MUMBAI, INDIA - FEBRUARY 22 : Shirish Kunder attends the screening of Disney+ Hotstar film "Gulmohar" on February 22, 2023 in Mumbai, India. (Photo by Prodip Guha/Getty Images)
Shirish Kunder (born 24 May 1973) is an Indian filmmaker.
Kunder was born on 24 May 1973 in Mangalore, Karnataka, and brought up in Mumbai, Maharashtra. He studied Electronics & Telecommunications Engineering at the SDM College of Engineering and Technology in Dharwad.
Kunder worked as an electronics engineer at Motorola for four years before changing professions and in 2004 he married Farah Khan while working as an editor on one of her films—who was eight years older than him. Kunder then turned to the direction in his debut film, Jaan-E-Mann. Apart from editing and composing the film score, he also wrote the film. The film starred Salman Khan, Akshay Kumar, and Preity Zinta, and was released on 20 October 2006. The film was critically acclaimed for its innovative visual narrative style.
He was a co-producer of Tees Maar Khan, along with Twinkle Khanna and Ronnie Screwvala which he also co-wrote with his brother Ashmith Kunder. Kunder edited the film and composed its title track. The film starred Akshay Kumar, Katrina Kaif, and Akshaye Khanna, and was released on 24 December 2010.
Kunder’s second directorial venture was Joker, in which he wrote, produced, directed, edited, and composed the film score. The film starred Akshay Kumar, Sonakshi Sinha, and Shreyas Talpade, and was released on 31 August 2012.
Kunder’s third directorial venture was an 18-minute short film titled Kriti, a psychological thriller, featuring Manoj Bajpayee, Radhika Apte, and Neha Sharma. It was released on YouTube on 22 June 2016.
Kunder is on social media and has 1.5 million Twitter followers.
Kunder also wrote the humor column “Shirishly Speaking” for the Indian national daily newspaper DNA between 2016 and 2017.
Kunder’s fourth directorial venture is a Netflix Original Film titled Mrs. Serial Killer, a crime thriller, featuring Jacqueline Fernandez, Manoj Bajpayee, and Mohit Raina in the main lead roles, while Aamir Khan’s niece Zayn Marie Khan makes her acting debut in the film. It was released on 1 May all over the world and is one of the most-watched Netflix Original Films from India. Manoj Bajpayee also bagged the best actor in a supporting role award for his brilliant portrayal of Dr. Mrityunjoy Mukerjee at the ET Brand Equity SPOTT Awards. Kunder wrote, produced, edited, and composed the original music score for the film.
On 9 December 2004, Kunder married director and choreographer Farah Khan. She gave birth to their triplets (following an in vitro procedure) son Czar and daughters Diva and Anya, on 11 February 2008 at Mumbai’s Jaslok hospital.
