Onir is a famous Indian film producer who directs, edits, writes scripts and produces films and TV shows. His notable work includes the 2005 film “My Brother…Nikhil”, which highlights the life of Dominic D’Souza, an Indian AIDS activist. The film stars Sanjay Suri and Purab Kohli and is one of the earliest Hindi films to deal with AIDS and homosexual relationships.
Contents
Wiki/Biography
Anirban Dhar was born on Thursday, 1 May 1969 (age 54 years; as in 2023) in Thimphu, Bhutan. Their zodiac sign is Taurus.
Childhood photo of Onir (in his father’s lap)
In 1984, he completed his high school education from Yangchenphug Higher Secondary School in Thimphu, Bhutan and senior secondary school education from Motithang Higher Secondary School in Thimphu, Bhutan. His family moved to Kolkata, India from Thimphu, Bhutan in 1986. From 1986 to 1989, he pursued a BA in Comparative Literature from Jadavpur University in Kolkata, West Bengal. During his higher education in Kolkata, he also attended film classes at Chitabani Film School.
Onir during his college days at Jadavpur University, Kolkata, West Bengal
In 1991, he completed an Advanced Editing Diploma from the SFB/TTC, Berlin. While talking to the media, Onir had once revealed that he was born to Bengali parents in a small village in Bhutan. As a child, he watched classic films with his mother, who was a film buff. There was no television in Bhutan in those days.
a young onir
Physical Appearance
Height (Approx): 5′ 4″
Hair Color: Salt and Pepper
Eye colour: black
Family
parents and siblings
His father’s name is Aparesh Dhar and mother’s name is Manjushree Dhar. His parents worked as teachers. His brother, Abhishek Dhar, is a theoretical physicist, and his sister, Irene Dhar Malik, is a film and television editor.
Onir (standing at extreme left) posing with his father (sitting), mother (sitting in the middle), sister (in pink clothes; sitting at extreme right), brother (in maroon shirt; standing), sister-in-law (in white top) , brother-in-law (in white shirt), and niece (in yellow and red dress)
Wife
He is unmarried.
sexual orientation
Onir is one of the few openly gay filmmakers in the Hindi film industry.
livelihood
After completing his education, Onir returned to Kolkata from Berlin and used the scholarship money to make a documentary titled ‘Fallen Hero’ about leftist painter, Bijan Chowdhury. Later, he worked in Mumbai in various roles such as art director, editor and music album director. Onir got his first experience of directing a full-length feature film while working as an assistant to Kalpana Lajmi in the film “Daman: A Victim of Marital Violence” in 2001. He got the idea for his first film while working on a documentary about Dominic. D’Souza, a champion swimmer and AIDS patient in Goa. Onir’s first film “My Brother…Nikhil” was released in 2005, starring Sanjay Suri and Juhi Chawla. It highlights the conditions of AIDS patients in the 1980s, who faced harsh treatment and social stigma from the Goa government. The film was screened at various international festivals and won several awards, including the Audience Choice Awards in Milan and the LGBT Film Festival as well as Best Film and the Jury Audience Choice Award at the Montreal Image + Nation Film Festival.
Poster of the film ‘My Brother Nikhil’ (2005)
In 2006, Onir made his second film “Bas Ek Pal”, starring Urmila Matondkar, Sanjay Suri and Jimmy Shergill. Even though he was nominated for the Best Director Critics Award at the Global Indian Film Awards, the film did not perform well at the box office.
Poster of the movie ‘Bas Ek Pal’
His 2007 film “Sorry Bhai!” Was released during the week of the terrorist attacks in Mumbai; Hence, it faced difficulties and did not perform well at the box office.
Poster of the movie ‘Sorry Bhai’
In 2009, Onir released her eighth film titled “I Am”, which consisted of four short films discussing topics such as single motherhood, displacement, child abuse and same-sex relationships. “I Am” won National Awards in two categories: Best Film and Best Song. It also received the I-VIEW 2010s Engendered Award in New York for outstanding contribution.
Poster of the movie ‘I Am’
In 2005, Onir and Indian actor Sanjay Suri started a production company called Anticlock Films, which helps young directors. The company has helped filmmakers like Vikas Ranjan Mishra, who directed the 2014 film Chowranga, available on Netflix India.
Poster of film production company ‘Anticlock Films’
In 2016, Onir made a documentary titled “Raising the Bar”, which tells the stories of six young people with Down syndrome from India and Australia. The film won the Hollywood International Independent Documentary Award.
Poster of the film ‘Raising the Bar’ (2016)
In 2017, she released her fifth film, “Shab (The Night)”, starring actors Raveena Tandon, Ashish Bisht, Arpita Chatterjee and French actor Simon Freyne. The film premiered at the New York Indian Film Festival and was also shown at other events such as the River to River Indian Film Festival in Florence and the Melbourne Indian Film Festival.
Poster of the film Shab (The Night) (2017)
Onir’s sixth film, “Kuch Bheege Alfaaz”, released in 2018, starred National Award-winning actor Geetanjali Thapa and introduced Kashmiri actor Zain Khan Durrani. The film won the Audience Choice Award at the Jagran Film Festival and was screened at several other festivals.
