Shoojit Sircar Wiki, Age, Wife, Children, Family, Biography & More

Shoojit Sircar is an Indian filmmaker, director and producer. He got into the limelight for his Hindi films including ‘Vicky Donor’ (2012), ‘Piku’ (2015), ‘Gulabo Sitabo’ (2020), and ‘Sardar Udham’ (2021).

Wiki/Biography

Shoojit Sircar was born on Friday, 15 September 1967 (56 years; as of 2023) in Barrackpore, district Parganas (near Kolkata), West Bengal. His zodiac sign is Virgo. In 1985, Shoojit Sircar completed his schooling at the Kendriya Vidyalaya Barrackpore, an Air Force School in Barrackpore, West Bengal. Later, Shoojit along with his family moved to Delhi where he pursued his graduation in Bachelor of Commerce (Honours) at the Shaheed Bhagat Singh College, New Delhi.

Physical Appearance

Hair Colour: Black

Eye Colour: Dark Brown

Family

Parents & Siblings

Shoojit Sircar’s father was an Air Force officer and his mother was a homemaker. Shoojit’s father passed away in 2004 after suffering from cancer, and his mother passed away six months later in 2004, after suffering from a brain stroke. Shoojit has a younger sister named Akashi.

Wife & Children

Shoojit Sircar is married to Jhuma Sircar, and the couple was blessed with two daughters named Koyna Sircar and Anannya Sircar.

Career

Film Director

In 2005, Shoojit Sircar made his Bollywood directorial debut with the Hindi war film titled ‘Yahaan’ which starred actors Jimmy Sheirgill and Minissha Lamba.

In 2012, he directed the Hindi romantic comedy film titled ‘Vicky Donor’ which was the debut film of actors Ayushmann Khurrana and Yami Gautam. The film was loved globally and became the recipient of many prestigious awards.

In the following year, Shoojit directed the Hindi political action thriller film titled ‘Madras Cafe.’

In 2015, Shoojit Sircar directed the Hindi comedy-drama film titled ‘Piku’ which starred actors like Amitabh Bachchan, Deepika Padukone, and Irrfan Khan. The film was a commercially successful one and won various prestigious awards. Shoojit’s daughter, Anannya Sircar made her acting debut in this film. There’s a scene where Amitabh Bachchan is cycling through Kolkata and sees a girl playing a harmonium through an open window. That girl is Shoojit’s daughter.

In 2021, Shoojit directed the Hindi-Punjabi-English language biographical historical drama film titled ‘Sardar Udham’ which was based on the life of Udham Singh, a freedom fighter from Punjab. The titled character was played by Vicky Kaushal. The film was released on Amazon Prime Video and was a box-office success.

Film Producer

Sh0ojit Sircar has also produced a few Bengali films like ‘Aparajita Tumi’ (2012), ‘Open Tee Bioscope’ (2015), and ‘Deep6’ (2021).

Controversies

Accused of Copying the Storyline

In 2018, Shoojit Sircar was accused of copying the storyline of the Marathi film titled ‘Aarti – The Unknown Love Story’ (2017) for his Hindi film titled ‘October’ (2018). Sarika Mene, the director of the film ‘Arti’ was quoted saying in an interview

I want the audience to watch both films and be impartial in their opinion. When I watched October, [I realized that] the emotions and characters portrayed are similar. Only a few things don’t match. How can a writer have imagined the exact events that had occurred in my brother’s private life? I want to know where he [Sircar] got his film’s idea from – sometimes he says it’s inspired from his life, sometimes he says a newspaper article.” ^[1]The International Business Times

Accused of Copywriting Infringement 

In 2020, Shoojit Sircar and screenwriter Juhi Chaturvedi were accused of copywriting infringement and plagiarism by Akira Agarwal when the complainant made a police complaint stating that the script of the Hindi film ‘Gulabo Sitabo’ (2020) which was directed by Shoojit is similar to the script written by Akira’s father Rajeev Agarwal which was was submitted at the Cinestaan India’s Storytellers Contest in 2018, and the story was titled as ’16th, Mohandas Lane.’ Akira Agarwal also claimed that the story was assessed by the jury of the Cinestaan India’s Storytellers Contest where the screenwriter of ‘Gulabo Sitabo’ Juhi Chaturvedi was one of the jury members. ^[2]The Times of India

