Awtar Krishna Kaul

Awtar Krishna Kaul was an Indian director. He was born on 27 September 1939, Srinagar, Jammu, and Kashmir. He graduated from Punjab University in the early 60s and then left for the USA and enrolled himself at the Institute of Film and Television Technology. Kaul made three short films as a part of the curriculum and won his first-ever award – the Best Auteur of Documentary Films for The Golden Year. He took up a copyholder job with Associated Press to financially support himself when he was in America. In the USA, he got married to an American lady, Anne. After completing his graduation, he returned to Bombay to make his first feature film.

Kaul got an opportunity to work as an assistant director to filmmaker James Ivory Born on June 7, 1928, James Ivory, full name James >> Read More... in 1970. The Film Finance Corporation, a government financing body, had started extending loans to young filmmakers, and Kaul was one of them. Kaul submitted his script for the film 27 Down the Benaras Express based on Ramesh Bakshi’s Hindi novel. The loan was sanctioned and then Kaul put himself to work and made this black and white film. Kaul finalized Varanasi to be his key location. The film was completed in 1973, and Kaul went to find the buyers for the film. On 20 July 1974, his first feature film entered as India’s official entry. On the same day, he died saving his friend from drowning on the shore of the Arabian Sea. Both of them were discovered dead by a fisherman. His debut film bagged two awards: Best Hindi Film and Best black and white photography at the National Film Awards The National Film Awards gets presented every year >> Read More... . His film 27 Down was a major success. This was his only feature film, but he had already made an unforgettable remark on Indian Cinema.