Sanjay Leela Bhansali

Somewhat of a Renaissance man, Sanjay Leela Bhansali – born in Bombay, India on February 24, 1963 – is an award-winning producer, director, screenwriter, and music composter best known for his work in Hindi cinema (aka Bollywood). He began his career as an assistant to director Vidhu Vinod Chopra, and made his debut as a director with Khamoshi: The Musical (1996). Within a few years, he had risen to prominence with his films Dil De Chuke Sanam (1999), Devdas (2002), and Black (2005). After a short period when his films weren’t box-office successes, he returned with the 2013 hit film Goliyon Ki Raasleela Ram-Leela, a modern Bollywood retelling of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. He then scored box office gold with a wide variety of films including the sports biopic Mary Kom (2004), and period dramas Bajirao Mastani (2015) and Padmaavat (2018), which became two of the highest-grossing films of all time in India. During this period, he won several awards, honors, and nominations from the British Academy of Film & Television Awards (BAFTA), the Filmfare Awards, the National Film Awards, and many more. He became the music director on many of his own films beginning with 2010’s Guzaarish and continuing with Goliyon Ki Raasleela Ram-Leela(2013), Bajirao Mastani (2015), Padmaavat (2018), Malaal (2019), and Gangubai Kathiawadi (2022), which features the hit “Meri Jaan,” which was streamed on social media over 51 million times within the first three weeks of release.