Vipul Shah

Vipul Shah
Vipul Amrutlal Shah at the launch of his new show Bhai Bhaiya Aur Brother
Born
Vipul Amrutlal Shah

(1967-06-08) 8 June 1967 (age 59)
Kutch, Gujarat, India
Occupations
Spouse
​
(m. 2000)​
Children2
Websitesunshinepictures.in

Vipul Amrutlal Shah (born 8 June 1967) is an Indian writer, director and producer known for his work in Hindi and Gujarati cinema, television and theatre.

Shah is the owner of the production company Sunshine Pictures. He has directed six Hindi films, four of which have starred Akshay Kumar.

Career

He began his career with Gujarati theatre. He was a part of and directed a number of Gujarati dramas, some of which were well received by the audience. He made his debut with the Gujarati film Dariya Chhoru (Children of the Ocean) in 1999, which starred JD Majethia and his future wife Shefali Shah in the lead roles.

His breakthrough on the small screen was with the soap opera Ek Mahal Ho Sapno Ka (1999), which aired on Sony Entertainment Television. The serial went on to become the longest running Indian family drama at the time and the first with over 1000 episodes.

He then made his debut in Hindi films with Aankhen, which was based on his Gujarati play Aandhlo Pato ("Blind Fold"). It was one of the five biggest hits of 2002. He then impressed the audience and critics with his next film Waqt: The Race Against Time, which was also based on a Gujarati play Aavjo Vhala Phari Malishu ("Good bye dear, will meet again"). It was also one of the highest-grossing films of 2005. His next two films Namastey London (2007) and Singh Is Kinng (2008) did very well at the box office with the latter, where he served as the producer, breaking all previous opening records in Hindi cinema. In 2009, he directed London Dreams, starring Salman Khan, Ajay Devgn and Asin Thottumkal, which was an average grosser at the box office. His 2010 release, Action Replayy starring Akshay Kumar and Aishwarya Rai, was not well received.

In March 2011, Shah announced his intention to make a sequel of his 2007 film Namastey London. It was eventually released as Namaste England in 2018.

During the MeToo movement in India in 2018, he was accused of sexual harassment by Iranian actress Elnaaz Norouzi.

He served as the producer and writer of The Kerala Story (2023), and its sequel, The Kerala Story 2 (2026).

Personal life

Shah with his wife Shefali Shah

He married actress Shefali Shah in 2000 and has two sons.

He studied in KC College, Mumbai.[citation needed]

