Ashutosh Gowariker

Ashutosh Gowariker is one of most keenly watched contemporary Indian directors, whose eclectic period drama 'Lagaan' got him noticed internationally and won a nomination for the Academy Award in the foreign language category in 2001.

Ashutosh began his career in the film industry as an actor and worked almost for a decade in various Hindi and Marathi films. He worked with some of the most respected directors such as Govind Nihalani, Ketan Mehta, Mahesh Bhatt, Saeed Mirza and Kundan Shah.

He also acted in many tele-serials such as Amol Palekar's 'Kachchi Dhoop', Saeed Mirza-Aziz Mirza-Kundan Shah's Circus', Shyam Benegal's Discovery of India', Manjul Sinha's 'Hum Panchchi Ek Dal Ke', Anand Mahendroo's 'Indradhanush', Manik Trivedi's 'Jantar Mantar', Glen Baretto-Ankush Mohla's Who' and Pradeep Uppoor-B.P. Singh's 'CID'.

Ashutosh made his directorial debut with Pehla Nasha' (First Love), a murder mystery in 1993; followed by 'Baazi (The Game)', a thriller, in 1995.

It was his third film 'Lagaan' that established him as an excitingly unusual director whose films were loved by both masses as well as critics.

'Lagaan' made in 2001, tells an unusual tale set in British India of a fictitious draught affected village that has to win a cricket match against the colonial rulers in order to get relief from exploitative tax regime.

He started his own film banner with 'Swades', a film about an Indian NASA scientist who comes back to the country and decides to stay back in order to bring in a social change. His latest film, 'Jodha Akbar', a period drama based on the epic love story of Mughal emperor Akbar and Rajput princess Jodha has received various national and international awards.