Onir
Onir is an Indian film and television director, editor, screenwriter and producer. He is best known for his film My Brother…Nikhil, based on the life of Dominic d'Souza, was one of the first mainstream Hindi films to deal with AIDS and same-sex relationships.
Onir won the National Award for his film I Am. He has won 16 film awards in total.
Life and career
Early life
Onir was born as Anirban Dhar in Samchi, Bhutan. His father Aparesh Dhar and mother Manjushree are of Bengali origin. Onir spent much of his childhood going to the cinema. The family moved to Kolkata around 1990.In Kolkata, Onir studied comparative literature and took a few film classes at Chitrabani film school. He graduated from Jadavpur University in 1989, after which he received a scholarship to study film editing at SFB/TTC in Berlin. He later returned to India and worked as an editor, scriptwriter, art director, music album producer and director before becoming an independent producer and director.
Early career
In 1992 Onir directed and produced his first documentary film, Fallen Hero, based on painter Bijan Choudhury's life. He also served as an assistant to Kalpana Lajmi on Daman: A Victim of Marital Violence, which was his first experience directing a full-length feature film.While working on a documentary about Dominic D'Souza, a champion swimmer and AIDS patient in Goa, Onir conceived the idea for his first film. His directorial debut My Brother... Nikhil dealt with the Goan government's harsh treatment of AIDS patients in the 1980s and the stigma attached to them. My Brother... Nikhil was screened at several international film festivals, and Juhi Chawla received an IIFA nomination for her role as the main character's supportive sister. The film was screened at over 40 international film festivals, and won the Audience Choice Awards in Milan, LGBT film festival, Best Film & Jury Audience Choice Award at Montreal, image+nation Film Festival amongst others.
In 2006 he released his second film Bas Ek Pal. He received a nomination for the Best Director Critic's Award at the Global Indian Film Awards for the film. This film was not a financial success, only collecting 15–20 percent of its budget at the box office. His next film Sorry Bhai! also failed to do well, as it was released the week of the terrorist attacks in Mumbai.
Critical acclaim
Onir's eighth film was I Am, which consists of four short films exploring themes of single motherhood, displacement, child abuse and same-sex relationships. I Am won the National Award in two categories; Best Film and Best Lyrics. It was also the winnerof I-VIEW 2010s Engendered Award for Outstanding Contribution.Onir was awarded the 2008/9 Triangle Media Group Honorary Award on 7 February 2010, and won Best Film awards at both the London Asian Film Festival and the River to River. Florence Indian Film Festival. He won Best Director for Social Concern at the IRDS Film Awards.
Onir produced "Chauranga" which won the Incredible India Award as the best script at the Goa Film Bazaar, International Film Festival of India, won best film India Gold at MAMI and IFFLA. This film is about a class conflict set in rural India and directed by Debutant Director Bikas Mishra. The script was also a part of Berlin Talent Campus 2010.
The feature-length documentary "Raising the Bar", an Indi-Australian documentary featuring the lives of 6 children and young people living with down syndrome premiered at the Melbourne Indian Film Festival in 2016.
"SHAB" directed by Onir released in 2017. The film premiered at New York Indian Film Festival, screened at Melbourne Indian Film Festival, Sydney Indian Film Festival, Florence River to River Indian Film Festival and Stuttgart India Film Festival.
His 6th feature film as director "Kuchh Bheege Alfaaz" was released in Feb 2018. The film had its Festival premiere at the London South Asian Film Festival in March 2018. The film is currently streaming on Netflix.
In 2018, he made a short documentary, 'Widows of Vrindavan', about unwanted mothers who try and seek solace in pursuit of divine love. The documentary portrays the lives of widows living at Maitri Ghar, their journey to Vrindavan, their childhood, their crushed dreams and what keeps them alive now. Widows of Vrindavan is a film about these widows trying to find dignity and hope as they await death. The documentary premiered at the Indisches Film festival Stuttgart in 2019. It received the Best Documentary at the 9th Jagran Film Festival.
