His work has passionate (and often damaged) individuals reaching out to each other over great distances to connect with each other.
Fact
Son of producer Navin Bhansali.
Sanjay Leela Bhansali is an Indian film director, producer, screenwriter, and music composer. He is one of the most acclaimed filmmakers in India. His films are known for their grandeur, lavish sets, and elaborate costumes. Bhansali has directed some of the most successful films in Bollywood including “Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam”, “Devdas”, “Black”, and “Goliyon Ki Raasleela Ram-Leela”. He has also produced and written several films.
Bhansali was born on February 24, 1963, in Mumbai, India. His father, Leela Bhansali, was a film producer and his mother, Saroj Bhansali, was a homemaker. He has two sisters, Bela Sehgal and Rani Bhansali. Bhansali attended St. Xavier’s College, Mumbai, where he studied arts and filmmaking.
Bhansali made his directorial debut with the film “Khamoshi: The Musical” in 1996. The film was a critical and commercial success. He followed it up with the blockbuster hit “Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam” in 1999. The film starred Salman Khan and Aishwarya Rai Bachchan in the lead roles.
Bhansali’s next film, “Devdas”, was an adaptation of the classic novel by Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay. The film starred Shahrukh Khan, Madhuri Dixit, and Aishwarya Rai Bachchan in the lead roles. “Devdas” was a huge commercial success and is considered one of the best films of Bhansali’s career.
In 2005, Bhansali directed the critically acclaimed film “Black”. The film starred Amitabh Bachchan and Rani Mukerji in the lead roles. “Black” was a commercial success and won several awards including the National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Hindi.
Bhansali’s next film was “Goliyon Ki Raasleela Ram-Leela” in 2013. The film was an adaptation of Shakespeare’s play “Romeo and Juliet”. It starred Ranveer Singh and Deepika Padukone in the lead roles. The film was a commercial success and won several awards including the Filmfare Award for Best Director.
Bhansali has also produced and written several films including “Guzaarish” (2010) and “Rowdy Rathore” (2012).
Bhansali has a net worth of $20 million. He has won several awards including the National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Hindi and the Filmfare Award for Best Director.
General Info
Full Name
Sanjay Leela Bhansali
Profession
Film director, Film producer, Screenwriter, Film Editor, Television producer, Film Score Composer, Television Editor, Music Director
Education
Film and Television Institute of India
Nationality
Indian
Family
Parents
D.O. Bhansali, Leela Bhansali
Siblings
Bela Segal
Accomplishments
Awards
Filmfare Award for Best Film, Filmfare Award for Best Director, Padma Shri, National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Hindi, National Film Award for Best Popular Film Providing Wholesome Entertainment, National Film Award for Best Direction, Zee Cine Award for Best Film, IIFA Award for Best Direc...
Nominations
Filmfare Award for Best Dialogue, Filmfare Award for Best Music Director, IIFA Award for Best Film, BIG Star Most Entertaining Film, BIG Star Most Entertaining Director, BIG Star Most Entertaining Song, GiMA Award for Best Film Song, Mirchi Music Awards for Critics' Choice Music Composer of The Year...
Movies
Padmavati, Bajirao Mastani, Goliyon Ki Rasleela Ram-Leela, Devdas, Saawariya, Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam, Guzaarish, Khamoshi: The Musical, Black, Rowdy Rathore, Mary Kom, My Friend Pinto, Gustakhiyan, Gabbar is Back, Shirin Farhad Ki Toh Nikal Padi, 1942: A Love Story, Laal Ishq, Chenab Gandhi
His films often feature emotional pain and trauma being exprienced by his protagonists.
3
His work has passionate (and often damaged) individuals reaching out to each other over great distances to connect with each other.
Quotes
#
Quote
1
About Saawariya (2007): Saawariya is a simple but exotic love story. True love is divine. It has to have yearning, disappointment and agony.
2
What fun to explore a road not taken, to explore blacks, blues and grays instead of riotous colors! You know, those who do only the expected things evaporate form the minds of audiences. Audiences too want a change from the same boring formulas and anyway formulas are failing all the time. I believe that audiences make no special demands. Good fiction, made with honesty, conviction and entertainment, and they'll accept it...
3
About teachers: I have learned Odissi; I know what the teacher can do, why we touch his feet. We don't respect our teachers anymore, but to me God is the teacher. He comes into your life once - he can be neurotic, erratic, complex, but he transforms your life and perspective. You must not submit meekly, but question what you're taught. Then the teacher removes your fears about life, the world - and yourself...
4
About Devdas (2002): It's got a garish, nautanki format to it. I've paid tributes to all films like it, from Chaudhvin Ka Chand (1961) to Prem Rog (1982). I've made the film as Raj Kapoor would have made it - over the top. I can't get Bimal Roy's subtle format and delineation anyway...
5
About his "lack of restraint": Listen, I was born and brought up in Bombay, where people shout at each other from the windows of flats on opposite sides of the streets. I belong to a community with a loud lifestyle. You can't expect dignity, propriety, control and detachment from ME! My talk is full-throated, my expressions full-blooded. I cannot make a film without melodrama.
