Excel Entertainment


Excel Entertainment is an Indian production company, founded by Ritesh Sidhwani and Farhan Akhtar in 1999. Based in Mumbai, they mainly produce Hindi films. They are also known to be the pioneers of original content on Online Digital platforms in India. In the year 2017, they released India's first original series for Amazon prime video – Inside Edge, which was nominated for the International Emmy awards for Best Drama Series.
Having received both critical and commercial success with their first film - Dil Chahta Hai, the same was classified a cult for millennials. Excel Entertainment, with their new-age cinema have not only received love from the audiences across all quarters, but it has also won them two National Awards, for Dil Chahta Hai and Rock On!!. With movies like, Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara, Don, Fukrey, Raees and Dil Dhadakne Do, Excel is known for its contemporary and diversified characters and style of cinema. Amongst the numerous awards and accolades that their film Gully Boy received, it was also India's official entry to the 92nd Academy Awards.
Excel Entertainment also presented, across India, the Hindi dubbed versions of the 2018 Indian Kannada-language period action K.G.F: Chapter 1 starring Yash and the 2019 Sye Raa Narasimha Reddy, an Indian Telugu-language epic action film, starring Chiranjeevi. The films were acclaimed commercially and critically.
Their upcoming film releases include, Toofan starring Farhan Akhtar and starring Yash. Amongst their upcoming digital releases are - Inside Edge 3 and Mirzapur 2, both will be released on Amazon Prime Video.

Personalities

Farhan Akhtar

Farhan Akhtar is the son of scriptwriter, poet and lyricist Javed Akhtar and screenplay writer Honey Irani. He is also the grandson of Urdu poet Jan Nisar Akhtar. His stepmother is actress Shabana Azmi.

Ritesh Sidhwani

Sidhwani has played a key role in his family's business, Marlex, India's largest home appliance company.

Films

2001 - 2010

The company’s first production was the critically acclaimed film Dil Chahta Hai in 2001, which marked the directorial debut of Farhan Akhtar. The film received a National Award in the category of Best Feature Film Hindi.
The company then went on to produce the war-drama film Lakshya and an action-thriller film Don, an official remake of Amitabh Bachchan’s Don, which were both directed by Farhan Akhtar. Both films went on to become critical and commercial successes. This was followed by Honeymoon Travels Pvt. Ltd., which was directed by Reema Kagti.
They then produced a short film Positive directed by Farhan Akhtar, which was a part of AIDS JaaGo, in a joint initiative of Mira Nair's Mirabai Films, voluntary organisations Avahan and Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
Excels next release was Rock On, a musical drama film written and directed by Abhishek Kapoor. The movie was remarkable and was lauded by both the media and fans. It also won the National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Hindi and Best Supporting Actor for Arjun Rampal.
This was followed by Zoya Akhtar’s directorial debut film Luck by Chance. The film was widely appreciated for its content and storyline.
Excels next release was Vijay Lalwani’s, psychological thriller film Karthik Calling Karthik starring Farhan Akhtar, Deepika Padukone, Ram Kapoor. To indulge and prepare for the role Farhan Akhtar isolated himself at home and school and turned off his phone. He also learned to solve the Rubik's Cube, an activity that his character completes in only one try.

2011 - 2015

In 2011, Excel produced an action thriller film Game directed by Abhinay Deo featuring a large ensemble cast led by Abhishek Bachchan, Kangana Ranaut, Anupam Kher, Boman Irani and Jimmy Sheirgill.
Later that year, Zoya Akhtar's widely loved buddy road film Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara released starring Hrithik Roshan, Farhan Akhtar, Abhay Deol, Katrina Kaif and Kalki Koechlin. This was followed by Farhan Akhtar’s second installment in the Don series, Don 2 starring Shah Rukh Khan, Priyanka Chopra, Boman Irani, Om Puri. With a box office gross of over ₹202 Crores, the film was one of the highest-grossing Indian films of all time and is the third highest-grossing Indian film of 2011.
Excel's second collaboration with Aamir Khan happened with Talaash starring Rani Mukerji, Kareena Kapoor Khan, Nawazuddin Siddiqui and Shernaz Patel. This was followed by Mrighdeep Singh Lamba’s light comedy film Fukrey starring Pulkit Samrat, Varun Sharma, Manjot Singh, Ali Fazal, Richa Chadda. The film was a commercial hit and garnered a huge cult following. The film was also re-released in September due to public demand.
Excel produced a dark humour film Bangistan starring Ritesish Deshmukh and Pulkit Samrat. Later that year, the production house produced the social satire family drama film Dil Dhadakne Do directed by Zoya Akhtar starring Ranveer Singh, Priyanka Chopra, Farhan Akhtar, Anushka Sharma, Anil Kapoor and Shefali Shah. The film grossed ₹1.45 billion at the box office against a budget of ₹830 million, and earned a number of accolades.

