Nagraj Manjule

Nagraj Popatrao Manjule (born 24 August 1978) is an Indian film director, actor, producer, scriptwriter, poet, screenwriter, filmmaker and he works in the Marathi Cinema. Manjule grew up in Jeur village in the Solapur district of Maharashtra. He belongs to the traditionally-nomadic Waddar community, a Dravidian tribe. He earned his M.A. in Marathi literature from University of Pune, followed by a master's in communication studies from New Arts, Science and Commerce College, Ahmednagar. His first National Award-winning short film Pistulya is a reflection of his 'felt experience'. His debut feature film, Fandry, was released in February 2014. Manjule's second film, Sairat, premiered at the 66th Berlin International Film Festival. Like Fandry and Pistulya, it deals with caste discrimination and honour killing, a practice still widespread in parts of India. Sairat is currently the highest grossing Marathi film of all time. Manjule is making his directorial debut in hindi films with Jhund starring Amitabh Bachchan. he known for his Marathi film Sairat, short-film Pistulya for which he received National Film Award in Non-Feature Film category. At the 61st National Film Awards, Fandry won the Indira Gandhi Award for Best Debut Film of a Director. In 2018, Manjule published a book of poetry in Marathi titled Unhachya Katavirudhha which won the Bhairuratan Damani Sahitya Puraskar.