Milan Luthria

Milan Arjun Luthria is an Indian film director who works in Hindi films. He is best known as the director of Ajay Devgan Once Upon a Time in Mumbaai.

Personal life Milan is the biological son of Raj Khosla. He was born out of wedlock and raised by his mother and adoptive father Arjun Luthria (the brother of actor Sudhir). His mother is the cousin of producer and director Mahesh Bhatt, Milan thus being his nephew. The film, released under the Tips Films banner, starred Ajay Devgan as a smuggler on the Rajasthan-Kashmir, Pakistan border and Saif Ali Khan, on the run from the Border Security Force, the Central Bureau of Investigation, and the border mafia. Luthria shot the film in Rajasthan and Switzerland. The film received a mixed reception. Although the photography of the film was praised with the scenic backdrop of the Rajasthani desert and the green valleys and snow-capped peaks of Switzerland, it was seen as a weaker film than that of Soldier, a film with similar theme which had been released the year before. The film received a mixed reception. Taran Adarsh, although remarking that Luthria "handled a few sequences with flourish", believed that despite an interesting storyline, the script was fundamentally flawed, "hackneyed" as he put it, believing that interest in it fizzled out by the second half of the film, becoming "sluggish" with its progression. However, Sukanya Verma described the film as "heartwarming", remarking that "like most feel good romances, Chori Chori is about letting the heart rule the head." Film4 wrote of the film, "A Bollywood thriller with plenty of explosive action, yet which fails to come to life. Plotting is familiar, characters bland and a predictable storyline fails to excite or engage."

in February 2006, Luthria released Taxi Number 9211. Working with producer Ramesh Sippy, with a soundtrack composed by the new age music composing duo, Vishal Dadlani and Shekhar Ravjiani, Luthria shot the film in 2005. The film, a comedy thriller, featured John Abraham and Nana Patekar (as the taxi driver) involved in a cat and mouse game during a two-hour taxi trip, with financial implications. The film was a major commercial and critical success, becoming the 16th highest-grossing film in India in 2006. Film critics were impressed with the originality of the script and the unpredictability and innovative devices used in the script, as the men progressed through the metropolis.

In 2007, Luthria directed the cricket comedy Hattrick, featuring Paresh Rawal, Rimi Sen, Kunal Kapoor, Nana Patekar and Danny Denzongpa. In 2010 he directed Once Upon a Time in Mumbaai. The film again starred Ajay Devgan, but this time he played a character called Sultan Mirza who is Messiah of the poor, fear of the rich and authority of the powerful, the one whom people turned to when there was nowhere else to look. The silent ruler of the streets of Bombay, he did everything that was wrong according to the law, but right according to him – i.e. the "Indian version of Robin Hood". The film was produced by Balaji Telefilms and Popcorn Entertainment and was released on 30 July 2010. According to Luthria, "My film for Ekta will take a penetrating look at gangsterism in the 1980s. I'm quite enamoured by the period, quite taken up by the period and its flamboyance. There was a lot of action and inner life in some of the films during that period. I think the last film that looked at gangsterism from inside was Anurag Basu's Gangster: A Love Story".

In 2011, Milan directed the movie The Dirty Picture starring Vidya Balan, Naseeruddin Shah, Tusshar Kapoor and Emraan Hashmi. The film is based on the real-life story of the late Southern siren Silk Smitha, who Milan says he even briefly interacted with during her time in the 80s and 90s. Upon release, the film received both critical and commercial success.

In 2017 the film Baadshaho was released, becoming the fourth collaboration with Ajay Devgn, and starring Devgn, Ileana D'Cruz, Vidyurt Jammwal, Emraan Hashmi and Esha Gupta.

Filmography Year Film Cast Notes 1999 Kachche Dhaage Ajay Devgn, Saif Ali Khan, Manisha Koirala, Namrata Shirodkar 2003 Chori Chori Ajay Devgn, Rani Mukerji, Sonali Bendre 2004 Deewaar Amitabh Bachchan, Sanjay Dutt, Akshaye Khanna, Amrita Rao, Kay Kay Menon 2006 Taxi No. 9211 John Abraham, Nana Patekar, Sameera Reddy 2007 Hattrick Paresh Rawal, Nana Patekar, Rimi Sen, Kunal Kapoor, Danny Denzongpa 2010 Once Upon a Time in Mumbaai Ajay Devgn, Emraan Hashmi, Kangana Ranaut, Prachi Desai, Randeep Hooda 2011 The Dirty Picture Vidya Balan, Naseeruddin Shah, Tusshar Kapoor, Emraan Hashmi 2013 Once Upon ay Time in Mumbai Dobaara! Akshay Kumar, Imran Khan, Sonakshi Sinha, Sonali Bendre, Abhimanyu Singh 2017 Baadshaho Ajay Devgn, Emraan Hashmi, Ileana D'Cruz, Esha Gupta, Vidyut Jammwal 2021 Tadap Ahan Shetty, Tara Sutaria 2023Sultan of DelhiTahir Raj Bhasin, Mouni Roy, Anupriya GoenkaTV Series on Disney+Hotstar

Awards Year Award Category For Result 2010 BIG Star Entertainment Awards BIG Star Most Entertaining Director Once Upon a Time in Mumbaai 2011 Screen Awards Screen Award for Best Director Stardust Awards Stardust Award for Dream Director Lions Gold Awards Lions Favorite Movie Director Zee Cine Awards Zee Cine Award for Best Director Apsara Awards Apsara Award for Best Director IIFA Awards IIFA Award for Best Director BIG Star Entertainment Awards BIG Star Most Entertaining Director The Dirty Picture 2012 Screen Awards Screen Award for Best Director Stardust Awards Stardust Award for Dream Director Filmfare Awards Filmfare Award for Best Director Lions Gold Awards Lions Favorite Movie Director Zee Cine Awards Zee Cine Award for Best Director Apsara Awards Apsara Award for Best Director IIFA Awards IIFA Award for Best Director 2013 Bhaskar Bollywood Awards Best Director of The Year