Onir

Onir is an Indian film director, editor, writer and producer. He is best known for his film My Brother…Nikhil, one of the first mainstream Hindi films to deal with AIDS and same-sex relationships.

Life and career
He was born as Anirban Dhar in Thimphu, Bhutan. His father Aparesh Dhar and mother Manjushree are of Bengali origin. Onir spent much of his childhood going to the cinema. In 1986 his family left Bhutan after the government made driglam namzha, the Bhutanese national dress and etiquette code, mandatory. According to Onir, "I didn't want to be a second class Bhutanese citizen,I preferred to be Indian citizen." Earlier, Aparesh Dhar had resigned from his position as a school principal when his Nepalese students were removed and arrested (they were later found dead). In Kolkata, Onir studied comparative literature and took a few film classes at Chitrabani film school. He graduated from Jadavpur University in 1989, but left before getting his post-graduate degree when he received a scholarship to study films in Berlin. He later returned to India and worked as an editor, script wrter, art director, music album producer and song /music video director.. He also served as an assistant to Kalpana Lajmi on Daman: A Victim of Marital Violence (2001) where he had his first experience directing a full-length feature film.

It was while working on a Plus documentary about Dominic D'Souza, a champion swimmer and AIDS patient in Goa, that Onir conceived the idea for his first film. His directorial debut, My Brother... Nikhil (2005), deals 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.

In 2006 he released his second film Bas Ek Pal with Urmila Matondkar, Sanjay Suri and Jimmy Shergill. He received a nomination for the Best Director Critic's Award at the Global Indian Film Awards for the film. It was not a financial success, only collecting 15–20 percent at the box office. His next film Sorry Bhai! also failed to do well as it released the week of the terrorist attacks in Mumbai.

Onir's latest film is I Am which consists of four short films exploring such themes as child abuse and same-sex relationships. I Am won the National Award in two categories; Best Film and Best Lyrics. The film 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 and IRDS film awards for Best director for social concern. In February 2011 Onir served as a panelist at I2IT's annual technology and management fest Dhruv 2011, discussing 'Cinema and Youth'. Onir has mentioned in interviews that his next project will be an urban adaptation of Shakespeare's Hamlet. Together with Sanjay Suri he has started Anticlock Films, a production company that will concentrate on promoting young directors. Ashwini Malik's Kill Chhabra and Bikas Ranjan Mishra's Chauranga will be its next films.

Personal life
He has one younger brother Abhishek Dhar, a research scientist at Raman Research Institute and winner of the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize for Science and Technology. His 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.

Director

 * "Tiger's Nest" (1991) (documentary short)
 * "Fallen Hero" (1992) (documentary short)
 * My Brother…Nikhil (2005)
 * Bas Ek Pal (2006)
 * Sorry Bhai! (2008)
 * I Am (2011)
 * The Face (2011)
 * Shab (Announced)

Writer

 * 2005 My Brother... Nikhil
 * 2006 Bas Ek Pal
 * 2011 I Am

Editor

 * 2001 Rahulswapan
 * 2001 Daman: A Victim of Marital Violence
 * 2003 Fun 2shh: Dudes In the 10th Century
 * 2003 Bhoot
 * 2005 My Brother... Nikhil
 * 2011 I Am

Producer

 * 2005 My Brother... Nikhil
 * 2008 Sorry Bhai!
 * 2011 I Am
 * 2012 Chauranga