Neeraj Pandey

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Neeraj Pandey (born 17 December 1973) is an Indian film director, producer and screenwriter who works in Hindi cinema. Pandey made his directoral debut in A Wednesday!, which was largely praised by critics and which later became a recipient of many accolades.[1] His second film was Special 26 (2013), which was followed by Baby (2015), both of them received critical acclaim and became commercial success. He served as a producer in Rustom (2016). Pandey returned to directing in 2016 helming the biopic movie M.S. Dhoni: The Untold Story based on Indian cricketer M.S.Dhoni which fared well critically and commercially. Besides being a filmmaker, Pandey is also a writer and has written a novel named Ghalib Danger in 2013.[2]

In 2016, his production house Friday Filmworks entered into a joint venture with Reliance Entertainment and formed Plan C Studios.

He has also directed a Web Short 'Ouch' with Manoj Bajpayee and Pooja Chopra which is nominated for Filmfare Short Film Award 2017. He was the co-producer of the film Toilet- Ek Prem Katha. His next release was Aiyaary which starred Sidharth Malhotra and Manoj Bajpayee and was both critically and commercially unsuccessful, becoming his first failed venture.

In March 2020, Neeraj Pandey presented and directed his first web series Special Ops on Hotstar.[3][4][5] The eight episode series, the first production of Friday Storytellers, the digital arm of Friday Filmworks, was extremely well received by the critics. He is currently working on his next feature film Chanakya.[6]

Early life and education

Pandey was born and brought up in Howrah, West Bengal.[7] His father is originally from Arrah, Bihar but worked for Bosch in Calcutta.[8] He did his schooling from St. Aloysius High School, Howrah (till Class X) and then St. Thomas' High School, Dasnagar, Howrah (Class XI and XII).[9] Pandey moved to New Delhi, where he graduated in English from Sri Aurobindo College, a constituent of University of New Delhi.[10]

Career

Pandey started his career working with Delhi-based 'Legacy Entertainment', a company started by the Dalmia Group to make television programs.

In 2000, he moved to Mumbai, where a friend got a grant to produce a documentary, and offered him the project.[11] Soon he started making documentaries and ad films. Thereafter, he formed a production company 'Quarter Inch Productions', along with his colleague Shital Bhatia which specialized in making television programmes, ad films and documentaries. In 2008, Neeraj and Shital Bhatia formed a production house named Friday Filmworks, which was the original producer of his debut film, A Wednesday!. The film's script was inspired by the 11 July 2006 Mumbai train bombings.[12]

In 2011, Pandey produced the film Taryanche Bait.

After directing his first movie in 2008, Neeraj Pandey directed his second movie Special 26 in 2013, starring Akshay Kumar and Kajal Aggrawal. Neeraj is very fluent in Bengali and also produced a Bengali film, The Royal Bengal Tiger in 2014. In the same year he also produced the film Total Siyappa starring Yami Gautam and Ali Zafar. In 2015, he directed the movie Baby starring Akshay Kumar.[13] In 2016, he produced the film Saat Uchakkey which was a comedy film starring Manoj Bajpayee, Kay Kay Menon, Anupam Kher, Vijay Raaz, Anu Kapoor, Jatin Sarna and Aditi Sharma.

In 2016, Anil Ambani-owned Reliance Entertainment announced a joint venture with Pandey and Friday Filmworks to form Plan C studios for production of films. Akshay Kumar starrer Rustom was the first film for the company. It is an equal partnership joint venture between the two.Script error: No such module "Unsubst".[14]

Pandey has also written his debut novel titled Ghalib Danger which was launched on 6 December 2013. The novel is soon going to be made into a motion picture.Script error: No such module "Unsubst".[15]

In 2017, having co-produced Toilet- Ek Prem Katha, a satirical take on the open defecation scenario in India went on to become a critically acclaimed movie.

He has also directed the short film Ouch with Manoj Bajpayee and Pooja Chopra which is nominated for the Filmfare Short Film Award 2017.

