Kabir Khan
Kabir Khan (director)
Born name: Kabir Khan
Born/Date of Birth: 1971
Place of Birth: Hyderabad, Telangana, India
Occupation: documentary cinematographer, Film director, screenwriter, film producer
Education: Kirori Mal College, Delhi University (KMC, DU), University of Delhi, Jamia Millia Islamia AJK MCRC
Spouse: Mini Mathur
Children: Vivaan Kabir , Sairah Kabir
Parents: Rasheeduddin Khan, Saumya Rao
Kabir Khan is an Indian film director, screenwriter and cinematographer. He started his career working in documentary films, and then made his feature film directorial debut in 2006 with Kabul Express which was followed by New York (2009), Ek Tha Tiger (2012), Bajrangi Bhaijaan (2015), Phantom (2015) and Tubelight (2017).
Personal life
Kabir was born to a Muslim father and a Telugu mother. His father Rasheeduddin Khan, who was a Pathan, hailing from Kaimganj in Farrukhabad district, Uttar Pradesh, and was a nephew of Dr. Zakir Hussain (President of India – 1967 to 1969). Rasheeduddin was a communist politician favored by Indira Gandhi and was made a nominated member of the Rajya Sabha at a relatively young age, in the early 1970s. He was also a professor of political science, and in the early 1970s, he became one of the founding professors of Jawaharlal Nehru University. Kabir's mother, Saumya is a Hindu whose mother tongue is Telugu. Kabir has an elder sister, Anusha, who is the wife of film-maker Vijay Krishna Acharya, director of films like Tashan and Dhoom 3.
Kabir is married to TV host & actor Mini Mathur. They have two children Vivaan and Sairah.
Kabir studied at Kirori Mal College of Delhi University, as well as Jamia Millia Islamia in Delhi.
Film career
Khan started his career at age 25 as a cinematographer for the Discovery Channel documentary film Beyond the Himalayas (1996) directed by Gautam Ghosh. He then made his own directorial debut with the documentary The Forgotten Army (1999) based on Subhas Chandra Bose's Indian National Army. He then directed two more documentaries before shifting his focus to mainstream cinema.
Kabir debuted through Kabul Express which gained him Indira Gandhi Award for Best Debut Film of a Director at the 54th National Film Awards. He then went on to direct two more films with Yash Raj Films, i.e. New York (film) and Ek Tha Tiger. It was the later which gave him the taste of commercial success but the previous ones also did fairly well at the box office.
After his 3-film deal ended with YRF, Kabir set up his production house through which he produced Bajrangi Bhaijaan.
His most-successful film is Bajrangi Bhaijaan, which had been the third highest-grossing Indian film globally. The film garnered the National Film Award for Best Popular Film Providing Wholesome Entertainment at the 63rd National Film Awards.
After the success of Bajrangi Bhaijaan, he directed Katrina Kaif and Saif Ali Khan in Phantom.
Khan again collaborated with Salman Khan with Tubelight, official remake of Little Boy based on the Indo-Chinese war that debuted Chinese actress Zhu Zhu released on Eid 2017. The film met with negative reviews criticising the film for its incoherent script.
Khan has signed Ranveer Singh to play Kapil Dev in his next sports biography '83 based on India's victory in 1983 Cricket World Cup, that will go on floors in early 2019.
Kabir has recently wrapped up the shoot of an 5 episode long Amazon Prime Original based on Subhas Chandra Bose's Forgotten Army. He is directing and co-producing the series with Amazon.
His next film is The Zookeeper, a Chinese-Indian film production. It is a travel-related drama film which is being shot in the Chinese city of Chengdu and the surrounding region. The film has an estimated budget of $25 million (₹176 crore), and it will star a leading Indian actor and a leading Chinese actress.
