Onir
Indian filmmaker, producer, screenwriter and editor
Onir is an Indian filmmaker, producer, screenwriter and editor.
Born as Anirban Dhar in Samchi, Bhutan. Onir studied comparative literature at Jadavpur University in 1989.
He is best known for his film “My Brother…Nikhil”, based on the life of Dominic D’Souza, starring Sanjay Suri, Juhi Chawla and Purab Kohli. It was one of the first mainstream Hindi films to deal with AIDS and same-sex relationships.
In 2009, Anticlock Films started the unique citizen-funded film project called “I AM” which was Onir’s fourth feature film. The film had four stories that are interlinked by characters and shot across four cities in India. “I AM” is probably the first and largest crowd-sourced film through the social networks in India. Over 400 people across 47 cities across the world have come together to make this film. “I AM” was released to wide critical acclaim on April 29, 2011. He won the Indian National Film awards for Best Film (Hindi) for the anthology “I AM” in 2011. The film dealt with single motherhood, child sexual abuse, displacement and LGBTQI rights.
2015 Onir produced “CHAURANGA” (Four Colours) 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. The script was also a part of Berlin Talent Campus 2010.
In 2018 he received Likho Award (Trailblazer 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.
PINE CONE (2023), a queer love story was screened at BFI Flare 24 and rated a sone of the top 10 films at the festivals. Onir received the “Rainbow Warrior Award ” at Kaashish 23. The film won the “Rainbow stories Award ” given by the Minister of Equality, Australia 2023 August at IffMelbourne. It is loosely based on Onir’s memoir; I Am Onir and I Am Gay which he has co-written with his sister Irene Dhar Malik and published by Penguin Viking.
SOCIAL MEDIA HANDLES :
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