Abhishek Shah (born 29 November 1982) is an Indian filmmaker, writer, director and producer known from his work in Gujarati films and theatre. His movies and plays revolve around significant

social issue A social issue is a problem that affects many people within a society. It is a group of common problems in present-day society that many people strive to solve. It is often the consequence of factors extending beyond an individual's control. Soc ...

Early life

Abhishek was born on 29 November 1982 in

Ahmedabad Ahmedabad ( ), also spelled Amdavad (), is the most populous city in the Indian state of Gujarat. It is the administrative headquarters of the Ahmedabad district and the seat of the Gujarat High Court. Ahmedabad's population of 5,570,585 ...

in a Gujarati family. His late father Jayanti Bhai was a banker and a theatre artist and his mother Kantaben is a homemaker. He did his graduation in Science with Mathematics and post graduation in Journalism from

Gujarat University The Gujarat University is a public state university located at Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India. The university is an affiliating university at the under-graduate level and a teaching university at the post graduate level. It is accredited A+ by NAAC ...

. In his college days he was involved in several activities related to theatre. He pursued theatre at very early age and emerged as very prominent name in Gujarati theatre with his social concern plays with students. He married Tejal Panchasara, an actress and professor, in 2007.

Career

He started working as a casting director in Gujarati cinema and with that he has introduced many actors to Gujarati cinema like Malhar Thacker,

Yash Soni Yash Soni (born 16 October 1996) is an Indian theater and film actor who primarily works in Gujarati cinema. He debuted with the hit comedy '' Chhello Divas'' (2015). He later starred in films like '' Days of Tafree'' (2016), '' Shu Thayu?'' (20 ...

, Aarjav Trivedi, Mitra Gadhvi,

Shraddha Dangar Shraddha Dangar (born 15 October 1994) is a national award winning Indian actress from Gujarat, India. She is known for '' Hellaro'' (2019), machhachu (2018), kasoombo (2024) , mansion 24 (telugu/hindi) (2024) and '' Pappa Tamne Nahi Samjaay' ...

, Kinjal Rajpriya, Jayesh More,

Deeksha Joshi Deeksha Joshi is an Indian actress from Gujarat who primarily works in the Gujarati film industry. She made her acting debut in 2017 with the film ''Shubh Aarambh'', followed by '' Karsandas Pay & Use'' (2017), '' Sharato Lagu'' (2018), ''Dhun ...

, Mayur Chauhan etc. He worked as a casting director in Chhello Divas, Shu thayu?, Karsandas Pay & Use,

Union Leader The ''New Hampshire Union Leader'' is a daily newspaper from Manchester, the largest city in the U.S. state of New Hampshire. On Saturdays, it publishes as the ''New Hampshire Sunday News.'' Founded in 1863, the paper was best known for the c ...

, Pappa Tamney Nahi Samjay, Thai Jashe, Wrong Side Raju, Hellaro,

Shubharambh ''Shubharambh'' () is an Indian Hindi-language romantic drama television series. Produced by Shashi Sumeet Productions, it aired from 2 December 2019 to 13 November 2020 on Colors TV. It starred Mahima Makwana and Akshit Sukhija in the lead r ...

. In 2019, He made his directorial debut with the Gujarati film Hellaro starring Jayesh More, Shraddha Dangar, Aarjav Trivedi, Niilam Panchal, Tejal Panchasara, Maulik Nayak, Tarjanee Bhadla, Denisha Ghumra and Brinda Trivedi. It was about how women of Runn of Kutch finds their way of expression through dance where women are not allowed to play Garba.

Awards and nominations

Abhishek Shah's Debutant film, Hellaro won the

National Film Award for Best Feature Film The National Film Award for Best Feature Film is one of the categories in the National Film Awards presented annually by the National Film Development Corporation of India, the organisation set up by Ministry of Information and Broadcasting in I ...

at the

66th National Film Awards The 66th National Film Awards ceremony was the award ceremony which took place in 2019 to honour the best films of 2018, in the Indian cinema. The declaration of awards was delayed due to 2019 Indian general election. Selection process The Dir ...

. It was officially selected as the opening film at Indian Panorama at the

50th International Film Festival of India The 50th International Film Festival of India was held from 20 to 28 November 2019 in Goa. Russia is the country of focus with eight Russian language films being screened. Jury * John Bailey (cinematographer), John Bailey, Chairperson * Robin ...

(IFFI). The film was nominated for the 'Best Debut Award' at the Mahatma Gandhi Afro Asian Film Award for the year 2020. He was nominated for the Best Director Award at the Gujarat State Film Awards 2019 and the Best Writer Award at the Critics Choice Film Awards for the year 2019.

Filmography

As a director

* '' Hellaro'' (2019) * ''

Umbarro ''Umbarro'' is a 2025 Gujarati family comedy drama film directed by Abhishek Shah. It stars Vandana Pathak, Kaajal Oza Vaidya, Suchita Trivedi, Deeksha Joshi, Tarjanee Bhadla, Tejal Panchasara, Vineeta Joshee, Aarjav Trivedi, and Galsar Sa ...

'' (2025)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Shah, Abhishek 1982 births Living people Gujarati-language film directors Film directors from Gujarat Indian male screenwriters People from Ahmedabad Gujarat University alumni Hindi film producers 21st-century Indian people