>Beyond My Ken: Reverted edits by EsotericJoe (talk) to last version by GreenC bot

2020-08-17T01:04:49Z

Reverted edits by EsotericJoe (talk) to last version by GreenC bot

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{{for|the snooker player|Pankaj Advani (billiards player)}}
{{EngvarB|date=August 2014}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2014}}
{{Infobox person
|name = Pankaj Advani
|image = PANKAJ Advani.JPG
|caption =
|birth_date ={{Birth date|df=yes|1965|8|1}}
|birth_place =[[Lucknow]], [[Uttar Pradesh]], [[India]].
|death_date = {{Death date and age|df=yes|2010|11|11|1965|8|1}}
|death_place = [[Mumbai]], [[India]].
|occupation = [[Film director]]<br>[[screenwriter]]
|yearsactive =
}}
'''Pankaj Advani''' (Hindi: '''पंकज आडवाणी''') (1 August 1965 – 11 November 2010) was an [[Indian film]] director, editor, screenwriter, photographer, theatre director, and painter, known for his works in [[Bollywood]], and cross over cinema.<ref name="dc">{{cite news|url=http://www.deccanherald.com/content/111874/sankat-city-director-pankaj-advani.html|title='Sankat City' director Pankaj Advani passes away|work=Deccan Herald |date=11 November 2010}}</ref> Pankaj made his [[Hindi film]] screenwriting debut with ''[[Kabhi Haan Kabhi Naa]]'' (1993) which went on to win the [[Filmfare Critics Award for Best Movie]].

In 1994, he scripted, and directed the short film ''Sunday'' which won the Children's Film Society of India Award for best writing, and the [[National Film Award for Best Short Fiction Film]].<ref name=CFSIaw>[http://www.cfsindia.org/awardsmain.htm National Award-Best Short Fiction Film-CFSI] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101207075001/http://www.cfsindia.org/awardsmain.htm |date=7 December 2010 }}</ref><ref name="CFSI">{{Cite web |url=http://www.cfsindia.org/colors/184.htm |title=CFSI |access-date=22 December 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101207080255/http://cfsindia.org/colors/184.htm |archive-date=7 December 2010 |url-status=dead }}</ref> The film was screened at the Indian Panorama Section of the 25th [[International Film Festival of India]], Calcutta; the Asian Panorama section of 8th International Children's Film Festival, Udaipur;<ref name="8th International Children's Film Festival, Udaipur">{{cite web|url=http://in.linkedin.com/pub/pankaj-advani/5/9a/55|archive-url=https://archive.today/20121129062207/http://in.linkedin.com/pub/pankaj-advani/5/9a/55|url-status=dead|archive-date=2012-11-29|title=Pankaj Advani - LinkedIn|publisher=}}</ref> and has participated in other festivals including Cairo International Children's Film Festival and 11th Annual Chicago International Children's Film Festival.<ref name="Chicago International Children's Film Festival">{{cite web|url=http://www.cicff.org/bin/file/docs/CICFF%20Accepted%20Titles%201994.pdf|title=Chicago International Children's Film Festival|publisher=|access-date=22 December 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110105202349/http://www.cicff.org/bin/file/docs/CICFF%20Accepted%20Titles%201994.pdf|archive-date=5 January 2011|url-status=dead}}</ref> The same year Pankaj won an award for best writing for ''Shadow Boxer'' at [[National Film Development Corporation of India|NFDC]].<ref name="Script 'Shadow Boxer' at NFDC">{{Cite web |url=http://www.cfsindia.org/colors/184.htm |title=Script 'Shadow Boxer' at NFDC |access-date=22 December 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101207080255/http://cfsindia.org/colors/184.htm |archive-date=7 December 2010 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

==Early life and education==
Pankaj was born in [[Lucknow]] and grew up in the small town of [[Veraval]] in the Saurashtra region of [[Gujarat]] state. As a young boy he was drawn to the magical world of cinema and as a first step wrote, acted, and directed for his school plays.

