Born in Mumbai in 1964, Ashutosh graduated from Mithibai College with B.Sc. in Chemistry. While in College, he participated in theatre, various folk dances and vocal musicperformances, which led him on a path of self-discovery. On graduation, he pursued acting and appeared in a score of Movies, Television serials and Commercials. 

 

An actor who took to film direction after almost a decade in front of the camera, Ashutosh has come a long way since his early modeling assignments like Lifebuoy soap and Close-Up toothpaste. He entered the world of Hindi cinema with Ketan Mehta’s Holi in 1984, and followed it up with films like Mahesh Bhatt’s Naam, Saeed Akhtar Mirza’s Saleem Langde Pe Mat Ro and Kundan Shah’s Kabhi Haan Kabhi Naa. Alongside movies, he also appeared in TV serials like Amol Palekar’s Kachchi Dhoop and Aziz Mirza-Kundan Shah’s Circus, and award-winning Marathi films, like Sanjay Rawal’s Vazir and Shraboni Deodhar’s Sarkarnama, bringing him in touch with the finest creative minds in contemporary cinema. His last acting stint was the successful series, CID.

 

Ashutosh’s transition from acting to direction was difficult, but destined.

 

His diverse exposure as an actor whetted his appetite to helm a project, taking on the directorial reign for the first time with Pehla Nasha (First Love), a murder mystery in 1993, starring Deepak Tijori, PoojaBhatt and Raveena Tandon. Though the film did not do very well at the box office, it helped Ashutosh find firm ground as a director. 

 

He followed this up with Baazi (The Game), a thriller, in 1995, starring Aamir Khan, which enjoyed average success, but led Ashutosh on a journey in search of a better script.

 

With Lagaan, which released in 2001, Ashutosh veered away from most norms in the making of a mainstream commercial Hindi film –  a period drama, set in rural India; it’s language a dialect; most of its characters were dressed in loincloths; it included a British cast; it was a musical, and a sports film put together! It was produced by Aamir Khan who also starred in it. Lagaan was nominated at the Academy Awards in the Best Film in a Foreign Language category for 2001 andearned plaudits worldwide for its meticulous execution and evocative performances.

 

As an ad filmmaker, Ashutosh’s first ever series of 5 commercials for Coca-Cola proved to be an instant success, sweeping Campaign of the Year honours and winning accolades at advertising awards functions across India in 2003-2004.

 

His fourth feature film, Swades, was produced and directed by him, starring Shah Rukh Khan. The film released worldwide in 2004 to critical acclaim and till date has attained a cult film status.

 

Post Swades, Ashutosh was immersed in the extensive pre-production work for his next film, the sixteenth-century epic romance, Jodhaa Akbar. The film was a daunting project as it was shot over two hundred days across the rough, dry terrains of Rajasthan as well as on a massive actual size re-creation of the Agra Fort set. Jodhaa Akbar brought together two of the most respected actors, Hrithik Roshan and Aishwarya Rai Bachchan.

 

Jodhaa Akbar  released in 2008 and won the Best Foreign Film in the International Film Festival of Sao Paulo in Brazil, South America and the Grand Prix Best Film and Best Actor in the International Film Festival Golden Minbar in Kazan, Russia. It won several prestigious awards in India such as Screen Awards, Stardust Awards, Filmfare Awards, International Indian Film Academy (IIFA), V. Shantaram Award and also the Dadasaheb Phalke Academy Award.

 

In 2009, Ashutosh took on a new genre with What’s Your Raashee?, a romantic comedy, based on the Gujarati novel Kimball Ravenswood by Madhu Rye. The film features Harman Baweja and Priyanka Chopra and is aboutYogesh Patel, a young man who must find his dream girl within 10 days to save his family from utter ruin. Finding the dream girl is tough enough. Finding her in a hurry is even tougher. His solution is simple; he will meet one girl from each sun sign as he feels that is the best way to make sure he finds a suitable wife. Two meetings per day gives him six days to meet them, three days to make a final decision and he can get married on the tenth day, or so he thinks.

 

Khelein Hum Jee Jaan Sey, a period thriller starring Abhishek Bachchan and Deepika Padukone, is based on the book ‘DO and DIE: The Chittagong Uprising 1930-34’ by Manini Chatterjee. On April 18 in 1930, on one night, a band of 64 – 56 innocent yet fearless young boys, 5 defiant revolutionaries, 2 determined young women, and an idealistic leader - Surjya Sen, a school teacher by profession, carried out 5 simultaneous attacks on places of British power. Khelein Hum Jee Jaan Sey is a true story of these forgotten heroes and the narrative takes us through every step of the action from the initial trepidation, to the thrill of the attack, to the underground movement, daring escapes and tragic captures, and most importantly, their undying legacy. The film released in December 2010.