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{{short description|Indian film critic}}
{{multiple issues|
{{COI|date=June 2017}}
{{third-party|date=June 2017}}
{{unreliable sources|date=June 2017}}
}}
{{EngvarB|date=August 2014}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2014}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Anupama Chopra
| image = Anupama Chopra 9th Mumbai Film Festival (cropped).jpg
| caption =Anupama Chopra in 2017
| birthname = Anupama Chandra
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|df=yes|1967|02|23}}
| birth_place = [[Kolkata]], [[West Bengal]], India
| education = [[St. Xavier's College, Mumbai]]; [[Northwestern University]]'s [[Medill School of Journalism]]
| occupation = Author, journalist, film critic
| spouse = {{marriage|[[Vidhu Vinod Chopra]]|1990}}
| children = 2
|website ={{URL|http://www.filmcompanion.in/}}}}
'''Anupama Chopra''' (born 23 February 1967) is an Indian author, journalist, film critic and director of the [[Mumbai Academy of the Moving Image|MAMI Mumbai Film Festival]].<ref name="Mami">[http://www.mumbaifilmfestival.com Jio MAMI Film Festival]</ref> She is also the founder and editor of the digital platform Film Companion which offers a curated look at cinema.<ref>[http://www.filmcompanion.in/ Film Companion]</ref><ref name="FC">[https://www.youtube.com/user/TheFIlmCompanion Film Companion Youtube]</ref> She has written several books on [[Cinema of India|Indian cinema]] and has been a film critic for [[NDTV]], ''[[India Today]]'',<ref>[http://movies.ndtv.com/movie_Review.aspx?id=510 Anupama Chopra, Consulting Editor, Films, NDTV] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100503075144/http://movies.ndtv.com/movie_Review.aspx?id=510 |date=3 May 2010 }} [[NDTV]] website.</ref> as well as the ''[[Hindustan Times]]''. She also hosted a weekly film review show ''The Front Row With Anupama Chopra'', on [[STAR World India|Star World]].<ref>{{cite news|last=Chopra|first=Anupama|title=Anupama Chopra's review: Paan Singh Tomar|url=http://www.hindustantimes.com/Entertainment/Reviews/Anupama-Chopra-s-review-Paan-Singh-Tomar/Article1-819886.aspx|access-date=6 March 2012|newspaper=Hindustan Times|date=2 March 2012|quote=Starting today, Anupama Chopra becomes Hindustan Times' film critic.}}</ref> She won the [[48th National Film Awards|2000 National Film Award]] for [[National Film Award for Best Book on Cinema|Best Book on Cinema]] for her first book ''[[Sholay: The Making of a Classic]]''. She presently critiques movies and interviews celebrities for Film Companion.

==Early life and background==
Born as Anupama Chandra in Calcutta, [[India]] to Chandra Parshad family, She has also lived in [[Badayun]], a city in Uttar Pradesh. Her father Navin Chandra was the eldest of the brothers and sisters. Anupama's grandfather, originally from Delhi, was an executive with [[Union Carbide]], [[Kolkata]] and her mother [[Kamna Chandra]] was a scriptwriter; she wrote dialogues for such films as ''[[Prem Rog]]'' (1982) and ''[[Chandni (film)|Chandni]]'' (1989).<ref>{{IMDb name|0133781|Kamna Chandra}}</ref> Chopra grew up with her brother and sister in Mumbai, where her family lived in [[Nepean Sea Road]] and then in [[Cuffe Parade]]. Her sister [[Tanuja Chandra]] is an Indian Film director and screenwriter; and her brother [[Vikram Chandra (novelist)|Vikram Chandra]] is a novelist, who splits his time between California and India.<ref name=tom/> She also lived in Hong Kong for several years as a teenager. In 1987, she graduated from [[St. Xavier's College, Mumbai]] with a BA in English Literature.<ref name=tom/>

Later, Chopra earned her MA in journalism from [[Northwestern University]]'s [[Medill School of Journalism]]. She won the Harrington Award for "academic excellence and promise for success in the field of magazine journalism" while at Medill. She later said, "Film journalism was untouchable at the time. Everybody was ashamed and nobody wanted to admit that I worked for movies."<ref name=tom>{{cite news|last=Ramnath|first=Nandini|title=Home truths Anupama Chopra|url=http://www.timeoutmumbai.net/client_coverstory/client_coverstory_details.asp?code=475|access-date=6 March 2012|newspaper=Time Out Mumbai}}{{dead link|date=June 2017}}</ref>

