Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra
Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra
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Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra

Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra (born 7 July 1963) is an Indian film director, occasional actor and screenwriter. He is best known for writing and directing the drama Rang De Basanti (2006) and the biographical sports film Bhaag Milkha Bhaag (2013), winning two Filmfare Awards for Best Director. He also wrote and directed the supernatural action thriller Aks (2001) and the drama Delhi-6 (2009).

He was born on 7 July 1963 in Delhi. His father worked for The Claridges, Delhi. He was a part of the selection camp as a swimmer in the 1982 Asian Games held at New Delhi but was not selected in the final round. He studied at Air Force Bal Bharati School in Delhi.

In 1992, Mehra married film editor, P. S. Bharathi. The couple have a daughter, Bhairavi, and a son named Vedant.

Mehra criticised the vote-bank politics behind the introduction of the Mandal Commission by VP Singh, and said it inspired him to pen the script of Rang De Basanti.

Mehra has criticised India's education system as being too marks-driven, without any emphasis on actual achievement. Ridiculing the system, he said: "We'd started work on "96.7", till I realised it had become redundant, and I should work on a subject called 100%. It was about the education system. Perhaps I'll make it once I understand the whole system... perhaps my views are very lopsided right now. But the seeds have been sown,". He further added: "Imagine if Shakespeare goes to DU (Delhi University) and he's told, 'We can't take you based on stories you've written as your marksheet isn't that cool.' Or if a Leonardo, or Rabindranath Tagore goes there, and writes something called "Gitanjali" and they tell him, 'Mr Tagore, it's nice to write things such as 'Where the head is held high', but where is your marksheet?"

Mehra started off by selling vacuum cleaners for Eureka Forbes. In 1986, he established Flicks Motion Picture Company Private Limited, starting his career as an advertisement film maker. He directed scores of television commercials for Indian and international clients, including Coke, Pepsi, Toyota, American Express and BPL. He has also directed music videos such as Aby Baby starring Amitabh Bachchan.

Mehra then gradually shifted from being an ad filmmaker to a feature filmmaker. In 2001, he made his directorial debut with the supernatural action thriller Aks starring Amitabh Bachchan, Raveena Tandon and Manoj Bajpayee in lead roles. Produced by Mehra's own company, the film received critical acclaim upon release, but emerged as a commercial failure at the box-office.

His next venture was the drama Rang De Basanti (2006) starring an ensemble cast of Aamir Khan, Siddharth, R. Madhavan, Sharman Joshi, Atul Kulkarni, Soha Ali Khan, Kunal Kapoor and British actress Alice Patten. The film followed the story of a British film student traveling to India to document the story of five freedom fighters of the Indian revolutionary movement. She befriends and casts five young men in the film, which inspires them to fight against the corruption of their own government. It received positive reviews from critics upon release, with praise for its credibility, direction, screenplay, soundtrack and the performances of the ensemble cast. The film emerged as a commercial success at the box-office, grossing 97 crore (US$11 million) worldwide, ranking as the seventh highest-grossing Hindi film of the year. Rang De Basanti won Mehra his first Filmfare Award for Best Film and Best Director, in addition to the National Film Award for Best Popular Film Providing Wholesome Entertainment. The film also earned him a nomination for the BAFTA Award for Best Film Not in the English Language. It was also officially chosen as India's official entry for the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film, but failed to receive a nomination.

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