Filmography

Films

As director
Year Film Cast Notes
1999 Dariya Chhoru JD Majethia, Shefali Shah Gujarati film; directorial debut. Written by Prakash Kapadia.
2002 Aankhen Amitabh Bachchan, Sushmita Sen, Akshay Kumar, Arjun Rampal, Paresh Rawal Based on Shah's Gujarati play Aandhlo Pato ("Blind Fold").
2005 Waqt: The Race Against Time Amitabh Bachchan, Akshay Kumar, Priyanka Chopra, Shefali Shah Based on the Gujarati play Aavjo Vhala Phari Malishu ("Good bye dear, will meet again") by Aatish Kapadia.
2007 Namastey London Akshay Kumar, Katrina Kaif
2009 London Dreams Salman Khan, Ajay Devgn, Asin
2010 Action Replayy Akshay Kumar, Aishwarya Rai Adaptation of his Gujarati play of the same name.
2018 Namaste England Arjun Kapoor, Parineeti Chopra Sequel to Namastey London.
As producer
Year Film Director Cast
2002 Aankhen Himself Amitabh Bachchan, Akshay Kumar, Sushmita Sen, Arjun Rampal, Paresh Rawal
2005 Waqt: The Race Against Time Himself Amitabh Bachchan, Akshay Kumar, Priyanka Chopra, Shefali Shah
2007 Namastey London Himself Akshay Kumar, Katrina Kaif
2008 Singh Is Kinng Anees Bazmee Akshay Kumar, Katrina Kaif
2009 London Dreams Himself Salman Khan, Ajay Devgn, Asin
2010 Action Replayy Himself Akshay Kumar, Aishwarya Rai
2011 Kucch Luv Jaisaa Barnali Ray Shukla Shefali Shah, Rahul Bose, Sumeet Raghavan
Force Nishikant Kamat John Abraham, Genelia D'souza, Vidyut Jammwal, Raj Babbar
2013 Commando: A One Man Army Dilip Ghosh Vidyut Jammwal, Pooja Chopra, Jaideep Ahlawat
2014 Holiday: A Soldier Is Never Off Duty A. R. Murugadoss Akshay Kumar, Sonakshi Sinha, Freddy Daruwala, Sumeet Raghavan
2016 Force 2 Abhinay Deo John Abraham, Sonakshi Sinha, Tahir Raj Bhasin, Raj Babbar
2017 Commando 2: The Black Money Trail Deven Bhojani Vidyut Jammwal, Adah Sharma, Freddy Daruwala, Esha Gupta
2018 Namaste England Himself Arjun Kapoor, Parineeti Chopra
2019 Commando 3 Aditya Datt Vidyut Jammwal, Adah Sharma, Gulshan Devaiah
2021 Sanak Kanishk Varma Vidyut Jammwal, Rukmini Maitra, Neha Dhupia, Chandan Roy Sanyal
2023 The Kerala Story Sudipto Sen Adah Sharma, Yogita Bihani, Sonia Balani, Siddhi Idnani
2024 Bastar: The Naxal Story Adah Sharma, Shilpa Shukla, Yashpal Sharma, Subrat Dutta, Raima Sen, Indira Tiwari
2026 The Kerala Story 2 Kamakhya Narayan Singh Ulka Gupta, Aditi Bhatia, Aishwarya Ojha
As writer
Year Film Director Notes
2002 Aankhen Himself Based on Shah's Gujarati play Aandhlo Pato ("Blind Fold"). Adapted by Shah, Aatish Kapadia and Shobhana Desai.
2023 The Kerala Story Sudipto Sen Written with Suryapal Singh and Sen.
2024 Bastar: The Naxal Story Sudipto Sen Written with Amarnath Jha and Sen.

Television

Year(s) Show Role
1995 Jeevan Mrityu Director
1998 Alpviram
1999–2002 Ek Mahal Ho Sapno Ka
2001 Hum Pardesi Ho Gaye Writer, producer
2012 Bhai Bhaiya Aur Brother Producer
2014–2015 Pukaar – Call For The Hero
2022 Human Director, producer
2023 Commando

Theatre

Year Play Role Notes
— Aandhlo Pato ("Blind Fold") Writer, director Adapted by Shah as the film Aankhen (2002).
1994 Action Replayy Writer, director Adapted by Shah as the film Action Replayy (2010). Shobhana Desai has also been credited as the writer.

References

  1. ↑ "Sunshine Pictures coming with IPO to raise up to Rs 282.14 crore". Moneyworks4me. 17 August 2026. Retrieved 22 October 2026.
  2. ↑ "10 family shows that were so good that you'd want them to be aired on TV again". News18. 20 July 2015.
  3. ↑ "Vipul To Do 'Namastey London' Sequel". NDTV. 18 March 2011. Retrieved 18 May 2011.
  4. ↑ "'Vipul Shah tried to kiss me, he touched my butt'". Mid-day.
  5. ↑ "MeToo Movement: Celebs Accused of Sexual Harassment". News18.
  6. ↑ "The Kerala Story producer Vipul Shah on West Bengal ban: 'We will take legal action'". Indian Express. PTI. 9 May 2023. Retrieved 22 May 2023.
  7. ↑ "Vipul Shah slams Sudipto Sen's claim that The Kerala Story 2 based on WhatsApp forwards: 'I trashed his trashy script'". The Indian Express. 5 March 2026. Retrieved 8 March 2026.
  8. ↑ "Kerala HC Issues Notice to Vipul Amrutlal Shah Over Kerala Story 2 Title". Outlook India. 19 June 2026. Retrieved 19 June 2026.
  9. ↑ "Married to the 'boss'! Shefali Shah's waqt with Vipul!". Indiatimes.com Movies. 22 April 2005. Archived from the original on 13 February 2010. Retrieved 12 November 2010.
  10. 1 2 3 "Here are 6 films adapted from Gujarati plays". SBS Gujarati. Retrieved 22 October 2026.
  11. ↑ "'The Kerala Story' team reunites for 'Bastar'; Sudipto Sen & Vipul Shah's film to release in Apr 2024". indiatimes.com. 26 June 2023. Retrieved 2 July 2023.