Manish G. Acharya (14 June 1967 – 4 December 2010) was an Indian

film director A film director or filmmaker is a person who controls a film's artistic and dramatic aspects and visualizes the screenplay (or script) while guiding the film crew and actors in the fulfillment of that Goal, vision. The director has a key role ...

and

actor An actor (masculine/gender-neutral), or actress (feminine), is a person who portrays a character in a production. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. ...

. Acharya was best known for '' Loins of Punjab Presents'', the film he co-wrote with Anuwab Pal, directed, acted in, and co-produced. Released theatrically to great critical acclaim in 2007 in India and the US, the film ''s''tarred

Shabana Azmi Shabana Azmi (born 18 September 1950) is an Indian actress of film, television and theatre. Her career in the Hindi cinema, Hindi film industry has spanned Shabana Azmi filmography, over 160 films, mostly within independent and neorealist paral ...

, Ayesha Dharkar and Ajay Naidu among others. Manish Acharya's other film credits include a cameo in the 2009 Zoya Akhtar film '' Luck by Chance'' and narration in Nina Paley's animation feature film '' Sita Sings the Blues''.

Education and career

Acharya completed his Undergraduate Studies from

Grinnell College Grinnell College ( ) is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Grinnell, Iowa, United States. It was founded in 1846 when a group of Congregationalism in the United States, Congregationalis ...

in Iowa, USA, with a major in

Physics Physics is the scientific study of matter, its Elementary particle, fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge whi ...

. He then received a

Master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional prac ...

from

Iowa State University Iowa State University of Science and Technology (Iowa State University, Iowa State, or ISU) is a Public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in Ames, Iowa, United States. Founded in 1858 as the Iowa Agricult ...

Industrial Relations Industrial relations or employment relations is the multidisciplinary academic field that studies the employment relationship; that is, the complex interrelations between employers and employees, labor union, labor/trade unions, employer organ ...

. Acharya worked in the US corporate world as Head of Marketing at Microsyrategy, and was featured on the cover of Marketing Magazine at the age of 27. At the age of 30, Manish left corporate America to study film directing, and received his

Master of Fine Arts A Master of Fine Arts (MFA or M.F.A.) is a terminal degree in fine arts, including visual arts, creative writing, graphic design, photography, filmmaking, dance, theatre, other performing arts and in some cases, theatre management or arts admi ...

degree from New York University (NYU)'s prestigious

Tisch School of the Arts The New York University Tisch School of the Arts (commonly referred to as Tisch) is the performing, cinematic, and media arts school of New York University. Founded on August 17, 1965, as the School of the Arts at New York University, Tisch ...

. Loins Of Punjab Presents was his first feature film as well as his thesis film, and it became the highest grossing English language comedy in India. It won several awards, including the IFFLA's 2008 Audience Choice Award for Best Feature and Sapporo Asian Film Festival of Dallas's 2008 Best Narrative Feature Award.

Death

Acharya was critically injured in a horse riding accident on 4 December 2010, in

Matheran Matheran is a partially automobile free hill station and a municipal council in the Karjat, Karjat taluka of the Raigad district located in the Indian States and territories of India, state of Maharashtra. Matheran is part of the Mumbai Metropo ...

, India. He was quickly transported to Ambani Hospital in Nerul; however, the doctors declared him dead. He is survived by his wife, artist Dhruvi Acharya and their two children Malhar and Aman.

References

External links

*
Loins of Punjab Presents in New York Times
{{DEFAULTSORT:Acharya, Manish 1967 births 2010 deaths Deaths by horse-riding accident in India Film directors from Mumbai Male actors from Mumbai Tisch School of the Arts alumni Grinnell College alumni Iowa State University alumni Indian expatriate actors in the United States