Awards

National Awards

• 2013: ‘Best Popular Film Providing Wholesome Entertainment’ for the Hindi film titled ‘Vicky Donor’ (2012)

• 2017: ‘Best Film on Social Issues’ for the Hindi film titled ‘Pink’
  

  Shoojit Sircar (second from right) receiving the national for his Hindi film titled ‘Pink’ (2017)

• 2023: ‘Best Feature Film in Hindi’ for the Hindi film titled ‘Sardar Udham’ (2021)

🏆69th National Film Awards 🏆

President Droupadi Murmu presents the Best Hindi Film category award to 'Sardar Udham'.

Sardar Udham is directed by Shoojit Sircar#69thNationalFilmAwards #NationalFilmAwards pic.twitter.com/MQc0scFgpn

— PIB India (@PIB_India) October 17, 2023

Other Awards

• 2016: ‘Best Director Award’ at the Indian Film Festival of Melbourne for the Hindi film titled ‘Piku’ (2015)

• 2016: ‘Best Director Award’ at the Indian Film Festival of Russia for the Hindi film titled ‘Piku’ (2015)

• 2017: ‘Best Film Award’ at the Indian Film Festival of Melbourne for the Hindi film titled ‘Pink’ (2016)

• 2017: ‘Best Film (Critics) Award’ at the Zee Cine Awards for the Hindi film titled ‘Pink’ (2016)

• 2022: ‘Best Film (Critics) Award’ at the Filmfare Awards for the Hindi film titled ‘Sardar Udham’ (2021)

Favourites

• Cuisine: Bengali

• Film Director(s): Satyajit Ray, Ritwik Ghatak, Tapan Sinha, Bimal Roy

• Actor: Irrfan Khan

• Film: Charulata (1964)

• Writer: Rabindranath Tagore

Facts/Trivia

• In 2007, Shoojit Sircar along with producer Ronnie Lahiri founded their own production house named ‘Rising Sun Films.’

• In 2010, Shoojit Sircar shifted his wife and daughters to Kolkata so that his children could have a Bengali upbringing and stay away from the lifestyle and world of the Hindi film industry in Mumbai.

• Before joining the film industry, Shoojit used to work as an accountant at the Le Meridien Hotel in Delhi.

• In the early 1980s, Shoojit joined various theatre groups and one of them was a group called ‘Act One’ which was formed by Shoojit Sircar himself. When the Khalistan movement was in practice during the late 1980s and early 1990s, he would travel to Punjab with his group members of ‘Act One’ to gather information for a play that they would later perform.

• The theatre group ‘Act One’ which was formed by Shoojit also included famous actors like Manoj Bajpayee, Piyush Mishra, and Ashish Vidyarthi.

• Shoojit loves playing football and played soccer at the national level during his school as well as college days.

• Before entering the film industry, he used to work at an advertising firm.

• During earlier times, the International Film Festival of India used to take place in Delhi and one day, Shoojit along with his few friends went to attend the same; however, they didn’t have any money to buy the tickets. They ended up bribing the gatekeeper and used to watch international films.

• The English documentary titled ‘Dear America: Letters Home from Vietnam’ (1988) and the Bengali-language drama film titled ‘Pather Panchali’ (1955) were the two films that made Shoojit take the decision of advertising job and join the film industry as a filmmaker.

• Shoojit Sircar considers the Bengali-language drama film titled ‘The Apu Trilogy’ which was directed by Satyajit Ray his biggest inspiration and a guide for cinema.

• Shoojit along with Bollywood actors like Abhishek Bachchan, Ranbir Kapoor, and Ranveer Singh play charity football matches at the All Stars Club in Mumbai.
  

  Shoojit Sircar during a football match at the All Stars Club in Mumbai

• Since 2012, he has turned completely vegetarian, and he loves to cook north Indian food like ‘Saag.’ ^[3]Indulge Express

• Shoojit loves reading spiritual and science books like Upanishads, Vedas, Mahabharata and Ramayana and also some old writings of scientists like Jagadish Bose and Satyen Bose.