Onir Age, Wife, Family, Biography & More

Some Lesser Known Facts About Onir

• Onir is an Indian filmmaker. He directs, edits, writes scripts, and produces films and TV shows. He is known for his 2005 film “My Brother…Nikhil,” which tells the story of Dominic d’Souza (an Indian AIDS activist). The film stars Sanjay Suri and Purab Kohli and is notable for being one of the first Hindi films to address AIDS and same-sex relationships.

• Once in a media conversation, he shared that he was born to Bengali parents in a small village in Bhutan.
  

  A childhood picture of Onir with his mother

• According to him, his childhood was filled with the colours and sounds of classic films that he watched with his mother, who loved films. In those days, Bhutan did not have television, he remembered.
  

  A young Onir

• After completing his school education, his family moved to Kolkata, India, from Thimpu, Bhutan, in 1986. He studied comparative literature in Kolkata and attended a few film classes at Chitrabani Film School. Later, he moved to Berlin to study film editing at SFB/TTC on a scholarship.
  

  Onir during his college days at Jadavpur University, Kolkata, West Bengal

• After finishing his studies, Onir returned to Calcutta (Kolkata). He used the money he saved from a scholarship to make a documentary titled ‘Fallen Hero’ about a well-known leftist painter ‘Bijan Choudhury.’ Later in Mumbai, he worked in different roles, like art director, editor, and music album director, before making his first film, ‘My Brother Nikhil.’

• He worked as an assistant to Kalpana Lajmi on the film “Daman: A Victim of Marital Violence” in 2001, where he gained his first experience directing a full-length feature film. While working on a documentary about Dominic D’Souza, a champion swimmer and AIDS patient in Goa, Onir got the idea for his first film.

• His debut film, “My Brother… Nikhil,” released in 2005, starred Sanjay Suri and Juhi Chawla. It focused on the harsh treatment of AIDS patients by the Goa government in the 1980s and the shame they faced. The film was screened at numerous international festivals and won awards like the Audience Choice Awards in Milan and the LGBT Film Festival, as well as the Best Film & Jury Audience Choice Award at the Montreal Image+nation Film Festival.
  

  The poster of the film ‘My Brother Nikhil’ (2005)

• In 2006, Onir released his second film, “Bas Ek Pal,” featuring Urmila Matondkar, Sanjay Suri, and Jimmy Shergill. Although he received a nomination for the Best Director Critic’s Award at the Global Indian Film Awards, the film did not perform well at the box office, collecting only 15–20 per cent.
  

  The poster of the film ‘Bas Ek Pal’

• In 2007, his film, “Sorry Bhai!,” faced challenges and did not do well, due to its release during the week of the terrorist attacks in Mumbai.
  

  The poster of the film ‘Sorry Bhai’

• In 2009, Onir released his eighth film titled “I Am,” which consisted of four short films exploring themes like single motherhood, displacement, child abuse, and same-sex relationships. “I Am” won the National Award in two categories: Best Film and Best Lyrics. It also received the I-VIEW 2010s Engendered Award in New York for Outstanding Contribution.
  

  The poster of the film ‘I Am’

• Once, in a media conversation, he shared that his favourite film directors were Ritwik Ghatak, Satyajit Ray, Luis Buñuel, and Andrei Tarkovsky. He also added that he liked Indian actress Madhuri Dixit and some of the works of actors Aamir Khan and Hrithik Roshan. He also stated that he preferred European cinema to Hollywood. He liked Hollywood actors such as Tom Hanks, Belmondo, and Colin Farell.

• In October 2020, Onir received a Jury Special mention for Outstanding work on LGBT Issues at the Indus Valley International Film Festival.

• Onir is proficient in Bengali, English, German, Hindi, Nepali, Oriya, Russian, and Tamil languages.

• According to Onir, after watching Shyam Benegal’s film “Junoon” (1979), Onir decided to become a filmmaker. He once narrated in a media interview that “Junoon” greatly impacted him. He said,
  

  The movie had a huge impact on me, specially this one sequence where Shashi Kapoor is leaving Nafisa Ali. I haven’t seen the movie since, but it’s why I became a filmmaker.”

