Nitesh Tiwari


Nitesh Tiwari is an Indian film director, screenwriter, and lyricist known for his works in Hindi films. He debuted as a co-director in Chillar Party which won the National Film Award for Best Children's Film. He also directed the supernatural political drama Bhoothnath Returns.
Tiwari scripted and directed Dangal, which was screened at the Beijing International Film Festival and the second BRICS festival in 2017. The film is the highest-grossing Indian film and ranks among the highest-grossing non-English films of all time earning over including 1,500 crore in China, where it has emerged as one of the top 20 highest-grossers of all time. Tiwari won the Award for Best Director at the 62nd Filmfare Awards and the Telstra People's Choice Award at the 2017 Indian Film Festival of Melbourne. He followed up with the critically acclaimed comedy-drama film Chhichhore (2019 with commercial success.
He co-founded Earthsky Pictures, producing ad films and the docu-series Break Point based on Indian tennis legends Mahesh Bhupathi and Leander Paes.

Early life

Tiwari was born in Madhya Pradesh to B. D. Tiwari. He has a brother and a sister. He graduated from the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay in 1996 with a bachelor's degree in Metallurgy and Material Science engineering. He worked as a creative director at Leo Burnett before entering Bollywood. Tiwari grew up in the small town of Ganj Basoda, attending Bharat Mata Convent School until class 8th. He performed in a school play titled "Tapori-Mughal-e-Azam".

Personal life

Tiwari is married to Ashwiny Iyer Tiwari, a former colleague and creative director at Leo Burnett who is also a film director, producer, and writer. He is a father to twins, a boy and a girl.

Awards and nominations

YearAwardCategoryResult
2011National Film Award for Best Children's FilmChillar PartyWon
2011National Film Award for Best ScreenplayChillar PartyWon
2015Filmfare Award for Best DialogueBhoothnath ReturnsNomitated
2017Filmfare Award for Best DirectorDangalWon
2018Filmfare Award for Best DialogueBareilly Ki BarfiNomitated
2020Filmfare Award for Best DialogueChhichhoreNomitated
2020Filmfare Award for Best StoryChhichhoreNomitated
2020Filmfare Award for Best DirectorChhichhoreNomitated
2020IIFA Award for Best StoryChhichhoreNomitated
2020National Film Award for Best Feature Film in HindiChhichhoreWon