Sanjay Arora

Sanjay Arora
Sanjay Arora at Jaipur University, India, cultural film festival
Born
Kurukshetra, India
Occupation(s)Filmmaker, actor

Sanjay Arora is an Indian filmmaker and Actor.[1] He is known for making films such as Expression, Chase,[2] Butterfly Wings,[3] Once Again.

Early life

Sanjay Arora was born in Kurukshetra, India . As a child, he loved watching Hindi films and acting in skits and plays. He started as a host at the All India Radio, and hosted many programs targeting Indian youth. He did his schooling from Senior Model School, Kurukshetra and went ahead to do Electronics Engineering at D C R University of Science and Technology in Haryana and graduated with a Bachelor's degree. After that he did PG in Export Marketing and Management from Kurukshetra University. He moved to Detroit, Michigan in 1999, and started working as Software Engineer. Even though he was working as a software engineer, his passion was always in acting and film making. He studied filmmaking & direction at New York Film Academy in New York City.[4] He attended the India Today Acting School in Toronto, where he was trained by Roshan Taneja.

Film career

Arora invested the money he made from his engineering career in USA in producing and directing a short film Butterfly Wings.[5] It is based on a true story of a Physically challenged woman. The film was shot in Delhi with Indian and American actors. The film was featured at We Care Film Festival Film Festival, 2011[6] and screened at 15 cities in India including, Delhi, Mumbai, Allahabad, Jaipur, Goa, Gurgaon and special shows in United Nation Information Center, Delhi[7] and BHEL, Haridwar. Film was screened at Picture this Film Festival, Calgary,[8] West Virginia Filmmaker Festival 2011, West Virginia (USA ),[9] Trinity Film Coalition Film Festival, Detroit, 2011(USA).

Other films

Once Again (Phir vehi) which is inspired from teaching of buddha was screened at Delhi International Film Festival.[10] Expression, as the name suggests, is about expressing internal feelings without verbal language. This film shows that language is not a barrier in love, centring on Karan, an American born Indian from America and Sonya, a Russian bartender in Moscow. It was shot in Detroit, USA with Indian and Russian actors, was screened in ICE short film festival, Pune,[11] and World Music & Independent Film Festival (WMIFF) 2012. Chase is about a young man actively seeks happiness. Happiness eludes him, but keeps on dropping hints. It was shot in New York city.

Filmography

  • Expression (2006) (short film) – producer, actor, director
  • Chase (2008) (short film) producer, director
  • Butterfly Wings (2010) (Short Film) producer, director[12]
  • Shuttlecock Boys (2011), assistant director
  • Once Again (2012)[13] producer, Writer and director
  • Once Upon A Time In Lahore (2023) (short film) co-producer

Awards and nominations

Butterfly Wings

  • Honorable Mention award at the Bayou City Inspirational Film Festival (BCIFF) 2011 in Houston, Texas.[14]
  • 2nd prize for the Best Film at the Global Film Festival, Noida (India).[15]
  • Nominated for the Best feature film, Screenplay and Best Supporting Role Actress in feature film at the World Music & Independent Film Festival (WMIFF) 2011, Washington D.C.[16][17]
  • Nominated for the Best Screenplay in a feature film, Best Director and Best Actress in a feature film at The Hot Media International Film Festival (HIMFF) 2012 in Maryland (USA).[18]
  • Award of Merit for Short Film at the Accolade Film Competition 2013, USA.[19]
  • Honorable Mention Award at the International Film Festival of Spirituality, Religion and Visionary 2013.[20]

Once Again

  • Official selection at the Delhi International Film Festival 2012.[21]
  • Nominated for the Best Screenplay at the Hot Media International Film Festival 2012.[22]
  • Official Selection at the Trinity International Film Festival 2013, Detroit, USA.[23]
  • Won Best film award in Religious/Spiritual category at the Great Lakes International Film Festival 2013.[24]
  • Won Best Screenplay Award at the Free Spirit Film Festival 2013, India.[25]
  • Honorable Mention award at the International Film Festival for Peace, Inspiration & Equality (IFFPIE) 2013 in Jakarta, Indonesia.[26]
  • 3rd prize winner at the 6th Boomtown Film & Music Festival 2013, Texas.[27]
  • Nominated or the Best South East Asian Film and Best Director at the World Music & Independent Film Festival 2013, Washington D.C.[28]
  • Honorable Mention Award at the International Film Festival of Spirituality, Religion and Visionary 2013.[29]
  • Won "Silver Award - Short film competition" at the 2014 California Film Awards, USA.[30][31][32]
  • Won "Royal Reel Award" at the Canada International Film Festival 2014.[33][34]