2016 - Present

In 2016, Excel produced Nitya Mehra’ romance film Baar Baar Dekho starring Sidharth Malhotra, Katrina Kaif, as well as Rock On 2 starring Farhan Akhtar, Arjun Rampal, Shraddha Kapoor among others.
The company’s first film in 2017 was Rahul Dholakia’s Raees. It featured Shah Rukh Khan, Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Mahira Khan. Raees received positive reviews from critics and was a success at Box Office.
This was followed by Mrighdeep Singh Lamba’s Fukrey Returns, which was a much awaited sequel of Fukrey that was well received by all.
In 2018, Excel produced a Thriller Drama Film Three Storeys. The movie demonstrates the art of skillfully telling a story weaving together a thriller, love story, social issues, realities and life all in one package.
After this came Reema Kagti’s historical sports drama Gold starring Akshay Kumar, Kunal Kapoor, Amit Sadh, Mouni Roy, Vineet Kumar Singh and Sunny Kaushal. The film netted ₹25.25 crores on its opening day, becoming one of the year's biggest opening day releases.
Excel Entertainment then teamed with Anil Thadani and distributed. The movie received a positive response from audiences while critics gave the film mixed reviews. KGF: Chapter 1 on the first day of its release collected ₹25 crores worldwide, which was the highest opening in the Kannada film industry.
February 2019 saw the release of Zoya Akhtar’s Gully Boy starring Ranveer Singh, Alia Bhatt, Siddhant Chaturvedi, Vijay Varma, Kalki Koechlin. The movie won a record 13 Filmfare Awards, including Best Film, Best Director, Best Actor, and Best Actress, and became the second film to win all four acting awards. Additionally, the film was India’s official entry for The Academy Awards in 2020 in the Best Foreign Film Category. Gully Boy received positive reviews from critics with praise directed to Akhtar’s direction, Maurya’s dialogue, Ranveer Singh, Siddhant Chaturvedi,and Alia Bhatt for their performances.
In October, Excel distributed the Hindi-dubbed version of Sye Raa Narasimha Reddy, starring superstar Chiranjeevi and Amitabh Bachchan, which was originally filmed in Telugu. The movie has also been touted as one of the most expensive films to date with a budget of about ₹ 300 crores. It also boasts of some extravagant VFX shots which promise to be a visual delight.

OTT

In July 2017, Excel pioneered into the OTT sphere with a sports-drama series Inside Edge created by Karan Anshuman starring Vivek Oberoi, Siddhant Chaturvedi, Richa Chadha, Angad Bedi, Tanuj Virwani, Sayani Gupta among others. The series was critically acclaimed for its strong performances and story line. The series was also nominated for the 46th International Emmy Awards in the category for Best Drama Series.
Their second web series was a Crime-Thriller named Mirzapur created by Karan Anshuman and Puneet Krishna starring Ali Fazal, Vikrant Massey, Pankaj Tripathi, Divyendu Sharma, Shweta Tripathi. The series was well received worldwide and became a cult hit. Pankaj Tripathi won the Best-Actor Drama at the iReel Awards for the same.
Made In Heaven released in March. The show was created by Zoya Akhtar and Reema Kagti starring Sobhita Dhulipala, Arjun Mathur, Kalki Koechlin, Jim Sarbh among others. The web-series was appreciated heavily by several critics and multiple positive online reviews. The web-series received an award at the ITA awards for the category Best Series Jury Award and prize for the Best Direction.
After Fukrey became a cult for the youth, a show named Fukrey Boyss was launched on Discovery Kids which showcased the animated avatars of popular characters Hunny, Choocha, Laali, and Bholi Punjaban.
December 2019 saw the release of Karan Anshuman’s Inside Edge season 2. The second season invites viewers to look at cricket much beyond just a game and manifested a huge public demand.

