He invested the money he made from his engineering career in USA in producing the 1998 movie
Hyderabad Blues. It is based on a script that he wrote in Atlanta dealing with Indians returning home from the United States of America. He directed and acted in the movie. It had a budget of
Rs. 1.7 million (roughly equivalent to US$40,000) and was shot in 17 days. It was perceived by Sanjay Arora, an independent film maker, to be realistic and one of the first movies to use
Hyderabadi Urdu correctly. It became the most successful
independent film in India. The film was featured at Peachtree International Film Festival in
Atlanta and
Rhode Island International Film Festival.
Later features 3 Deewarein (2003) was premiered at the
Kolkata Film Festival. In 2006, Nagesh Kukunoor wrote and directed
Dor, a drama film featuring
Ayesha Takia,
Gul Panag and
Shreyas Talpade as the lead actors. Nagesh also acted in the film, playing businessman Chopra. The film is about two women who come from different backgrounds and how fate brings them together. Meera (Ayesha Takia), a young woman who becomes a widow shortly after marriage, is trapped by tradition. Zeenat (Gul Panag), on the other hand, faces the daunting task of saving the life of her husband, who is on trial for murder. A bahuroopiya (Shreyas Talpade) helps her reach Meera, who holds the "string" to Zeenat's hope. The companionship that develops between Meera and Zeenat results in redemption for both. The film was well received by both the critics and film buffs. It was, however, his film
Iqbal featuring
Shreyas Talpade and
Naseeruddin Shah, which won him a lot of critical acclaim and recognition for the simple yet heart rending script by Nagesh and the acting by all actors. His next film
8 x 10 Tasveer, an action-thriller featuring
Akshay Kumar in the lead role fared poorly at the box office but was considered to be Nagesh's most self-reflective work to date. "I like to cast characters who are close to me. And this one gets as close to me as possible. I was once an environmental consultant. Akshay plays the part of an environment protection officer," Kukunoor said in an April 2009 interview. In 2015, at the
65th Berlin International Film Festival, his feature
Dhanak won The Grand Prix of the Generation Kplus International Jury for the best feature-length film, and received a Special Mention by Children's Jury in Generation Kplus Section. ==Filmography==