Sanjay Leela Bhansali, Indian Filmmaker Behind ‘Devdas’, ‘Padmaavat’, ‘Bajirao Mastani’ & ‘Heeramandi’, Signs With WME

April 19, 2023

EXCLUSIVE: Leading Indian filmmaker Sanjay Leela Bhansali and his banner Bhansali Productions have signed with U.S. agency WME.

One of the most well-known filmmakers out of India, Bhansali has worked as a screenwriter, music composer, editor, and producer across his three-decade career.

His 2002 film Devdas, an adaptation of author Sarat Chandra’s novel of the same name, premiered at Cannes and received a BAFTA nomination for Best Foreign Language Film.

In 2005, his film Black, inspired by the life of Hellen Keller and starring Bollywood titans Amitabh Bachchan and Rani Mukerji, won the Indian National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Hindi.

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Since beginning to compose music for his own films back in 2010, Bhansali has been recognized in the music space as well. In 2019, he won the National Film Award for Best Music Direction for his work in his film Padmaavat. He also recently released an album of self-composed music titled Sukoon with singers including Shreya Ghoshal.

Most recently, Gangubai Kathiawadi, his tenth film, starring Bollywood superstar Alia Bhatt, premiered at Berlin in 2022. The film then premiered on Netflix and became the first Indian film on the Global Top 10 (Non-English) in its first week.

Other movies he has directed include Bajirao Mastani starring Priyanka Chopra Jonas, Ranveer Singh and Deepika Padukone; Goliyon Ki Rasleela Ram-Leela starring Ranveer Singh and Deepika Padukone; and Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam starring Aishwarya Rai Bachchan and Salman Khan.

Last month, Netflix’s Ted Sarandos took part in an in-conversation session with the filmmaker in India for their upcoming big-canvas TV series Heeramandi, on which Bhansali is a director and producer.

The filmmaker is also in production on documentary Beyond The Star about Salman Khan, and is in pre-production on his first fully-fledged musical Baiju Bawra, which is rumored to be starring Alia Bhatt and Ranveer Singh. He will also be producer on anticipated sequel Rowdy Rathore 2.