==Career==
After her education, Chopra started her career as a film journalist and critic and over the years has written several books of films, especially Hindi cinema. She has written about the Hindi film industry since 1993 and has explored cinema in several mediums - print, television and digital. Her first book ''[[Sholay: The Making of a Classic]]'' (2000) won the 2001 [[National Film Award for Best Book on Cinema]] (India).<ref name="48thawardPDF">{{cite web|url=http://dff.nic.in/2011/48th_nff_2001.pdf|title=48th National Film Awards|publisher=[[Directorate of Film Festivals]]}}</ref> ''Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge '' (The Bravehearted Will Take The Bride) (2002) was published by the [[British Film Institute]] as part of their Modern Classics Series. Her book, ''King of Bollywood: [[Shah Rukh Khan]] and the Seductive World of Indian Cinema'', was featured on the annual "Editor's Choice" list of the ''[[New York Times Book Review]].''{{citation needed|date=June 2013}} It was also translated into German, Indonesian and Polish.

Chopra's 2011 book ''First Day First Show: Writings from the Bollywood Trenches'', is a compilation of her articles on Hindi cinema over two decades, published by Penguin India.<ref>[http://worldcat.org/search?q=au%3AAnupama+Chopra&qt=hot_author Results for 'au:Anupama Chopra' books] WorldCat.org.</ref>

Chopra's work has been published in ''[[India Today]]'', India's largest English-language magazine. She has also written about Hindi Films for various international publications such as ''[[The New York Times]]'', the ''[[Los Angeles Times]]'', ''[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]'' and ''[[Sight & Sound]]'' and is currently a contributing editor to ''[[Vogue India]]''.

[[File:Anupama chopra book launch.jpg|thumb|right|Chopra at her book launch, 2012]]
[[Sandrine Bonnaire]], [[Joe Dante]], [[Ang Lee]], [[Liliana Cavani]], [[Sergei Bodrov]] and [[Luciano Ligabue]] at the [[2009 Venice Film Festival]]
Chopra hosted film review show, ''Picture This'' on ''[[NDTV]]'' 24X7 news channel.<ref name=post>{{cite web | title = The Front Row with Anupama Chopra is the reel thing |publisher=Firstpost | url = http://www.firstpost.com/bollywood/the-front-row-with-anupama-chopra-is-the-reel-thing-292783.html |author= Rajyasree Sen |date=30 April 2012| access-date = 27 July 2014 }}</ref> In 2012, she started her weekly review show called ''The Front Row with Anupama Chopra'', on [[STAR World India|Star World]], which ran till June 2014.<ref name=post/><ref>{{cite web | title = The Front Row with Anupama Chopra | publisher = STAR World | url = http://thefrontrow.starworld.in/fullepisodes | access-date = 27 July 2014 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20140314060758/http://thefrontrow.starworld.in/fullepisodes | archive-date = 14 March 2014 | url-status = dead | df = dmy-all }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | title = The Front Row with Anupama Chopra |publisher= STAR Tv India| url = http://www.startv.in/show/the-front-row-with-anupama-chopra/424 | access-date = 27 July 2014 }}</ref> In 2013, she released two books, ''Freeze Frame'' based on the interviews with film makers and actors on the TV show,<ref>{{cite web | title =A look at what's on celebs' minds|newspaper=[[The Tribune (Chandigarh)|The Tribune]] | url = http://www.tribuneindia.com/2014/20140126/spectrum/book2.htm | date= 26 January 2014|access-date = 27 July 2014 }}</ref> and ''100 Films to See before You Die'' based on her weekly film columns.<ref>{{cite web | title = "I am not a film snob" – Anupama Chopra |magazine=[[Cine Blitz]]| url = http://cineblitz.liveinstyle.com/features/detail/i-am-not-a-film-snob-anupama-chopra1 |date=August 2013| access-date=27 July 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140810143229/http://cineblitz.liveinstyle.com/features/detail/i-am-not-a-film-snob-anupama-chopra1 |archive-date=10 August 2014}}</ref> In 2014, she also did a Hindi show called 'Star Verdict' on Star Plus. Currently she hosts '''Film Companion''' on [[YouTube]] which replaced "The Front Row With Anupama Chopra" where she critiques Hindi Film movies.<ref>{{cite web | title = Film Companion in Anupama (Land) |publisher= Book My Show| url = https://in.bookmyshow.com/entertainment/film-companion-anupama-land/44263 |date=August 2014| access-date=1 January 2016 }}</ref> She has written several books on cinema. Anupama’s latest book, ''The Front Row: Conversations on Cinema'' published by Harper Collins is a collection of her televised interviews with both Indian Film and Hollywood personalities. She is also actively involved in works related to film festivals happening in India.

