Sachin Kundalkar (born 1984) is an Indian film director, playwright and screenwriter. He is known for works such as Nirop (2007), Out of the Box (2000), Cobalt Blue 2022 and Gandha (2009). He mainly directs Marathi films.
Wiki/Biography
Sachin Kundalkar was born in 1984 in Mumbai, India (age 39 in 2023). He holds a bachelor’s degree in business. Later, Sachin Kundalkar studied at Film and Television Institute of India (FTII). Sachin Kundalkar, 22, moved to Mumbai in 2006. He received a scholarship from the French government, which helped him join La Fémis in Paris in 2007.
Sachin Kundalkar in Paris (2007)
family
Parents and siblings
Sachin Kundalkar’s mother, Archana Kundalkar, was born in a small village in Vasai, north of Mumbai, and lived with four other siblings in a poor family. Sachin Kundalkar’s Hindi film debut Aiyyaa is based on the first Gandhara story, which was written by his mother. Not much information is available about his father and siblings.
Profession
Sachin Kundalkar started his career in theater and making short films before entering the world of mainstream films. He made his first short film, Out of the Box, while he was a student at the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII). In his productions, Marathi played the role of Chotyasha Suteet, while Kundalkar has also played gay characters. For British audiences, Chotyasha Suteet is known as “On Vacation”.
film chronology
marathi movies
- Puducherry 2022
short film
documentary
hindi movies
- Oops 2012
- Cobalt Blue 2022
drama
Sachin Kundalkar wrote and directed the Marathi dramas “Talim’s Dream” and “Chotyasha Suteet” (A Short Break). He wrote the play “Purnaviram” (Period) in English. Apart from this, he has also created “Fridge Madhe Thevlela Prem” and “Chandralok Complex”, directed by Indian theater director, film producer and co-founder of Aasakta Kalamanch Theater Company Mohit Takalkar.
novel
Cobalt Blue is a novel that deals with themes of sexuality, family relationships and social norms. It was published in Marathi in 2006 and republished in English in 2013, and was written by Indian journalist and author Jerry Pinto (Jerry Pinto) Translation. After reading Jerry Pinto’s manuscript, Sachin Kundalkar said:
I realized it was done very organically. This is technically incorrect. This is emotionally correct. “
In November 2018, the novel was originally scheduled to be adapted into a feature film of the same name by Netflix. Its live broadcast was originally scheduled to be broadcast on December 3, 2021, but was later postponed. On April 2, 2022, it was finally released. The film is lyrical and has the essence of Hindi poetry to describe the emotions of the characters. 
Awards, Honors, Achievements
- In 2007, Sachin Kundalkar’s film Nirop (2007) won the Marathi National Film Award for Best Feature Film.
- In 2008, his film “Gandhara” won the National Film Award for Best Screenplay.
- In 2009, he won the Best Screenplay Award at the Pune International Film Festival for the film Gandha (2009).
- The 2005 documentary short “Bath” was featured at the 30th International LGBT Film Festival in San Francisco and won the Short Story Award from the Indian Documentary Producers Association (IDPA) for its “sensitive depiction of male sexuality” Category 2nd Prize’.
Facts/Trivia
- Sachin Kundalkar was interested in filmmaking since his childhood and sought help from filmmaker Ashutosh Gowarikar. However, the director invited him to come back after completing his studies.
- Sachin Kundalkar assisted Sumitra Bhave and Sunil Sukhthankar in their first film Doghi (1995), which won the 43rd National Film Award for Best Film on Other Social Issues, Zindagi Zindabad, Bhaais Barabar and Dahavi Fha.
- Sachin Kundalkar’s first novel “Cobalt Blue” tells the story of a brother and sister from a traditional Marathi family who fall in love with the same man.
- In an interview, when asked about the theme of his film Gulabjaam and his take on urban storytelling, Sachin Kundalkar said:
In Marathi films, they see cities and urbanization as a problem. I have embraced urbanization; I also find influx and migration beautiful. Throughout the 1990s, I watched the city change. People are making different career choices and following their hearts. Earlier, there were many things that men could not do. The same is true for women. This is changing. The gender fusion it results in is very interesting. We are in a post-feminist world. In my family and circle of friends, everyone does various chores. I know of cases where the husband takes time off while the wife supports the family. Gulab Jam, as a film, celebrates all this. ”
- He also writes for Sakal, a Marathi daily newspaper of Sakal Media Group.
- Sachin Kundalakar made a short film “One Cafe Please” while studying at the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII) in Pune, Maharashtra, India.
- In an interview, Sachin Kundalkar revealed the cultural experience he had in Paris and said:
Paris changed me. When I was 23, I went to Paris for a four-month seminar. The spirit of Paris has made me who I am today. That stay changed my understanding of good and bad. I felt like a cultural outsider everywhere. When you express Murata Swarup (concrete form) as your idea through a play, novel or movie, people will understand you. In order for people to understand your ideas, you must create a body of work. I have a habit of creating stories. I write constantly, but I don’t make a movie out of everything I write. I set them aside. I’ll take them out later and work on them again. “
- Sachin Kundalakar directs the 2022 Marathi romantic drama Pondicherry, which was shot entirely on iPhones and involved only 15 actors and actresses personnel.
- Sachin Kundalkar started writing at the age of 20 and completed his first novel, Cobalt Blue, at the age of 22. He didn’t know he was writing a novel until a friend told him. When he showed the book to a friend, he was told it was a novel.
- In 2013, Saaz Aggarwal, a reporter for The Hindu, in his article titled Sachin Kundalkar’s novel Cobalt Blue,
A quality coming-of-age novel that explores the discovery of homosexuality in a hostile environment, the resulting confusion and bravado. ”
- In an interview, Sachin Kundalkar revealed his interest in becoming a chef, saying:
I learned to cook from my mother since I was a child. From that point on, I wondered if I should pursue a career as a chef. But I was drawn to filmmaking and not becoming a chef. I believe food can be a medium of communication. “
- Sachin Kundalkar is known for making personal films. Gulabjaam is his first film with Pune-based graphic novelist Tejas Modak.
- Sachin Kundalkar talks about his mother who is a writer and says:
My debut Hindi film, Aiyyaa, was written by her based on the first story of Gandhara. This is the only surviving story written by my mother. She is a typist from a poor family. So her grandfather told her that writing was a hobby for rich people and threw her notebook into the well. The story survives because she wrote it on loose-leaf paper. She showed it to me when I was 20 years old. She started writing again, but refused to show it to me until she was done. “
Categories: Biography
Source: HIS Education