His next release was Aiyaary which starred Sidharth Malhotra and Manoj Bajpayee and was both critically and commercially flop emerging as his first failure. This film was written, directed by himself and produced under the banner of Plan C Studios, the film was an action thriller on the Indian borders. Malhotra and Bajpayee played the lead characters Jai Bakshi and Abhay Singh respectively. Naseeruddin Shah reunited with the filmmaker after their first venture, A Wednesday!. The film was based on true incidents, a theme seen in several of his previous films as well.

In March 2020, Neeraj Pandey presented and directed his first web series Special Ops on Disney+ Hotstar. The eight episode series, the first production of Friday Storytellers, the digital arm of Friday Filmworks, was extremely well received by the critics. Neeraj Pandey also directed and produced web series such as 'Special OPS 1.5: The Himmat Story,' 'Khakee: The Bihar Chapter,' , 'The Freelancer' and Khakee:_The_Bengal_Chapter, was release on March 20 2025 under Friday Storytellers. The next major project in development is Special Ops 2, which is scheduled for release soon.

In 2022, Neeraj Pandey co-founded Boot Room Sports Media LLP with his business partners Shital Bhatia and Sudip Tewari. The label has produced Kaun Pravin Tambe? and Bandon Mein Tha Dum!.Script error: No such module "Unsubst".

In 2024 he directed Auron Mein Kahan Dum Tha.[16] This was his first association with Ajay Devgn.[6]

Filmography

Films

Year Title Director Producer Writer
2008 A Wednesday Template:Ya Template:Ya Template:Ya
2011 Taryanche Bait Template:Ya
2013 Special 26 Template:Ya Template:Ya
2014 The Royal Bengal Tiger Template:Ya Template:Ya
Total Siyapaa Template:Ya Template:Ya
2015 Baby Template:Ya Template:Ya
2016 Rustom Template:Ya
M.S. Dhoni: The Untold Story Template:Ya Template:Ya
Saat Uchakkey Template:Ya
2017 Naam Shabana Template:Ya Template:Ya
Toilet: Ek Prem Katha Template:Ya
2018 Aiyaary Template:Ya Template:Ya Template:Ya
Missing Template:Ya
2022 Operation Romeo Template:Ya
Vikram Vedha Template:Ya Template:Ya
2023 Chengiz Template:Ya
2024 Auron Mein Kahan Dum Tha Template:Ya Template:Ya Template:Ya
Sikandar Ka Muqaddar Template:Ya Template:Ya

Series

Year Title Creator Director Producer Writer
2020–present Special OPS Template:Ya Template:Ya Template:Ya Template:Ya
2021 Special Ops 1.5: The Himmat Story Template:Ya Template:Ya Template:Ya Template:Ya
2022 Khakee: The Bihar Chapter Template:Ya Template:Ya
2023 The Freelancer Template:Ya Template:Ya
2025 Khakee: The Bengal Chapter Template:Ya
2025 Special OPS 2 Template:Ya Template:Ya Template:Ya Template:Ya

Documentaries

Year Title Platform Creator Director Producer Writer
2021 Secrets of Sinauli Discovery+ Template:Ya
2022 Secrets of the Koh-i-noor Discovery+ Template:Ya
Template:No wrap Jio Cinema Template:Ya
2024 Secrets of The Buddha Relics Discovery+ Template:Ya

Awards and nominations

Film Award Name Year Status Notes
A Wednesday! National Film Awards - Best First Film of a Director 2008 Won [17]
54th Filmfare Awards - Best Director 2009 Nominated
Star Screen Awards - Best Film, Best Story, Best Director, Most Promising Debut Director Won
Star Screen Awards - Best Screenplay, Best Dialogue Nominated
IIFA Awards - Best Story. Best Dialogue Won
Rustom Zee Cine Awards - Best Film 2017 Nominated
Stardust Awards - Best Film of the Year Nominated
Special OPS[18] Filmfare OTT Awards - Best Director 2020 Nominated

Bibliography

References

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  7. ↑ Times of India
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External links

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