Girish Pandurang Kulkarni

Girish Kulkarni
Girish Kulkarni at Masala Premier
Born	Girish Pandurang Kulkarni Pune, Maharashtra, India
Occupation	Actor, Writer, Producer, Director
Awards	National Film Awards 2011 - Best Actor

Girish Pandurang Kulkarni is a National Award winning Indian film actor, writer, and producer. He is known for Marathi films such as Valu (The Wild Bull), Vihir (The Well), Deool (The Temple), Gabhricha Paus (The Damned Rain) and Jaundya Na Balasaheb. His latest release is the bollywood blockbuster Dangal.

Girish Kulkarni was born in the Paranda Taluka of Osmanabad District and he was brought up in Pune. He pursued his Diploma in Mechanical Engineering from Puranmal Lahoti Government Polytechnic Latur. While studying in Latur, he was involved in local stage plays. Post his graduation, he worked for private engineering companies for a while but soon enough, he decided to follow his passion and pursue a career in writing. He has now joined the film industry

Before starting his cinematic career, Girish Kulkarni was working with Radio Mirchi as a Cluster Programming Head. He enjoys creating stories inspired by his observations, and many of the characters he writes reflect authentic village people. Valu, released in 2008, was a light, enjoyable movie portraying various stereotypical characters found in an Indian village through the simple story of a wild bull which needs to be captured.

In 2009's Gabhricha Paus, he portrayed the tragic story of an Indian farmer from a small village in Vidarbha, who is suffering because of sparse rain, evil money lenders and the negligence of the Indian government towards farmers. His second release in 2009, Vihir, was an abstract movie which told the story of an adolescent boy who sets out to understand the meaning of life and death after his cousin and close friend dies. Vihir was screened at Berlin International Film Festival in 2010 and garnered praise and critical appreciation from all over the world.