Sanjay Leela Bhansali is an Indian film director, producer, screenwriter, and music director. One of the most critically acclaimed filmmakers in Indian cinema, Bhansali is the recipient of several awards, including four National Film Awards and ten Filmfare Awards. In 2015, the Government of Indiahonoured him with the Padma Shri, the fourth highest civilian award.

He made his directorial debut with Khamoshi: The Musical (1996), for which he received the Filmfare Critics Award for Best Film. He rose to prominence in Indian cinema with the commercially successful and widely acclaimed romantic drama Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam (1999), the romantic drama Devdas (2002) — which received nomination for the Best Foreign Film at British Academy of Film & Television Awards (BAFTA) — and the drama Black (2005), for all of which he received multiple Best Director Awards and Best Film Awards along with additional Critics Award for Best Film for the latter at Filmfare Awards, and multiple National Film Awards for the latter two. However, he followed it by directing consecutive commercially flop films such as Saawariya (2007) and Guzaarish(2010), however, Guzaarish received positive reviews from critics and audiences

This changed with his adaptation of Shakespeare‘s Romeo and Juliet — the tragic romance Goliyon Ki Raasleela Ram-Leela (2013) — opened to positive reviews and strong box office collections, for which he received several awards and nominations. His home production biographical sports film Mary Kom (2014), had him receive his third National Film Award. His historical romance Bajirao Mastani (2015) received critical acclaim and emerged as one of the highest-grossing Indian films of all time, for which he won National Film Award for Best Direction, as well as Best Director and Best Film Awards at Filmfare.

He is an alumnus of the Film and Television Institute of India.^[1] He is the founder of the production house Bhansali Productions. Bhansali has adopted the middle name “Leela” as a tribute to his mother, Leela Bhansali.