References

  1. ^ "Sanjay Arora's bags another International Accolade". The Times of India. 7 September 2011. Archived from the original on 7 November 2011.
  2. ^ "Best Indian Shortz Films". Shortz.
  3. ^ "Butterfly Wings at International Film Festival". India Post. 8 April 2011.
  4. ^ "Sunday Show". Indian Express. 28 April 2013.
  5. ^ "Butterfly Wings is based on a True Story". The Times of India. 18 April 2011. Archived from the original on 11 April 2013.
  6. ^ "Butterfly Wings at We Care and Picture this film festival". Bollywood Trade. 27 April 2011.[permanent dead link‍]
  7. ^ "U.N. India-Connect". U.N. Information Center for Indian and Bhutan. Archived from the original on 2 July 2020. Retrieved 18 February 2013.
  8. ^ "2011 Selections". International Disability Film Festival.
  9. ^ "Selections". West VA Filmmaker Filmfestival.
  10. ^ "NRI Cinema". Delhi International Film Festival.
  11. ^ "Schedule". Ice Digital Short Film Festival. Archived from the original on 24 August 2011. Retrieved 18 February 2013.
  12. ^ "Sanjay Arora's film wins another International Honnor". NRI. 18 August 2012.
  13. ^ "NRI Filmmaker Sanjay Arora wins 'Once Again'". The Times of India. 17 July 2013. Archived from the original on 12 February 2014.
  14. ^ "2011 Awards". Bayou City Inspirational Film Festival. Archived from the original on 15 November 2011. Retrieved 18 February 2013.
  15. ^ "Awards Result". Global Film Festival. Archived from the original on 5 December 2011. Retrieved 18 February 2013.
  16. ^ "Butterfly Wings to be screened in the U.S". Web India 123. 2 August 2011.[permanent dead link‍]
  17. ^ "Awards and nominees". WMIFF. Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 18 February 2013.
  18. ^ "Awards and nominees". Hot Media International Film Festival, USA. Archived from the original on 19 December 2014. Retrieved 18 February 2013.
  19. ^ "Sanjay Arora's film Butterfly Wings wins Award of Merit for Short Film at the Accolade Film Competition 2013". Accolade Film Competition. Archived from the original on 28 July 2013. Retrieved 28 July 2013.
  20. ^ "Award winners 2013". IFFRSV 2013. Archived from the original on 27 October 2019. Retrieved 29 October 2013.
  21. ^ "Arora Pitches The 'Aware Life' Through Short Film". The Weekly Voice.
  22. ^ "NRI made Hindi film wins award in Filmfest". India Television. 15 June 2013.
  23. ^ "Official Selection". Trinity International Film Festival 2013.
  24. ^ "Great Lakes International Film Festival 2013 winners". GLFF.
  25. ^ "Free Spirit Film Festival ends". Business Standard. 24 October 2013.
  26. ^ "International Awards 2013". International Film Festival for Peace, Equality & Injustice. Archived from the original on 19 October 2013.
  27. ^ "'Once Again' filmmaker Sanjay Arora wins accolades". Can India. 14 June 2013. Archived from the original on 27 April 2015. Retrieved 18 June 2013.
  28. ^ "Buddha's Story Inspires Filmmaker Sanjay Arora". India West. 2 June 2013. Archived from the original on 19 October 2013. Retrieved 4 July 2013.
  29. ^ "Award winners 2013". IFFRSV 2013. Archived from the original on 27 October 2019. Retrieved 29 October 2013.
  30. ^ "Award Winners 2014". www.calfilmawards.com. California Film Awards. Retrieved 15 February 2015.
  31. ^ Ratan, Mall (8 January 2015). "Sanjay Arora's "Once Again" wins Silver Award at California Film Awards". The Indo - Canadian Voice. Retrieved 15 February 2015.
  32. ^ ""Once Again" wins Silver Award at the international film festival". India New England. 8 January 2015. Archived from the original on 15 February 2015. Retrieved 15 February 2015.
  33. ^ "Sanjay Arora's film 'Once Again' wins Royal Reel Award in Canada". Times of India. 12 March 2015. Retrieved 6 April 2015.
  34. ^ "Phir Vehi (Once Again) Wins Royal Reel Award". The Weekly Voice. 16 March 2015. Retrieved 6 April 2015.