Neeraj Vora (22 January 1963 14 December 2017) was an Indian film director, writer, actor and composer from Gujarat.
He suffered a stroke in October 2016, putting him in coma. He was working on Hera Pheri 3 before he went into coma and died on 14 December 2017 at 4 a.m. in Criticare hospital, Mumbai.
Early life and career
Vora was born in
Bhuj,
Gujarat in a
Gujarati people in 1963. But he grew up in Santacruz, a suburb of
Mumbai,
Maharashtra. His father, Pandit Vinayak Rai Nanalal Vora
was a classical musician and a proponent of
Tar shehnai. His father popularised Tar-Shehnai as the solo instrument for classical music.
Acting
During his college days, he started working professionally as an actor and he received intercollegiate awards for drama. In 1984, he worked for the film
Holi, by
Ketan Mehta and later did a television show
Choti Badi Baatien, Circus.
He later worked as an actor in Rangeela too, as the film director wanted to bring down the sets and the actor was absent. Neeraj Vora, who had written the script, played the role to finish shooting. After seeing that scene, Anil Kapoor and Priyadarshan called him for Virasat, followed by Aamir for Mann and several other projects.
Drama
His 1992 Gujarati play
Aflatoon, which was a superhit was adapted by
Rohit Shetty for
. The play was written and directed by Neeraj Vora.
Writing
After
Circus in 1993, Neeraj Vora, Ashutosh Gowarikar and
Deepak Tijori got together and made
Pehla Nasha, with Deepak Tijori as lead actor. Neeraj Vora was the writer and he along with his brother directed music as Neeraj-Uttank. Later his career in writing took off after he wrote for
Rangeela and then
Akele Hum Akele Tum,
Josh,
Badshah,
Chori Chori Chupke Chupke,
Awara Paagal Deewana,
Deewane Huye Paagal,
Ajnabee,
Hera Pheri and
Phir Hera Pheri among many others. Vora's work has always been appreciated by the critics. For
Phir Hera Pheri, film critic
Taran Adarsh said: "Vora's dialogues, as always, are outstanding!"
Film direction
He first directed
Khiladi 420, which did not fare well. After that he decided to produce films and took up
Familywala. After writing
Awara Paagal Deewana and
Deewane Huye Paagal for Firoz Nadiadwala, they collaborated for
Phir Hera Pheri, which was to be directed by
Satish Kaushik, but following the problems with dates, Neeraj Vora got the chance to direct it.
Vora was slated to direct Hera Pheri 3, but ultimately was replaced by Ahmed Khan following the departure of actors John Abraham, Abhishek Bachchan and Sunil Shetty, due to conflicts with Vora.
Illness and death
Neeraj Vora, who had been suffering from complications of a massive
stroke for a long time, died at the age of 54 on 14 December 2017. The actor-director was reportedly in a coma for 13 months after suffering from the stroke. He reportedly breathed his last at 4 am at Criti Care hospital in Andheri, Mumbai. Vora had been staying at producer
Firoz Nadiadwala's house since October 2016 after slipping into coma due to a heart-attack followed by a brain stroke. Nadiadwala had brought him to his home and converted a room into a makeshift Intensive Care Unit (ICU).
Filmography
Films
External links
