Ashutosh Gowariker

Ashutosh Gowariker is a screenwriter director, producer, and actor in film and television. After roughly a decade in acting, Gowariker directed his first film (which he also wrote the screenplay for), the mystery thriller "Pehla Nasha." In 1995, he directed Bollywood star Aamir Khan in the crime-thriller "Baazi," a three-hour film about the framing of an inspector and his struggle for justice. After completing his acting career through the late-1990s, Gowarider returned to directing in 2001, with the even longer epic "Lagaan: Once Upon a Time in India," which starred Khan again, who also produced. The film, about a cricket match between India and its British rulers, won numerous awards, including a nomination for Best Foreign Language Film at the Academy Awards in 2002. Other Gowarkier-directed epics, running over 200 minutes each, include the 2004 drama "Swades" and the 2008 love story "Jodhaa Akbar," each multiple-award winners in their home country.