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Vikas Bahl

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Vikas Bahl
Bahl in 2014
Born1971 (age 52–53)
New Delhi, India
Occupations
  • Film director
  • Film producer
  • screenwriter
Years active2005–present
SpouseRicha Dubey (divorced)

Vikas Bahl is an Indian filmmaker, best known for directing Chillar Party (2011), Queen (2013), Super 30 (2019), and Shaitaan (2024).[1]

Early life and education

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Bahl was born and brought up in Lajpat Nagar in Delhi, his father worked with the Indian Oil Corporation. After his schooling from Sardar Patel Vidyalaya and graduation from Ramjas College, Delhi, he moved to Mumbai to pursue an MBA degree from SVKM's NMIMS.[2]

Career

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Bahl started his career with advertising, working for several years in client servicing, before joining UTV Spotboy. In 2011, he started Phantom Films, along with Anurag Kashyap, Vikramaditya Motwane and Madhu Mantena. Over the years as a director he has worked with film directors such as Vishal Bhardwaj, Anurag Kashyap, Rajkumar Gupta and Vikramaditya Motwane.[3]

In 2011, Bahl made his directorial debut under UTV Spotboy alongside co-director Nitesh Tiwari with Chillar Party and won the National Film Award for Best Screenplay, with Vijay Maurya. The film also garnered the National Film Award for Best Children's Film.[4] In 2014, he launched his independent directorial venture Queen, starring Kangana Ranaut, which received critical and popular acclaim.[2][5]

Bahl's 2015 film Shaandar, a destination wedding film, was a flop and received neutral to negative responses.[5][6] In October 2014, he directed a short film Going Home, featuring Alia Bhatt, on women's safety, which went viral on social media.[7][8][9] Bahl next directed a biopic on mathematician and IIT-JEE coach Anand Kumar called Super 30,[10] which featured Hrithik Roshan as Kumar.[11][12]

Bahl then directed Tiger Shroff starrer Ganapath (2023), which he co-produced with Pooja Entertainment.[13] It was released on 20 October 2023 to highly negative reviews. Bahl’s direction was also received mixed to negative remarks. Bollywood Hungama in their review wrote "Vikas Bahl's screenplay is unexciting and direction is not up to the mark. To give credit its due, he has handled a few dramatic moments well.".[14] Saibal Chatterjee of NDTV gave 1.5/5 stars and wrote "Ganapath is painfully pea-brained pulp that makes a meal of a terribly thin storyline."[15] Bhavna Agarwal of India Today gave 1.5/5 stars and wrote "'Ganapath' offers absolutely no respite. If you expect it to get better in the second half as Gen Z are often heard saying ‘you are in delulu’."[16] Hiren Kotwani of Mid-Day gave 1.5/5 stars and wrote "What makes Ganapath different from the saviour-hero films of yore is that director Bahl has tried to make it look like the desi Mad Max of sorts, albeit with unimpressive design and poor packaging".[17]

Sexual harassment allegations

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See also: MeToo movement in India

In October 2018, in an interview with Huffington Post India, a former employee of Phantom Films accused Bahl of sexually harassing her on the set of the 2014 film Queen.[18] Later, the film's lead actress Kangana Ranaut, in support of the former employee, also accused Bahl of sexual misconduct.[19][20] Following this, Nayani Dixit, Ranaut's co-star in the movie, leveled similar accusations against Bahl.[21] As a result, Phantom Films announced its dissolution on 5 October 2018,[22] largely in response to the sexual assault allegation against Bahl by another former Phantom employee, which was reported in 2015.[23] The other three founders, Kashyap, Motwane, and Mantena, all issued statements on Twitter confirming the company's disbanding and moving on to independent projects.[24] After, Phantom Film subsequently disbanded, and founders Anurag Kashyap and Vikramaditya Motwane made formal statements against Bahl and his sexual misdemeanors. Bahl, in turn, sent them legal notices, citing defamation of character.[25]

Filmography

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Films

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Year Title Functioned as Notes
Director Producer Writer
2008 Aamir No Yes No
Welcome to Sajjanpur No Yes No
2009 Dev.D No Associate No
Ex Terminators No Associate No
2010 Udaan No Associate No
2011 No One Killed Jessica No Creative No
Thank You No Creative No
Chillar Party Yes No Yes Co-directed with Nitesh Tiwari
2013 Lootera No Yes No
Hasee Toh Phasee No Yes No
2014 Queen Yes No Yes
Ugly No Yes No
Going Home Yes No Yes Short film[26]
2015 NH10 No Yes No
Hunterrr No Yes No
Masaan No Yes No
Shaandaar Yes No Yes
2016 Raman Raghav 2.0 No Yes No
Wrong Side Raju No Yes No Gujarati film
Udta Punjab No Yes No
2017 Trapped No Yes No
2018 Mukkabaaz No Yes No
High Jack No Yes No
Manmarziyaan No Yes No
2019 Super 30 Yes No No
2020 Ghoomketu No Yes No
2022 Goodbye Yes Yes Yes
2023 Ganapath Yes Yes Yes
2024 Shaitaan Yes Yes No

Television

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Year Title Functioned as Notes
Director Producer Writer Creator
2021–present Sunflower Yes Yes Yes Yes Co-directed season 1 with Rahul Sengupta
2022 Good Bad Girl No Yes Yes Yes

