Sanjay Leela Bhansali (Devanagari:संजय लीला भंसाली) is a highly acclaimed 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.
His debut film Khamoshi: The Musical was the critically acclaimed narration of a daughter's struggle to communicate with her deaf mute parents. Bhansali won several awards for the film, and emerged as a director to watch. His next film, Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam showcased another facet of the director enveloping the story of relationship, with visual splendour and an aura of celebration and festivity which bore an individualistic stamp. The film was a great success and won numerous awards for Best Movie at a number of award ceremonies. His next film, Devdas was Bhansali's ode to a well known novel of the same name. The musical received a significant reception at Cannes, where it premiered. It won major Bollywood awards and was India’s official entry to the Oscars. Upon its thatrical release in India, the film surfaced as the highest grossing movie. Then came Black, his most praised film to date. Time Magazine (Europe) selected the film as one of the 10 Best Movies of the Year 2005 from across the globe. The movie was positioned at number five.
He has won the Filmfare Best Director Award three times; for Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam, Devdas and Black. Black broke a record at the 2006 Filmfare Awards, winning eleven awards.
After having four outright successes, Bhansali directed Saawariya, starring debutantes Ranbir Kapoor (son of actors Rishi Kapoor and Neetu Singh) and Sonam Kapoor (daughter of actor Anil Kapoor). The film, upon release, was met with sharp criticisms, and simultaneously poor collections at the box office.