He obtained his Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree in painting from the [[Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda]]. At the [[Faculty of Fine Arts]], he specialized in photography and built up a portfolio of photographs. While in Baroda he participated in playwright and film-maker, [[Habib Tanvir]]'s workshop. He wrote and directed black comedies under his supervision (''Andher Nagari'' and others) that participated in college festivals. He then went on to do his Diploma in Editing at the [[Film and Television Institute of India]]-Pune, receiving a merit scholarship for his academic excellence.

==Film craft==
After graduating from FTII-Pune, Pankaj returned to Baroda and put up a theatrical production of his black comedy ''Kataria Gul Hui Gawa''. Pankaj's next attempt was a short film ''Highway'' (19-minute video shot in Baroda about a woman who asks for a lift from a stranger in a car on a deserted highway) which participated in the South Asian Short Film Festival in Colombo and the International Short and Independent Film Festival-Dhaka.<ref name="Biography of Pankaj Advani">[http://www.gomolo.in/People/PeopleBiographyUser.aspx?pplid=30751&bioID=946247 Biography of Pankaj Advani]</ref>

Pankaj faced many hurdles in garnering funds for his unconventional films but continued to work even with low budgets. He forayed into TV when [[Shashanka Ghosh]], the then head of Channel [V], who, impressed with his film ''Sunday'' and 'quirky' ideas created a tiny space for him in the channel for experimentation, starting off with the promo the dark 'Anarkali Petticoat Show' which got a special mention at the [[Promax Awards]] and subsequent shows like Toofan TV and Bheja Fry. His long association with Channel [V] provided him with a platform to showcase his creative ideas albeit on very low budgets.

In 2000 Pankaj received a '1.3 million – 13 days no-holds barred on creative aspect' offer from Digital Talkies which he grabbed and gave birth to the now iconoclastic, underground, cult classic ''[https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1784715/ Urf Professor]''.<ref name="Tehelka Magazine, 'Lunacy Uninterrupted' August 2010">{{Cite web |url=http://www.tehelka.com/story_main42.asp?filename=hub010809lunacy_uninterrupted.asp |title=Tehelka Magazine, 'Lunacy Uninterrupted' August 2010 |access-date=24 December 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101219083901/http://www.tehelka.com/story_main42.asp?filename=hub010809lunacy_uninterrupted.asp |archive-date=19 December 2010 |url-status=dead }}</ref> This black comedy got the Best Film Award at the International Digital Film Festival India and<ref name="Best Film at the International Digital Film Festival India">{{cite web|url=http://retiary.org/idea/idea4/idea_4/digitalk/digitalk.htm|title=Digital Talkies on The IDEA #4|publisher=}}</ref> best editing at KaraFilm Fest (Pakistan).<ref name="Best Editing at KaraFilm Fest. (Pakistan)">[http://www.karafilmfest.com/pastkaras.htm Best Editing at KaraFilm Fest. (Pakistan)]</ref> It screened at Dahlonega Film Festival;<ref name="Screened at Dahlonega Film Festival">{{cite web|url=https://www.imdb.com/event/ev0000722/|title=Dahlonega International Film Festival|publisher=}}</ref> Philippines Digital Film;<ref name="Philippines Digital Film">{{cite web|url=http://indieyo.tripod.com/mov/articles.htm|title=.MOV : The Digital Movie Fest (1st Philippine Digital Film Festival)|publisher=}}</ref> and participated in Inscreen International Film Festival (July 2006). With support of Shekhar Kapur (guest of honour at International Digital Film Festival of India); Pankaj, Roger Savage (sound engineer, ''Moulin Rouge''), and Jill Billcock (editor, ''Moulin Rouge'') collaborated at 'Sound Firm', Australia, to make a version more suited for an English-speaking audience; the effort came to a naught. It could not get certification from the Censor Board in India for its explicit content.