Awards and nominations

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Award Year Category Nominated work Result
BIG Star Entertainment Awards 2014 Most Entertaining Film Director Queen Won
Bollywood Hungama Surfers' Choice Movie Awards 2015 Best Director Queen Nominated
Filmfare Awards 2015 Best Director Queen Won
Best Screenplay Nominated[a]
2017 Best Film Udta Punjab Nominated
Ghanta Awards 2016 Worst Director Shaandaar Won
IBNLive Movie Awards 2015 Best Director Queen Won
IIFA Awards 2015 Best Director Queen Nominated
Best Screenplay Won[a]
Best Story Won
2017 Best Film Udta Punjab Nominated
National Film Awards 2011 Best Screenplay Chillar Party Won[b]
Best Children's Film Won
2014 Best Features Film in Hindi Queen Won
Screen Awards 2015 Best Director Queen Won
Best Screenplay Nominated[a]
2017 Best Film Udta Punjab Nominated
Stardust Awards 2014 Best Director Queen Won
Star Guild Awards 2015 Best Director Queen Won
Best Story Won
Best Screenplay Won[a]
  1. ^ a b c d Shared with Chaitally Parmar and Parveez Sheikh
  2. ^ Shared with Nitesh Tiwari and Vijay Maurya

References

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  1. ^ Bollywood loves Vikas Bahl’s Queen - The Times of India
  2. ^ a b Gupta, Priya (28 February 2014). "Politics excites me as much as movies do: Vikas Bahl". Times of India. Retrieved 12 March 2014.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  3. ^ "Vikas Bahl's Queen is about a naïve Delhi girl". The Times of India. 27 February 2014. Retrieved 24 March 2014.
  4. ^ "59th National Film Awards for the Year 2011 Announced". Press Information Bureau (PIB), India. Retrieved 7 March 2012.
  5. ^ a b "Wouldn't have made the film had Kangana not agreed: Vikas Bahl". The Times of India. 21 March 2014. Retrieved 21 March 2014.
  6. ^ Ankur Pathak (21 March 2014). "Queen and I". Mumbai Mirror. Retrieved 9 April 2014.
  7. ^ "Going Home: Vikas Bahl visualises a utopia for women with Alia Bhatt". India Today. 18 October 2014. Retrieved 26 October 2014.
  8. ^ "Watch: Alia Bhatt's spine-chilling short film with Vikas Bahl". Deccan Chronicle. 22 October 2014. Retrieved 2 July 2018.
  9. ^ "Alia Bhatt shows Utopian world in short film 'Going Home'". The Indian Express. 22 October 2014. Retrieved 26 October 2014.
  10. ^ "Soon, a biopic on Super 30 founder Anand Kumar". Hindustan Times. 10 May 2016.
  11. ^ "Confirmed! Hrithik Roshan to play math genius Anand Kumar in Super 30". hindustantimes.com/. 25 September 2017. Retrieved 24 January 2018.
  12. ^ "Hrithik Roshan's Super 30 gets a new release date". The Indian Express. 25 January 2018. Retrieved 25 January 2018.
  13. ^ "Tiger Shroff announces his next action franchise Ganapath; Vikas Bahl to helm first instalment". firstpost.com. Retrieved 7 November 2020.
  14. ^ "GANAPATH – A HERO IS BORN Movie Review". Bollywood Hungama. 27 October 2023. Archived from the original on 28 December 2023. Retrieved 27 December 2023.
  15. ^ "Ganapath Review: Tiger Shroff Bulldozes His Way Through The Rubble". NDTV.com. Archived from the original on 20 October 2023. Retrieved 20 October 2023.
  16. ^ "'Ganapath' Movie Review: Tiger, Kriti's 'Mad Max'-inspired world deserved better". India Today. Archived from the original on 20 October 2023. Retrieved 20 October 2023.
  17. ^ "'Ganapath: A Hero Is Born' movie review – Sad Max, anyone?". Mid-day. 21 October 2023. Archived from the original on 21 October 2023. Retrieved 21 October 2023.
  18. ^ "'Queen' Director Vikas Bahl Sexually Assaulted Me, Phantom Films Did Nothing: Survivor Speaks Out". HuffPost India. 6 October 2018. Retrieved 9 October 2018.
  19. ^ "Vikas Bahl Would Hold me Tight, Smell My Hair, Says Kangana After Woman Accuses Him of Molestation". News18. Retrieved 9 October 2018.
  20. ^ "Kangana Ranaut Accuses Vikas Bahl Of Harassment: Is #MeToo Gaining Pace In India?". headlinestoday.org. 7 October 2018. Retrieved 9 October 2018.
  21. ^ "Kangana Ranaut's Queen Co-Star Nayani Dixit Accuses Vikas Bahl Of Sexual Misconduct". headlinestoday.org. Headlines Today. 8 October 2018. Retrieved 9 October 2018.
  22. ^ Shaikh, Samina (6 October 2018). "EXCLUSIVE! Anurag Kashyap, Vikramaditya Motwane, Vikas Bahl and Madhu Mantena dissolve their production company". The Times of India. Retrieved 6 October 2018.
  23. ^ Pathak, Ankur (6 October 2018). "'Queen' Director Vikas Bahl Sexually Assaulted Me, Phantom Films Did Nothing: Survivor Speaks Out". HuffPost. Retrieved 7 October 2018.
  24. ^ "Phantom Films Dissolved; Anurag Kashyap Says, 'All Dreams Come To An End'!". Filmibeat.com. 6 October 2018. Retrieved 14 October 2018.
  25. ^ "Vikas Bahl accuses Anurag Kashyap, Vikramaditya Motwane of defaming him in legal notice". Hindustan Times. 10 October 2018. Retrieved 15 October 2018.
  26. ^ Nithya Nair (20 October 2014). "Alia Bhatt's short film 'Going Home' is captivating". India.
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