Atul Agnihotri is an Indian film actor, producer and director. He started his Bollywood career as an actor, went on to direct two films, and found success as a film producer. He is best known for his debut film Sir, which was the most notable film of his career and featured him as the lead protagonist. His other notable films were and Krantiveer.
Early and personal life
Agnihotri was born into a Punjabi Brahmin family, the son of Rohit Agnihotri, an actor of yesteryear who quit films after a brief stint and later tried his hand at business. Agnihotri lost his father at a young age and the responsibility of supporting his family came upon him. Agnihotri's first cousin is actress Rati Agnihotri, who lived with them in Mumbai for two years and made her entry into films during that time; essentially, this inspired Atul to join films likewise. Agnihotri is married to producer/designer Alvira Khan Agnihotri. She is the daughter of scriptwriter Salim Khan and sister of actors Salman Khan, Arbaaz Khan and Sohail Khan. They have two children - a son Ayaan and a daughter Alizeh. While Bollywood is still moaning the sad demise of music composer, Wajid Khan, filmmaker, Atul Agnihotri recollects the relationship Wajid shared with members of the film industry. He recalls the bond that Sajid and Wajid shared and how they helped each other in work whenever one of them faced a hindrance.
Career
Acting
Agnihotri's career stretches back to 1983 when he made a brief appearance as a child artist in Pasand Apni Apni in which his cousin Rati Agnihotri was the heroine. Inspired by her success, and by the memory of his father's brief stint as an actor, he made his acting debut with Mahesh Bhatt's Sir, which emerged as a commercial and critical success. He went on to act in several other films throughout the 1990s and early 2000s with his most notable hits being Krantiveer, Naaraz, , Chachi 420, Yeshwant, and Hum Tumhare Hain Sanam. In many of these films, he was either the second lead or one of several heroes. His career as an actor slowly petered out.
After being restricted to supporting and second lead roles, Agnihotri abandoned acting and turned to film direction. He made his directorial debut with the 2004 film Dil Ne Jise Apna Kahaa which starred his brother-in-law Salman Khan along with Bhoomika Chawla and Preity Zinta in the lead roles. The film, which was released on 10 September 2004, fared poorly at the box office and was declared a flop. Agnihotri persisted with direction, and began work in 2007 on the film Hello. He was both producer and director of this film, which starred his other brother-in-law Sohail Khan, along with Isha Koppikar and Sharman Joshi. The film was released on 10 October 2008 to a poor reception at the box office and proved to be a flop. After this second failure, Agnihotri abandoned film direction and confined himself to film production.
As film producer
Agnihotri's second directorial venture, Hello had been the first film produced by him. His second film as a producer was Bodyguard, starring his brother-in-law Salman Khan with Kareena Kapoor. The film was directed by Siddique, who is otherwise active in Malayalam cinema and who had directed the original Malyalam version of the same film. Released on 31 August 2011, the film proved to be a phenomenal and magnificent success; made on a budget of approximately $10 million, it grossed almost four times that figure. It turned out to be one of the highest-grossing film of 2011 and made it to the list of all-time Bollywood blockbusters. The film also garnered several awards and accolades; see List of accolades received by Bodyguard. In 2014, Agnihotri produced his next film, O Teri starring relative newcomers Pulkit Samrat, Bilal Amrohi and Sarah Jane Dias. The film was directed by debutant director Umesh Bisht; thus, it gave an opening to a large number of newcomers. Released on 28 March 2014, the film failed to do well at the box office and turned out to be a flop. Agnihotris next project is producing Ali Abbas Zafar's Bharat starring Salman Khan, set to release Eid 2019. Bharat will be an official adaptation of 2014 Korean film, ‘Ode to My Father’ which depicted modern Korean history from the 1950s to the present day through the life of an ordinary man. Agnihotri confirmed: "It’s the journey of a country and also a person, both of whom go by the name of Bharat."
