Prasoon Joshi
प्रसून जोशीborn 1971 · Public Life & Sport · Almora
Prasoon Joshi, born in Almora, took the Kumaoni ear for language into Indian advertising and film: the man behind campaigns like 'Thanda Matlab Coca-Cola', the lyrics of Taare Zameen Par and Rang De Basanti, and the screenplays that won him National Awards.
He was born on 16 September 1971 in Almora, into a family of Kumaoni scholars and civil servants, and published Hindi verse as a teenager before an MBA took him into advertising. He rose to lead McCann Worldgroup in India and then across Asia.
As a lyricist and writer he brought a poet's plainness to the mainstream: songs for Rang De Basanti and Taare Zameen Par, the National Film Award for the lyrics of Taare Zameen Par and again for Chittagong, and the screenplay and dialogues of Bhaag Milkha Bhaag. He has often said his imagery of rivers, mists and mountains is Kumaon remembered.
He received the Padma Shri in 2015 and has chaired the Central Board of Film Certification since 2017, one of the most visible cultural offices in the country, carrying an Almora childhood into the centre of Indian popular culture.