Chandraprakash Dwivedi

Dr. Chandra Prakash Dwivedi
Born Chandra Prakash Dwivedi
1960 (age 57–58)
Dodua, Sirohi, Rajasthan, India
Occupation Actor/director/writer/historian
Years active 1988–present
Spouse(s) Mandira Dwivedi
Children
  • Nayanika Dwivedi

Chandraprakash Dwivedi is an Indian film director and script writer, who is best known for directing the 1991 television epic Chanakya in which he also played the title role of the political strategist Chanakya and an inspiration for millions. His other major work is the 2003 film Pinjar, a tragic love story set amidst the Hindu-Muslim tensions during the Partition of India, based on Amrita Pritam's novel of the same name. He has also directed the 1996 television series Mrityunjay which is based on the life of Karna, a major character from the epic Mahabharata, and he won a Screen Videocon Best Director award for the same.[1][2]

Career

Dwivedi is a qualified medical professional who gave up his profession because of a deep interest in Indian literature, and began working in theatre instead. In the late 1990s, he held the position of programming division head at Zee TV.[1] During his stint at Zee, he tried his hand at retelling the Mahabharata (Ek Aur Mahabharat) but had to abort the experiment after 14 episodes due to a poor response from advertisers and viewers. The rerun of Chanakya too failed to attract advertisers.[3][4][5][6] Dwivedi wrote the dialogues for the 2001 epic Doordarshan television series on Chhatrapati Shivaji.[1][7]

In February 2008, Bobby Bedi announced that he had been planning a new Mahabharata with Dwivedi as director.[8] However, in April, Dwivedi disassociated himself from the project citing pressure brought on as a result of competition from Ekta Kapoor's Kahaani Hamaaray Mahaabhaarat Ki.[9][10]

In 2008, Dwivedi directed a television serial based on the Upanishads titled Upanishad Ganga.[9] He is presently working on The Legend of Kunal, a film based on the life of Kunal, the son of Emperor Asoka.

In 2009, the South Asian Cinema Foundation honoured Dwivedi with its Cultural Catalyst Award "in recognition of his commitment to exploring India's ancient culture and history in television and popular cinema."[11]

In January 2011, his film Mohalla Assi set around Assi Ghat of Varanasi and based on Dr Kashi Nath Singh's famous novel, went into production with shooting starting in Film City, Mumbai, with Sunny Deol as lead actor.[12][13]

His next film is 'Zed Plus'. Recently he completed the main schedule in Rajasthan. This film is a political satire and comedy, starring Adil Hussain (best known for Life of Pi and English Vinglish) and Mona Singh (of Jassi Jaisi Koi Nahi fame). K K Raina, Sanjay Mishra, Kulbhushan Kharbanda are playing other important roles in this film.

He will be directing a movie on Prithviraj Chauhan produced by Yash Raj Films, starring Akshay Kumar.[14]

Filmography

YearFilm/TV SerialDirectorWriterActorComments
1991–92ChanakyaYesYesYes47 Episodes
1996MrityunjayYesYes-13 Episodes
1997Ek Aur MahabharatYesYes-Off air after 14 Episodes
2003Chhatrapati Shivraay (TV series)-Yes-Serial on Chhatrapati Shivaji aired on Doordarshan
2003PinjarYesYes-
2012Upanishad GangaYesYes-Total 52 Episodes
2014Zed PlusYesYes-
2018Mohalla AssiYesYes-

References

  1. 1 2 3 Pinjar – Celebrating humanity
  2. ↑ Director special
  3. ↑ Chanakya TV Series
  4. ↑ The comeback man
  5. ↑ Earshot: Where have all the ads gone?
  6. ↑ Earshot: Out of sight, out of mind
  7. ↑ Building programmes
  8. ↑ Mahabharata for the BPO generation Archived 14 June 2008 at the Wayback Machine.
  9. 1 2 No more pressure, period Archived 13 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine.
  10. ↑ It is Chanakya Vs Ekta Kapoor Archived 15 April 2008 at the Wayback Machine.
  11. ↑ Girish Kasaravalli gets ‘Excellence in Cinema’ award in UK
  12. ↑ "Sunny is all set to play priest". Times of India. 8 February 2011.
  13. ↑ "Sunny Deol to play a pandit in Mohalla Assi". NDTV Movies. Archived from the original on 12 February 2011. Retrieved 11 February 2011.
  14. ↑ "Exclusive! Akshay Kumar to play Prithviraj Chauhan in Aditya Chopra's next". dna. 2018-06-20. Retrieved 2018-06-24.
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