Banerjee joined advertising as a copywriter first with Shems Combit,
TBWA Anthem, and then he joined Contract Advertising, Delhi, where he worked with
Pradeep Sarkar, who was then a creative director at the agency. Screenwriter
Jaideep Sahni was also one of his colleagues, who later penned Khosla Ka Ghosla's story, screenplay, dialogues and lyrics. In 1997, he left Contract to launch his own company named 'Watermark', with two ex- NID friends, to develop promos for
Channel V and
MTV and Ad films for major brands. With friend and ex-colleague Jaideep Sahni he conceptualised his debut film "about Delhi, based in Delhi",
Khosla Ka Ghosla (2006) starring
Anupam Kher and
Boman Irani, shot in locations in and around New Delhi. The film was a critical and commercial success and won the
National Film Award. The film brought Banerjee in the list of new filmmakers who were bringing about a marked shift in Bollywood themes, which typically focuses on stories & characters from in and around Mumbai. Banerjee then co-wrote and directed his second feature,
Oye Lucky! Lucky Oye! (2008), which was also set in his hometown Delhi. The film starring
Abhay Deol,
Neetu Chandra and
Paresh Rawal, premiered at the
International Film Festival of India, Goa, along with
Museum of Modern Art, New York. It was released in the
2008 Mumbai attacks weekend to positive reviews and went on to become a sleeper hit. Rachel Saltz of
The New York Times described the film as "a breezy mix of satire and realism".
Oye Lucky! Lucky Oye! won the
National Film Award for
Best Popular Film. In 2010, Banerjee directed India's first film shot entirely on Digital Camera, and to be presented in the
found footage style,
Love Sex Aur Dhokha. The film was shown through Handycams, CCTV cameras and mobile cameras. Dealing with Issues like
honour killings,
MMS scandals, and
sting operations, the film was released on 19 March 2010 to positive reception and strong box office results.
Rajeev Masand of CNN-IBN rated it 4 out of 5, stating " Dibakar Banerjee's Love, Sex aur Dhoka is the most riveting Hindi film in recent memory. [...] You will be shocked, you will be startled, but walking out of the theatre, you know you have just seen what is possibly the most important Hindi film since
Satya and
Dil Chahta Hai. Not only does it redefine the concept of "realistic cinema", it opens a world of possibilities in terms of how you can shoot films now." Banerjee's next directorial venture was
Shanghai (2012), a political drama involving an assassination of a social activist. Starring Abhay Deol,
Kalki Koechlin and
Emraan Hashmi, the film was based on the 1967 Greek novel
Z written by
Vassilis Vassilikos.
Shanghai premiered at the
2012 Toronto International Film Festival and released on 8 June 2012. In 2013, Banerjee adapted
Satyajit Ray's short story- Patol Babu, Film Star, starring
Nawazuddin Siddiqui for
Bombay Talkies. It was the part of the anthology film made by four directors Including -
Anurag Kashyap,
Zoya Akhtar and
Karan Johar. The film was made as a celebration of 100 years of Indian cinema.
Bombay Talkies under-performed at the box office, but was well received by critics; specially Banerjee's story.
Anupama Chopra in her review mentioned: "Dibakar narrates his story with such tenderness and Siddiqui is so good that by the end, I was wiping away tears". Next Banerjee went on to adapt
Byomkesh Bakshi, created by the
Bengali writer
Sharadindu Bandyopadhyay, as
Detective Byomkesh Bakshy! (2015). The film starring
Sushant Singh Rajput as the titular character was produced jointly by
Yash Raj Films and his own film production company Dibakar Banerjee Productions. Set in the Kolkata of 1940s, the film was released on 3 April 2015 and met with mixed to positive reviews from critics. It was released in India on 30 October 2015, to positive reviews. The same month he returned the National Award for
Khosla ka Ghosla along with 12 other filmmakers, in protest against the
Ministry of Information and Broadcasting refusing to roll back
FTII's appointment of
Gajendra Chauhan. In 2018, Banerjee again collaborated with Kashyap, Akhtar and Johar for the anthology film
Lust Stories. Based on the theme of lust, it had stories told through female perspective. Banerjee's story had
Manisha Koirala and
Sanjay Kapoor. The film was released on
Netflix on 15 June 2018. In 2020, Banerjee helped direct a short film series entitled
Ghost Stories. He worked alongside, Karan Johar, Anurag Kasyap, and Zoya Akhter on the four short films that premiered on Netflix on January 1, 2020. Banerjee's short follows a man, played by Sukant Goel, who travels to different towns when he comes across a particularly disturbing one that cannibals inhabit. Next Banerjee co-wrote
Sandeep Aur Pinky Faraar with Varun Grover which was released on March 19, 2021. The film follows a woman banker, 'Sandeep', and suspended male cop, 'Pinky' as they must navigate an escape after a setup puts them both in danger. Most recently Banerjee directed, produced and wrote
Love Sex Aur Dhokha 2 which was a sequel to
Love Sex Aur Dhokha (2010). The film was released April 19, 2010 and flopped in the box office. The story follows three characters, Noor, Kullu Vikwarkarma and Shubham Narang/Game Paapi, whose stories are separate from each other. Noor is a trans woman who is navigating her perception on a reality dating show called 'Truth Ya Naach (Truth or Dance)'. The second story follows the events after Kullu, who is a trans woman who works at a metro station, was assaulted by five men. The last story follows Shubham Narang, also known as Game Paapi, a famous streamer, as his life falls apart after AI-produced videos and images are posted of him. While not being received well at box office the film was nominated for five awards at the 70th Filmfare Awards in 2025 including, Best Story. == Filmography ==