Sanjay Leela Bhansali

Sanjay Leela Bhansali is an Indian film 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.

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, 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. His next film Devdas Starring Shahrukh Khan and Aishwarya Rai and Madhuri Dixit 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 Indian submission for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. The musical received a significant reception at Cannes, where it premiered. Then came Black, which Time Magazine (Europe) selected as fifth of the  10 Best Movies of the Year 2005  from across the globe. Black 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 criticisms and simultaneously poor collections at the box office.

In 2010, Bhansali released Guzaarish starring Hrithik Roshan and Aishwarya Rai Bachchan. He also made his debut in music direction for this film.

In 2012, Bhansali produced Rowdy Rathore a remake of the Telugu film Vikramarkudu, starring Akshay Kumar and Sonakshi Sinha; and directed by Prabhu Deva.

His future project is titled Chenab Gandhi directed by Vibhu Puri and written by Bhavani Iyer, who also wrote for Black; starring Amitabh Bachchan, Rajeev Khandelwal and Rani Mukherjee. The film centers around Indian freedom fighter, Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan, also known as Frontier Gandhi.

He has also remained a judge on music talent show X Factor season 1 and 2.

In 2013, Bhansali debuted in television with the show Saraswatichandra, which currently airs on Star Plus. This show started airing on the 25th February 2013, starring Gautam Rode and Jennifer Winget.

Awards

 * National Film Awards
 * 2003: National Film Award for Best Popular Film Providing Wholesome Entertainment - Devdas
 * 2006: National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Hindi - Black

Nominated
 * Filmfare Awards
 * 1997: Filmfare Critics Award for Best Movie - Khamoshi: The Musical
 * 2000: Filmfare Best Director Award - Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam
 * 2000: Filmfare Best Movie Award - Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam
 * 2003: Filmfare Best Director Award - Devdas
 * 2003: Filmfare Best Movie Award - Devdas
 * 2006: Filmfare Best Director Award - Black
 * 2006: Filmfare Best Movie Award - Black
 * 2006: Filmfare Critics Award for Best Movie - Black
 * 2003: Filmfare Award for best Dialogue - Devdas
 * 2011: Filmfare Best Director Award - Guzaarish


 * Zee Cine Awards
 * 2000: Zee Cine Award Best Director - Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam
 * 2000: Zee Cine Award Best Film - Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam
 * 2003: Zee Cine Award Best Director - Devdas
 * 2003: Zee Cine Award Best Film - Devdas
 * 2006: Zee Cine Award Best Director - Black
 * 2006: Zee Cine Award Best Film - Black


 * Screen Awards
 * 2000: Screen Award for Best Director - Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam
 * 2000: Screen Award for Best Film - Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam
 * 2000: Star Screen Award Best Screenplay - Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam
 * 2003: Screen Award for Best Director - Devdas
 * 2003: Screen Award for Best Film - Devdas
 * 2006: Screen Award for Best Director - Black
 * 2006: Screen Award for Best Film - Black


 * IIFA Awards
 * 2000: IIFA Best Director Award - Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam
 * 2000: IIFA Best Movie Award - Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam
 * 2003: IIFA Best Director Award - Devdas
 * 2006: IIFA Best Director Award - Black
 * 2006: IIFA Best Movie Award - Black


 * Bollywood Movie Award
 * 2003: Bollywood Movie Award - Best Director - Devdas
 * 2003: Bollywood Movie Award - Best Film - Devdas
 * 2006: Bollywood Movie Award - Best Director - Black
 * 2006: Bollywood Movie Award - Best Film - Black


 * Stardust Awards
 * 2006: Stardust Dream Director Award - Black


 * Others
 * 2000: Zee Gold Award - Best Director - Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam
 * 2000: Zee Gold Award - Best Screenplay - Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam