Abhishek Kapoor (born 6 August 1971) is an Indian film director, former actor, writer and producer who works in Hindi cinema. He is known for his work in Rock On!! (2008), Kai Po Che! (2013), Fitoor (2016), Kedarnath (2018) and Chandigarh Kare Aashiqui (2021).
Career
He started his career as an actor in 1996 with the films Aashique Mastane, opposite Monica Bedi, directed by Ajay Kashyap and Uff! Yeh Mohabbat, opposite Twinkle Khanna, directed by Vipin Handa.
He made his directorial début with Aryan in 2006 which was a critical and commercial failure.
In 2008, he wrote and directed the musical drama Rock On!! starring Farhan Akhtar and Arjun Rampal. The film won him the National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Hindi and the Filmfare Award for Best Story, in addition to his first nominations for the Filmfare Award for Best Film and Best Director. The film was also a commercial success at the box office.
In 2013, he screenwrote and directed the buddy sports drama Kai Po Che (2013), starring Sushant Singh Rajput, Rajkummar Rao, Amit Sadh and Amrita Puri. The film, based on Chetan Bhagat's novel, The 3 Mistakes of My Life had its world premiere at the 63rd Berlin Film Festival's World Panorama segment. The film won him the Filmfare Award for Best Screenplay, and earned him his second nomination for the Filmfare Award for Best Director.
In 2016, he directed and produced the romantic drama Fitoor, an adaptation of Charles Dickens's Great Expectations. The film, starring Tabu, Katrina Kaif and Aditya Roy Kapur, opened to mixed-to-positive reviews from critics and emerged as an underwhelming success at the box office. His next directorial that year was Rock On 2 , the sequel to Rock On!!, which proved to be a critical and commercial failure.
In 2018, he helmed the romantic disaster drama Kedarnath starring Rajput alongside Sara Ali Khan in her debut. The film, which followed an inter-faith love story amidst the backdrop of the 2013 North India floods, proved to be a commercial success at the box office and received positive reviews from critics upon release.
In 2021, he directed the social romantic drama Chandigarh Kare Aashiqui (2021), starring Ayushmann Khurrana and Vaani Kapoor, which narrated the story of a gym trainer who falls in love with a trans-woman. The film received positive reviews from critics and emerged as a moderate commercial success at the box office. It earned Kapoor his second Filmfare Award for Best Story.
Kapoor has launched his production company, Guy in the Sky Pictures.
Personal life
Kapoor is a cousin of the actor Tusshar Kapoor and producer Ekta Kapoor. His mother Madhubala, is the sister of Bollywood actor Jeetendra.
On 4 May 2015, Abhishek married Swedish actress and model Pragya Yadav. They have two children, Isana and Shamsher.