Ali Abbas Zafar

Ali Abbas Zafar is an Indian film director, producer and screenwriter. He is known for directing Sultan and Tiger Zinda Hai (2017).

Personal life Zafar is a graduate of Kirori Mal College, New Delhi. He married Alicia Zafar, an Iranian based in France, on 4 January 2021.

Career Zafar entered the film industry as an assistant director, with multiple projects for the production company Yash Raj Films (YRF). He then made his own directorial and screen-writing debut with the romantic comedy Mere Brother Ki Dulhan (2011). The film revolved around a young man (Imran Khan) who finds a bride (Katrina Kaif) for his elder brother (Ali Zafar), but then finds that he himself has fallen in love with her.

His next film was the action drama Gunday (2014), set in Calcutta in the 1970s and 1980s. The film starred Ranveer Singh and Arjun Kapoor as powerful bandits, Priyanka Chopra as a cabaret dancer whom they both fall in love with, and Irrfan Khan as a police officer pursuing them. Gunday received mostly positive reviews from critics.

Zafar's next film was the sports drama Sultan (2016) starring Salman Khan as a wrestling champion from Haryana, with Anushka Sharma as a female wrestler who becomes a love interest for Khan's character. The film received positive reviews from critics and emerged as one of the highest-grossing Indian films.

His next film was the action thriller Tiger Zinda Hai (2017), the sequel to YRF's Ek Tha Tiger (2012). The film stars Salman Khan as a RAW agent and Katrina Kaif as an ISI spy reprising their roles from the first film and is about the both of them accepting a rescue mission to free 40 nurses, 25 Indian and 15 Pakistani, from a ruthless militant. The film released in December 2017 and received generally positive reviews from critics, and became a major commercial success emerging as the highest-grossing films of the year and one of the highest-grossing Indian films.

In May 2018, he began pre-production of the film Bharat. The trailer of this film was released on 22 April 2019 and it released on 5 June for Eid. It stars Salman Khan, Zafar's third collaboration with the actor, alongside Katrina Kaif, Disha Patani, Sunil Grover and Tabu, and is an official adaptation of the Korean film, Ode to My Father. It was also a major commercial success.

In 2020, Zafar made his debut as the producer for Khaali Peeli, an action-comedy directed by debutante Maqbool Khan that starred Ishaan Khatter and Ananya Pandey in lead roles.

Zafar's next three projects were OTT releases. First was the web series Tandav for Amazon Prime, a political drama starring Saif Ali Khan alongside Dimple Kapadia, Sunil Grover, Kumud Mishra, Tigmanshu Dhulia, Mohammed Zeeshan Ayyub, and others. It was released on 15 January 2021. On 16 September 2022 came the Diljit Dosanjh starrer Jogi about the 1984 anti-Sikh riots, which released on Netflix. It received mixed to positive reviews, with praise for the depiction of the riots but criticism for the screenplay. On 9 June 2023, his next film Bloody Daddy released on JioCinema. This action thriller film starring Shahid Kapoor also received mixed to positive reviews.

Zafar's next project was the sci-fi action film Bade Miyan Chote Miyan with Akshay Kumar and Tiger Shroff, produced by Jackky Bhagnani under Pooja Entertainment. It was released on 11 April 2024, coinciding with Eid. However, the film was a critical and commercial disaster.

Zafar's next directorial venture will be a yet-untitled romantic action thriller, which will mark his first collaboration with Yash Raj Films since Tiger Zinda Hai. Tentatively titled Fearless, the film will feature Ahaan Panday as the lead, with Sharvari, Aaishvary Thackeray, Bobby Deol and Jimmy Shergill in pivotal roles.

Filmography Films + List of Ali Abbas Zafar film credits Year Title Director Writer Producer Notes 2007 Marigold Assistant director Jhoom Barabar Jhoom 2014 Gunday 2016 Sultan 2017 Tiger Zinda Hai 2019 Bharat 2020 Khaali Peeli 2022 Jogi 2023 Bloody Daddy 2024 Bade Miyan Chote Miyan Also narrator 2025 Detective Sherdil

Series + List of Ali Abbas Zafar series credits Year Title Director Writer Producer 2021Tandav

Awards and nominations + List of Ali Abbas Zafar awards and nominations Film Award Category Result Mere Brother Ki DulhanStardust Awards Best Debut Director SultanBest Director62nd Filmfare AwardsBest Director Tehran International Sports Film FestivalBest DirectorZee Cine AwardsBest DirectorBest Story