Upcoming Projects

is scheduled to release on 23 October 2020, a sequel to the 2018 film K.G.F: Chapter 1 starring Yash, Sanjay Dutt, Raveena Tandon, Srinidhi Shetty. Their next project that’s slated to release is Toofan, starring Farhan Akhtar, Paresh Rawal and Mrinal Thakur which is directed by Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra.
In terms of OTT, they have Season 2 of Mirzapur, and Season 3 of Inside Edge in the pipeline.

Filmography

YearTitleDirectorProducerCastNotes
2001Dil Chahta HaiFarhan AkhtarRitesh SidhwaniAamir Khan, Saif Ali Khan, Akshaye Khanna, Preity Zinta, Dimple Kapadia, Sonali KulkarniNational Film Awards for Best Feature Film, 7 Filmfare Awards, 7 Screen Awards,4 IIFA Awards, 2 Zee Cine Awards
2004LakshyaFarhan AkhtarRitesh SidhwaniAmitabh Bachchan, Hrithik Roshan, Preity Zinta, Om Puri, Boman IraniNational Film Awards for Best Choreography - Mai Aisa Kyun Hoon, 2 Filmfare Awards
2006DonFarhan AkhtarRitesh SidhwaniShahrukh Khan, Priyanka Chopra, Arjun Rampal, Kareena Kapoor, Boman IraniWinner of Best Asian Film at Neuchâtel International Fantastic Film Festival
2007Honeymoon Travels Pvt. Ltd.Reema KagtiRitesh Sidhwani, Farhan AkhtarShabana Azmi, Boman Irani, Kay Kay Menon, Raima Sen, Amisha Patel, Karan Khanna, Vikram Chatwal, Sandhya Mridul, Diya Mirza, Ranvir Shorey, Abhay Deol, Minissha Lamba and Arjun RampalArjun Rampal made special appreance in this movie
2007PositiveFarhan AkhtarRitesh Sidhwani, Farhan AkhtarArjun Mathur, Shabana Azmi and Boman IraniPositive was a part of AIDS JaaGo, a series of four short films
2008Rock On!!Abhishek KapoorRitesh Sidhwani, Farhan AkhtarFarhan Akhtar, Arjun Rampal, Purab Kohli, Luke Kenny, Prachi Desai, Shahana GoswamiNational Film Awards for Best Feature Film and Best Supporting Actor, 7 Filmfare Awards, 6 Screen Awards, 3 IIFA Awards.
2009Luck by ChanceZoya AkhtarRitesh Sidhwani, Farhan AkhtarFarhan Akhtar, Konkona Sen Sharma, Rishi Kapoor, Dimple Kapadia, Isha Sharvani, Juhi Chawla, Sanjay Kapoor, Aly Khan, Sheebha Chadda and Hrithik Roshan22 Actors made a guest appearance in the film
2010Karthik Calling KarthikVijay LalwaniRitesh Sidhwani, Farhan AkhtarFarhan Akhtar, Deepika PadukoneFarhan Akhtar learned to solve the Rubik's Cube, an activity which his character completes in only one try.
2011GameAbhinay DeoRitesh Sidhwani, Farhan AkhtarAbhishek Bachchan, Boman Irani, Anupam Kher, Jimmy Shergill, Kangana Ranaut, Shahana Goswami, Gauhar Khan and Sarah-Jane Dias
2011Zindagi Na Milegi DobaraZoya AkhtarRitesh Sidhwani, Farhan AkhtarHrithik Roshan, Farhan Akhtar, Abhay Deol, Katrina Kaif, Kalki KoechlinNational Film Awards for Best Choreography and Best Audiography, 9 IIFA Awards, 7 Filmfare Awards, 6 Star Guild Awards, 4 Zee Cine Awards, 2 Mirchi Music Awards, 2 Screen Awards, 1 Stardust Awards, 1 Big Star Entertainment Awards
2011Don 2Farhan AkhtarRitesh Sidhwani, Farhan Akhtar, Shah Rukh KhanShah Rukh Khan, Priyanka Chopra, Boman Irani, Om Puri, Kunal Kapoor, Lara DuttaCo-Produced with Red Chillies Entertainment, 2 Filmfare Awards, 2 Producers Film Guild Awards, 2 Screen Awards, 2 Lions Gold Awards, 1 ETC Bollywood Business Awards, 1 Zee Cine Awards
