Varun Grover (writer)

Varun Grover (born 26 January 1980) is an Indian lyricist, writer, stand-up comedian and filmmaker. He won the award for Best Lyricist at the 63rd National Film Awards in 2015.^[1][2][3] He co-created the political satire group Aisi Taisi Democracy,^[4][5] and his debut film, All India Rank, closed the 52nd Rotterdam International Film Festival, in 2023.^[6] Grover also performs stand-up comedy, writes poetry and acts.^[7]

Varun Grover
Varun Grover in Stockholm 2024
Born	(1980-01-26) 26 January 1980 (age 45) Sundernagar, Himachal Pradesh, India
Occupation	Lyricist director screenwriter stand-up comedian actor
Nationality	Indian
Alma mater	Indian Institute of Technology (BHU) Varanasi
Years active	2004—present
Notable works	Masaan, Udta Punjab, Dum Laga Ke Haisha, Sacred Games, RRR
Spouse	Raj Kumari

Early life and education

Grover was born in Sundernagar, Himachal Pradesh, to a school-teacher mother and army engineer father, and belongs to a Punjabi Hindu family.^[8] His paternal grandfather originally lived in Faisalabad, a city in the Punjab Province of British India. After the partition of India, Faisalabad became a part of the West Punjab province of Pakistan, due to which he moved to Jagadhri in present-day Haryana, where he settled and eventually started a business of sign painting for shops. In the early 1950s, a cinema hall opened in Jagadhri wherein he went on to design posters for the hall. He instructed his two elder sons, Varun's uncles and his father's brothers, to also make such posters. This led the family to gain an interest in watching movies, many of which they watched at the same cinema hall, in which Varun's grandfather also took his father. Varun accredits this for his interest in films, as he "inherited the same addiction from [his] father".^[9]

Varun spent his initial years in Dehradun, Uttarakhand and Sundernagar, before moving to Lucknow for his adolescent years. He studied civil engineering at Indian Institute of Technology (BHU) Varanasi, graduating in 2003.^{[10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17]} He began his career as a software consultant with the multinational company Kanbay in Pune, where he worked for nearly a year. In 2004, Varun Grover moved to Mumbai to pursue his passion for writing. The following year, he secured an opportunity to script for the television series The Great Indian Comedy Show.

Music

In 2017, Varun Grover released Beete Dino Ke Geet,^[18] a song in collaboration with US-based producer Krishna Chetan.

Discography

Title	Year	Artist	Album	Notes
"Yeh Ek Zindagi"	2022	Achint Thakkar	Monica, O My Darling
"Suno Jaanejaan"
"Bye Bye Adios"
"Farsh Pe Khade"
"Hari Har"		Shankar–Ehsaan–Loy	Samrat Prithviraj
"Hadd Kar De"
"Makhmali"
"Yoddha"
"Shauq"		Amit Trivedi	Qala
"Noodle Sa Dil"	2023	Mayukh-Mainak	All India Rank
"Sab Achhi Baatein Hain"
"Choice Hi Nahin Hai"
"Thehar Zara"
"Haq Hai"
"Chal Ve Watna"		Pritam	Dunki
"Merry Christmas"	2024		Merry Christmas
"Nazar Teri Toofan"
"Raat Akeli Thi"
"Dil Ki Mez"
"Tenu Sang Rakhna"		Achint Thakkar	Jigra
"Jiya"
"Jigra"
"Jigra" (Acoustic)
"Pan India Area King"				Co-written with Achint Thakkar
"Phoolon Ka Taaro Ka"		R. D. Burman, Achint Thakkar		Co-written with Anand Bakshi

