Shlok Sharma is an Indian director, screenwriter and producer known for his works in Hindi cinema. His notable works include the 2013 anthology film Shorts, the 2017 feature film Haraamkhor and the 2018 feature film Zoo.

Shlok Sharma
Born1985 (age 38–39)
NationalityIndian
Occupation(s)Director, screenwriter, producer
Years active2005–present

Early career edit

Shlok's father was a Yoga teacher to director Vishal Bhardwaj and lyricist Gulzar. After completing his higher secondary education, Shlok decided not to pursue education further and build a career in film-making. His father recommended him to Bhardwaj who hired him as a production assistant on his 2005 film, The Blue Umbrella.[1] He then went on to work with Bhardwaj on his next film, Omkara. Shlok met Anurag Kashyap on the sets of the film who hired him as an Assistant Director for his 2007 film, No Smoking. He worked with Kashyap on his next feature film Dev.D before joining as a Second Unit Director on Gangs of Wasseypur. During the shooting of the film, he went to jail for shooting on railway tracks without permission.[2]

In 2010, Shlok Sharma released his first short film Tubelight Ka Chaand[3] which won the Best Short Film award at the 2011 Indian Film Festival Stuttgart.[4] He made his second short film, Bombay Mirror in 2010 which featured Rajkummar Rao and Vijay Maurya[5] but the film wasn't released till 2014.[6]

Feature films and other projects edit

Shlok made his feature film debut with the anthology film Shorts that was released in 2013. The film consisted of five short films out of which one, Sujata, was directed by him and consisted of a story of a young girl, who is struggling to come out of the clutches of her tormenting cousin brother.[7] His second feature film, Haraamkhor was shot in 2013 and explores the romance between a 14-year-old school student and her teacher. The film premiered at the 15th New York Indian Film Festival and won the Silver Gateway of India trophy at the 17th MAMI Mumbai Film Festival but was denied a certificate by the Central Board of Film Certification.[8] The film was subsequently approved by the Film Certification Appellate Tribunal and was released in 2017 to critical acclaim.[9]

During this time, he also created two more short films, R.I.P (Romance In Peace) for the storytelling platform Terribly Tiny Tales[10] and Beautiful World for the news publication The Quint[11] that featured his long time collaborator Shweta Tripathi who has acted in all his feature films. To gain complete artistic control over his next film, Zoo, Shlok Sharma decided to shoot it with an IPhone 6S Plus and produced the film himself.[12] The film had its international premiere at the 2017 Busan International Film Festival and India premiere at the 2017 MAMI Mumbai Film Festival.[13] The film was picked up by Netflix for online distribution.[14] In 2019, Shlok co-produced the sci fi film Cargo.[15] In 2022, Shlok's third featured film, Two Sisters and a Husband had World Premiere in Feature International Narrative Competition section[16] at Tribeca Film Festival in New York.[17]

Filmography edit

Films edit

Year Title Director Producer Writer Assistant/Second unit Director Notes
2005 The Blue Umbrella Production assistant
2006 Omkara Yes
2007 No Smoking Yes
2008 One Two Three Yes
2009 Dev.D Yes
2011 Tubelight Ka Chand Yes Yes Short film
2012 Gangs of Wasseypur Yes
2013 Shorts Yes
2014 Bombay Mirror Yes Yes Short film
2015 R.I.P. (Romance In Peace) Yes Yes Short film
2017 Haraamkhor Yes Yes
2018 Beautiful World Yes Yes Short film
2018 Zoo Yes Yes Yes
2019 Cargo Yes
2022 Two Sisters and a Husband Yes Yes Yes

References edit

  1. ^ Ghose, Arnesh (13 January 2017). ""All The Characters Are Doing Some Sort Of Haraamkhori" – Shlok Sharma". Man's World. MW.Com India Pvt Ltd. Retrieved 1 January 2020.
  2. ^ "Did you know? 'Haraamkhor' helmer was jailed during 'Gangs of Wasseypur' shoot". Daily News and Analysis. PTI. 11 January 2017. Retrieved 1 January 2020.
  3. ^ Nanisetti, Shanti (8 July 2017). "Tubelight Ka Chand is an exceptional short film". Telangana Today. Retrieved 1 January 2020.
  4. ^ "Winners". Indian Film Festival Stuttgart. Filmbüro Baden-Württemberg. Retrieved 1 January 2020.
  5. ^ "Short films keep me excited". Bollywood Direct. Bollywood Direct. 5 May 2014. Retrieved 1 January 2020.
  6. ^ "'Bombay Mirror': This 3-minute short film will change your opinion on fanaticism forever". IBNLive.com. News18 India. 1 May 2014. Retrieved 1 January 2020.
  7. ^ Bureau, FPJ (13 July 2013). "Shorts : A melange of five unique, well crafted films". The Free Press Journal. Retrieved 1 January 2020.
  8. ^ "Censor board declines to pass Nawazuddin Siddiqui's 'Haraamkhor'". Live Mint. Press Trust of India. 19 June 2016. Retrieved 1 January 2020.
  9. ^ "Was frustrating when 'Haraamkhor' was stuck at Censors: Shlok". Business Standard. Press Trust of India. 7 January 2017. Retrieved 1 January 2020.
  10. ^ "These five 'Terribly Tiny Talkies' will make Valentine's Day all the more love-filled and warm". News18 India. IBNLive.com. 9 February 2015. Retrieved 1 January 2020.
  11. ^ Scroll Staff (28 March 2018). "Watch: In 'Beautiful World', a horrific crime and a gut-wrenching car ride". Scroll.in. Retrieved 1 January 2020.
  12. ^ Nagpaul, Dipti (12 May 2016). "Director Shlok Sharma's next project to be shot entirely with an iPhone". The Indian Express. Retrieved 1 January 2020.
  13. ^ "In Focus: Shlok Sharma's ZOO". India Independent Films. 18 October 2017. Retrieved 1 January 2020.
  14. ^ "फिल्म हरामखोर के निर्देशक ने आईफोन-6 पर फिल्म बना कर नेटफ्लिक्स पर रिलीज़ भी कर दी, जानिए खास बातें". Jan Satta. The Indian Express. 10 July 2018. Retrieved 1 January 2020.
  15. ^ "Seems we're living in a 'jungli' country: Shlok Sharma". The Statesman. IANS. 24 November 2017. Retrieved 1 January 2020.
  16. ^ "Shlok Sharma's 'Two Sisters and a Husband' to have world premiere at Tribeca Film Festival". The Times of India. ISSN 0971-8257. Retrieved 17 February 2023.
  17. ^ "Two Sisters And A Husband | 2022 Tribeca Festival". Tribeca. Retrieved 17 February 2023.

External links edit