2012TalaashReema KagtiRitesh Sidhwani, Farhan Akhtar, Aamir KhanAamir Khan, Rani Mukerji, Kareena Kapoor Khan, Nawazuddin Siddiqui and Shernaz PatelCo-Produced with Aamir Khan Productions, 1 Mirchi Music Award
2013FukreyMrighdeep Singh LambaRitesh Sidhwani, Farhan AkhtarPulkit Samrat, Manjot Singh, Ali Fazal, Varun Sharma, Richa Chadda, Priya Anand, Pankaj Tripathi and Vishakha Singh1 Screen Award, 1 Star Guild Award
2015BangistanKaran AnshumanRitesh Sidhwani, Farhan AkhtarRiteish Deshmukh, Pulkit Samrat, Jacqueline Fernandez
2015Dil Dhadakne DoZoya AkhtarRitesh Sidhwani, Farhan AkhtarAnil Kapoor, Shefali Shah, Priyanka Chopra, Ranveer Singh, Anushka Sharma and Farhan Akhtar3 Stardust Awards, 2 Screen Awards, 1 Big Star Entertainment Award, 1 Filmfare Award, 1 IIFA Award, 1 Times of India Film Awards
2016Baar Baar DekhoNitya MehraRitesh Sidhwani, Farhan Akhtar, Karan JoharSidharth Malhotra, Katrina KaifCo-Produced with Dharma Productions, 1 Zee Cine Awards
2016Rock On 2Shujaat SaudagarRitesh Sidhwani, Farhan AkhtarFarhan Akhtar, Arjun Rampal, Shraddha Kapoor
2017RaeesRahul DholakiaRitesh Sidhwani, Farhan Akhtar, Gauri KhanShah Rukh Khan, Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Mahira KhanCo-Produced with Red Chillies Entertainment, 1 Mirchi Music Award, 1 Screen AWrds, 1 Zee Cine Awards, 1 Indian Recording Arts Awards
2017Fukrey ReturnsMrighdeep Singh LambaRitesh Sidhwani, Farhan AkhtarPulkit Samrat, Manjot Singh, Ali Fazal, Varun Sharma, Richa Chadha, Priya Anand, Pankaj Tripathy and Vishakha Singh
20183 StoreysArjun MukerjeeRitesh Sidhwani, Farhan Akhtar, Priya SreedharanPulkit Samrat, Richa Chadda, Renuka Shahane, Masumeh Makhija, Sharman Joshi, Tarun Anand, Ankit Rathi and Aisha AhmedCo-Produced with Priya Sreedharan
2018GoldReema KagtiRitesh Sidhwani, Farhan AkhtarAkshay Kumar, Mouni Roy, Kunal Kapoor, Amit Sadh, Vineet Kumar Singh and Sunny KaushalThe film is based on the journey of India's first national hockey team to the 1948 Summer Olympics
2018'Prashanth NeelVijay KiragandurYash, Srinidhi Shetty, Ramachandra Raju, Archana Jois, Anant Nag, Vasishta N. Simha and Mouni RoyFirst Kannada Movie to release in 5 Languages
2019Gully BoyZoya AkhtarRitesh Sidhwani, Farhan Akhtar, Zoya AkhtarRanveer Singh, Alia Bhatt, Siddhant Chaturvedi, Vijay Verma, Kalki Koechlin, Vijay Raaz, Amruta SubhashCo-produced with Tiger Baby Films, The film was selected as the Indian entry for the Best International Feature Film at the 92nd Academy Awards,13 Filmfare Awards, 12 Screen Awards, 9 Zee Cine Awards, 1 Mirchi Music Awards
2019Sye Raa Narasimha ReddySurender ReddyRam Charan, Konidela Production CompanyChiranjeevi, Amitabh Bachchan, Kiccha Sudeep, Jagapathi Babu, Vijay Sethupathi, Nayanthara, Tamannaah Bhatia and Ravi KishanThis is the first film that Amitabh Bachchan and Chiranjeevi have worked together on.
2020' Prashanth NeelVijay KirugandurYash, Sanjay Dutt, Raveena Tandon, Srinidhi Shetty
2020Toofan Rakeysh Omprakash MehraRitesh Sidhwani, Farhan Akhtar, Rakeysh Omprakash MehraFarhan Akhtar, Paresh Rawal, Mrunal ThakurCo-Produced with ROMP Pictures
2021Phone Bhoot Gurmeet SinghRitesh Sidhwani, Farhan AkhtarKatrina Kaif, Siddhant Chaturvedi, Ishaan Khatter

Series