Kireet Khurana

Kireet Khurana (born 25 October 1967, Mumbai, India) is an Indian filmmaker, storyteller, and ad-film director. He graduated from Sheridan College in Canada with high-honors. After graduating, he founded the production house Climb Media, and later its animation wing, 2nz Animation Co., where he serves as creative head.

Kireet has won more than 30 awards, including 6 prestigious President's National Awards for his films, the first of which he won in 1995 for the animated film Mahagiri. He has made over 12 short films, and over 500 ad films. He is the director of India's first film combining live-action and 3D animation called Toonpur Ka Super Hero, starring Ajay Devgan and Kajol. His 2018 feature film T for Taj Mahal, produced by Abis Rizvi, was launched at the Festival de Cannes in 2018, and premiered at the London Indian Film Festival. It won the Best Feature Film Audience Award and Best Story Award at the DC South Asian Film Festival. His 2016 documentary on Indian film director Saeed Akhtar Mirza, entitled Saeed Mirza: The Leftist Sufi, released on Netflix in 2017. It was named among the top 10 documentaries of 2017 by Vogue India and The Hindu.

He is also the creator of India's largest animation series, Vartmaan, with animation pioneer Bhimsain.

Born in 1967, Kireet grew up in a creative environment. His exposure to animation films started from age six as his father, Bhimsain, an animation pioneer in India, nurtured and encouraged his creative leanings. Kireet attended the Jamnabai Narsee School and later completed a BA with a major in economics from Mumbai University. Soon thereafter, he went on to graduate in 1994 from Sheridan College, Canada, with honors, in animation filmmaking.

As a producer, Kireet Khurana has worked on many award-winning public service campaigns, including a series of four short films for Childline India Foundation on child labor, child marriage, corporal punishment and child sexual abuse. Komal, a film on child sexual abuse, won the FICCI Best Animated Frames (BAF) Award in 2014. Sisters, a film on child marriage, won the Best Public Service and Social Film awards at the INFOCOM-ASSOCHAM EME Awards in 2013. Education Counts won the "Viewer's Choice" award at ANIFEST 2013.

For its close association with NASSCOM, Climb Media was honoured with an award at the NASSCOM 25 years' celebration.

Awards

Trade

Trade is a film on child prostitution. It was the first Indo-Canadian animation co-production with the National Film Board of Canada and UNICEF It also won the National Award for Best Animation Film Direction in 1998.

Mahagiri

Mahagiri won two President's National Awards for Best Animation Film Direction and Animation in 1995, as well as a Certificate of Merit at the Mumbai International Film Festival in 1996.

O

O won two National Awards (Best Animation Film; Direction and Animation) in 1996, as well as a Silver Ebensee Award at the Festival Der Nationen in Austria in 1995.

Chotta Birbal

Chotta Birbal won the Seagate Technical Award for Excellence in 2004 for Best Animated Series. Chhota Birbal is also the first Indian animation character to be licensed.

Shaadi Ka Laddoo

The 2004 comedy film made history using an animation-live action technique for a song in a film for the first time in Bollywood. This song won the Seagate Technical Excellence Award for best visual effects in a feature in 2005.

• Nominated in the prestigious Screen Awards in 2005 in the Best VFX category.

Sand Castle

This short film about paedophilia was funded by international bodies like UNIFEM and Save the Children India. It won the Best Public Service Message film award at the Seagate Technical Excellence Awards in 2006. It was also part of the official selection at the Bimini Festival.

Director:

• Toonpur Ka Super Hero (2010)

The Indian animation scene reached a turning point with the release of India's first 3D animation-live action combination feature film, Toonpur Ka Super Hero ("Toonpur's Super Hero") written by Raagi Bhatnagar and directed by Kireet Khurana. The film features Ajay Devgan, Kajol, Sanjai Mishra, Tanuja and Mukesh Tiwari in lead roles, along with a number of animated characters. The film was remade in English in early 2011; it was a box office hit, making high gross earnings within a two-week period. It was a moderate commercial success and received some positive reviews from critics.

