Homi Adajania Wiki, Age, Wife, Family, Biography & More

Homi Adajania is an Indian film director and writer. He is known for directing the 2012 blockbuster film ‘Cocktail.’ In 2023, he directed and created the TV series ‘Saas, Bahu Aur Flamingo,’ which premiered on Disney+ Hotstar.

Wiki/Biography

Homi Adajania was born in 1972 (age 51 years; as of 2023) in Mumbai. He completed his bachelor’s degree from St Xavier’s College, Mumbai.

Physical Appearance

Height (approx.): 5′ 11″

Weight (approx.): 60 kg

Hair Colour: Dark Brown

Eye Colour: Brown

Family

He belongs to a Parsi family.

Parents & Siblings

His father’s name is Aspy Adajania; he was an Indian Army officer. He was a pioneer of amateur boxing in India and also served as an administrator of the sport and as a referee for various officiated high-profile matches. His mother’s name is Persis Adajania. Homi Adajania had a sister named Zia Diwan Adajania, who died in 2014 due to a heart ailment.

Wife & Children

Homi Adajania got married to Anaita Shroff Adajania in 2002. The couple has two sons named Zane Adajania and Zreh Adajania.

Other Relatives

The famous YouTuber Scherezade Shroff is his sister-in-law. She is married to Vaibhav Talwar, who is an actor and model.

Career

Film

Homi Adajania made his directorial debut with the Indian English-language film ‘Being Cyrus’ (2005), starring Saif Ali Khan. However, the film didn’t run well at the box office.

In 2012, he directed the Bollywood film ‘Cocktail’ which was declared a hit at the box office. He worked as a director and screenplay writer for the film ‘Finding Fanny’ (2014). It was a bilingual film that was released in Hindi and English language. He debuted as a producer with the short film ‘My Choice’ (2015); he also wrote and directed the film. The short film was a part of Vogue’s women empowerment campaign. In 2017, he produced the Bollywood film ‘Raabta’ starring Sushant Singh Rajput and Kriti Sanon.

Adajania worked as a story writer for the Hindi comedy-drama film ‘The Fakir of Venice’ (2019). In 2020, he directed the film ‘Angrezi Medium.’

TV Series

In 2023, he directed and created the crime drama TV series ‘Saas, Bahu Aur Flamingo’ which premiered on Hotstar. The TV series starred Dimple Kapadia, Radhika Madan, and Naseeruddin Shah in the lead roles.

Controversy

Criticized for short film ‘My Choice’ 

In 2015, Homi Adajania was heavily criticized for conveying the wrong messages in his short film ‘My Choice.’ The film was based on woman’s empowerment and talked about the freedom of choice that women should have. The critics considered the film ‘sexist or male-bashing’ for a dialogue in the film, that quote,

It is my choice to marry or not to marry… It is my choice to have sex before marriage or have sex outside the marriage…”

Adajania later asserted that his film was misunderstood by the audience. He clarified in an interview that he had no intention to hurt people’s perceptions and notions. However, he also said that the misunderstanding and criticising of his film made it more viral. While talking about this in an interview, he said,

Ironically, the misunderstanding is what made #MyChoice go explosively viral and if that’s what it takes to get people discussing gender equality then I am willing to take the hit and be misunderstood. More power to women and let’s hope that a healthy discussion on gender equality continues.” ^[1]NDTV

Awards & Achievements

• In 2006, he won the Silver Hanoman Award at Jogja-NETPAC Asian Film Festival for the film ‘Being Cyrus.’

• In 2013, he was nominated for the ‘Best Director’ award at the Producers Guild Film Awards (now known as Apsara Awards) for the film ‘Cocktail.’

• In 2021, he was nominated for the ‘Best Film’ and ‘Best Film Director’ award for the film ‘Angrezi Medium.’

Tattoo

He got a fish tattoo inked on his right bicep.

Favourites

• Authors: Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Isabel Allende and Albert Camus

• Actress: Dimple Kapadia

Facts/Trivia

• Homi Adajania always wanted to be a commercial scuba diver, but as that job involved a risk of death, he decided to pursue a career in the film industry and joined an advertising kingpin after completing his college.

• His father used to run a petrol pump in the red light area in Mumbai, and after his death, the business was taken over by Homi Adajaina when he was 23 years old. He found it very difficult to run the petrol pump in an area where the hookers, mafia, and cops were all around. In an interview, he shared a horrible incident that happened with them while working there. He said,
  

  It was horribly non-creative and dangerous. I remember how once my manager was mugged and his fingers chopped off in front of me while he was carrying cash to the bank.”

• In an interview, he revealed that it took him 10 years to get his mind out of the fearful state that he had developed while working in the red light area. He said that he travelled for 10 years to prepare himself to work somewhere else. He also revealed that he did many odd jobs to make his travelling expenses.

• Apart from filmmaking, Adajania also has a keen interest in sports. He has played as a winger for the rugby team in Mumbai named ‘Bombay Gymkhana.’ He is also a certified CMAS (Confédération Mondiale des Activités Subaquatiques) scuba diving instructor and worked in Lakshadweep Islands for almost eight years.

• He shot his debut film ‘Being Cyrus’ in his own bungalow in Panchgani, Maharashtra, which he later sold to the Bollywood actor Amir Khan.

• In 2014, he was slammed by the paparazzi after he caught kissing Deepika Padukone in a party, while he was drunk.
  

  Homi Adajania kissing Deepika Padukone

• He is best friends with Dinesh Vijan, who is a Bollywood director.
  

  Homi Adajania with Dinesh Vijan (left)