Anupama Chopra () is an Indian author, journalist, film critic and director of the MAMI Mumbai Film Festival. She is also the founder and editor of the digital platform Film Companion, which offers a curated look at cinema. She has written several books on

Indian cinema The Cinema of India consists of motion pictures produced in India, which had a large effect on world cinema since the late 20th century. Major centers of film production across the country include Mumbai, Chennai, Hyderabad, Visakhapatnam, ...

and has been a film critic for

NDTV New Delhi Television Ltd is an Indian news media company focusing on broadcast and digital news publication. The company is considered to be a legacy brand that pioneered independent news broadcasting in India, and is credited for launching t ...

, ''

India Today ''India Today'' is a weekly Indian English-language news magazine published by Living Media India Limited. It is the most widely circulated magazine in India, with a readership of close to 8 million. In 2014, ''India Today'' launched a new o ...

'', as well as the ''

Hindustan Times ''Hindustan Times'' is an Indian English-language daily newspaper based in Delhi. It is the flagship publication of HT Media, an entity controlled by the KK Birla family, and is owned by Shobhana Bhartia. It was founded by Sunder Singh Ly ...

''. She also hosted a weekly film review show ''The Front Row With Anupama Chopra'', on Star World. She won the 2000 National Film Award for Best Book on Cinema for her first book '' Sholay: The Making of a Classic''. She presently critiques movies and interviews celebrities for Film Companion.

Early life and background

Born as Anupama Chandra in Calcutta,

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

to Chandra Parshad family, she has also lived in

Badayun Budaun is commonly pronounced Badayun is a city and a seat of Budaun district, Uttar Pradesh, India. It is located near the Ganges river in the centre of Western Uttar Pradesh. Budaun was the capital of Delhi Sultanate for four years from 1210 C ...

, a city in Uttar Pradesh. Her father Navin Chandra was the eldest of the brothers and sisters. Anupama's grandfather, originally from Delhi, was an executive with

Union Carbide Union Carbide Corporation is an American chemical corporation wholly owned subsidiary (since February 6, 2001) by Dow Chemical Company. Union Carbide produces chemicals and polymers that undergo one or more further conversions by customers befo ...

Kolkata Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , the official name until 2001) is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal, on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary business, comme ...

. Her mother

Kamna Chandra Kamna Chandra is an Indian writer who has written plays for All India Radio and stories and dialogues for the screen which include the films '' Chandni'', '' 1942: A Love Story'' (directed by her son-in-law Vidhu Vinod Chopra), ''Prem Rog'' and t ...

was a scriptwriter who wrote dialogue for such films as ''

Prem Rog ''Prem Rog'' () is a 1982 Hindi-language musical romantic drama directed by Raj Kapoor, with screenplay written by Jainendra Jain and Kamna Chandra. The film tells the story of a man's (Rishi Kapoor) love towards a woman, who is a higher sta ...

'' (1982) and '' Chandni'' (1989). Chopra grew up with her brother and sister in Mumbai, where her family lived in

Nepean Sea Road Nepean Sea Road is a neighbourhood near Malabar Hill in South Mumbai, India. History The area is named after Sir Evan Nepean, 1st Baronet, a British politician and administrator, and the Governor of Bombay (1812–1819). This road was renamed ...

and then in

Cuffe Parade Cuffe Parade is a historic and significant business district of the city of Mumbai, India. It is home to a collection of commercial and office high-rises. It is bordered to the north by Nariman Point which, along with Cuffe Parade, forms the gre ...

. Her sister

Tanuja Chandra Tanuja Chandra (born 1969) is an Indian film director and writer. Chandra is the daughter of writer Kamna Chandra and sister of author Vikram Chandra and film critic Anupama Chopra. She co-wrote the screenplay of Yash Chopra's ''Dil To Pagal H ...

is an Indian Film director and screenwriter; her brother Vikram Chandra is a novelist, who splits his time between California and India. She also lived in Hong Kong for several years as a teenager. She graduated from

St. Xavier's College, Mumbai St. Xavier's College is a private, Catholic, autonomous higher education institution run by the Bombay Province of the Society of Jesus in Mumbai, Maharashtra, India. It was founded by the Jesuits on January 2, 1869. The college is aff ...

with a BA in English Literature in 1987. Later, Chopra earned her MA in journalism from

Northwestern University Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston, Illinois. Founded in 1851, Northwestern is the oldest chartered university in Illinois and is ranked among the most prestigious academic institutions in the world. Charte ...

Medill School of Journalism The Medill School of Journalism, Media, Integrated Marketing Communications is a constituent school of Northwestern University that offers both undergraduate and graduate programs. It frequently ranks as the top school of journalism in the Unite ...

. She won the Harrington Award for "academic excellence and promise for success in the field of magazine journalism" while at Medill. She later said, "Film journalism was untouchable at the time. Everybody was ashamed and nobody wanted to admit that I worked for movies."

Career

After her education, Chopra started her career as a film journalist and critic and over the years has written several books of films, especially Hindi cinema. She has written about the Hindi film industry since 1993 and has explored cinema in several mediums – print, television and digital. Her first book '' Sholay: The Making of a Classic'' (2000) won the 2001

National Film Award for Best Book on Cinema The National Film Award for Best Book on Cinema is one of the National Film Awards presented annually by the Directorate of Film Festivals, the organisation set up by Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, India. It is one of several awards ...

