Mukul Deora
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Mukul Deora (born 12 July 1974) is an Indian film producer, musician and entrepreneur based in
Mumbai Mumbai ( ; ), also known as Bombay ( ; its official name until 1995), is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra. Mumbai is the financial capital and the most populous city proper of India with an estimated population of 12 ...
, India. He is best known for his music album ''Stray'' and producing '' The White Tiger (2021)''. Deora is a
serial entrepreneur Entrepreneurship is the creation or extraction of economic value in ways that generally entail beyond the minimal amount of risk (assumed by a traditional business), and potentially involving values besides simply economic ones. An entrepreneu ...
in packaging technology, digital content storage, workspace development, and film production and distribution. He is a
multimedia artist Multimedia is a form of communication that uses a combination of different content forms, such as writing, audio, images, animations, or video, into a single presentation. This is in contrast to tradition ...
who has performed at ''
TED Talks India TED Talks India (originally known as TED Talks India Nayi Soch (Season 1) and also known as TED Talks India Nayi Baat (Season 2)) is an Indian talk show hosted by Shah Rukh Khan, that premiered on Star Plus. The slogan of the show is "Don't kill ...
'',
Tate Modern Tate Modern is an art gallery in London, housing the United Kingdom's national collection of international Modern art, modern and contemporary art (created from or after 1900). It forms part of the Tate group together with Tate Britain, Tate Live ...
, and
Serpentine Gallery The Serpentine Galleries are two contemporary art galleries in Kensington Gardens, Westminster, Greater London. Recently rebranded to just Serpentine, the organisation is split across Serpentine South, previously known as the Serpentine Galler ...
. Deora acquired the rights to the bestselling book series Gajapati Kulapati in 2023.


Film career

In 2011, Deora developed and produced Bheja Fry 2, starring Vinak Pathak and
Kay Kay Menon Krishna Kumar Menon (born 2 October 1966), known professionally as Kay Kay Menon, is an Indian actor who works predominantly in Hindi cinema, and occasionally in Gujarati, Tamil, Marathi and Telugu films. He is best known for his roles in fil ...
, and has since distributed over 40 films via his company Watchtower Pictures. Deora acquired the rights to the Man Booker prize-winning novel The White Tiger and subsequently developed and produced The White Tiger, a film adaptation of the same, with
Netflix Netflix is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. The service primarily distributes original and acquired films and television shows from various genres, and it is available internationally in multiple lang ...
. The White Tiger is a 2021 drama film written and directed by
Ramin Bahrani Ramin Bahrani (; born March 20, 1975) is an American Film director, director and screenwriter. Film critic Roger Ebert ranked Bahrani's Chop Shop (film), ''Chop Shop'' (2007) as the sixth-best film of the 2000s, calling him "the new director of ...
(''
Fahrenheit 451 ''Fahrenheit 451'' is a 1953 Dystopian fiction, dystopian novel by American writer Ray Bradbury. It presents a future American society where books have been outlawed and "firemen" Book burning, burn any that are found. The novel follows in the ...
'' and '' 99 Homes''). The film stars Adarsh Gourav, award-winning actor
Rajkummar Rao Rajkummar Rao (born Raj Kumar Yadav; 31 August 1984) is an Indian actor. A versatile actor in Hindi cinema since the early 2010s, he is known for his performances in over thirty films across a wide spectrum of genres in both independent an ...
''(Stree, Bareily Ki Barfi, Newton)'', and global icon
Priyanka Chopra Jonas Priyanka Chopra Jonas (; born 18 July 1982) is an Indian actress and producer. The winner of the Miss World 2000 pageant, Chopra is India's highest-paid actress and has received List of awards and nominations received by Priyanka Chopra, nume ...
(''Isn't it Romantic, A Kid Like Jake, The Sky Is Pink'') in pivotal roles. An adaptation of Aravind Adiga's 2008 novel of the same name, the story is about Balram, who comes from a poor Indian village and uses his wit and cunning to escape from poverty. The film was number one on
Netflix Netflix is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. The service primarily distributes original and acquired films and television shows from various genres, and it is available internationally in multiple lang ...
in 64 countries and was seen by 27 million households in its first four weeks.


