Govind Nihalani (born 19 December 1940) is an Indian film director, cinematographer, screenwriter and producer, known for his works in

Hindi cinema Hindi cinema, popularly known as Bollywood and formerly as Bombay cinema, is primarily produced in Mumbai. The popular term Bollywood is a portmanteau of "Bombay" (former name of Mumbai) and "Cinema of the United States, Hollywood". The in ...

, particularly the movement of

parallel cinema Parallel cinema, or New Indian Cinema, is a film movement in Cinema of India, Indian cinema that originated in the state of West Bengal in the 1950s as an alternative to the mainstream commercial Indian cinema. Inspired by Italian Neorealism, ...

. He has been the recipient of six

National Film Awards The National Film Awards are awards for artistic and technical merit given for "Excellence within the Cinema of India, Indian film industry". Established in 1954, it has been administered, along with the International Film Festival of India ...

, and five

Filmfare Awards The Filmfare Awards are annual awards that honour artistic and technical excellence in the Indian cinema.Al The Filmfare ceremony is one of the most famous film events in India. The awards were introduced by Filmfare magazine of The Times G ...

Early life

Nihalani was born on 19 December 1940 in

Karachi Karachi is the capital city of the Administrative units of Pakistan, province of Sindh, Pakistan. It is the List of cities in Pakistan by population, largest city in Pakistan and 12th List of largest cities, largest in the world, with a popul ...

Sindh Sindh ( ; ; , ; abbr. SD, historically romanized as Sind (caliphal province), Sind or Scinde) is a Administrative units of Pakistan, province of Pakistan. Located in the Geography of Pakistan, southeastern region of the country, Sindh is t ...

province (now in

Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...

) and his family migrated to India during the partition of 1947. He graduated in cinematography from the Shree Jaya Chamrajendra polytechnic (the present Government Film and Television Institute) in Bangalore in 1962.

Career

He started his career as an assistant cinematographer to V. K. Murthy, post which he made his debut as a

cinematographer The cinematographer or director of photography (sometimes shortened to DP or DOP) is the person responsible for the recording of a film, television production, music video or other live-action piece. The cinematographer is the chief of the camera ...

. He was associated with all the earlier films of Shyam Benegal and with the cinematography of

Richard Attenborough Richard Samuel Attenborough, Baron Attenborough (; 29 August 192324 August 2014) was an English actor, film director, and Film producer, producer. Attenborough was the president of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA) and the British Acade ...

's Oscar-winning period biographical drama ''Gandhi'' (1982). Nihalani and Benegal are well known for their socially relevant films. His first directorial venture was the legal drama ''Aakrosh'', starring Om Puri, Naseeruddin Shah, Smita Patil and Amrish Puri in lead roles. The film was scripted by noted Marathi playwright Vijay Tendulkar. The film won the Golden Peacock for best film at the

International Film Festival of India The International Film Festival of India (IFFI), founded in 1952, is an annual film festival currently held in Goa, on the western coast of India. The festival aims at providing a common platform for the cinemas of the world to project the excel ...

held in New Delhi in 1981. He then directed , a 1983 film based on a story by S. D. Panwalkar. In 1996, his script for '' Drohkaal'' was adapted by

Kamal Haasan Parthasarathy Srinivasan (born 7 November 1954), known professionally as Kamal Haasan, is an Indian actor, filmmaker and politician who predominantly works in Tamil cinema. Considered as one of the most accomplished actors of Indian Cinema, Haas ...

for its Tamil remake, '' Kuruthipunal'', which subsequently became India's official entry for the 68th Academy Awards Best Foreign Language Film category. In 1997, he adapted Bengali novelist Mahasweta Devi's acclaimed novel by the same name to '' Hazaar Chaurasi Ki Maa''.

Literary works

* ''Encyclopaedia of Hindi Cinema'', by Govind Nihalani, Saibal Chatterjee, Gulzar. Popular Prakashan, 2003.

Awards

;Civilian honor *

Padma Shri The Padma Shri (IAST: ''padma śrī'', lit. 'Lotus Honour'), also spelled Padma Shree, is the fourth-highest Indian honours system, civilian award of the Republic of India, after the Bharat Ratna, the Padma Vibhushan and the Padma Bhushan. In ...

(2002) ;

* National Film Award for Best Cinematography - Junoon (1979) * National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Hindi (director) - Aakrosh (1980) *National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Hindi (director) - Ardh Satya (1983) *National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Hindi (director) - Drishti (1990) *National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Hindi (director) - Hazaar Chaurasi Ki Maa (1998) * Nargis Dutt Award for Best Feature Film on National Integration - Tamas (1988) ;

* Filmfare Best Cinematographer Award- Junoon (1979) * Filmfare Best Cinematographer Award- Vijeta (1983) * Filmfare Best Director Award - Aakrosh (1981) * Filmfare Best Movie Award - Ardh Satya (1984) *Filmfare Best Director Award - Ardh Satya (1984) * Filmfare Critics Award for Best Movie - Dev (2004)

Filmography

References

External links

Nihalani's official site
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Nihalani, Govind 1940 births Living people Filmfare Awards winners Hindi-language film directors Hindi film producers Hindi film cinematographers Indian television directors Best Cinematography National Film Award winners Recipients of the Padma Shri in arts Film directors from Karachi Indian Sindhi people Sindhi filmmakers 20th-century Indian people Indian male screenwriters Directors who won the Best Film on National Integration National Film Award Sindhi male writers