Ketan Mehta

Ketan Mehta
Born (1952-07-21) 21 July 1952 (age 72)
Navsari, Bombay State (present day Gujarat), India
Occupations
  • Film director
  • Screenwriter
Years active1975–present
SpouseDeepa Sahi
RelativesUsha Mehta (aunt)

Ketan Mehta (born 21 July 1952) is an Indian film director who has also directed documentaries and television serials since 1975.[1][2]

Early life and education

Born on 21 July 1952 in Navsari in Gujarat, Mehta did his schooling from Sardar Patel Vidyalaya, Delhi and later graduated in film direction from Film and Television Institute of India, Pune.[3]

Career

Mehta with Raja Sen and Guneet Monga handing over the award to Vijay Vellukutty at IFP Awards, 2015

During his career, Mehta has made ten feature films, seven documentaries and two television serials – Captain Vyom and Mr. Yogi.[4][5] His repertoire of themes includes comedy, satire, romance, violence and rebellion.

After graduating from the Film and Television Institute of India, Mehta joined the Indian Space Research Organisation as a television producer. There, he was given almost total freedom in what to create. In an interview years later, Mehta remarked about how influential this was to his development: “It was an incredible experience. Traveling all over Gujarat, meeting people, making programs on whatever you felt like, whatever you came across. It was real, genuine experimentation with medium, with people. That experience has been vital to films that I’ve made.”[6]

Mehta's first film, Bhavni Bhavai, a Gujarati film, won him acclaim. His films have been selected for various international film festivals such as Nantes (France) and the Moscow Film Festival, where they have won numerous awards over the years. Mirch Masala was one of Mehta's notable efforts, and won him the Best Film Award at Hawaii.[7] It was released to 52 cinemas in the United States. Mehta has also had the honour of serving as a member of the jury in various national and international film festivals.

Mehta directed a biopic Sardar, on the life of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, in 1993. His latest two films Rang Rasiya, 2014 and Manjhi the Mountain Man, 2015 both opened to tepid box office and universally positive critical reviews. Manjhi the Mountain Man starred Nawazuddin Siddiqui.[8]

Awards and recognition

Personal life

He is married to actress Deepa Sahi who has acted in three of his films, Maya Memsaab, Oh Darling! Yeh Hai India and Aar Ya Paar.[11][12] Together they founded the Maya Academy of Advanced Cinematics and Maya Digital Studios. He is the nephew of Gandhian and freedom fighter, Usha Mehta. His younger brother, Dr. Yatin Mehta, is Chairman of Medanta Institute of Critical Care and Anesthesiology, Gurgaon, Haryana.[13] His youngest brother is Dr. Nirad Mehta, Consultant Radiologist at Hinduja Hospital, Mumbai.[14][15]

Filmography

Director

Producer

References

  1. ^ Thorval, Yves (2000). Cinemas of India. Macmillan India. pp. 181–182. ISBN 0-333-93410-5.
  2. ^ "Ketan Mehta's TV series Captain Vyom to be made into five-part film". EasternEye. 16 October 2020. Retrieved 25 June 2021.
  3. ^ "Biography". Archived from the original on 29 July 2012.
  4. ^ "Ketan Mehta". IMDb. Retrieved 27 January 2010.
  5. ^ Grewal, Kairvy (31 October 2020). "Captain Vyom — India's very own sci-fi superhero who came to life on Doordarshan". ThePrint. Retrieved 2 February 2021.
  6. ^ Meer, Ameena http://bombsite.com/issues/29/articles/1262 Archived 14 May 2013 at the Wayback Machine Fall 1989, Retrieved 13 May 2013
  7. ^ "Awards". IMDB.
  8. ^ "I am controversy's child: Ketan Mehta". The Indian Express. 13 July 2015. Retrieved 2 February 2021.
  9. ^ "15th Moscow International Film Festival (1987)". MIFF. Archived from the original on 16 January 2013. Retrieved 18 February 2013.
  10. ^ "Sudhir Mishra, Ketan Mehta felicitated by French government". 16 July 2010. Archived from the original on 30 October 2018. Retrieved 17 July 2010.
  11. ^ Kahlon, Sukhpreet. "25 years of Oh Darling Yeh Hai India! (1995): Irreverent, piercing film about the state of the nation". Cinestaan. Retrieved 2 February 2021.
  12. ^ "Ketan Mehta: I must be the craziest man Deepa has met in her life - Times of India". The Times of India. Retrieved 2 February 2021.
  13. ^ "Dr Yatin Mehta". Our Doctors. Medanta- The Medicity. Retrieved 6 April 2011.
  14. ^ "Dr. (Lt. Col) Nirad Mehta". Dr Nirad Mehta. Hinduja Hospital. Archived from the original on 16 June 2013. Retrieved 6 April 2011.
  15. ^ "Showers, samosas and stories! Anubhav Sinha, Hansal Mehta, Anurag Kashyap, Sudhir Mishra, Ketan Mehta catch up". www.mid-day.com. 19 June 2021. Retrieved 3 July 2021.
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