Homi Adajania

Homi Adajania (born 28 February) is an Indian film director and writer. He made his directorial debut with Being Cyrus (2005), an English-language psychological drama. He followed this with the commercially successful Hindi-language romantic comedy Cocktail (2012). After this Adajania directed the satire Finding Fanny.^[2]

Homi Adajania
Born	28 February[1] Bombay, India
Occupation(s)	Film director, writer
Years active	2005–present
Spouse	Anaita Shroff Adajania ​ ​ (m. 2002)​
Father	Aspy Adajania

Career

Adajania entered the film industry directing and co-writing the English-language psychological drama Being Cyrus (2005) starring Saif Ali Khan, Naseeruddin Shah, Dimple Kapadia, and Boman Irani. The film earned critical acclaim, despite being commercially unsuccessful. Film critic Rajeev Masand called it "a stylish thriller that's told in an immensely engaging style."^[3]

Adajania's second directorial venture was the Hindi-language romantic comedy Cocktail (2012). The film was written by filmmaker Imtiaz Ali and produced by Saif Ali Khan and Dinesh Vijan under their banner Illuminati Films. The lead roles were played by Khan, Deepika Padukone, and debutante actress Diana Penty, while Kapadia and Boman Irani featured in supporting roles. After its three-week run, Box Office India declared the film a hit in India and abroad. It earned mixed to positive reviews from critics.

Adajania's third directorial venture, the satirical comedy Finding Fanny, was released in September 2014 in both English and Hindi. The film starred an ensemble cast including Shah, Kapadia, Pankaj Kapur, Padukone, and Arjun Kapoor. The film received mostly positive reviews, and had a steady run at the box office.

His fourth directorial project was a Hindi film, Angrezi Medium, starring Irrfan Khan, Radhika Madan and Deepak Dobriyal which released on 12 March 2020 but had a limited release due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Adajania's fifth directorial venture was an OTT series called Saas, Bahu Aur Flamingo which stars Dimple Kapadia, Radhika Madan, Angira Dhar and Isha Talwar which is about a matriarch in a rural village who runs a drug business with her daughter and her two daughters-in-law. The show streamed on 5 May 2023 with positive reviews on Disney+ Hotstar.^[4]

His sixth directorial venture is murder-mystery drama called Murder Mubarak which stars Sara Ali Khan, Vijay Varma, Dimple Kapadia, Pankaj Tripathi, Karisma Kapoor, Sanjay Kapoor, and Tisca Chopra.^[5] It is an adaptation to the best-selling novel, Club you to Death, by Anuja Chauhan .^[6] The film will be streamed on Netflix in 2024.

Early life

With wife Anaita Shroff Adajania at India's 50 Best Dressed Men, 2012

Adajania was born in a Parsi family. His father, Aspy Adajania, was an Indian Army officer and a pioneer of amateur boxing in India who went on to serve as a top administrator of the sport and as a referee officiated high profile matches.^[7][8] Homi lost his sister, Zia Diwan Adajania, to a stroke in 2014.^[9]

Personal life

He is married to fashion stylist and the Fashion Director of Vogue India, Anaita Shroff Adajania^[10] and has two children.^[11][12] His sister-in-law, Scherezade Shroff - a well known YouTuber, is married to actor Vaibhav Talwar.^[13]

He played in his youth for the Bombay Gymkhana rugby football team in Mumbai. He is a certified CMAS (Confédération Mondiale des Activités Subaquatiques) dive instructor, and used to teach in the Lakshadweep islands.^[11]

Filmography

Key

†	Denotes film or TV productions that have not yet been released

Year	Film	Director	Writer	Producer	Notes
2005	Being Cyrus	Yes	Yes	No
2012	Cocktail	Yes	No	No
2014	Finding Fanny	Yes	Yes	No	English film
2015	My Choice	Yes	Yes	Yes	Short film[14]
2017	Raabta	No	No	Yes
2019	The Fakir Of Venice	No	Story	No
2020	Angrezi Medium	Yes	No	No
2024	Murder Mubarak	Yes	No	No	Netflix Film[15]

Television

Year	Title	Creator	Director	Writer	Producer	Notes
2023	Saas, Bahu Aur Flamingo	Yes	Yes	Story	No