Rahul Dholakia

Rahul Dholakia is an Indian film director, producer, and screenwriter. He is best known for his National Film Award-winning film, Parzania (Heaven & Hell On Earth). Before making Parzania, he directed documentaries like Teenage Parents and New York Taxi Drivers.

Early life and education Born in Mumbai, to Raksha and Parry Dholakia, an advertising professional, Rahul also has an elder sister Moha. After completing his schooling from Campion School, Mumbai and Jamnabai Narsee School in Mumbai, he went on to do his Bachelors in Science from St. Xavier's College, Mumbai. He is an Indian.

Career While still in college he started working in his father's advertising agency, Mora Ava. He also worked with producer Babla Sen, for project for Channel 4, London, as production assistant and 10 documentaries later became a producer himself. Later, he started working with Everest Advertising in Mumbai as an assistant, growing up to become a producer.

Thereafter, he moved to New York City in 1990, where, he did his master's degree in filmmaking from the New York Institute of Technology, and has been in India and Corona, California, United States ever since. After making a couple of documentaries and commercials, and even running TV station, called 'TV Asia' for a while, he made his feature film debut with the Hindi-English bilingual, Kehtaa Hai Dil Baar Baar (2002), starring Paresh Rawal and Jimmy Shergill. His next film based on a real-life story of 10-year-old Parsi boy, Azhar Mody, known as Parzan, who disappeared during the 28 February 2002 Gulbarg Society massacre, which took place during communal riots in Gujarat in 2002, Parzania won him the National Film Award for 2006. he has directed the film Raees, which was released on 25 January 2017 and received positive reviews. Dholakia's upcoming film Agni is set to release in 2024.

Filmography

Awards and honours Year Award Film Category Result Ref 2007 National Film Awards Parzania Best Director 2008 Filmfare Awards Best Story Best Screenplay Screen Awards Ramnath Goenka Memorial Award