Apurva Asrani is a well-known Indian film editor, screenwriter and director who got in the limelight for his phenomenal work in writing the famous drama web series, ‘Criminal Justice: Behind Closed Doors’ (2020), editing the superhit gangster film ‘Satya’ (1998) as well as ‘Made in Heaven’ (2019), a web series that made rounds all over the nation.
Wiki/Biography
Apurva was born on 21 March 1978 (age 45 years; as of 2023) in Bangalore, Karnataka, India. He went to Baldwin High School and later to Jai Hind College for higher education where he pursued a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology. Apurva was quite active in dramatic allocutions. He was also part of Rotaract and many other clubs in his college. He always has a dream of becoming a filmmaker and a storyteller. Apurva had no family background in film-making or editing, but his parents loved watching movies. Therefore, Apurva’s inherited his passion more movies from his parents. He is now settled in Goa. Apurva has bought amazing laurels to his name with his skills and craft and continues to rule the film-making and editing industry.
Apurva Asrani’s childhood picture
Physical Appearance
Height (approx.): 5′ 8″
Hair Colour: Natural Black
Eye Colour: Brown
Apurva Asrani in gym
Family
Parents & Siblings
Apurva Asrani was born in Bangalore to mixed-race parents, father Late Manohar Asrani and mother, Menka Asrani. His father was a Bombay boy and a complete “movie buff” whereas his mother was a South Indian girl, a Bharatanatyam dancer in Bangalore.
Apurva Asrani with his mother
Apurva Asrani with his father
Apurva’s parents met in a theatre in Bangalore at the primary screening of the movie ‘Sholay’ in 1975. Therefore, the parents’ intense love and interest in movies and performing arts was taken forward in Apurva. Apurva Asrani’s father passed away on 9 January 2023.
Relationships/Affairs
Apurva Asrani was in a long-term relationship with his boyfriend, Siddhant, but the former took to Instagram to announce their separation in 2021. The covid-19 period had taken a toll on Apurva as the virus took a few of his friends and his 14-year-long relationship. Asrani made a post on Instagram saying,
“I inform you with a heavy heart that Siddhant & I have separated. I know we have been seen as role models by many in the LGBTQ community, and this is sure to evoke some disappointment, but I must tell you that every day of these 14 years has been important & valuable, and that we have amicable parted ways.”
Apurva Asrani with his Ex boyfriend- Siddhant
Apurva Asrani is said to be allegedly dating a visual artist, researcher and writer, Kadamboor Neeraj. Apurva Asrani often posts pictures of both of them on his social media handles.
Apurva Asrani with alleged boyfriend Kadamboor Neeraj
Career
Film
Apurva Asrani began his career in 1995 when got an internship as an assistant for the famous music countdown show, Bpl Oye! Later at the tender age of 19, he became the film editor for Ram Gopal Varma’s movie, ‘Satya’ (1998). The movie was proclaimed a box-office hit and was loved worldwide.
Apurva Asrani’s debut movie ‘Satya’
Apurva Asrani also edited Anupam Kher’s directorial debut movie, ‘Om Jai Jagadish’ (2002).
Anupam Kher and Amitabh Bachchan promoting ‘Om Jai Jagdish’
Apurva Asrani made his debut as a screenwriter as he wrote the screenplay for the human rights biopic ‘Aligarh’ (2015). The project was all about the plea of the LGBTQ community and was said to be quite thought-provoking. It received tonnes of recognition and praise for its dialogues and screenplay.
Apurva Asrani’s debut movie ‘Aligarh’ as a screenwriter
Apurva Asrani was also the mind behind the screenplay and dialogues of ‘Simran’ (2017) where Kangana Ranaut played the lead role. Even though the movie didn’t do quite well and was criticized for its writing, Apurva didn’t let it hamper his future projects.
Apurva Asrani’s movie ‘Simran’, starring Kangana Ranaut
Web Series
The project that got the maximum recognition for Apurva Asrani’s name was the famous web series ‘Made in Heaven’ (2019) directed by Zoya Akhtar and Reema Kagti. Apurva Asrani was the man behind editing the initial four episodes of the nine-season series. A huge number of critics and internet reviews have praised the series, and the show has earned excellent reviews.
Apurva Asrani’s hit web series ‘Made in Heaven’
Another amazing work of Apurva Asrani was his web series, ‘Criminal Justice: Behind Closed Doors’ (2020), where he single-handedly wrote the entire project and made it one of the superhit releases of the web series industry. It was directed by Rohan Sippy and Arjun Mukerjee. The series was all praised for its intricate details and amazing plot line and was a huge success.
Apurva Asrani’s web series Criminal Justice’s success rating
Awards, Honours, Achievements
- Apurva Asrani along with Bhanodaya received the prestigious Filmfare Award for Best Editing in the year 1999 for the movie ‘Satya’.
- Apurva Asrani received the ‘Best Editing Award’ at ‘The 48th National Film Awards’ for the bilingual comedy movie ‘Snip’ (2000).
- Apurva Asrani and director Hansal Mehta won the Life OK Screen Award for Best Screenplay for the film ‘Shahid’ in the year 2013.
- Apurva Asrani was nominated for ‘Best Editing’ and ‘Best Original Screenplay’ for the biographical drama film ‘Aligarh’ at the RapidLion Awards at the South African International Film Festival, in the year 2017.
- Apurva Asrani was also nominated for the category of ‘Best Editing’ for ‘Made in Heaven’, at the Critics Choice Awards in 2019.
- Apurva Asrani was nominated for the Filmfare Award (2021) and Critics Choice Award (2022) in the category of ‘Best Editing’.
Facts/Trivia
- Apurva Asrani used to cut promos of feature films like Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s ‘Khamoshi’ (1996).
- Apurva Asrani calls himself a ‘bathroom singer’.
- Apurva Asrani loves animals and often posts his pet cat and dog on his Instagram.
- Apurva Asrani disclosed his homosexuality at 20 to his parents, to which his father was very disappointed and didn’t speak to Apurva for 2 years. His mother’s reactions was also very hard to handle for him.
- Apurva Asrani is often vocal about his disagreements with ‘favouritism’ in the Bollywood industry.
- Apurva Asrani is also a fitness freak who enjoys going to the gym, meditating, and swimming.