Music career

Deora released his debut album ''Stray ''with
SONY BMG Sony BMG Music Entertainment was an American record company owned as a 50–50 joint venture between Sony Corporation of America and Bertelsmann. The venture's successor, the revived Sony Music, is wholly owned by Sony, following their buyout o ...
in 2006. Stray was written, composed and produced by Mukul.
Howie B Howard Simon Bernstein (born 18 April 1963, Glasgow, Scotland) is a Scottish musician, producer and DJ who has worked with artists including Björk, U2, Tricky, Siouxsie and the Banshees, Soul II Soul, Robbie Robertson, Elisa, Mukul Deo ...
, who has previously produced U2 and
Björk Björk Guðmundsdóttir ( , ; born 21 November 1965), known mononymously as Björk, is an Icelandic singer, songwriter, composer, record producer, and actress. Noted for her distinct voice, three-octave vocal range, and eccentric public per ...
came on as Executive Producer. Stray reached number 12 in the Indian charts, and was a critical success, with the UK's
Guardian Guardian usually refers to: * Legal guardian, a person with the authority and duty to care for the interests of another * ''The Guardian'', a British daily newspaper (The) Guardian(s) may also refer to: Places * Guardian, West Virginia, Unit ...
newspaper calling it "an uneasy, surreal new vision of India." Pennyblackmusic said "It's a hallucinatory experience; burgeoning with tension and personal angst, existential bafflement and the estrangement that can only truly occur when utterly surrounded by a metropolis of millions. Think of '
Naked Lunch ''Naked Lunch'' (first published as ''The Naked Lunch'') is a 1959 novel by American author William S. Burroughs. The novel does not follow a clear linear plot, but is instead structured as a series of non-chronological "routines". Many of thes ...
' set in
Bombay Mumbai ( ; ), also known as Bombay ( ; its official name until 1995), is the capital city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of Maharashtra. Mumbai is the financial centre, financial capital and the list of cities i ...
, remixed by
William Gibson William Ford Gibson (born March 17, 1948) is an American-Canadian speculative fiction writer and essayist widely credited with pioneering the science fiction subgenre known as cyberpunk. Beginning his writing career in the late 1970s, his ear ...
and starring a subcontinental
Serge Gainsbourg Serge Gainsbourg (; born Lucien Ginsburg; 2 April 1928 – 2 March 1991) was a French singer-songwriter, actor, composer, and director. Regarded as one of the most important figures in French pop, he was renowned for often provocative rel ...
with a penchant for better living through chemistry ... that's about as close as you're going to get. It's fascinating." Whisperin and hollerin's Huw Jones says – "Constantly expanding on themes and getting ever complex, Mukul's kaleidoscope of audio delights showcase his heritage, Djing background and innovative thinking. Whilst never outright dark, there's a potentially deviant side to his music that slowly hangs in the balance and becomes claustrophobic, but at no point does it become too oppressive, not just yet anyway, it's a fine balance, but one that Mukul can strike with ease." In 2011 and 2012, Deora had a month-long radio show on
Bob Dylan Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan; born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Described as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture over his nearly 70-year ...
.


Entrepreneurship

Deora was the founder and CEO of
Sonopress Sonopress GmbH is an internationally active media service provider headquartered in Gütersloh, Germany. The company specializes in the production and distribution of physical and digital storage media and is part of the Bertelsmann Marketing Ser ...
India, a division of
Bertelsmann The Bertelsmann SE & Co. KGaA, commonly known as Bertelsmann (), is a German privately held company, private multinational corporation, multinational conglomerate (company), conglomerate corporation based in Gütersloh, North Rhine-Westphalia, ...
. In 1999, Deora founded Mipak Polymers, a packaging solutions company that was acquired by Hitech Corporation in 2006. Mipak had over 300 employees and 4 factories across India. Deora founded Watchtower Pictures in 2008, which developed and produced Bheja Fry 2 and distributed 40 films including
Krrish 3 ''Krrish 3'' is a 2013 Indian Hindi-language superhero action thriller film written, produced and directed by Rakesh Roshan, who wrote the screenplay with Honey Irani and Robin Bhatt. It is the third film in the ''Krrish'' series, following ...
,
English Vinglish ''English Vinglish'' is a 2012 Indian Hindi-language comedy drama, comedy-drama film written and directed by Gauri Shinde. The film stars Sridevi as Shashi Godbole, a small Entrepreneurship, entrepreneur who makes snacks and sweets. Shashi enro ...
, and
Cocktail (2012 film) ''Cocktail'' is a 2012 Indian Hindi-language romantic comedy film directed by Homi Adajania, written by Imtiaz Ali, and produced by Saif Ali Khan and Dinesh Vijan under their respective banners Illuminati Films and Maddock Films along wi ...
. In 2016, Deora founded Lava Media to shape culture through technology and produced the
Oscar Oscar, OSCAR, or The Oscar may refer to: People and fictional and mythical characters * Oscar (given name), including lists of people and fictional characters named Oscar, Óscar or Oskar * Oscar (footballer, born 1954), Brazilian footballer ...
and
BAFTA The British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA, ) is an independent trade association and charity that supports, develops, and promotes the arts of film, television and video games in the United Kingdom. In addition to its annual awa ...
-nominated global hit film The White Tiger, starring Priyanka Chopra and Rajkummar Rao. Lava acquired the rights to the bestselling book series Gajapati Kulapati in 2023. Gajapati Kulapati won the Best of Indian Children's Writing (BICW) Award in 2018.


Performances

In 2008, Deora directed The Body Electric, with Shezaad Dawood. The Body Electric was used to launch the prestigious UK Cultural Olympics, and was projected on Norwich Castle for 2 days. Dawood/Deora also performed at the
Serpentine Gallery The Serpentine Galleries are two contemporary art galleries in Kensington Gardens, Westminster, Greater London. Recently rebranded to just Serpentine, the organisation is split across Serpentine South, previously known as the Serpentine Galler ...
, London, as part of the Indian Highway show. In 2009, Deora had a solo art show titled BREAK in Mumbai. BREAK was a participative experiment. On entering the gallery, the audience was instructed to take a shuttle bus to an undisclosed location. They arrived at a derelict mill compound where they were asked to sign a disclaimer stating that they accepted full responsibility for any injury that might occur. They were then led to the scene which consisted of a car and sledgehammers. A situation was thus created, where the audience joined the experiment by smashing the car. It became an energetic, passionate, struggle, in which extremes of emotion were given free expression against that quintessential symbol of modernity, the automobile. By 2012, BREAK had achieved near-mythological status, and Diesel + Art had an exhibition with images and videos from the 2009 event. Deora performed at TED India, where he collaborated with
Kalaripayattu Kalaripayattu (), also known simply as Kalari, is an Indian martial art that originated on the southwestern coast of India, in what is now Kerala, during the 3rd century BCE. Etymology Kalaripayattu is a martial art which developed out of co ...
dancers to create a piece called The Wandering Arrow- a juxtaposition of an ancient Indian martial form with modern abstract electronic music.


References


External links


facebookMukul onlineDupup
{{DEFAULTSORT:Deora, Mukul Living people Indian male musicians Indian digital artists Cathedral and John Connon School alumni 1974 births