A Bollywood career after IIT education is an unusual and rare combination. But this award-winning director is a shining example.
Coveted Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) education and a Bollywood career is an unusual and rare combination. But one such engineer didn’t just switch professions to break into Bollywood but engraved his list in cinema hall of fame by making one of the highest grossing Indian films of all time. We are talking about Nitesh Tiwari, the decorated film director and screenwriter.
Not many know that Nitesh Tiwari is an alumnus of the prestigious Indian Institute of Technology Bombay. Born in Madhya Pradesh, Tiwari earned a degree in Metallurgy and Material Science engineering from IIT-B but picked up a knack for creative writing in college which took in a different direction. He joined the ad industry and worked as a creative director with Leo Burnett before quitting his comfortable and high-paying MNC job to try his hand at Bollywood. His wife Ashwiny Iyer Tiwari was his colleague during the ad agency years.
Tiwari made his directorial debut with the National Award-winning children’s film Chillar Party in 2011. His next big film was the 2014 supernatural drama Bhoothnath Returns. He then scripted and directed a record-breaking film in 2016. The Amir Khan-starrer Dangal performed beyond expectations, becoming the highest-grossing Indian film of its time with over ₹2,000 crore earnings. It also became the fifth highest grossing non-English film. It led to the Filmfare Award for Best Director at the 62nd Filmfare Awards for Tiwari. His next film, comedy-drama Chhichhore was critically acclaimed.
Tiwari is also the co-founder of a production house called Earthsky Pictures which producs ad films and the documentaries, including the docu-series on Indian tennis legends Mahesh Bhupathi and Leander Paes named Break Point.
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 "This IIT alumnus left high-paying MNC job for Bollywood, broke national record with Rs 2,000 crore blockbuster")
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