Poster of the film ‘Kuch Bheege Alfaaz’
Onir then directed a documentary titled “Widows of Vrindavan” in 2018, which won the Best Documentary award at the Jagran Film Festival and was later screened at the Stuttgart Indian Film Festival and Melbourne Indian Film Festival in 2019.
Poster of the documentary film ‘Widows of Vrindavan’
In 2021, Onir directed a documentary titled “SAMA: Symbols and Gestures in Contemporary Art of Italy and India”, which explored contemporary art in the Indian subcontinent and Italy. The documentary offered a glimpse of the aesthetics of both regions and examined the signs and symbols surrounding them in history and culture. The film also explored rare forms of craftsmanship.
Poster of the documentary film ‘SAMA’
In 2022, he released the film “Pine Cone”, which premiered at KASHISH Mumbai International Queer Film Festival. It also premiered in Australia at the “Indian Film Festival of Melbourne” and won the “Rainbow Stories Award”.
Poster of the movie ‘Pine Cone’
In 2023, Onir shared on his social media that he was making a web series for SonyLiv about the Pulwama attack based on Rahul Pandita’s book. He also mentioned that he was working on the follow-up to his 2011 National Award-winning film “I Am” and it is titled “We Are”.
Literary work
In 2022, Onir, along with his sister Irene Dhar Malik, wrote the book “I’m Onir and I’m Gay”. The book was released by Penguin Viking.
Poster of Onir’s book ‘I am Onir and I am gay’
Awards and Honors
- In 2005, he received the Best Film (Jury) and Best Film (Audience) awards at the Montreal (Image+Nation Film Festival), the Best Director award at The Sathi Rainbow Film Awards, Kolkata and the Best Director/Producer award at the TMG Global Awards. found. The film “My Brother…Nikhil.”
- In 2006, she won the Best Film (Audience) award at the 20th Milan International Lesbian and Gay Film Festival for the film “My Brother…Nikhil”.
- In 2010, he was awarded the Triangle Media Group Honorary Award and Best Film Award at both the London Asian Film Festival and the River to River Florence Indian Film Festival. He also received the IRDS Film Award for Best Director for Social Concern.
- In 2011, he won the Best Hindi Feature Film Award at the National Awards, Best Director Award at Jagran Film Festival, Best Film at the London Asian Film Festival, Netpack Award – Best in Asian Cinema and Special Mention – International Jury at IFFK 2010, Best Narrative. Won the award. Feature Award at Kashish Mumbai International Queer Film Festival, Best Film (Audience) Award at River to River Film Festival, Florence, 2010, Award for Outstanding Contribution at I-View, 2010 for the film “I Am”.
- In 2018, he was awarded the Likho Award, also known as the Trailblazer Award.
- In 2019, she received the Diversity Award from Film Victoria Australia and La Trobe University at the Indian Film Festival of Melbourne.
- In 2022, Onir received the Rainbow Warrior Award for his semi-autobiographical film “Pine Cone”.
- In 2023, he won the “Trailblazing Award” at the Sambhav Traveling International Film Festival in Bhutan for the film “Pine Cone”.
Favorite
- Films: Pedro Almodovar’s “All About My Mother” (1999), Luis Buñuel’s “Belle de Jour” (1967), Ritwik Ghatak’s “Meghe Dhaka Tara” (1960)
- Character: Michel Poicard from Jean-Luc Godard’s “É bout de soufflé (Breathless)” (1960)
Facts/General Knowledge
- He follows a non-vegetarian diet.
- Once, in a media discussion, Onir told that he decided to become a filmmaker after watching Shyam Benegal’s 1979 film “Junoon”. He said that “Passion” had a deep impact on him.
- Onir received a Jury Special Mention for his outstanding work on LGBT issues at the Indus Valley International Film Festival in October 2020.
- According to Onir, his favorite film directors are Ritwik Ghatak, Satyajit Ray, Luis Buñuel and Andrei Tarkovsky. During a media interaction, Onir once mentioned that he admires Indian actress Madhuri Dixit and enjoys the work of actors Aamir Khan and Hrithik Roshan. Onir also shared that he likes European cinema more than Hollywood and appreciated Hollywood actors like Tom Hanks, Belmondo and Colin Farrell.
- Onir is proficient in Bengali, English, German, Hindi, Nepali, Oriya, Russian and Tamil languages.
- In his spare time, Onir enjoys traveling to far-flung places, hiking, cycling and swimming.
Onir enjoying holidays
- He is a fitness enthusiast and goes to the gym regularly. He often uploads videos and pictures of his workout sessions on various social media platforms.
Onir working out in the gym
- He is often seen enjoying alcoholic beverages on various occasions.
Onir enjoying alcoholic beverages
- Onir frequently delivers speeches and lectures on various global motivational speaking platforms.
Onir giving a talk at TEDx
- Once while interacting with the media, he shared the story of how he realized that he was gay. He said,
In the beginning I was falling in love with women. But around 11th grade I realized that I was attracted to men. By the time I came to Mumbai at the age of about 21, I knew a few things. When I told my sister, “I guess I’m gay,” she replied “Okay.” It was so good and so easy. Even with my parents it was never difficult.”
A picture of Onir
Categories: Biography
Source: vcmp.edu.vn