Raj Kumar Gupta

Raj Kumar Gupta made his debut as a writer & director with the critically acclaimed and commercially successful Aamir (2008). Shot with a shoestring budget, guerrilla style on the streets of Mumbai, this edgy thriller established Raj Kumar as a filmmaker to look out for and garnered several award nominations in the Best Debut Director category that year.

After penning the screenplay of ‘Barah Aana’ (2009), Raj Kumar Gupta wrote and directed No One Killed Jessica (2011), based on the true story of the murder of Jessica Lal and the controversial trial of the case. This powerful drama featuring Rani Mukerjee and Vidya Balan drew rave reviews and set the box-office ringing. Nominated for several awards including the prestigious Filmfare & Screen Awards in the Best Film, Best Director and Best Screenplay categories, ‘No One Killed Jessica’ catapulted the filmmaker into the big league.

In 2013, Raj Kumar Gupta shifted gears by surprising his audience with the suspense comic caper Ghanchakkar. Starring Emraan Hashmi and Vidya Balan, the film drew an extremely divided response from both critics and viewers, but confirmed that the filmmaker wasn’t going to play by the conventional rules set by the industry.