Ki Dulhania is not Shashank Khaitan's debut film". Bollywood Hungama. 15 July 2014. Archived from the original on 20 July 2014. Retrieved 7 July 2015.
  6. ↑ "Roorkee By-Pass". Internet Movie Database. 29 June 2008. Retrieved 7 July 2015.
  7. ↑ "The Making of Humpty Sharma Ki Dulhania - Part 1". Dharma Productions via YouTube. 30 July 2014. Retrieved 7 July 2015.
  8. ↑ "The Making of Humpty Sharma Ki Dulhania - Part 2". Dharma Productions via YouTube. 30 July 2014. Retrieved 7 July 2015.
  9. ↑ "Top Worldwide Grossers All Time". Box Office India. Archived from the original on 19 September 2015. Retrieved 23 July 2015.
  10. ↑ Adarsh, Taran (13 March 2017). "Business Talk: 'Badrinath Ki Dulhania' hits the bull's eye, consolidates Varun and Alia's status in Bollywood". Bollywood Hungama. Archived from the original on 13 March 2017. Retrieved 13 March 2017.
  11. ↑ Saltz, Rachel (12 March 2017). "Review: In 'Badrinath Ki Dulhania,' Boy Meets Girl (and Learns to Respect Her)". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 13 March 2017. Retrieved 13 March 2017.
  12. ↑ "Top Worldwide Grossers All Time". Box Office India. Archived from the original on 7 January 2018. Retrieved 5 February 2018.
  13. ↑ "Filmfare Awards 2018: Complete list of nominations". The Indian Express. 18 January 2018. Retrieved 20 January 2018.
  14. ↑ "Not Sairat! Ishaan Khatter and Janvi Kapoor to star in 'The Fault in Our Stars' remake?". DNA India. 26 June 2017. Archived from the original on 10 August 2018. Retrieved 22 August 2020.
  15. ↑ "Dhadak first look: Janhvi Kapoor has Sridevi's charm and Ishaan Khatter is Bollywood's next chocolate boy". The Indian Express. Archived from the original on 15 November 2017. Retrieved 15 November 2017.
  16. ↑ Bhatia, Uday (20 July 2018). "Film Review: Dhadak". Mint. Archived from the original on 20 July 2018. Retrieved 20 July 2018.
  17. ↑ "The Real Winner With Dhadak". Box Office India. 25 July 2018. Archived from the original on 25 July 2018. Retrieved 27 July 2018.
  18. ↑ "Box Office: Worldwide Collections and Day wise breakup of Dhadak". Bollywood Hungama. Archived from the original on 2 August 2018. Retrieved 5 September 2018.
  19. ↑ "Good Newwz Box Office". Bollywood Hungama. Archived from the original on 24 December 2019. Retrieved 22 February 2020.
  20. ↑ "Ajeeb Daastaans teaser: Karan Johar-produced Netflix anthology film deals with jealousy, prejudice". The Indian Express. 19 March 2021. Retrieved 20 March 2021.
  21. ↑ "Shashank Khaitan's Mr Lele back on track! Kiara Advani and Vicky Kaushal to start shooting this year". Bollywood Hungama. 25 February 2021. Retrieved 18 April 2021.
  22. 1 2 "Bedhadak: Karan Johar shares posters, announces Shanaya Kapoor's debut movie with Lakshya and Gurfateh Pirzada". Bollywood Hungama. Retrieved 6 March 2022.
  23. ↑ "Karan Johar announces Govinda Naam Mera starring Vicky Kaushal, Bhumi Pednekar and Kiara Advani". Bollywood Hungama. 12 November 2021. Retrieved 12 November 2021.
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