Dilip Sood

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Dilip Virender Sood (born 3 July 1972) is an Indian Film Director, Producer and Writer. He is known for directing Indian movies such as School Days, Summer of '99,Beach, Chhodon Na Yaar, Chhe, and hit TV shows like Yahan Ke Hum Sikander, Khamosh Sa Afsana^[1] and School Days.^[2] He is the founder and head of the Indian production house Dilip Sood Films.

Early Life[edit]

Born in Delhi, Sood spent much of his early childhood travelling around cities in India due to his father's job postings, initially in Indore, Kanpur, Jaipur and eventually moving back to Delhi. It is at this age that his love for films was ignited when his father would drive him and his elder brother to watch early Hollywood movies such as Jaws, E.T, Star Wars, Moby Dick, Where Eagles Dare and The Guns of Navarone. This coupled with their staple consumption of Bollywood films of then reigning star Amitabh Bachchan such as Deewar, Don, Muqaddar Ka Sikandar and Sholay ultimately formed his early taste in cinema.

The second of 3 children, he recalls having the best years of his childhood with his siblings in Jaipur. Around the time he turned 11, his family had to shift yet again to New Delhi to a significantly lesser monetary state. Facing the troubles of adapting to a newer environment and grappling with feelings of sadness and he persevered through this rough patch, eventually beginning to work even before he had completed high school.

Starting off as an automobile piston salesman, he moved to a better job as an executive selling water-purifiers with Eureka Forbes Ltd. He found unprecedented success in this job achieving and breaking sales records right from his first month and contributing to his household income from the age of 17. After promotions and much recognition, he chose to leave this field entirely in order to pursue his true passion, films.

Start In the Film Industry[edit]

In the year 1993, Dilip Sood moved to Mumbai leaving his cushy desk job in search of work in the film industry. Around this time he joined Vinod Chopra Productions for the upcoming Anil Kapoor, Jackie Shroff, and Manisha Koirala starrer blockbuster, 1942: A Love Story, produced by Vidhu Vinod Chopra.

Dilip got into the production team of one the biggest films of that era and got to learn the entire process of filmmaking as well as the functioning of the industry. He credits his time on that set as the most learning period of his film career.

After the film was over, Dilip moved back to Delhi and founded Style Magazine, an urban, forward-looking, and trendy magazine highly popular in Delhi. As the founder and editor-in-chief of the magazine, Dilip ran the entire operations with a very small team and grew the publication to a high level, shooting with some of the most popular Delhi photographers of the time such as Tarun Khiwal, Akhil Bakshi, and Suvo Das.

After a few successful years as the editor-in-chief, he decided to move on to films and TV. with his experience on 1942: A Love Story and began directing and producing his very first show, School Days. It was one of the first youth-based Indian television program. It gained a strong fanbase and was loved by audiences at the time.

Dilip Sood went on to direct and produce numerous other shows all by himself and his elder brother, Sunil Sood. Shows like College Days, We Love You and a TV short made for Zee TV’s anthology series, Rishtey. These are were well known and loved by audiences.

Films and Later Career[edit]

In 2003, Dilip Sood made his passion project ‘School Days’ a film completely directed and produced by him was a feature film version of his hit TV show. The film showcases incredible sensitivity and was a well-received with critics. Though the movie was not able get a wide theatrical release due to distribution inadequacies it would later be revived by the director with an additional story line and footage in the form of ‘Summer Of ‘99’.

Brimming over with several heart-tugging moments, the film does fall a bit short in terms of finesse and production values. However, we'd recommend you overlook these glitches and go for the heart-warming bonds and the riveting performances by the young, untrained actors. Also, with its plea for a more enlightened and less regimental education system, School Days could well end up as mandatory viewing for all schools.^[3]

Said a critic about the film.

He later on directed the Indian horror film ‘Chhodon Naa Yaar’ in 2007. The film starred Jimmy Sheirgill and Kim Sharma in the leading roles. The film was an adaptation of the 1999 American film, The Blair Witch Project. The film had a very popular soundtrack and its horror elements were appreciated.

Yahaan Ke Hum Sikandar and Later[edit]

In 2011, Doordarshan premiered, Yahaan Ke Hum Sikandar, a TV- show directed by Dilip Sood. It followed the lives, hopes, dreams and troubles of a group of teenagers in the small Indian town of Bijnor. The heartland, coming-of-age series offered drama, romance, comedy and a hopeful message to the viewers which resonated strongly with viewers and the show began developing a cult-fanbase and quickly became one of the most popular shows on the national network. The show ran for 175 episodes and to this day is loved by viewers across India.

In 2014, Dilip Sood produced and directed another hit-show for Doordarshan, Khamosh Sa Afsana^[4], the show followed the trials and tribulations of a girl from a small-town managing her life and ambitions amidst taking care of her deaf and mute parents. This show too ran for 2 years and was beloved, further cementing Dilip Sood’s legacy as a sensitive director bringing high quality television to the country’s national network.

In 2014, He also directed the Indian Supernatural Horror film Bhaangarh, which was later renamed to Chhe.^[5]

DSFPlay and Short Films[edit]

In 2016, Dilip Sood founded DSFPlay, an online streaming platform and YouTube Channel that was a content house and a forum for youth-based content. It premiered numerous original short films and web series’ that were well received among audiences and even received a number of awards at international film festivals. The Channel has received over 41 Million views till date with nearly 200,000 subscribers.

Wrote the critics at the Rome Prisma Independent Film Awards.

In 2019, Dilip Sood directed the Short Film, ‘White Pebble’ a story about two kids from a village in northern India who must grapple with one of them shifting away, growing up and in a way, the rapid urbanisation affecting the heartlands of the country. The film fetched Sood the Best Director Award at the New York Movie Awards, a Best Actress win for the leading child actress Gayatri and the film opened the renowned Japanese International Film Festival, Kineko Film Fest. The film has toured over a dozen festivals around the world and earned international critical acclaim.

Currently he heads Dilip Sood Films, and makes Hindi language films. His upcoming feature film is called Wedding Shedding.

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