Nikhil Mahajan (born 21 July 1984) is an Indian filmmaker, producer, and screenwriter; working predominantly in Marathi cinema and Marathi theatre. He is a recipient of a National Film Award, four Maharashtra State Film Awards, three Filmfare Awards Marathi, a International Film Festival of India.
Early life Mahajan was born on 21 July 1984 in Aurangabad, Maharashtra. He grew up in an academic family; both of his parents were academics. He later moved to Australia to pursue formal education in filmmaking and graduated from Sydney Film School.
Personal life Mahajan married actress Mrinmayee Godbole in a registered marriage in Pune on 21 February 2017. The couple opted for a simple ceremony attended by family members and close friends. Career After completing his film education in Australia, he returned to India and began working in the film industry. He made his feature-film directorial debut with the Marathi neo-noir thriller Pune 52, which was released in 2013. The film starred Girish Kulkarni, Sonali Kulkarni and Sai Tamhankar. He received the Maharashtra State Film Award for Best Debut Director for the film. He subsequently directed the Marathi action film Baji, released in 2015. He later expanded his work as a writer, contributing to films directed by other filmmakers. He was one of the writers of the Marathi coming-of-age film June (2021), for which he received a Filmfare Marathi nomination for Best Screenplay. In 2020, Mahajan made his streaming debut as one of the directors of the Netflix horror series Betaal, which he co-directed with Patrick Graham.
In 2021, Mahajan directed Godavari, a Marathi drama set in Nashik on the banks of the Godavari River. The film starred Jitendra Joshi, Neena Kulkarni, Vikram Gokhale, Gauri Nalawade and Priyadarshan Jadhav. Godavari was selected for the Indian Panorama section of the 52nd International Film Festival of India and won the Special Jury Award at the festival for Mahajan. Godavari became his most acclaimed directorial work. He won the National Film Award for Best Direction for the film at the 69th National Film Awards. He also won the Filmfare Marathi Award for Best Director and the Filmfare Marathi Award for Best Screenplay, which he shared with Prajakt Deshmukh. At the 59th Maharashtra State Film Awards, Godavari also earned Mahajan the Best Director award. In 2023, Mahajan wrote and directed the Hindi romantic thriller I Love You, starring Rakul Preet Singh, Pavail Gulati and Akshay Oberoi. The film was released directly on JioCinema. He subsequently worked on the Marathi film Raavsaaheb (2024), serving as its writer and director. He also continued his work as a screenwriter, including Tighee, released in 2026, for which he is credited with the screenplay.
Filmography
Films YearTitleDirectorWriterProducerNotes2013Pune 52Maharashtra State Film Award for Best Debut Director2015Baji2021JuneMaharashtra State Film Award for Best Debut ProductionGodavariNational Film Award for Best Direction2022Topaz2023I Love You2024Raavsaheb2025Mongoose2026Tighee
Television +YearTitleNotesRef.2020BetaalTelevision debut as a director
Theatre YearTitleNotesRef.2019Sakharam B.Theatre debut as a writer
Awards and nominations YearAwardsCategoriesWorkResultRef.2013Maharashtra State Film AwardsBest Debut Director Pune 52202058th Maharashtra State Film AwardsBest Debut ProductionJune20216th Filmfare Awards MarathiBest Dialogue69th National Film AwardsBest DirectorGodavari59th Maharashtra State Film AwardsBest Third FilmBest DirectorBest Screenplay 20227th Filmfare Awards MarathiBest FilmBest Director Best Screenplay 52nd International Film Festival of IndiaSpecial Jury AwardPune International Film FestivalBest DirectorZee Chitra Gaurav PuraskarBest FilmBest Director Best StoryBest Screenplay 202455th International Film Festival of IndiaBest Film Raavsaheb2026New York Indian Film FestivalBest ScreenplayTighee
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