In 2018 he received Likho Award Onir has received the Diversity Award from Film Victoria Australia and La Trobe University at the Indian Film Festival of Melbourne 2019.
Onir received the Engendered Spirit of Independent Cinema Award 2020 at the Engendered Human Rights Film Festival in Delhi. Onir directed the Indo-Italian documentary film on contemporary art, SAMA: Symbols and Gestures in Contemporary Art of Italy and India which underlines the artistic parallels between India and Italy.
Onir's memoir; "I Am Onir and I Am Gay" which he has co-written with his sister Irene Dhar Malik was published by Penguin Viking in 2022. In August Onir's semi-autobiographical film "Pine Cone" premiered at 'The KASHISH Mumbai International Queer Film Festival where he won the 'Rainbow Warrior Award' for his film "Pine Cone". In August, 2023, "Pine Cone" had its Australian premiere at the 'Indian Film Festival Of Melbourne' where it won the 'Rainbow Stories Award'. Consecutively it was also screened at the 'Samabhav Travelling International film Festival' in Bhutan where Onir won the 'Trailblazing Award'.
He is also working on a SonyLiv web series on Pulwama Attack based on Rahul Pandita's book.
Onir is also working on a sequel to his 2011 National Award winning film "I Am", titled "We Are".
- IMDb Mini Biography By: Onir
Personal life
Onir has one younger brother, Abhishek Dhar, who is a theoretical physicist at the International Centre for Theoretical Sciences, TIFR Bangalore, adjunct faculty at Raman Research Institute and winner of the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize for Science and Technology. Onir's sister Irene Dhar Malik is a film and television editor.Onir is an atheist. He can speak Bengali, Russian, German and Tamil. His favourite film directors are Ritwik Ghatak, Satyajit Ray, Luis Buñuel and Andrei Tarkovsky while he cites Shyam Benegal's Junoon as the reason he became a filmmaker. He is also one of the few openly gay directors in Bollywood.
Awards and nominations
| Year | Film | Award | Category | Result |
| 2005 | My Brother…Nikhil | Montreal | Best Film | Won |
| 2005 | My Brother…Nikhil | Montreal | Best Film | Won |
| 2005 | My Brother…Nikhil | The Saathi Rainbow Film Awards, Kolkatta | Best Director | Won |
| 2005 | My Brother…Nikhil | TMG Global Awards | Best Director/Producer | Won |
| 2006 | My Brother…Nikhil | 20th Milan International Lesbian & Gay Film Festival | Best Film | Won |
| 2011 | I Am | National Award | Best Hindi Feature Film | Won |
| 2011 | I Am | Jagran Film Festival | Best Director | Won |
| 2011 | I Am | London Asian Film Festival | Best Film | Won |
| 2011 | I Am | IFFK 2010 | NETPAC Award - Best in Asian Cinema | Won |
| 2011 | I Am | IFFK 2010 | Special Mention – International Jury | Won |
| 2011 | I Am | KASHISH Mumbai International Queer Film Festival | Best Narrative Feature | Won |
| 2011 | I Am | River to River Film Festival, Florence, 2010 | Best Film | Won |
| 2011 | I Am | I-VIEW, 2010 | Engendered Award for Outstanding Contribution | Won |
2018 'Widows of Vrindavan - It received the Best Documentary at the 9th Jagran Film Festival.
In 2018 he received Likho Award Onir has received the Diversity Award from Film Victoria Australia and La Trobe University at the Indian Film Festival of Melbourne 2019.
Onir received the Engendered Spirit of Independent Cinema Award 2020 at the Engendered Human Rights Film Festival in Delhi.
In August Onir's semi-autobiographical film "Pine Cone" premiered at 'The KASHISH Mumbai International Queer Film Festival where he won the 'Rainbow Warrior Award' for his film "Pine Cone".
In August, 2023, "Pine Cone" had its Australian premiere at the 'Indian Film Festival Of Melbourne' where it won the 'Rainbow Stories Award'. Consecutively it was also screened at the 'Samabhav Travelling International film Festival' in Bhutan where Onir won the 'Trailblazing Award'.