Sanjay Leela Bhansali

Sanjay Leela Bhansali is an Indian film director, producer, screenwriter, and music director. He is an alumnus of the Film and Television Institute of India. Bhansali has adopted the middle name "Leela" as a tribute to his mother, Leela Bhansali. He founded SLB Films, a film production house, in 1999.

Born      1963 (age 51–52) Mumbai, India

Nationality          Indian

Ethnicity              Gujarati

Occupation         Film Director, Film Producer, Screenwriter, Music Director, Television Producer

Career

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 made his directorial debut with Khamoshi: The Musical, the commercially unsuccessful but critically acclaimed narration of a daughter's struggle to communicate with her deaf mute parents. His second film was a triangular love story, Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam, starring Aishwarya Rai, Salman Khan, and Ajay Devgan which established his individualistic stamp for visual splendor and creating auras of celebration and festivity. The film was a great success and won numerous awards. His next film, Devdas, starring Shah Rukh Khan, Aishwarya Rai and Madhuri Dixit, was Bhansali's ode to the novel of the same name which became the highest grossing film of 2002. It also was India's submission for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. It stood eighth in Time magazine's "The 10 Greatest Movies of the Millennium (Thus Far)" Then came Black, starring Amitabh Bachchan and Rani Mukerji, which stood fifth in Time (Europe)'s "10 Best Movies of the Year 2005" among films from across the world. Bhansali's Saawariya was met with sharp criticism and poor collections at the box office.

In 2006 Bhansali joined the TV production by participating as a judge on reality TV show Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa alongside Farah Khan and Shilpa Shetty.

In 2008, Bhansali staged the opera Padmavati, an adaption of the 1923 ballet written by Albert Roussel. The first show premiered in Paris at the prestigious Théâtre du Châtelet and next at the Festival dei Due Mondi, where it received "fifteen minutes of standing ovation and seven curtain calls at the end of the first show." Bhansali received many positive comments from international critics for his work.

In 2010, Bhansali released Guzaarish starring Hrithik Roshan and Aishwarya Rai. He also made his debut in music direction with this film. Later in 2012, Bhansali produced Rowdy Rathore, a remake of the Telugu film Vikramarkudu, starring Akshay Kumar and Sonakshi Sinha; and directed by Prabhu Deva.

In 2013, Bhansali directed Goliyon Ki Raasleela Ram-Leela, an adaptation of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, starred Ranveer Singh and Deepika Padukone in the lead roles.

His next directorial venture is the period romance Bajirao Mastani, based on the love story between Peshwa Baji Rao I and his second wife Mastani. Ranveer Singh and Deepika Padukone will play the two title roles, while Priyanka Chopra will play Bajirao's first wife Kashibai. The film was announced in 2003 and was constantly in the news regarding the cast, including such actors as Salman Khan, Shahrukh Khan, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Kareena Kapoor and Rani Mukerji.

He has been a judge on Indian music talent show X Factor Season 1.

In 2013, Bhansali debuted in television with the show Saraswatichandra starring Gautam Rode and Jennifer Winget.