In November 2014, Chopra replaced [[Shyam Benegal]] to become the chairperson of the [[Mumbai Film Festival]] organized by the [[Mumbai Academy of the Moving Image]] (MAMI).<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/entertainment/hindi/bollywood/news/MAMI-has-a-new-chairperson/articleshow/45187036.cms|title=MAMI has a new chairperson - Times of India|newspaper=The Times of India|access-date=2016-12-19}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.thequint.com/entertainment/2016/11/25/anupama-chopra-talks-about-including-the-power-of-bollywood-in-a-film-festival|title=Anupama Chopra on Balancing Life as a Critic and Festival Director|newspaper=[[The Quint]]|access-date=2016-12-19}}</ref>

===Film Companion===
In 2014, Anupama founded Film Companion as a pan-India platform for entertainment journalism. Currently the platform carries reviews, interviews, features and masterclasses around cinema, television and web series. Anupama, [[Baradwaj Rangan]], Rahul Desai, [[Sucharita Tyagi]] and Pratayush Parasuraman writes for the platform.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2020-06-18|title=Film Companion brings together experts and enters the education industry|url=https://www.indiantelevision.com/movies/movies-on-mutiple-platforms/film-companion-brings-together-experts-and-enters-the-education-industry-200618|access-date=2020-11-23|website=Indian Television Dot Com|language=en}}</ref>

==Personal life==
Chopra is married to [[Vidhu Vinod Chopra]], a Hindi Film producer and director.<ref name=tom/><ref>{{cite web | title = Sleeping with the Enemy |publisher=[[Open (Indian magazine)|OPEN]] | url = http://www.openthemagazine.com/article/art-culture/sleeping-with-the-enemy |date=8 May 2010| access-date = 27 July 2014 }}</ref>
Her daughter [[Zuni Chopra]] (born 2001/2002) is author of three books, including a novel and two books in poetry. Her son Agni Dev Chopra is an aspiring cricketer.

==Bibliography==
* ''[[Sholay: The Making of a Classic]]''. Penguin Books, 2000. {{ISBN|014029970X}}.
* ''[[Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge (book)|Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge]]'', British Film Institute, 2002. {{ISBN|0851709575}}.
* ''[[King of Bollywood: Shah Rukh Khan and the Seductive World of Indian Cinema]]''. Grand Central Publishing, 2007. {{ISBN|0446508985}}.
* ''First Day First Show: Writings from the Bollywood Trenches''. Penguin Books India, 2011. {{ISBN|0143065947}}.
* ''Freeze Frames''. Om Books, 2013. {{ISBN|9381607117}}.
* ''100 Films to See before You Die''. BCCL, New Delhi, 2013. {{ISBN|9382299351}}.
* ''The Front Row: Conversation on Cinema''. HarperCollins ''Publishers'' India, 2015. {{ISBN|9789351770015}}.
* ''In Conversation with the Stars''. Rupa Publications, 2019. {{ISBN|9789353335182}}

==References==
{{Reflist|2}}

==External links==
*[http://www.filmcompanion.in/about-us Film Companion]
*[https://www.youtube.com/user/TheFIlmCompanion Film Companion YouTube]
*[https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCI8m-3oHyPuGTgXfuNaAbeQ Film Companion Reviews YouTube]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20130608142223/http://www.hindustantimes.com/Search/search.aspx?q=Anupama%20Chopra&op=auth Anupama Chopra reviews] at ''[[Hindustan Times]]''

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chopra, Anupama}}
[[Category:Indian film critics]]
[[Category:1967 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Writers from Kolkata]]
[[Category:Bengali people]]
[[Category:St. Xavier's College, Mumbai alumni]]
[[Category:Medill School of Journalism alumni]]
[[Category:Indian women television presenters]]
[[Category:Indian television presenters]]
[[Category:Indian women television journalists]]
[[Category:Indian television journalists]]
[[Category:Journalists from West Bengal]]
[[Category:Women writers from West Bengal]]
[[Category:Indian women critics]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian journalists]]
[[Category:21st-century Indian journalists]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian women writers]]
[[Category:21st-century Indian women writers]]
[[Category:Variety (magazine) people]]

Anupama Chopra - Revision history

CleanupBot at 09:34, 12 August 2021