6
About the hearing-impaired: I was fascinated by the way in which teachers and parents struggled to reach out to hearing-impaired children. How do you start the communication, how do you keep it going? What takes other children a year to learn takes them ten years for them to absorb. I watched a mother trying so hard, and with such patience, to convey the simplest things - I wanted to make a film about it right away. I find their zest for life and unquenchable fighting spirit a thing to be admired. What a long tough struggle, yet they choose to live with energy and vitality! They don't want our pity, nor have I treated them as people who need our sympathy. You know, as they talk, they hold your hand - they're reaching out desperately, almost entirely through the touch; that is their most basic, urgent mode of communication, more than textbook grammar, than even the language of gesture. There is so much honesty in that touch. We don't touch each other anymore and I think we hear less because of that. I've never felt more reassured than when I held a deaf person's hand.
7
About Alzheimer's disease: The idea of forgetting...things, names, persons...terrifies me. When I forget a little thing, it is an absolute trauma until it comes back to me again. All of us have these lapses of memory - what if memory doesn't return?
8
Deep down, the disadvantaged are angry with life. They want to see/hear/talk, but are constantly groping in the dark. They are so insecure about communication that there is a whole surrender in it. They get angry over the smallest of things! Imagine the frustrations of not being fully understood...anger is an important part of their expression.
9
On disabled children: The physically challenged are not children of a lesser god. They're far more beautiful than the so-called normal people. They appreciate every shade of life, like my protagonist in Black (2005). She's a true-blue hero.
10
Black for you may be darkness; for me it is a universal truth. Our best ideas come from the darkness of the mind; every new life is created in the darkness of the womb...
11
At the premiere of Black (2005): Until recently I didn't even have a proper office. I've just a couple of staffers, hence my agitation and anxiety at the premiere. I single-handedly sent out all the invitations, called up every person individually and made sure they were all there at the premiere. I agree this isn't the way for me to function. But I'm basically a middle class boy from the chawls. I can't bring myself to trust others to do my work.
Facts
#
Fact
1
Son of producer Navin Bhansali.
2
Son of sound recordists D.O. Bhansali.
3
Sister Bela Segal is the daughter-in-law of director Mohan Segal.
4
He is the only director, besides the legendary Guru Dutt, who created his films in total isolation from the public. In fact, two of Dutt's films - Kaagaz Ke Phool (1959) and Sahib Bibi Aur Ghulam (1962) - are Bhansali's favourite movies. His wish is to remake either or both of these movies at some point in his career, as well as to make a biopic on Guru Dutt's life.
5
Frequently sneaks scenes from his life into his films.
6
Conceives his films in a unique fashion - he designs the film soundtrack first and then creates the film.
Pictures
Movies
Producer
Title
Year
Status
Character
Bajirao Mastani
2015
producer
Gabbar is Back
2015
producer
Mary Kom
2014
producer
Goliyon Ki Rasleela Ram-Leela
2013
producer
Saraswatichandra
2013
TV Series producer - 1 episode
Shirin Farhad Ki Toh Nikal Padi
2012
producer
Rowdy Rathore
2012
producer
My Friend Pinto
2011
producer
Guzaarish
2010
producer
Saawariya
2007
producer
Black
2005
producer
Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam
1999
producer
Director
Title
Year
Status
Character
Rani Padmavati
2017
pre-production
Bajirao Mastani
2015
Goliyon Ki Rasleela Ram-Leela
2013
Saraswatichandra
2013
TV Series 1 episode
Guzaarish
2010
Saawariya
2007
Black
2005
Devdas
2002/I
Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam
1999
Khamoshi: The Musical
1996
Writer
Title
Year
Status
Character
Bajirao Mastani
2015
additional writer
Goliyon Ki Rasleela Ram-Leela
2013
screenplay
Shirin Farhad Ki Toh Nikal Padi
2012
Guzaarish
2010
screenplay
Black
2005
screenplay
Devdas
2002/I
screenplay
Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam
1999
writer
Khamoshi: The Musical
1996
1942: A Love Story
1994
screenplay
Composer
Title
Year
Status
Character
Rani Padmavati
2017
pre-production
Bajirao Mastani
2015
Goliyon Ki Rasleela Ram-Leela
2013
Guzaarish
2010
music director
Editor
Title
Year
Status
Character
Mary Kom
2014
Goliyon Ki Rasleela Ram-Leela
2013
Bharat Ek Khoj
1988
TV Series
Music Department
Title
Year
Status
Character
Kareeb
1998
associate director: songs
1942: A Love Story
1994
associate director: songs
Parinda
1989
associate director: songs - as Sanjay Bhansali
Soundtrack
Title
Year
Status
Character
Bajirao Mastani
2015
producer: "Deewani Mastani", "Aayat", "Malhari", "Mohe Rang Do Laal", "Albela Sajan", "Ab Tohe Jane Na Doongi", "Pinga", "Aaj Ibaadat", "Fitoori", "Gajanana"
