Tiwari was born into a Hindu family in Itarsi, Madhya Pradesh to B. D. Tiwari. He has a brother and a sister. He graduated from the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay in 1996 with a Bachelor's degree in Metallurgy and Material Science engineering. Tiwari worked as a creative Director at Leo Burnett before he entered Bollywood.
In 2016, he scripted, and directed Dangal which was screened at the Beijing International Film Festival in April 2017 and second BRICS festival in June 2017. The film is the highest-grossing Indian films and the fifth highest grossing non-English film, having collected over ₹2,000 crore (US$310 million) of which more than ₹1,200 crore was earned in China, where it has emerged as one of the top 20 highest-grossers of all time. Tiwari has garnered the Filmfare Best Director Award at the 62nd Filmfare Awards, and the Telstra People's Choice Award at the 2017 Indian Film Festival of Melbourne.
