Ritesh Sidhwani

Ritesh Sidhwani—now there’s a name that just pops up whenever anyone mentions a game-changer in Indian cinema. The guy’s got a knack for shaking things up, you know? He co-founded Excel Entertainment with Farhan Akhtar back in the day, and honestly, that was like the coolest buddy-move ever. Their first big splash was Dil Chahta Hai in 2001, and that movie didn’t just win the National Award (no big deal, right?), it literally rewired how Bollywood told its stories. Millennials still drool over it. But Sidhwani didn’t just stop at one hit. Excel’s got this killer lineup—Don, Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara, Talaash, Fukrey… all crowd-pleasers, all with their own flavor. And then there’s Gully Boy, which straight up took Indian hip hop from the gullies to the Oscars. Inside Edge? That was India’s first original Amazon Prime series, and it even snagged an International Emmy nomination. Not too shabby. What’s actually cool about Ritesh is he doesn’t hog the spotlight. He loves lifting up new directors, letting fresh voices break through (kind of rare in this industry, honestly). Excel’s always mixing things up, dabbling with new tech and edgy ideas, which is why it’s become this global face for Indian filmmaking. From hustling as a movie buff to running one of India’s most respected studios, Sidhwani’s journey is wild. He’s kept Excel moving forward, not just making movies but also creating content for digital platforms and going global with distribution. The dude just keeps making the right moves, and Indian cinema’s better for it.