Abhishek Chaubey is a Bollywood director and screenwriter. After serving as an assistant director on various films, Chaubey began writing scripts for movies, before becoming a director. He is best known for writing the script for
Omkara and
Kaminey, and directing the highly controversial
Udta Punjab.
Early LifeBorn on 30 March 1977, Abhishek Chaubey is the son of Anand Mohan Chaubey and Sheela Chaubey. Although he was born in Faizabad, Uttar Pradesh, the film director spent his younger days in Jamshedpur, Patna, and Ranchi, where he did his schooling from St. Xavier`s School. He completed his 12th standard from Siva Sivani Public School, Hyderabad, before graduating in English literature from Hindu College, New Delhi. Chaubey then moved to Mumbai to study Film & Television Production at the Xavier Institute of Communication.
Acting CareerAbhishek Chaubey entered the film industry as an assistant director and co-writer of
Makdee,
Vishal Bhardwaj`s debut film, which released in 2002. Over the next few years, Chaubey worked on three more of Bhardwaj`s films, including serving as an assistant director on
Maqbool, as an assistant director and co-writer on
Omkara, and a co-writer on
Kaminey. All of these films were critically acclaimed and paved the way for Abhishek Chaubey to direct films on his own. In 2010, he directed the critical hit
Ishqiya, starring
Vidya Balan and
Naseeruddin Shah. Fans and critics were full of praise for the director, with a reporter from The Telegraph labeling his debut as, "one of the most assured debuts in recent Hindi cinema." Four years later, he directed its sequel,
Dedh Ishqiya. In the year 2016, Abhishek Chaubey directed the contentious crime thriller film
Udta Punjab, starring
Shahid Kapoor,
Alia Bhatt,
Kareena Kapoor Khan, and
Diljit Dosanjh. His 2019 release includes Sonchiriya.