Sandeep A. Varma (born 1969 in New Delhi) is an Indian film director and writer. He is best known for Manjunath (Film) (2014), a biopic based on the true story of Manjunath Shanmugam, the IIML graduate and Indian Oil sales officer who was killed by the mafia for exposing corruption in the oil sector.[1]
Sandeep A. Varma | |
|---|---|
Sandeep at a screening of Manjunath at IIMPact 2014 in Singapore | |
| Born | 1969 (age 54–55) |
| Nationality | Indian |
| Occupation | Film director/writer |
Early life edit
Varma received his early education from St. Columba's School, Delhi and then received a B.E from BITS Pilani and an MBA from FMS College.[2]
Career edit
Sandeep A. Varma has written and directed many TV commercials such as for IMS-ICAP,[3] as well as several short films, two of which - ‘Water Conservation’ and ‘Street Children’ - were screened at the Kerala International film festival (2003) and Philadelphia Short film festival (2003). In 2014, Sandeep wrote and directed the feature film Manjunath based on the life of Manjunath Shanmugam.[4][5] Paloma Sharma in Rediff.com called Manjunath "a brave film".[6] Taran Adarsh in Bollywood Hungama called it "realistic and powerful".[7] Sify.com called Varma "an astute storyteller".[8]
In his recent works, he has written and directed the web series 'Us and them' released on December 1, 2023 as Ishqiyapa [9] on Amazon Mini TV [10] with JAR pictures, starring Paramvir Singh Cheema, Nunui Rualhleng, Mukesh Tiwari, Vinay Pathak, Sushmita Mukherjee playing pivotal roles in the series.
In 2016, Sandeep wrote and directed The Virgins, a short film with Pia Bajpai, Divyendu Sharma and Akshay Oberoi.[11] The Virgins is a tongue in cheek approach to the social stigma around virginity in India.[12] He wrote and directed Kahanibaaz,[13] a digital short thriller nominated as a semi-finalist in the Los Angeles Cine Fest and at the Pune Short Film Festival. Filmmamker Vishal Bharadwaj called Kahanibaaz a "well written and directed film".[14] In 2019, Sandeep directed The Disguise, an 18-minute short film in London which won the Ritwik Ghatak Award at the 2nd South Asian Short Film Festival and was screened at the 14th Habitat Film Festival in Delhi.[15][16]
Sandeep Varma is a co-founder of Filmboard Movies. In 2017, Sandeep along with Rajesh Butta started Filmboard, a disruptive omni-channel, B2B marketplace for any film production services.[17] Varma is part of the elite academic council of SPJIMR's new program PSMEM which was launched in partnership with The Times of India Group.[18]
Recently Sandeep has received awards on behalf of Filmboard: "National Startup Awards in 2022" Winner in Media & Entertainment and Dun & Bradstreet's "Startup 50 Trailblazer Award" for its innovative and quality approach.
Filmography edit
Director edit
- Kahin Door (2001)
- Manjunath (2014)
- The Virgins (2016)
- Kahanibaaz (2018)
- The Disguise (2019)
- Ishqyapa (2023) [19]
Awards edit
- 2015: Screen Award for Best Screenplay – Manjunath (Film) (Won)[20]
- 2015: Screen Award for Most Promising Debut Director – Manjunath (Film) (Nominated)[21]
- 2015: Ramnath Goenka Award for Excellence in Cinema – Manjunath (Film) (Won)[22]
References edit
- ^ "The story of Manjunath picked me, says director Sandeep Varma". Firstpost. 29 April 2014. Retrieved 6 April 2020.
- ^ "Bollywood Director Sandeep Varma Biography, News, Photos, Videos". nettv4u. Retrieved 6 June 2020.
- ^ "ICOMO changes the rules of educational advertising". afaqs!. 21 October 2007. Retrieved 6 June 2020.
- ^ "Who killed Manjunath? A biopic tries to find the answer". www.sunday-guardian.com. Retrieved 6 June 2020.
- ^ "The story of Manjunath picked me, says director Sandeep Varma". Firstpost. 29 April 2014. Retrieved 6 June 2020.
- ^ "Review: Manjunath is a brave film". Rediff. Retrieved 6 June 2020.
- ^ Hungama, Bollywood (9 May 2014). "Manjunath Review 3.5/5 | Manjunath Movie Review | Manjunath 2014 Public Review | Film Review". Bollywood Hungama. Retrieved 6 June 2020.
- ^ "Manjunath review: Don't miss this rare gem!". Sify. Archived from the original on 6 June 2020. Retrieved 6 June 2020.
- ^ "Ishqyapa Season 1 Review: A Melodic Love Journey with Vikram and Pui | Paramvir Cheema and Nunui Rualhleng's Captivating Performance! - Talkies Corner". December 2023.
- ^ "Meet Cute".
- ^ "Short film The Virgins: Out of the Closet". The Indian Express. 30 June 2016. Retrieved 6 June 2020.
- ^ Tiwari, Nishi (2 July 2016). "Short Cut: The Virgins". Pune Mirror. Retrieved 6 June 2020.
- ^ "Short Film Kahanibaaz Review: An interesting concept". The Digital Hash. 26 September 2018. Retrieved 6 June 2020.
- ^ "Ashish Vidyarthi an underrated, underutilized actor: Vishal Bhardwaj". Retrieved 6 June 2020.
- ^ "'Kahaanibaaz' director working on international film 'The Disguise'". Retrieved 6 June 2020.
- ^ "'Violence is created in the head'". The Indian Express. 22 May 2019. Retrieved 6 June 2020.
- ^ "Startup Filmboard Movies launched to make filmmaking an organised, corporate business". Firstpost. 3 January 2019. Retrieved 6 June 2020.
- ^ "Times Group launches strategic media mgmt course with SPJIMR - Times of India". The Times of India. 17 March 2017. Retrieved 6 June 2020.
- ^ "Ishqyapa Season 1 Review: A Melodic Love Journey with Vikram and Pui | Paramvir Cheema and Nunui Rualhleng's Captivating Performance! - Talkies Corner". December 2023.
- ^ Parande, Shweta (15 January 2015). "Screen Awards 2015 full winners list: Shah Rukh Khan, Shahid Kapoor, Priyanka Chopra, Deepika Padukone honoured". India News, Breaking News, Entertainment News | India.com. Retrieved 6 April 2020.
- ^ "21st Annual Life OK Screen Awards nominations". The Indian Express. 8 January 2015. Retrieved 6 April 2020.
- ^ "21st Annual Screen Awards: Shahid Kapoor, Priyanka Chopra win Best Actor awards, 'Queen' Best Film". 14 January 2015.