(India). ''Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge '' (The Bravehearted Will Take The Bride) (2002) was published by the

British Film Institute The British Film Institute (BFI) is a film and television charitable organisation which promotes and preserves film-making and television in the United Kingdom. The BFI uses funds provided by the National Lottery (United Kingdom), National Lot ...

as part of their Modern Classics Series. Her book, ''King of Bollywood: Shah Rukh Khan and the Seductive World of Indian Cinema'', was featured on the annual "Editor's Choice" list of the '' New York Times Book Review.'' It was also translated into German, Indonesian and Polish. Chopra's 2011 book ''First Day First Show: Writings from the Bollywood Trenches'', is a compilation of her articles on Hindi cinema over two decades, published by Penguin India. Chopra's work has been published in ''

'', India's largest English-language magazine. She has also written about Hindi Films for various international publications such as ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'', the ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the U ...

'', ''

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

'' and ''

Sight & Sound ''Sight and Sound'' (also spelled ''Sight & Sound'') is a British monthly film magazine published by the British Film Institute (BFI). It conducts the well-known, once-a-decade ''Sight and Sound'' Poll of the Greatest Films of All Time, ongoing ...

'' and is currently a contributing editor to ''

Vogue India ''Vogue India'' is the Indian edition of the monthly fashion and lifestyle magazine ''Vogue''. It is the 17th international edition of ''Vogue'' and the first edition in South Asia. ''Vogue India'' is published by Condé Nast India Pvt. Ltd., a ...

''.

Chopra hosted film review show, ''Picture This'' on ''

'' 24X7 news channel. In 2012, she started her weekly review show called ''The Front Row with Anupama Chopra'', on Star World, which ran until June 2014. In 2013, she released two books, ''Freeze Frame'' based on the interviews with film makers and actors on the TV show, and ''100 Films to See before You Die'' based on her weekly film columns. In 2014, she also did a Hindi show called 'Star Verdict' on Star Plus. Currently she hosts Film Companion on

YouTube YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second mo ...

which replaced "The Front Row With Anupama Chopra" where she critiques Hindi Film movies. She has written several books on cinema. Anupama's latest book, ''The Front Row: Conversations on Cinema'' published by HarperCollins is a collection of her televised interviews with both Indian Film and Hollywood personalities. She is also actively involved in works related to film festivals happening in India. In November 2014, Chopra replaced Shyam Benegal to become the chairperson of the

Mumbai Film Festival The Mumbai Academy of Moving Image (MAMI) is a public trust that organises the annual international film festival in Mumbai famously known as the Jio MAMI Mumbai Film Festival. Actor, producer and author Priyanka Chopra Jonas is the Chairperson ...

organized by the

Mumbai Academy of the Moving Image The Mumbai Academy of Moving Image (MAMI) is a public trust that organises the annual international film festival in Mumbai famously known as the Jio MAMI Mumbai Film Festival. Actor, producer and author Priyanka Chopra Jonas is the Chairperson ...

(MAMI).

Film Companion

In July 2014, Chopra founded ''Film Companion'' as a pan-India platform for entertainment journalism. Currently the platform carries reviews, interviews, features and masterclasses around cinema, television and web series. Chopra, Rahul Desai, Sucharita Tyagi and Pratayush Parasuraman write for the platform.

Baradwaj Rangan Baradwaj Rangan is an Indian film critic, writer, and formerly the deputy editor of ''The Hindu''. He later became a senior editor of Film Companion. Rangan won the National Film Award for Best Film Critic in 2006. Before joining ''The Hindu' ...

also wrote for many years before leaving on 15 March 2022.

Awards

* 2000 National Film Award for Best Book on Cinema for '' Sholay: The Making of a Classic''

Personal life

Chopra is married to

Vidhu Vinod Chopra Vidhu Vinod Chopra (born 5 September 1952) is an Indian film director, producer, editor, screenwriter, lyricist and actor. His well-known films as director are '' Parinda'' (1988), '' 1942: A Love Story'' (1994). He is also known for producing ...

, a Hindi Film producer and director. Her daughter Zuni Chopra (born 2001/2002) is author of three books, including a novel and two books in poetry. Her son Agni Dev Chopra is an aspiring cricketer.

Bibliography

* '' Sholay: The Making of a Classic''. Penguin Books, 2000. . * '' Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge'', British Film Institute, 2002. . * '' King of Bollywood: Shah Rukh Khan and the Seductive World of Indian Cinema''. Grand Central Publishing, 2007. . * ''First Day First Show: Writings from the Bollywood Trenches''. Penguin Books India, 2011. . * ''Freeze Frames''. Om Books, 2013. . * ''100 Films to See before You Die''. BCCL, New Delhi, 2013. . * ''The Front Row: Conversation on Cinema''. HarperCollins ''Publishers'' India, 2015. . * ''In Conversation with the Stars''. Rupa Publications, 2019.

References

External links

Film CompanionAnupama Chopra reviews
at ''

'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Chopra, Anupama Indian film critics Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Writers from Kolkata St. Xavier's College, Mumbai alumni Medill School of Journalism alumni Indian women television presenters Indian television presenters Indian women television journalists Indian television journalists Journalists from West Bengal Women writers from West Bengal Indian women critics 20th-century Indian journalists 21st-century Indian journalists 20th-century Indian women writers 21st-century Indian women writers 21st-century Indian writers Variety (magazine) people