The founder of media conglomerate UTV Software Communications and one of the biggest names in film production and distribution, Ronnie Screwvala is an Indian entrepreneur, movie producer and philanthropist. Since founding the feature film unit of UTV (known as UTV Motion Pictures) in 1997, he has bankrolled around 80 feature films across all major industries in India, besides a handful of international productions. Of these, four have won Filmfare Awards for Best Film, two have won National Film Awards for Best Feature Film and Best Children`s Film and one has been nominated for a BAFTA Award for Best Non-English Film so far.
Ronnie`s staggeringly impressive production repertoire includes both mainstream blockbusters and indie movies across all genres, with acclaimed contemporary Bollywood classics like
Swades (2004),
Rang De Basanti (2006),
Dev D (2009),
Barfi! (2012),
The Lunchbox (2013),
Haider (2014) and
Dangal (2016) underlining his credentials as the ambassador of good cinema. He is also credited with pioneering the advent of cable television in the country, and has often been dubbed as the `Jack Warner of India`.
Significant production credits in regional cinema include the Marathi film
Harishchandrachi Factory (2009), the Tamil film
Deiva Thirumagal (2011), the Malayalam thriller
Grandmaster (2012) and the Tamil thriller Vazhakku Enn 18/9 (2012). The drama film The Namesake (2006), historical romantic drama
Jodhaa Akbar (2008), the crime-thriller Kaminey (2009),
Rowdy Rathore (2012), Chennai Express (2013) and
Karwaan (2018) are among the producer`s other notable movie credits. His 2019 releases include
Sonchiriya,
Photograph,
Mard Ko Dard Nahi Hota, and
The Sky Is Pink. His 2020 release includes Bhangra Paa Le.