Ritesh Sidhwani

Ritesh Sidhwani, a prominent and distinguished Indian filmmaker, is accredited for his visionary approach and peerless contribution to contemporary cinema. The two-time National awardee helms one of India's preeminent production houses, Excel Entertainment, a brand name aptly synonymous with excellence and success. The banner made its foray into the industry with Dil Chahta Hai (2001), a trailblazing film that not only bagged the National Award in 2001 by the President Of India but also acquired cult status amongst the millennial viewers as a forerunner of new age cinema. On the one hand, Excel's oeuvre comprises a string of box-office hits like Dil Chahta Hai (2001) , Don (2006) , Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara (2011) , Talaash (2012) & Fukrey (2013) . Alongside these blockbusters, Excel has also launched avant-garde ventures like Gully Boy (2019) , India's first hip hop film and the official entry to the Academy Awards this year and Inside Edge (2017) , India's first original series on Amazon Prime Video that was nominated for the coveted International Emmy Awards under the Best Drama category in 2018. In addition to commercially successful cinema, Excel has consistently garnered critical acclaim, Rock On being one such accomplishment that won the production house its second National Award in 2008. For Ritesh Sidhwani, the name behind the banner, success is not about being alone on the top but is about empowering others to reach there. As such, he has been instrumental in providing an open platform to debutant directors and filmmakers to exhibit their original work. This open and accessible approach has ensured that Excel stands as a hallmark for refreshingly novel content and cutting-edge global film making techniques, which have placed Indian cinema on the international map as a force to reckon with. From an entrepreneur who was a film aficionado to becoming one of India's most successful filmmakers with a panache for state-of-the-art cinema, Ritesh Sidhwani's journey has been as dramatic as his fast-paced action thrillers. He took a leap of faith, incorporating his entrepreneurial skills and business acumen coupled with his passion for good cinema by establishing Excel Entertainment Private Limited in partnership with his longtime friend and confidante, Farhan Akhtar. Excel aims at continuing its dream run as a production house. To that end, the banner produces feature films and has started distributing it theatricality worldwide apart from creating original content for digital platforms. Cinema is life with 'cuts' and Excel hopes to make the right ones to create cinema that will be remembered through the annals of revolutionary filmmaking.