Filmography

Films

Year	Title	Credited as
		Lyricist	Writer	Director	Actor	Notes
2006	Ghoom	No	Dialogues	No	No
2009	Accident on Hill Road	No	Dialogues	No	No
2011[19]	That Girl in Yellow Boots	Yes	No	No	No
2012[20]	Peddlers	Yes	No	No	No
	Gangs of Wasseypur – Part 1[20]	Yes	No	No	No
	Gangs of Wasseypur – Part 2	Yes	No	No	No
2013[19]	Prague	Yes	No	No	No
2014[19]	Katiyabaaz[19]	Yes	No	No	No
	Ankhon Dekhi	Yes	No	No	No
2015	Dum Laga Ke Haisha[19]	Yes	No	No	No	Won National Film Award for Best Lyrics
	Bombay Velvet [21]	Yes	No	No	Yes
	Masaan [20]	Yes	Yes	No	No
2016[22]	Zubaan	Yes	No	No	No
	Fan	Yes	No	No	No
	Raman Raghav 2.0[22]	Yes	No	No	No
	Udta Punjab	Yes	No	No	No
2017[23]	Newton	Yes	No	No	No
2018	Kaala	Yes	No	No	No
	Sui Dhaaga	Yes	No	No	No
2019	Sonchiriya	Yes	No	No	No
2021	Sandeep Aur Pinky Faraar	No	Yes	No	No
2022	RRR	Yes	No	No	No	Lyricist for the Hindi version
	Badhaai Do	Yes	No	No	No
	Monica, O My Darling	Yes	No	No	No
	Samrat Prithviraj	Yes	No	No	No
	Kiss	No	Yes	Yes	No	Directorial Debut, Short film
	Qala	Yes	No	No	Yes
2023	Dunki	Yes	No	No	No
2024	Merry Christmas
	All India Rank	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Directorial Debut, Feature Film
	Jigra	Yes	No	No	No
2025	Superboys Of Malegaon	No	Yes	No	No

Television

Year	Title	Credited as
2004–2006[13]	The Great Indian Comedy Show	Writer
2007	SAB Ka Bheja Fry
2007–2008	Ranvir Vinay Aur Kaun?[24]
2008–2009	Oye! It's Friday![13]
2008–2009	10 Ka Dum
2009	Ghar Ki Baat Hai[25]
2009–2013[26]	Jay Hind!
2018–2019	Sacred Games	Writer and Executive producer

Books

• Paper Chor (2018), Jugnoo Prakashan
• Biksu (2019), Ektara India
• Karejwa (2020), Bakarmaxindia

Awards and nominations

Grover at the 63rd National Film Awards receiving the Best Lyrics award for Dum Laga Ke Haisha from President Pranab Mukherjee

Award	Year	Work	Category	Result	Ref.
Apsara Film & Television Producers Guild Award	2013	"Womaniya"–Gangs of Wasseypur – Part 1	Best Lyrics	Nominated
	2016	"Moh Moh Ke Dhaage"–Dum Laga Ke Haisha		Won	[27][28]
Filmfare Awards	2016	"Moh Moh Ke Dhaage"–Dum Laga Ke Haisha	Best Lyricist	Nominated	[29]
	2022	Sandeep Aur Pinky Faraar	Best Story	Nominated	[30]
			Best Screenplay	Nominated	[30]
			Best Dialogue	Won	[30]
Global Indian Music Academy Awards	2016	"Moh Moh Ke Dhaage"–Dum Laga Ke Haisha	Best Lyricist	Won
			Best Film Song	Nominated
Mirchi Music Awards	2014	"Aayi Bahar"–Ankhon Dekhi	Raag-Inspired Song of the Year	Nominated
	2016	"Moh Moh Ke Dhaage"–Dum Laga Ke Haisha	Lyricist of the Year	Won
	2017	Udta Punjab	Album of the Year	Nominated
National Film Awards	2016	"Moh Moh Ke Dhaage"–Dum Laga Ke Haisha	Best Lyrics	Won	[31][1]
Times of India Film Awards	2016	Dum Laga Ke Haisha	Best Lyrics	Won
Zee Cine Awards	2016	"Moh Moh Ke Dhaage"–Dum Laga Ke Haisha	Best Lyricist	Won	[32]

See also

• List of Indian comedians
• List of stand-up comedians