Atul Agnihotri

Atul Agnihotri (born 8 July 1970) is an Indian film actor, producer and director.[4] He started his Bollywood career as an actor, went on to direct two films, and found success as a film producer. He is best known for his debut film Sir (1993), which was the most notable film of his career and featured him as the lead protagonist. His other notable films were Aatish: Feel the Fire (1994) and Krantiveer (1994).

Atul Agnihotri
Born (1970-07-08) 8 July 1970
Delhi, India[1]
NationalityIndian
OccupationProducer, director, actor
Years active1983, 1993–present
Spouse(s)
​
​
(m. 1996)​
[1]
Children2
(Ayaan Agnihotri - son born 12 June 1998, and
Alizeh Agnihotri - daughter born on 21 September 2000)[2][3]
RelativesSee Khan family

Early and personal life

Agnihotri was born into a Punjabi Brahmin Hindu family,[1] the son of Rohit Agnihotri, an actor of yesteryear who quit films after a brief stint and later tried his hand at business.[1] Agnihotri lost his father at a young age and the responsibility of supporting his family came upon him.[1] Agnihotri's first cousin is actress Rati Agnihotri, who lived with them in Mumbai for two years and made her entry into films during that time; essentially, this inspired Atul to join films likewise.[1]

Agnihotri is married to producer/designer Alvira Khan Agnihotri. She is the daughter of scriptwriter Salim Khan and sister of actors Salman Khan, Arbaaz Khan and Sohail Khan.[5] their first child Ayaan Agnihotri born on 12 June 1998 and had daughter Alizeh Agnihotri born on 21 September 2000.[2][3][6]

While Bollywood is still mourning the unfortunate demise of music composer, Wajid Khan,[7] filmmaker, Atul Agnihotri recollects the relationship Wajid shared with members of the film industry. He recalls the bond that Sajid and Wajid shared and how they helped each other in work whenever one of them faced a hindrance.

Career

Acting

Agnihotri's career stretches back to 1983 when he made a brief appearance as a child artist in Pasand Apni Apni (1983) in which his cousin Rati Agnihotri was the heroine.[1] Inspired by her success, and by the memory of his father's brief stint as an actor, he made his acting debut with Mahesh Bhatt's Sir (1993), which emerged as a commercial and critical success.[8] He went on to act in several other films throughout the 1990s and early 2000s with his most notable hits being Krantiveer (1994), Naaraz (1994), Aatish (1994), Chachi 420 (1997), Yeshwant (1997), and Hum Tumhare Hain Sanam (2002).[9][10] In many of these films, he was either the second lead or one of several heroes. His career as an actor slowly petered out.

As film director

After being restricted to supporting and second lead roles, Agnihotri abandoned acting and turned to film direction. He made his directorial debut with the 2004 film Dil Ne Jise Apna Kahaa which starred his brother-in-law Salman Khan along with Bhoomika Chawla and Preity Zinta in the lead roles.[4] The film, which was released on 10 September 2004, fared poorly at the box office and was declared a flop.

Agnihotri persisted with direction, and began work in 2007 on the film Hello. He was both producer and director of this film, which starred his other brother-in-law Sohail Khan, along with Isha Koppikar and Sharman Joshi. The film was released on 10 October 2008 to a poor reception at the box office and proved to be a flop.[11] After this second failure, Agnihotri abandoned film direction and confined himself to film production.

As film producer

Agnihotri's second directorial venture, Hello (2007) had been the first film produced by him. His second film as a producer was Bodyguard, starring his brother-in-law Salman Khan with Kareena Kapoor. The film was directed by Siddique, who is otherwise active in Malayalam cinema and who had directed the original Malyalam version of the same film. Released on 31 August 2011, the film proved to be a phenomenal and magnificent success; made on a budget of approximately $10 million, it grossed almost four times that figure (in rupee terms, about 250 crores). It turned out to be one of the highest-grossing film of 2011 and made it to the list of all-time Bollywood blockbusters. The film also garnered several awards and accolades; see List of accolades received by Bodyguard.

In 2014, Agnihotri produced his next film, O Teri starring relative newcomers Pulkit Samrat, Bilal Amrohi and Sarah Jane Dias. The film was directed by debutant director Umesh Bisht; thus, it gave an opening to a large number of newcomers.[12] Released on 28 March 2014, the film failed to do well at the box office and turned out to be a flop.

Agnihotris next project is producing Ali Abbas Zafar's Bharat starring Salman Khan, set to release Eid 2019. Bharat will be an official adaptation of 2014 Korean film, ‘Ode to My Father’ which depicted modern Korean history from the 1950s to the present day through the life of an ordinary man. Agnihotri confirmed: "It’s the journey of a country and also a person, both of whom go by the name of Bharat."[13]

Filmography

As actor

Director

Producer

References
  1. Gupta, Priya (12 March 2014). "Salim uncle replaced my father: Atul Agnihotri". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 31 May 2016. Retrieved 10 August 2016.
  2. Ayaan Khan Agnihotri Salman Khan's nephew Archived 6 June 2019 at the Wayback Machine.
  3. Alizeh Agnihotri Atul Agnihotri's daughter/ Archived 9 August 2020 at the Wayback Machine.
  4. "Atul Agnihotri hopes to make a mark as a sensitive director". The Hindu. 23 September 2004. Archived from the original on 26 January 2013. Retrieved 3 April 2009.
  5. Biswadeep Ghosh (2004). Hall of fame, Salman Khan. Magna Books. p. 31. ISBN 978-81-7809-249-2.
  6. "ABOUT ATUL AGNIHOTRI". Oneindia. Archived from the original on 12 July 2012. Retrieved 3 April 2009.
  7. "Atul Agnihotri on Wajid Khan: 'His love for our family, particularly Salman Khan, was unconditional'". Archived from the original on 11 July 2020.
  8. "'May be I am a bit spoilt'". Indian Express. 16 November 1998. Archived from the original on 28 August 2009. Retrieved 3 April 2009.
  9. Vickey Lalwani (17 May 2003). "No, says Salman to Manjrekar". rediff.com. Archived from the original on 11 October 2008. Retrieved 3 April 2009.
  10. Anita Bora (24 May 2002). "Two's company, three's jealousy". rediff.com. Archived from the original on 16 January 2010. Retrieved 3 April 2009.
  11. "'Hello' is Atul Agnihotri's take on call centre life". Sindh Today. 6 October 2008. Archived from the original on 9 October 2008. Retrieved 3 April 2009.
  12. "Salman Khan to do a cameo in Atul Agnihotri's next". India Today. 4 June 2013. Archived from the original on 21 August 2016. Retrieved 1 July 2013.
  13. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 25 December 2018. Retrieved 28 October 2017.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
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