Theatre and other works Kundalkar, who had had an interest in film making since his school days, had approached director
Ashutosh Gowarikar for assistance. But the director asked him to come back after finishing his education. While still a student, he assisted
Sumitra Bhave and Sunil Sukhthankar in their first film together,
Doghi (1995). The film was adjudged as the
Best Film on Other Social Issues at the
43rd National Film Awards. He also assisted in other films including
Zindagi Zindabad,
Bhaais Barabar and
Dahavi Fha. After completing his degree in commerce, Kundalkar later on enrolled at the
Film and Television Institute of India (FTII). Kundalkar directed short films and worked in theatre before entering the mainstream cinema. His first short film,
Out of the Box, was made while he was still a student at FTII. His 2005 documentary short film
The Bath, starring
Rajat Kapoor, is based on an explicit gay theme. The film won 2nd prize in the Short Fiction category presented by the Indian Documentary Producers' Association (IDPA) for "its sensitive depiction of issues of male sexuality" and was also screened at the
30th San Francisco International LGBT Film Festival. Kundalkar has also portrayed homosexual characters in his Marathi plays
Chotyasha Suteet (literally meaning
In the Short Break) and
Poornaviram (literally meaning
Fullstop). He went on to write
Fridge Madhe Thevlela Prem and
Chandralok Complex. All four plays were directed by
Mohit Takalkar. These plays have also been staged in Hindi and English.
Chotyasha Suteet has been staged as
On Vacation for English audiences.
Feature films Kundalkar released his first feature film,
Restaurant, in 2006. Featuring
Sonali Kulkarni in the lead role, the film screened at the 4th Goa Marathi Film Festival, 12th International Film Festival of Kerala, 8th Mumbai Film Festival and was also appreciated in other film festivals. His second directorial film,
Nirop, presented the unsurfaced feelings of a musician in his last days in his hometown in
Konkan before he moves to France. The film was adjudged as
Best Feature Film in Marathi at the
55th National Film Awards for being "an original offbeat film that gives a fresh perspective of the internal landscapes of the human mind." He shared this award with the producer of the film, Aparna Dharmadhikari. The film stars
Sameer Dharmadhikari and
Devika Daftardar in the lead roles. Kundalkar also wrote the script of this film. His 2009 film
Gandha is a blend of three different stories connected by the common factor of the human sense of
smell. The stories were written by Kundalkar and his mother Archana Kundalkar. The film won the
Best Screenplay Award at the
56th National Film Awards for "its remarkable integration of three different plots using the sense of smell as a
liet motif to focus sensitively on human relationships".
Gandha became the first Marathi film to win this award after the category's institution in 1967. The film was screened at the 8th Third Eye Asian Film Festival. Kundalkar's
Bollywood directorial debut,
Aiyyaa, starring
Rani Mukherjee and
Prithviraj in lead roles released in 2012. The film was produced by
Anurag Kashyap and
Viacom 18. In 2022, he directed Marathi relationship drama film
Pondicherry, which was entirely shot on
iPhone with only 15 crew members. Most recently, Kundalkar's 2013 novel
Cobalt Blue was adapted into a feature film of the same name. It was released on Netflix in 2022. ==Filmography==