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Mani Shankar
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Mani Shankar | |
|---|---|
| Born | Shankar Mani 3 August 1957 Guntur, India |
| Education | Hyderabad Public School |
| Alma mater | BITS, Pilani |
| Occupation | Film director, producer, writer, business magnate |
| Years active | 1980–present |
| Children | Prem Shankar |
Mani Shankar is a Bollywood film director, holographic technology expert, writer and speaker.[promotion?]
He best known for introducing CGI to India, blowing people's minds and being the architect of the world's first holographic political campaign that he designed for Narendra Modi during the 2012 Gujarat Legislative Assembly election. It set a Guinness World record.[1]
As a Bollywood Director he made 5 films including 16 December (film) – was one of the highest-grossing films in the year of release; and Tango Charlie which was screened in several International Film Festivals and is a permanent part of the UN's films on Anti-war.
Over his long career, Mani Shankar has worked on many films, advertisement as well as campaigns for political leaders.[2]
Early life[edit]
Mani Shankar graduated as a Chemical Engineer from BITS Pilani[3] in 1978. He worked for a few years as a research engineer in process engineering and drug delivery. During his time at BITS Pilani he won a record 4 consecutive Holofest 'Best Hologram Of The Year', earning the nickname "Young Mani".
Career[edit]
With over two decades of rich experience in the film industry, made a shift into film production and started his own production house Bhairav Films, where he made over 1000 ad films, short films image building films and 5 Hindi feature films. Most of his short films and feature films reflect a deep commitment to social causes and direct the audience towards soul searching and introspection.
In 1991, his Telugu film, ‘Manishi’ won him the coveted Golden Nandi award for Best Film, as well as Nandi Awards for Best Director and Best Screenplay writer. His Hindi feature film 16 December, which was among the top ten grossing films of 2002, with the highest return on investment for any film that year.
Tango Charlie was a story about a soldier's constant battle with his conscience. It was screened at several International film festivals and was included in Amnesty International's list of classic Anti War films.
Inspired by his history professor Indiana he decided to helm a career defining project that would encapsulate the experiences of his early twenties as an amateur archeologist, the film Rudraksh a futuristic supernatural film starring Sanjay Dutt, Bipasha Basu, Suniel Shetty and Isha Kopikar. After the release of this film he was apparently visited often by forces of a secret Hindu organization who questioned his deep knowledge of the demon realm.
Mukhbir (starring Om Puri, Suniel Shetty, Samir Dattani and Raima Sen) was the story of a young man rising above the dangerous underworld and choosing to die a patriot. This was also critically acclaimed and screened at the Black International festival in Berlin.
Knock Out (starring Sanjay Dutt, Irrfan Kkhan and Kangana Ranaut).
Mani is an ardent believer in the simulated universe theory, he rather claims that our plain is a mirror of a simulated hologram, his idea's have been discussed in the works of acclaimed theoretical physicist Michio Kaku.
Filmography[edit]
- Manishi (1991)
- Meri jaan Hindustan (Music Video) (1995)
- 16 December (2002)
- Rudraksh (2004)
- Tango Charlie (2005)
- Mukhbiir (2008)
- Knock Out (2010)
Holography[edit]
Mani Shankar is noted in India for introducing Holograms in India. He spearheaded the first holographic campaign for Mr. Narendra Modi (the current PM of India) during the 2012 Gujarat Legislative Assembly election.[4]
He has since conducted election campaigns for various parties including the Telangana Rashtra Samithi during the 2014 Telangana Legislative Assembly election, which eventually led to their victory,[5] as well as the Nationalist Congress Party during the 2014 Maharashtra Legislative Assembly election which stemmed the decline of the party even though there was rampant anti-incubency that worked against it and its allies.[6]
Augmented Reality[edit]
In February 2017 Mani Shankar launched the first live augmented reality political campaign in the world for Shri Devendra Fadnavis, the honourable Chief Minister of Maharashtra State, India. For the first time it enabled an electoral candidate to enter people's homes and softly pitch for votes. The voters could also take selfies with the candidate, and indeed many did so and posted on social media.[7]
The campaign was declared a success. The effectivity of AR as a political campaign tool was established.[8]
A series of Life Size AR projects followed in fields ranging from Film publicity, Sports, spirituality and corporate launches. Spiritual Guru Swami Ganapathy Sachidananda, former Cricket Captain Kapil Dev, Movie Star Rana Dagubbati star of the blockbuster Bahubali are some of the top celebrities who have appeared as AR for various promotional and communication purposes.[9]
A R Rahman has announced on his official Facebook page that he got his Augmented Reality Channels done by Mani Shankar & Kaali Sudheer to give a chance to click pictures for his fans.[10]
References[edit]
- ↑ "Narendra Modi's 3D avatar enters Guinness World Records". NDTV. 15 March 2013. Archived from the original on 4 February 2015. Retrieved 4 February 2015.
- ↑ "Naidu dons greasepaint". The Hindu. 12 January 2013. Archived from the original on 10 November 2021. Retrieved 12 January 2013.
- ↑ "Ace Film Maker Mani Shankar gives BITS Pilani OASIS a Scintillating Start". IndiaPrWire. 17 October 2006. Archived from the original on 27 March 2017. Retrieved 22 December 2012.
- ↑ New York Times (23 November 2012). "Meet 'Virtual Modi,' Gujarat Chief Minister's Latest Tech Push". NYTimes.com. Archived from the original on 9 February 2015. Retrieved 23 November 2012.
- ↑ Z News (30 April 2014). "Nobody has the kind of experience in holograms like I do: Mani Shankar". zeenews.india.com/. Archived from the original on 2 May 2014. Retrieved 30 April 2014.
- ↑ NCP. "NCP Reaches People Through 3D Campaigning". Archived from the original on 10 February 2015.
- ↑ NCP (14 February 2017). "A new reality". Archived from the original on 10 November 2021. Retrieved 6 October 2017.
- ↑ NCP. "Maharashtra: BJP takes a digital leap to woo voters ahead of civic polls". Archived from the original on 18 October 2017. Retrieved 6 October 2017.
- ↑ NCP. "3D Augmented Reality for Rana Nene Raju Nene Mantri". Archived from the original on 7 October 2017. Retrieved 6 October 2017.
- ↑ "Augmented Reality Rahman". 29 January 2018. Archived from the original on 30 January 2018. Retrieved 30 January 2018.