IIT Bombay, theatre and a Rs 4,000-cr Ramayana: Nitesh Tiwari's road to bollywood

Before Dangal and Ramayana – a reported Rs 4,000-crore cinematic venture – Nitesh Tiwari was a student at IIT Bombay, discovering his passion for storytelling in the corridors of Hostel No. 4. What began with campus theatre would eventually lead him to one of Indian cinema's grandest projects.New Delhi,Nov 13, 2026 15:56 ISTA student of IIT Bombay whose pen eventually travelled farther than his engineering degree, Nitesh Tiwari's journey to the cinema began not in a film school, but within the walls of Hostel No. 4. A young man who found himself drawn to books, theatre and the performing arts, Tiwari discovered during his years at India's premier engineering institution that his interests lay beyond the discipline he had come to study.Today, the filmmaker behind Dangal, Chhichhore and the much-discussed two-part Ramayana project stands among the prominent names in Hindi cinema. Yet, before he took on the task of bringing an Indian epic to the screen, there was a young IITian learning the art of telling stories on a college stage.WHERE NITESH TIWARI FOUND HIS CREATIVE CALLINGTiwari graduated from IIT Bombay in 1996 with a BTech degree in Metallurgical Engineering. His association with the institution, however, was not confined to lectures and examinations.In an interview with Mumbai Mirror in 2019, he recalled arriving at Hostel No. 4 with the apprehension that commonly accompanies a newcomer to an IIT campus. He soon discovered that the life within its walls was rather different from the image he had formed of engineering students. The hostel became the setting for friendships, mischief and, more importantly, the discovery of his creative inclinations.Tiwari recalled how his seniors recognised his aptitude for mime and encouraged him to participate in inter-collegiate festivals, including Mood Indigo, IIT Bombay's cultural festival. He also began writing stories for skits during his second and third years.One of his early experiments involved a horror-comedy featuring ghosts and a haunted house.The college's Performing Arts Festival (PAF), where different hostels competed against one another, offered him a further opportunity to explore theatre. In his final year, Tiwari directed A Touch of Evil, a musical about two sorcerers and a pair of lovers caught in their rivalry. The production went on to win the coveted PAF shield.His interests were not restricted to the cultural sphere. Tiwari captained his hostel's cricket team and participated in football, volleyball and hockey, besides running the 4x100-metre relay.His sporting achievements earned him the title of Sportsman of the Year. He also graduated with the institute's Scroll of Honour in 1996, an achievement he described as a distinction not awarded for 17 years.It was during these years that writing began to assume a more serious place in his life.FROM HOSTEL NO.4 TO THE STAGEAfter graduating, Tiwari briefly worked with a software company before moving into advertising. According to IIT Bombay's alumni profile, he went on to spend 18 years in the advertising industry, working with FCB Ulka, Lowe Lintas and Leo Burnett. He eventually became Chief Creative Officer at Leo Burnett, Mumbai.Cinema, however, remained the calling that would bring together his experience in writing, performance and storytelling.In 2011, he made his directorial debut with Chillar Party, which won the National Award for Best Children's Film. He subsequently directed Bhoothnath Returns, Dangal and Chhichhore, while also contributing to the writing of films such as Nil Battey Sannata and Bareilly Ki Barfi.His journey has now brought him to Ramayana, an ambitious two-part cinematic undertaking associated with a reported overall budget of more than 4,000 crore. The project marks another considerable undertaking in a career that began with stories written for college performances.In retrospect, IIT Bombay was more than an institution that awarded Tiwari an engineering degree.It was where he discovered the pleasure of writing, learnt to direct performers and found the confidence to pursue an altogether different profession. The young man from Hostel No. 4 may have entered the campus to study metallurgy, but he left with something that no engineering syllabus could have prescribed: a vocation in storytelling.- Ends