Dibakar Banerjee (Born 21 June 1969) is an Indian film director, screenwriter, producer, and advertising filmmaker, widely recognised for his influential body of work in Hindi cinema. Although Banerjee began his professional career in advertising, he has consistently maintained his association with the medium even after establishing himself as a feature filmmaker. He is also the founder of Dibakar Banerjee Productions, his independent film production company.
Born and raised on New Rohtak Road near Karol Bagh in West Delhi, Banerjee completed his schooling at Bal Bharati Public School, Delhi. He later enrolled at the National Institute of Design (NID), Ahmedabad, where he studied visual communication and graphic design, before leaving the programme after two and a half years. Upon returning to New Delhi, he worked briefly with audiovisual filmmaker Sam Mathews.
Banerjee is married to Richa Puranesh, who has a background in FMCG marketing. The couple lived in Delhi for several years before relocating to Mumbai following the success of Khosla Ka Ghosla (2006). They currently reside in Parel, Mumbai, with their two daughters.
His professional journey in advertising began as a copywriter with agencies such as Shems Combit and TBWA Anthem, after which he joined Contract Advertising in Delhi. There, he worked under creative director Pradeep Sarkar and alongside screenwriter Jaideep Sahni, who would later write the story, screenplay, dialogues, and lyrics for Khosla Ka Ghosla. In 1997, Banerjee left Contract to co-found his own company, Watermark, with two former NID colleagues, producing promotional content for Channel V and MTV, as well as advertising films for major brands.
In collaboration with Jaideep Sahni, Banerjee conceptualised his debut feature film—conceived as a story about Delhi and rooted in the city—Khosla Ka Ghosla (2006), starring Anupam Kher and Boman Irani. Shot extensively in and around New Delhi, the film emerged as both a critical and commercial success, earning the National Film Award. The film established Banerjee as part of a new generation of filmmakers ushering in a decisive shift in Hindi cinema, which had traditionally centred on narratives and characters rooted in Mumbai.
Banerjee's subsequent films further cemented his reputation as a distinctive and socially incisive filmmaker. His notable works include Oye Lucky! Lucky Oye! (2008), which, like his debut, won a National Film Award, followed by the experimental Love Sex Aur Dhokha (2010). He later directed the political drama Shanghai (2012) and contributed to Bombay Talkies (2013), an anthology film commemorating the centenary of Indian cinema. In 2015, he directed Detective Byomkesh Bakshy!, based on the iconic fictional detective created by Sharadindu Bandyopadhyay.