Nitesh Tiwari

Nitesh Tiwari (born 22 May 1973) is an Indian film director, screenwriter, and lyricist known for his works in Hindi films.^[1][2] He debuted as a co-director in Chillar Party (2011) which won the National Film Award for Best Children's Film.^[1] He also directed the supernatural political drama Bhoothnath Returns (2014).^[3][4]

Nitesh Tiwari
Tiwari in 2016
Born	(1973-05-22) 22 May 1973 (age 52) Itarsi, Madhya Pradesh, India
Alma mater	Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, 1996
Occupation(s)	Director, producer, writer
Years active	2011–present
Notable work	Dangal Chhichhore
Spouse	Ashwiny Iyer
Children	2

Tiwari scripted and directed Dangal (2016), which was screened at the Beijing International Film Festival and the second BRICS festival in 2017.^[5] The film is the highest-grossing Indian film and ranks among the highest-grossing non-English films of all time earning over ₹2,000 crore (US$240 million) including ₹1,200 crore in China,^[6][7] where it has emerged as one of the top 20 highest-grossers of all time.^[8] Tiwari won the Award for Best Director at the 62nd Filmfare Awards and the Telstra People's Choice Award at the 2017 Indian Film Festival of Melbourne.^[9][10] He followed up with the critically acclaimed comedy-drama film Chhichhore (2019 with commercial success.^[11]

He co-founded Earthsky Pictures, producing ad films and the docu-series Break Point based on Indian tennis legends Mahesh Bhupathi and Leander Paes.

Early life

Tiwari was born in Madhya Pradesh to B. D. Tiwari.^{[citation needed]} He has a brother and a sister. He graduated from the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay in 1996 with a bachelor's degree in Metallurgy and Material Science engineering.^[12] He worked as a creative director at Leo Burnett before entering Bollywood.^[13] Tiwari grew up in the small town of Ganj Basoda, attending Bharat Mata Convent School until class 8th. He performed in a school play titled "Tapori-Mughal-e-Azam".

Personal life

Tiwari is married to Ashwiny Iyer Tiwari, a former colleague and creative director at Leo Burnett who is also a film director, producer, and writer. He is a father to twins, a boy and a girl.^[14][15]

Filmography

Year	Film	Director	Producer	Dialogue	Screenplay	Story	Notes
2011	Chillar Party	Yes	No	No	No	Yes	National Film Award for Best Children's Film National Film Award for Best Screenplay
2014	Bhoothnath Returns	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes
	Kill Dil	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes
2016	Nil Battey Sannata	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes
	Dangal	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Telstra People's Choice Award Filmfare Award for Best Director
2017	Bareilly Ki Barfi	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes
2019	Chhichhore	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Hindi
2020	Ghar Ki Murgi	No	Yes	No	No	Yes	Short film
2021	Ankahi Kahaniya	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Anthology film; Released on Netflix
	Break Point	Yes	Yes	No	No	Yes	Documentary series; Released on Zee5
2023	Tarla	No	Yes	No	No	No	Released on Zee5
	Bawaal	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Released on Amazon Prime
	Tumse Na Ho Payega	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	[16]
2026	Ramayana: Part 1 †	Yes	No	No	No	No	[17]

Awards and nominations

Year	Award	Category	Result
2011	National Film Award for Best Children's Film	Chillar Party	Won
	National Film Award for Best Screenplay		Won
2015	Filmfare Award for Best Dialogue	Bhoothnath Returns	Nominated
2017	Filmfare Award for Best Director	Dangal	Won
2018	Filmfare Award for Best Dialogue	Bareilly Ki Barfi	Nominated
2020		Chhichhore	Nominated
	Filmfare Award for Best Story		Nominated
	Filmfare Award for Best Director		Nominated
	IIFA Award for Best Story		Nominated
	National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Hindi		Won