Trivial Pursuit 79

'X' grew up in a lower middle-class family in Delhi. His father worked in 'The Claridges' hotel. He went to Blue Bell School, a small school in Jor Bagh. Small means the school would upgrade every time the students crossed a class; as they were promoted to Class V, the school added Class V and so on. This went on till Class VIII. Then 'X' switched to Bal Bharti Air Force school, now Air Force Bal Bharti school.

'X' was a state level swimmer and the captain of the Delhi Swimming Team, which earned him a seat in the much sought after Delhi's Sri Ram College of Commerce in the early 80's.

His first day in college left an indelible mark on his psyche. Students were asked to introduce themselves, and read out their school leaving marks to the professor. While everyone had over 90 per cent, he had just 56.6 per cent. The professor looked shocked and said it was because of students like him that the reputation of the college had been tarnished. 'X' never attended that professor's class again.

While his classmates joined management institutes and big companies after completing their college education, 'X' started his career as a door-to-door salesman for Eureka Forbes vacuum cleaners in Delhi. He was paid a meager salary of Rs 415 a month. But he was always good at one thing; while other salesman went from house to house convincing housewives of the benefits of their vacuum cleaners, 'X' approached hospitals and airports. He was able to sell 20 to 30 machines in one go. A few years down the lane, he joined a friend to start a garment export company. They bought a shut down factory in old Delhi and in just a few months they were able to set up three factories. After about 18 months in the business, 'X' decided to get into Advertising.

It was, however, different when he shifted to Mumbai and took to advertising. He started shooting television ads for Indian companies and multinational giants then entering India. Hero Cycles had recently come to India and was going to expand in a big way. He Directed an ad for them and went on to make many ad films for Indian and international clients such as Coke, Pepsi, Toyota, American Express etc. He established his company 'Flicks Motion Picture Company Private Limited' in 1986.


As a Feature Film Director, his first film, considered to be much ahead of its times, bombed at the box office. An NDTV documentary "Coffins in Tricolour" inspired him to make his second film which turned out to be a blockbuster and catapulted him to the big league.

The film went on to find a nomination, and was among the five entries in the Best Foreign Language Film category at the British Academy of Film and Television Arts Awards (BAFTA). It shared the honour with Mel Gibson's 'Apocalypto', Paul Verhoeven`s 'Black Book', Guillermo del Toro's 'Pan's Labyrinth' and Pedro Almodovar's 'Volver'. The award in the category went to Guillermo del Toro's fantastical saga 'Pan's Labyrinth'.






His third film too bombed at the box office. The makers came up with the idea of having a a mirror on the Audio CD cover of the film. According to 'X', the film tells us to look at ourself, and so it had a mirror on the CD cover.

'X' then Produced a film which was released in 2011 under his banner. The film was initially titled 'Mad, Madder, Maddest', but the title was later changed to a more suitable one. The film faired poorly at the box office.


'X' is an adventure-loving person and has a special affinity to under water diving.

'X' also has a culinary interest. Along with his elder brother Rajan, he owns the famous "Bauji Ka Dhaba" restaurant - in a Gurgaon mall and in The Garden Of Five Senses, near Saket in New Delhi. His father had started the food chain after working for 'The Claridges' for 45 years.









Baujee Ka Dhaba’s "Baujee" name arrived from X's father Lt. Shri Om Prakash, who was popularly known as "Baujee" in old age. In the year 1998, the name "Baujee Ka Dhaba" was brain stormed by X's niece Tisha.






The Dhaba not just serves good food, it has also won an award from the Ministry of Tourism for its ambience !! The Madhubani paintings that adorn the walls of the Dhaba have been etched by National Award winning artists.


Identify 'X'.