Sudip Sharma is an Indian screenwriter known for his work across series and films including ''
Paatal Lok'' (2020), ''
Sonchiriya'' (2019), ''
Udta Punjab'' (2016) and ''
NH10'' (2015).
Early life
Sharma was born in
Guwahati
Guwahati (, ; formerly rendered Gauhati, ) is the biggest city of the Indian state of Assam and also the largest metropolis in northeastern India. Dispur, the capital of Assam, is in the circuit city region located within Guwahati and is the ...
and studied there till the 10th grade before moving to
Delhi
Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, primarily its western or right bank, Delhi shares borders wi ...
to pursue further education. In 2002, upon receiving his MBA from
IIM-Ahmedabad, Sharma relocated to
Mumbai
Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the secon ...
and began working with corporate giants in the
FMCG sector.
Sharma decided to pursue screenwriting after writing a short film in 2006. He spent the next six years learning about the business, understanding the nuances of scriptwriting, and fine-tuning his craft. During this time, he collaborated with other writers and worked on feature films such as the drama
Superstar
A superstar is someone who has great popular appeal and is widely known, prominent, or successful in their field. Celebrities referred to as "superstars" may include individuals who work as actors, musicians, athletes, and other media-based profe ...
, directed by
Rohit Jugraj and starring
Kunal Khemu, which Sharma co-wrote with
Rahul Singh. Sharma continued his collaboration with Singh on ''Semshook''. Directed by Siddharth Anand Kumar, ''Semshook'' narrated the story of a Tibetan boy born in exile in India who decides to return to his homeland. The film travelled to international film festivals like
Cinequest Film Festival and Santa Cruz Film Festival and was also nominated for Best Screenplay at the
New York Indian Film Festival
The New York Indian Film Festival (NYIFF) is an annual film festival that takes place in New York City, and screens films relating to India, the Indian Diaspora, and the work of Indian filmmakers. The festival began in November 2001 and was ...
.
Career
Sharma made his feature screenwriting debut with the thriller
NH10, which was inspired by real-life honour killing cases, and narrated the story of a young couple whose road trip goes awry after an encounter with a group of criminals. Directed by
Navdeep Singh, and starring
Anushka Sharma,
NH10 was co-produced by
Clean Slate Films
Clean Slate Filmz (Previously known as ''Clean Slate Films'') is an Indian film production and distribution company established by actress Anushka Sharma and her brother Karnesh Sharma in October 2013. Based in Mumbai, it mainly produces and ...
,
Phantom Films, and
Eros International. Sudip subsequently wrote the dialogues for Singh's next feature,
Laal Kaptaan, a historical action-adventure.
Sharma has frequently collaborated with director
Abhishek Chaubey, writing the dialogue and screenplay for Chaubey's crime drama
Udta Punjab which revolves around the culture of rampant drug abuse and the various conspiracies surrounding it, particularly in the Indian state of
Punjab
Punjab (; Punjabi: پنجاب ; ਪੰਜਾਬ ; ; also romanised as ''Panjāb'' or ''Panj-Āb'') is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the northern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising ...
. The film featured an ensemble cast including
Shahid Kapoor,
Alia Bhatt,
Kareena Kapoor, and
Diljit Dosanjh and was critically and commercially lauded. Sharma proceeded to write the dialogues and screenplay for Chaubey's next feature ''
Sonchiriya'', a slow-burn dacoit
Western
Western may refer to:
Places
*Western, Nebraska, a village in the US
* Western, New York, a town in the US
*Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia
*Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia
*Western world, countries that i ...
set in the
Chambal valley. The film was produced by
RSVP and headlined by acting talent including
Sushant Singh Rajput,
Bhumi Pednekar,
Manoj Bajpayee,
Ranvir Shorey, and
Ashutosh Rana. ''Sonchiriya'' was nominated across several categories at the
Filmfare Awards
The Filmfare Awards are annual awards that honour artistic and technical excellence in the Hindi-language film industry of India.Al The Filmfare ceremony is one of the most famous film events in India. The awards were first introduced by th ...
including Best Screenplay and Best Dialogues for and won the Critics Award for Best Film and Best Costume Design. Sudip has also been the Creative Producer for projects produced under
Anushka Sharma’s banner production company,
Clean Slate Films
Clean Slate Filmz (Previously known as ''Clean Slate Films'') is an Indian film production and distribution company established by actress Anushka Sharma and her brother Karnesh Sharma in October 2013. Based in Mumbai, it mainly produces and ...
, including ''
Phillauri
Shardha Ram Phillauri ( ; September 1837 Singh Bedi, Harmohinder. ''Shardha Ram Granthawali''. Nirmal Publisher. (A three-volume work by the dean and head of the Guru Nanak Dev University Hindi Department.) – 24 June 1881) was an Indian ...
'' a fantasy-comedy, and
Pari, a horror-mystery.
In addition to writing for films, Sharma has also worked on series. He is the creator, showrunner, and co-writer of the Amazon Prime Video Original - ''
Paatal Lok'' - a
Hindi
Hindi (Devanāgarī: or , ), or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi (Devanagari: ), is an Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in the Hindi Belt region encompassing parts of North India, northern, Central India, centr ...
-language
crime thriller, about a disillusioned cop who lands the case of an assassination attempt gone wrong. Sharma co-wrote the series with Sagar Haveli,
Hardik Mehta
Hardik Mehta is a writer-director who works in both fiction as well as non fiction formats.
He won the National Award, in addition to several other awards and honors across international film festivals, for his documentary short Amdavad Ma Fa ...
, and Gunjit Chopra. The series was directed by
Avinash Arun and
Prosit Roy, produced by
Clean Slate Filmz, and starred
Jaideep Ahlawat
Jaideep Ahlawat is an Indian actor who appears in Hindi films. He completed his graduation from Film and Television Institute of India (FTII), Pune in 2008. After completing his education, he headed Mumbai, to pursue his dreams to become an ac ...
,
Gul Panag
Gul Panag (born Gulkirat Kaur Panag, 3 January 1979; Chandigarh, India) is an Indian actress, voice actress, model, and former beauty queen who competed in the Miss Universe pageant. Panag began her career in Bollywood with the 2003 film ''Dhoo ...
,
Neeraj Kabi,
Swastika Mukherjee,
Ishwak Singh, and
Abhishek Banerjee in the lead roles. ''Paatal Lok'' received rave reviews from critics, who praised the writing, storyline, direction, and performances. The series was listed in the Top 10 Indian Web Series of 2020 by
The Indian Express
''The Indian Express'' is an English-language Indian daily newspaper founded in 1932. It is published in Mumbai by the Indian Express Limited, Indian Express Group. In 1999, eight years after the group's founder Ramnath Goenka's death in 1991, ...
, and as one of the best international TV shows of 2020 by
Variety. ''Paatal Lok'' received eight nominations at the inaugural
Filmfare OTT Awards, and won five awards including Best Series, Best Original Story, Best Screenplay, Best Direction (
Avinash Arun and
Prosit Roy), and Best Actor (
Jaideep Ahlawat
Jaideep Ahlawat is an Indian actor who appears in Hindi films. He completed his graduation from Film and Television Institute of India (FTII), Pune in 2008. After completing his education, he headed Mumbai, to pursue his dreams to become an ac ...
).
Sharma is currently working on the second season of
Paatal Lok. He was the creative producer for the Netflix series ''
Mai'', starring
Sakshi Tanwar, which released in April 2022.
Filmography
Awards
References
{{Improve categories, date=September 2021
Indian screenwriters
Year of birth missing (living people)
Living people