Shripal Morakia of [https://web.archive.org/web/20130922060430/http://idreamproduction.com/ iDream Production] gave him a chance to make his stylised, surreal, psychological thriller ''[[Cape Karma]]''.<ref name="CapeKarma">{{cite web|url=http://www.idreamproduction.com/|title=IDream Production|publisher=|access-date=22 December 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130922060430/http://idreamproduction.com/|archive-date=22 September 2013|url-status=dead}}</ref> ''[[Cape Karma]]'', shot in the winter of 2005 in Dundee, Scotland with its non-linear story telling and undercurrents of violence and disconcerting sexual theme proved to be much ahead of its times for an Indian audience and is one of Pankaj's least-seen films. Pankaj's only film to be released commercially in theatres was ''[[Sankat City]]'' presented by Moser-Baer in July 2009. [[Bollywood]], too, gave its approval and this poorly publicized film got due credit with nominations in half-a-dozen categories coming its way at the Nokia 16th Star Screen Awards 2010, Max Stardust Awards 2010, and 55th Filmfare Awards.

==Awards==
;[[National Film Awards]]
* 1994: [[National Film Award for Best Short Fiction Film]] (Director) for ''Sunday''<ref name=CFSIaw/>

;International honors
* 2001: Best Film at the International Digital Film Festival, India for ''Urf Professor''
* 2003: Best Editing at [[Kara Film Festival]], Karachi, Pakistan for ''Urf Professor''

;Other honors
* 2010: Honorable Member of Animation Jury at the 20th Cairo International Children's Film Festival in 2010.<ref name="Honorable Member of Animation Jury at the 20th Cairo International Children's Film Festival in 2010">{{cite web|url=http://www.ciffchildren.org/animation%20jury.htm|title=Honorable Member of Animation Jury at the 20th Cairo International Children's Film Festival in 2010|publisher=}}</ref>

==Filmography==
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Year
! Film
! Credit
|-
| 2009
| [[Sankat City]]
| Director, writer
|-
| 2006
| Naina
| Consulting Editor
|-
| 2005
| [[Cape Karma]]
| Director, writer
|-
| 2001
| Urf Professor
| Director, editor, writer, and Associate Producer
|-
| 1993
| Sunday
| Director, editor, writer, and Executive Producer
|-
| 1993
| Kabhi Haan Kabhi Naa
| Co-writer. (Story and Screenplay)
|-
|}

===Short films===

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Year
! Film
! Credit
|-
| 1992
| Highway
| Director,Writer, producer
|}

===TV===

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Year
! Title
! Credit
|-
| 1998
| Bheja Fry- Channel [V]
| Director, writer
|-
| 1997
| Toofan TV-Channel [V]
| Director, writer
|-
| 1995
| Aan Ban & Break Ke Baad [Zee Cinema] (film based shows)
| Director, writer, editor
|-
| 1994
| Photo studio [BiTV]
| Director, writer
|}

===Documentary===

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Year
! Title
! Credit
|-
| 1997
| V.K.Krishnamenon by G.Aravindan
| Editor
|}

===Theatre===

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Year
! Title
! Credit
|-
| 1989
| Kataria Gul Hui Gawa
| Director, writer, producer
|}

==Death==
On 11 November 2010, Pankaj Advani died of sudden cardiac arrest in Mumbai, India age 45.<ref name="Obituary">[http://www.mumbaimirror.com/index.aspx?Page=article&sectname=Entertainment%20-%20Bollywood&sectid=30&contentid=2010111220101112020940154ac80d299 Obituary: In memory of Pankaj Advani] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120322064553/http://www.mumbaimirror.com/index.aspx?Page=article&sectname=Entertainment%20-%20Bollywood&sectid=30&contentid=2010111220101112020940154ac80d299 |date=22 March 2012 }} by Minty Tejpal, ''[[Mumbai Mirror]]'', 12 November 2010.</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist|2}}

==External links==
* {{IMDb name|1583603}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Advani, Pankaj}}
[[Category:1965 births]]
[[Category:2010 deaths]]
[[Category:Sindhi people]]
[[Category:People from Veraval]]
[[Category:Artists from Lucknow]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian film directors]]
[[Category:Hindi film editors]]
[[Category:Indian male screenwriters]]
[[Category:Hindi-language film directors]]
[[Category:Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda alumni]]
[[Category:Film and Television Institute of India alumni]]
[[Category:21st-century Indian film directors]]
[[Category:Film directors from Uttar Pradesh]]
[[Category:Film editors from Uttar Pradesh]]

Pankaj Advani (director) - Revision history

>Beyond My Ken: Reverted edits by EsotericJoe (talk) to last version by GreenC bot