Sanjay Leela Bhansali Biography

Sanjay Leela Bhansali is a  well-known film director, producer, screen writer and music director in Indian cinema. He made his directorial debut in 1996 with the musical drama 'Kamoshi :The Music. Bhansali is reagrded as hit maker of the films like Devdas(2002), Goliyon Ki Raasleela Ram-Leela (2013), Bajirao Mastani (2015) and Gangubai Kathiawadi(2022).

Personal Life

Sanjay Leel Bhansali was born in Mumbai, Maharashtra as the son of producer Navin Bhansali and Leela Bhansali. After completing graduation from Lala Lajpatrai College in Mumbai, he earned a PG Diploma from Film and Television Institute of India, Pune.

Career Life

Bhansali began his career as an assistant to Vidhu Vinod Chopra and was involved in the making of Parinda, 1942 A Love Story and Kareeb. However, both had a fall out when Bhansali refused to direct Kareeb and instead made his directorial debut outside the Chopra camp with Khamoshi: The Musical, the commercially unsuccessful, but critically acclaimed narration of a daughter's struggle to communicate with her deaf mute parents.

His next film was a triangular love story, Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam, which established his individualistic stamp for visual splendour and creating auras of celebration and festivity. The film was a great success and won numerous awards. He then directed the epic love drama film Devdas in the year 2002. It featured Shah Rukh Khan, Aishwarya Rai, Madhuri Dixit, and Kirron Kher in the lead roles. The film was Bhansali's ode to the well-known novel of the same name.

Upon its theatrical release in India, the film surfaced as the highest-grossing movie. It also won major Bollywood awards and was India’s official entry to the Oscars. The musical received a significant reception at Cannes, where it premiered. In 2005, he directed another film, titled Black, which featured Amitabh Bachchan and Rani Mukerji. The film was selected by Time Magazine (Europe) as the fifth of the 10 most notable movies of the year 2005 from across the globe. On the other hand, it broke a record at the 2006 Filmfare Awards, winning eleven awards.

After having four successes, Bhansali experienced his first major flop in Saawariya, which was met with sharp criticism and simultaneously poor collections at the box office.  In 2013, he released the film 'Ram Leela', which was a commercial success and earned Rs 17 crore on its opening day at the box office. For this film, he won the Filmfare Award for Best Director in 2015. In the same year, he won a National Film Award for best direction for the film ' Baijrao Mastani'.

Later, in 2017 he directed an epic-romantic drama 'Padmavati', featuring Deepika Padukone as Rani Padmavati, with Ranveer Singh and Shahid Kapoor opposite her. The film was well-received at the box-office and won three National Film Awards.

In the year 2022,released his film Gangubai Kathiawadi, which became a blockbuster at the box-office.The film marked his first collaboration with actress Alia Bhatt. As per the global box-office collection, the film grossed more than 2 million across the world.
 
Apart from being a filmmaker, Bhansali is also a well-known producer and music director of Bollywood. Under his production house, 'Bhansali Productions', he produced many blockbuster hits. The list includes films like Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam (1999), Black (2005), Saawariya (2007) and My Friend Pinto (2011). In the year 2010, he made his music debut for the film Guzaarish.


Awards & Recognition

Sanjay Leela Bhansali has won numerous awards for his remarkable contribution to Indian cinema. He received his first National award for the best director category for the film 'Devadas' in 2002. He also won ten Filmfare awards and a BAFTA nomination. In recognition of his contributions, he was conferred Padma Shri award by the President of India in 2015.