| Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra | |
|---|---|
| Born | July 7, 1963 |
| Occupation | Director |
| Years active | 1986-present |
Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra (Hindi: राकेश ओमप्रकाश मेहरा; Punjabi: ਰਾਕੇਯ੍ਸ਼ ਓਮਪ੍ਰਕਾਸ਼ ਮੇਹਰਾ; born 7 July 1963) is an Indian filmmaker and screenwriter. He is best known for writing and directing Rang De Basanti (2006), for which he won Best Director awards at the 2006 Filmfare Awards and National Film Awards and received a BAFTA Award nomination for Best Foreign Language Film. He is also the writer and director of the films Aks (2001) and Delhi-6 (2009).
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He was born in New Delhi, in a Hindu-Punjabi family in India, starting his career as an advertisement film maker.
He established Flicks Motion Picture Company Private Limited in 1986. He has directed scores of television commercials for Indian and international clients such as Coke, Pepsi, Toyota, American Express and BPL. He has also directed music videos such as Aby Baby starring Amitabh Bachchan. In June 2001, his company released its first full-length feature film titled Aks, starring Amitabh Bachchan.
Aks was moderately successful but was praised for the performances in the film. His next release did not come until 2006. The film titled Rang De Basanti starred Aamir Khan, Soha Ali Khan, and many more stars. The film was a huge hit in India and did very well overseas. He received much acclaim for the film, winning Best Director awards at the 2006 Filmfare Awards and National Film Awards as well as a BAFTA Award nomination for Best Foreign Language Film.
Mehra's last released film titled Delhi-6 starring Abhishek Bachchan, Sonam Kapoor, Om Puri, Waheeda Rehman, and Atul Kulkarni among many other actors. The film got lukewarm critical response and did not perform very well at the box office.
Mehra is working on another film titled Bhairavi about a family in the world of classical music where he wants to cast Amitabh Bachchan, Jaya Bachchan, and Abhishek Bachchan in principal roles, and another film, Paanch Kaurav - a mythical opus on the lines of Raiders of the Lost Ark and The Lord Of The Rings, with an estimated budget of Rs.700 million.[1]
Rakeysh Mehra also has a culinary interest - the famous Bauji ka Dhaba in a Gurgaon mall and in The Garden of the Five Senses, New Delhi.