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Niranjan Iyengar is an Indian screenwriter, lyricist, and author. He is particularly known for his work with Karan Johar.
Wiki/Biography
Niranjan Iyengar was born on Wednesday, 9 April 1969 (age 51 years; as in 2020) in Anand, Gujarat. His zodiac sign is Aries. He did his schooling from Adarsh High School in Dombivili, Mumbai. He went to Williamson College in Franklin, Tennessee, United States. While studying in Williamson, he made many friends but later thought that college was not right for him and withdrew his name from the college. Then, he switched to Ruhiya College, where he pursued science for two years and quit it later.
Physical Appearance
Height (approx): 5′ 10″
Eye Colour: Black
Hair Colour: Black
Family & Caste
He belongs to the Tamil-speaking Hindu Brahmin family. Not much is known about his family.
Niranjan Iyengar’s Father
Niranjan Iyengar’s Mother
Career
Niranjan Iyengar started his career as a film journalist and worked for ‘G’ magazine. From there, he made connections in the film industry. After spending six years in journalism, he started assisting Manish Malhotra and started designing costumes for films and ramps. He worked for Manish for three and a half years.
An Old Picture of Niranjan Iyengar and Manish Malhotra
Soon, he decided to get back to writing. He suggested Karan Johar, publish a book on the making of the film “Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham…” (2001). Karan Johar was fascinated by the idea and asked Niranjan to write the book. His book titled ‘The Making of Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham’ was published in 2001.
He made his debut as a dialogue writer with the 2003 film “Jism.”
He has written dialogues for the most celebrated Bollywood films like Kal Ho Naa Ho (2003), Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna (2006), Fashion (2008), Wake Up Sid (2009), My Name Is Khan (2010), Ra. One (2012), Student of the Year (2012), and Ae Dil Hai Mushkil (2016). He made his debut as a lyricist with the film “Kurbaan” (2009).
He has penned down many songs in Bollywood films; ‘Tere Naina’ from “My Name Is Khan” (2010), ‘ Sajda’ from “My Name Is Khan” (2010), ‘Noor-E-Khuda’ from “My Name Is Khan” (2010), ‘Chammak Challo’ from “Ra. One” (2012), and ‘Dama Dam Mast Qalandar’ from “D-Day” (2013), being some of the most famous ones. Niranjan, along with Ryan Evan Stephan founded the production house, Electric Apples Entertainment. He turned producer with the 2020 short film “Devi.” He is the host of the celebrity talk show ‘Look Who’s Talking with Niranjan’ which airs on Zee Café.
Niranjan Iyengar Interviewing Abhishek Bachchan on his show ‘Look Who’s Talking with Niranjan’
Favourite Things
- Album: ‘Kabir’ by Abida Parveen
- Filmmakers: Coen Brothers, Woody Allen, Hrishikesh Mukherjee
- Screenwriters: David Hare, Alan Ball
- Television Show: Criminal Minds (2005)
- Films: Mughal-E-Azam (1960), Hours (2002), American Beauty (1999)
- Books: ‘Gun Island’ by Amitav Ghosh, ‘Magical Women’ by Sukanya Venkatraghavan
Facts/Trivia
- He likes singing and doing photography.
- He is interested in music and owns music instruments such as Tanpura, Tabla, Guitar, and Harmonium.
Instagram Post of Niranjan Iyengar Talking about his Instruments
- When he was in school, he had a habit of writing letters to people. He wrote a letter to Thai Airways, Queen Elizabeth, his relatives, and many others.
- In 2000, he heard a song by Abida Parveen, which inclined him toward learning music. He even got himself a mentor, and finally, after 15 years of practice, according to Niranjan, he can perform himself.
- He is best friends with Manish Malhotra and Karan Johar.
Niranjan Iyengar with Karan Johar
- Mahesh Bhatt had a huge impact on him, talking about Mahesh Bhatt in an interview, he said,
Mahesh Bhatt once told me, and I keep coming back to Bhatt-Saab because he had a great impact on me.
- He is a big fan of Rekha and developed an interest in Bollywood after watching Rekha’s films. According to Niranjan, Rekha is the one who piqued his interest in cinema; as he started collecting information about stars and was sucked into Bollywood. One day, he wrote a letter to the editor of ‘G’ magazine, asking them to take him as an intern.
- After working as a journalist, he got tired and decided to work in The Boston Globe, US, where one of his aunts worked. In the US, he met Manish Malhotra, whom he assisted later.
- He knows Shruti Hassan since she was seven years old, and they both are best friends now.
Niranjan Iyengar with Shruti Haasan