Ashoke Pandit (born 11 May 1957) is an Indian filmmaker. He serves as the president of the Indian Film & Television Directors' Association.

Career

Pandit began his career acting in plays while attending Narsee Monjee College, Mumbai. After graduating, he continued directing plays at the college, until he was eventually offered a sponsorship from the

Indian People's Theatre Association Indian People's Theatre Association (IPTA) is the oldest association of theatre-artists in India. IPTA was formed in 1943 during the British rule in India, and promoted themes related to the Indian freedom struggle. Its goal was to bring cultur ...

. Pandit worked as an associate director for Raman Kumar,

Kundan Shah Kundan Shah (19 October 1947 – 7 October 2017) was an Indian film director and writer. He is known for his comedy classic '' Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro'' (1983) and his 1986–1987 TV series '' Nukkad'' with Saeed Akhtar Mirza. Biography Kundan Shah ...

, and

Manjul Sinha Manjul Sinha (died 15 January 2025) was an Indian television director. Life and career Sinha always wanted to be a director, having grown up in a prominent family who had keen interest in films, having a cinema hall at Patna, film distribution a ...

, until rising to his own prominence as the producer and director of the comedy TV series ''Filmi Chakkar''. He would later go on to direct the TV shows ''Tere Mere Sapne'' and ''Colgate Top Ten''. In 1999, he won a Radio and TV Advertising Practitioners' Association of India award for best picture for his documentary ''Sharnarthi Apne Desh Mein'', a 40-minute film detailing the plight of

Kashmiri Pandit The Kashmiri Pandits (also known as Kashmiri Brahmins) are a group of Kashmiri Hindus and a part of the larger Saraswat Brahmin community of India. They belong to the Pancha Gauda Brahmin group from the Kashmir Valley, located within the In ...

refugees during 1989-1990. In 2010, he released ''A Village of Windows'', a documentary detailing the hardships of the Kashmiri village of Dardpura. Pandit was a co-producer of the 2019 film '' The Accidental Prime Minister''. He serves as the president of the Indian Film & Television Directors' Association, and is the chief advisor of (

Federation of Western India Cine Employees Federation of Western India Cine Employees (FWICE) is a film industry worker's union in Mumbai, India. As of 2020 it had 500,000 members. FWICE is mother body of all Indian Cinema Association. Affiliations FWICE is a member of UNI APRO, itse ...

Controversy

He is known for his

controversial Controversy (, ) is a state of prolonged public dispute or debate, usually concerning a matter of conflicting opinion or point of view. The word was coined from the Latin '' controversia'', as a composite of ''controversus'' – "turned in an opp ...

statement with regard to the complex issue of

Palestine Palestine, officially the State of Palestine, is a country in West Asia. Recognized by International recognition of Palestine, 147 of the UN's 193 member states, it encompasses the Israeli-occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and th ...

i.e. "

Nadav Lapid Nadav Lapid () is an Israeli screenwriter and film director. Film critics consider him to be among the most internationally acclaimed filmmakers from Israel. Early life Lapid was born in Tel Aviv, Israel, to a family of Ashkenazi Jewish descent. ...

’s selection as the jury head of IFFI53Goa is a major lapse on behalf of I&B ministry. Hence heads of those in the ministry, who are responsible for this crime, should roll. What does one expect from a Palestine sympathiser?! ". The context was in relation to the

Kashmir conflict The Kashmir conflict is a territorial conflict over the Kashmir region, primarily between India and Pakistan, and also between China and India in the northeastern portion of the region. The conflict started after the partition of India in 1 ...

being portrayed in the film "

The Kashmir Files ''The Kashmir Files'' is a 2022 Indian Hindi-language drama film written and directed by Vivek Agnihotri. The film presents a fictional storyline centred around the 1990 exodus of Kashmiri Hindus from Indian-administered Kashmir. It depicts ...

" by

Vivek Agnihotri Vivek Ranjan Agnihotri (born 10 November 1973) is an Indian director, producer, and writer who works in Hindi cinema. He is a member of the board of India's Central Board of Film Certification and a cultural representative of Indian Cinema at ...

, whose work has been compared to the works of Leni Reifenstahl.

Filmography

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Pandit, Ashoke Living people Kashmiri people Kashmiri Pandits Film directors from Mumbai Hindi-language film directors 20th-century Indian people 21st-century Indian people 1957 births