• T for Taj Mahal (2018)

T for Taj Mahal is an upcoming Bollywood feature film produced by Sony Pictures and Abis Rizvi. The film follows the journey of an illiterate villager who brings literacy to his village through a unique social enterprise.

• Saeed Mirza: The Leftist Sufi (2015)

This documentary profiles the celebrated Hindi film director, Saeed Akhtar Mirza, known as much for his embrace of leftist politics and social concerns as lyrical cinema.

• Adventures of Chhota Birbal (2002) TV series
• Trade (1997)
• Mahagiri (1994)

Producer:

• Karma Cafe (2018) - directed by Kabeer Khurana, starring Amole Gupte and Nakul Sahdev in the lead roles.
• Religion for Dummies (2017) - directed by Kabeer Khurana. Winner of Best Film and Best Direction awards at Southern Shorts Awards, Georgia, apart from 25+ international selections world-over.

• Adventures of Chhota Birbal (2002) – an animated TV series created by Kireet Khurana and produced by Climb Media, was one of its kind. It won the Seagate Technical Award for Excellence in 2004 for Best Animated Series, Chhota Birbal being the first Indian Animation character to be licensed. It was India's first television series to be licensed and merchandised.

Animation:

• Detective Naani (2009) (animation director)
• Hum Tum (2004) (animation voice director)
• Shaadi Ka Laddoo (2004) (animation director)
• Locked (1997) (animator)
• Lok Gatha (1992) TV series (1992) (animation director)

Writer:

• Toonpur Ka Super Hero (2010) (screenplay)
• Adventures of Chhota Birbal (2002) TV series (creator)
• Trade (1997) (story)

Production manager:

• Kathni Karni Ek Si (1989) (assistant production manager) – won two national awards
• Chhoti Badi Baatein (1986) (assistant production manager) – a highly successful and popular sitcom based on superstitions

Actor:

• Dooriyaan (1979) – directed by the founder, Bhimsain Khurana. This critically acclaimed successful film starring Sharmila Tagore and Uttam Kumar won seven awards, including a Filmfare Critics Award; showcasing the dilemmas and personal ambitions of a married couple, a paradigm shift in terms of story far ahead of its time.

• Jury member: National Film Festival (2006)
• Chairman Jury: Jaipur International Film Fest (2011)
  • FICCI- BAF Awards (2010–11), Pune International Film Festival (2011)
  • CNBC-TV18 Golden Cursor Awards (2008)
  • Sony-Animax Awards (2007), Mumbai International Film Festival (2006)
  • IDPA awards (2003)
  • 24FPS (2005 – 2008)
  • Frameflixx2 (2010)
• Founder & ex-Hon. Secretary of India's largest animation body: The Animation Society of India from 2001 – 2005. TASI has conducted 100+ high-profile events like International Animation Day & ANIFEST India.
• Speaker
  • FMX06 (Germany)
  • NASSCOM
  • Dartmouth College (New Hampshire, USA)
  • British Council
  • Max Mueller
  • IIFC
  • CMIA
  • AniGraph (Indian Chapter of Siggraph) CeC & CaC
  • CGTExpo
• Curator & Presenter of Indian Film Retrospectives at Annecy Festival (France)
• Forum L'Image (Reunion Islands)
• Sheridan College (Canada)
• Animation Editor and Columnist for Studio Systems (Diversified Publishing Group). Written articles for Annecy Festival and Zagreb Film Festival (Croatia) AWN, VFXWorld etc.
• Curator of Animation packages for Annecy Festival (France), Forum De L’Images (Reunion Island) and International Film Festival of India (IFFI, Goa, 2011 & 2014).

• The Storyteller, written by Kireet Khurana and directed by Ananth Narayan Mahadevan