• Onir is a Bollywood director who is openly gay. ^[5]Onir’s Facebook Account

• In 2005, he, along with Indian actor Sanjay Suri, co-founded Anticlock Films, a production company that focuses on promoting young directors. The company has supported filmmakers such as Bikas Ranjan Mishra, who directed Chauranga, a film released on Netflix India in 2014.
  

  The poster of the film production company ‘Anticlock Films’

• In 2016, Onir worked on “Raising the Bar,” a documentary that follows six young people with Down syndrome from India and Australia. This won the Hollywood International Independent Documentary Award.
  

  The poster of the film ‘Raising the Bar’ (2016)

• In 2017. he released his fifth film, “Shab (The Night),” which featured actors Raveena Tandon, Ashish Bisht, Arpita Chatterjee, and French actor Simon Frenay. The film premiered at the New York Indian Film Festival. It was also screened at the River to River Indian Film Festival in Florence, the Melbourne Indian Film Festival, and other events.
  

  The poster of the film Shab (The Night) (2017)

• In 2018, Onir’s sixth film, “Kuchh Bheege Alfaaz,” starred National Award-winning actor Geetanjali Thapa and introduced young Kashmiri actor Zain Khan Durrani. The film won the Audience Choice Award at the Jagaran Film Festival and was screened at several other festivals.
  

  The poster of the film ‘Kuchh Bheege Alfaaz’

• In the same year, Onir directed a documentary called “Widows Of Vrindavan,” which won the Best Documentary at the Jagran Film Festival. It has been screened at the Stuttgart Indian Film Festival and Melbourne Indian Film Festival in 2019.

• In 2021, Onir directed a documentary called “SAMA: Symbols and Gestures in Contemporary Art of Italy and India,” which explored contemporary art in the Indian sub-continent and Italy and investigated the signs and symbols surrounding them in history and culture. The documentary offered a glimpse into the aesthetics of the two regions, while also exploring rare forms of craftsmanship.
  

  The poster of the documentary film ‘SAMA’

• According to Onir, he is a trained guitarist.
  

  Onir while playing a guitar

• In 2022, Onir co-wrote the book titled “I Am Onir and I Am Gay” with his sister Irene Dhar Malik. The book was released by Penguin Viking.
  

  The poster of the book ‘I Am Onir and I Am Gay’

• Onir then earned the Rainbow Warrior Award for his semi-autobiographical film “Pine Cone,” which had its world premiere at the KASHISH Mumbai International Queer Film Festival in August 2023. “Pine Cone” made its Australian premiere at the “Indian Film Festival of Melbourne,” and it earned the “Rainbow Stories Award.”
  

  The poster of the film ‘Pine Cone’

• In 2023, he announced through one of his social media accounts that he was working on a SonyLiv web series on Pulwama Attack, and the story was based on Rahul Pandita’s book. He also informed that he was working on a sequel to his 2011 National Award-winning film “I Am,” titled “We Are.”

• In his free time, he likes travelling to distant places, hiking, cycling, and swimming.
  

  Onir while riding a cycle

• He is a fitness enthusiast and does physical exercises regularly. He often shares pictures of his workout sessions on social media.
  

  Onir while working out at a gym

• He likes enjoying alcoholic beverages occasionally.
  

  Onir while enjoying an alcoholic beverage

• Apart from being a film director, he is often invited to many motivational speaking platforms to deliver lectures.
  

  Onir while delivering a lecture at TEDx

• Once, in a media conversation, he remembered the time when he realised that he was gay. ^[6]Hindustan Times He said,
  

  Initially, I was falling in love with women. But around 11th standard, I realised, I was attracted to men. By the time I moved to Mumbai, around the age of 21, I kind of knew. When I told my sister, “I think I am gay,” she just responded with “Okay.” It was that cool and that easy. Even with my parents, it was never difficult.”

  

  A picture of Onir