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Neeraj Pandey
Indian film director From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Neeraj Pandey (born 17 December 1973) is an Indian film director, producer and screenwriter who works in Hindi cinema. Neeraj Pandey made his directorial 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). Neeraj 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, Neeraj 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 2019, Neeraj Pandey launched Friday Storytellers, the digital content division of Friday Filmworks, focused on creating multi-format content for OTT and digital streaming platforms. His first web series 'Special Ops' was created under the digital content arm, Friday Storytellers and released on Hotstar in March 2020.[3][4][5] The eight-episode series was extremely well received by critics and audiences alike. He went on to direct and produce several other web series under the same banner, including Special Ops 1.5: The Himmat Story and The Freelancer (TV series). Special Ops 2 is set to release on July 18, 2025, with all episodes streaming on JioHotstar.
His collaboration with Netflix started in 2022 with the “Khakee” series, rooted in real events and local policing. Khakee: The Bihar Chapter was released on November 28, 2022 followed by Khakee: The Bengal Chapter on March 20th, 2025. In 2024, he wrote and directed Sikandar Ka Muqaddar, a Hindi-language heist thriller starring Jimmy Sheirgill, Avinash Tiwary, and Tamannaah Bhatia. The film premiered on Netflix on 29 November 2024. He is currently working on a thriller series to be released on Netflix.
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Early life and education
Neeraj Pandey was born and brought up in Howrah, West Bengal.[6] His father is originally from Arrah, Bihar but worked for Bosch in Calcutta.[7] 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).[8] Pandey moved to New Delhi, where he graduated in English from Sri Aurobindo College, a constituent of University of New Delhi.[9]
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Career
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Perspective
Neeraj 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.[10] 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.[11]
In 2011, Neeraj 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.[12] 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 Neeraj 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.[citation needed][13]
Neeraj 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.[citation needed][14]
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 created the 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 critics and audiences alike. Neeraj Pandey went on to direct and produce several other web series under the same banner, such as 'Special OPS 1.5: The Himmat Story and The Freelancer on JioHotstar, Khakee: The Bihar Chapter, Khakee: The Bengal Chapter and a heist film Sikandar Ka Muqaddar on Netflix. The next big release is Special Ops 2, set to premiere on July 18, 2025 on JioHotstar.
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!.[citation needed]. Bandon Mein Tha Dum!, is a four part docuseries for VOOT chronicling India’s dramatic 2020–21 Border-Gavaskar Trophy win against Australia at the Gabba.
In 2023, under his banner Friday Storytellers, Neeraj Pandey also expanded into non-fiction with a slate of documentaries in history and sports. In partnership with Discovery Plus, he created three historical documentaries, Secrets of Sinauli, Secrets of the Kohinoor, and Secrets of the Buddha Relics, Directed by Raghav Jairath and hosted by Manoj Bajpayee as part of the 'Secrets' franchise.
In 2024 he directed Auron Mein Kahan Dum Tha.[15] This was his first association with Ajay Devgn.[16]
In 2024, he directed Sikandar Ka Muqaddar, a Hindi-language heist thriller starring Jimmy Sheirgill, Avinash Tiwary and Tamannaah Bhatia under the banner of Friday Storytellers and was released on Netflix on 29 November 2024.
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Filmography
Films
Series
Documentaries
Bibliography
- Ghalib Danger (2013)
References
External links
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