fiction.wikisort.org - Director

Hansal Mehta (born 29 April 1968) is an Indian film director, writer, actor and producer who works in Hindi cinema.[1][2] Mehta started his career in television with his show Khana Khazana (1993–2000) and later moved on to films like Jayate (1999), Dil Pe Mat Le Yaar!! (2000) and Chhal (2002). He is best known for Shahid (2013) for which he won the National Film Award for Best Direction. He then went on to direct City Lights (2014), Aligarh (2016),[3] Simran (2017), Omerta (2018) and Scam 1992 (2020).

Hansal Mehta
Mehta in 2016
Born	(1968-04-29) 29 April 1968 (age 54)
Occupation	Director producer screenwriter
Years active	1993–present
Spouse(s)	Sunita Mehta ​ (divorced)​ Safeena Husain ​ (m. 2022)​
Children	4
Relatives	Yusuf Hussain (father-in-law)

Early life

Mehta was born on 29 April 1968 in a middle-class Gujarati family from Mumbai.[1][4] He grew up learning classical music and studied computer engineering. He worked in Fiji before returning to India to start his career in films.[5]

Career

Mehta started his career in 1993, by directing with TV cookery show Khana Khazana, thus launching the television career of celebrity chef Sanjeev Kapoor on Zee TV. Alongside, Mehta also directed several television series like Amrita (1994), Highway (1995), Yaadein (1995), Lakshya (1998), Neeti (1998) and many more.

He made his debut as a feature film director with ...Jayate, a part of the Indian Panorama 1999–2000 at the International Film Festival of India (IFFI), Hyderabad. This was later followed by Dil Pe Mat Le Yaar!! (2000) a bittersweet migrant tale set in Mumbai. This film, though not a huge box-office success continues to enjoy a following for its dark humour and its exploration of life on the fringes of Mumbai. Later that year he came up with Chhal (2002) a stylised gangster film that met with more praise than his previous films. By his own admission the films post-Chhal were disappointing and his career entered a phase where he flirted with formulaic mainstream themes. He made his presence felt with a short film in Dus Kahaniyaan, (2007) titled High on the Highway, which was basically a retelling of a short (Highway) that he directed for television in 1995, based on a script by Vishal Bhardwaj . In 2008 after the release of Woodstock Villa he went on an extended sabbatical to explore life as a foodie, entrepreneur and to explore themes that mattered to him.[6]

Mehta truly came into the lime-light with his film Shahid (2013) starring Rajkummar Rao. Shahid had its world premier at the 2012 Toronto International Film Festival following which it had an extended run at various international film festivals around the world. This film was later acquired by Disney-UTV and commercially released in October 2013. A biographical film on the life of human rights lawyer Shahid Azmi, who was murdered in 2010.[6][7] this film continues to shine a light on human rights and the Indian judicial system and is highly rated on various digital streaming platforms like Netflix and Amazon Prime. Hansal was honoured with the 61st National Film Award for Best Direction while Rajkummar Rao won the 61st National Film Award for Best Actor for Shahid.

After their success together, Hansal Mehta teamed again with Rajkummar Rao to make the acclaimed City Lights (an official adaptation of the British Indie hit Metro Manila) for Fox Star Studios and Mahesh Bhatt. After Citylights, Mehta directed, Aligarh (2016) based on a Marathi professor and poet who was suspended by his university for being gay. This film premiered at the 20th Busan International Film Festival followed by the BFI London Film Festival. Aligarh was the opening film at the 17th Jio MAMI Mumbai Film Festival.[8] Based on a script by his long time collaborator Apurva Asrani (previous collaborations Chhal, Shahid, Citylights) Aligarh featured three of Mehta's favourite actors Manoj Bajpayee (with whom he reunited after Dil Pe Mat Le Yaar in 2000), Ashish Vidyarthi (after Highway in 1995) and Rajkummar Rao (their third collaboration since Shahid). Aligarh was presented and co-produced by Eros International.

Upcoming Projects

Hansal Mehta will direct Faraaz which is based on the Holey Artisan cafe attack that shook Bangladesh in July 2016.[9] Mehta will helm Captain Indian inspire by true events, starring Kartik Aaryan.[10]

His next project is Netflix series Scoop based on ex-journalist Jigna Vora's prison memoir.[11]

Personal life

Mehta married Sunita in his 20s, with whom he has two sons—Jay, who is a director and Pallava.[12][13] After divorcing Sunita, Mehta dated actor Yusuf Hussain's daughter Safeena, with who he has two daughters—Kimaya and Rehana.[12][14][15] In 2022, Mehta married Safeena in a small ceremony in California.[16]

Filmography

This section needs additional citations for verification. (April 2022)

Film

Year	Title	Director	Producer	Writer	Notes
1999	Jayate	Yes	No	Yes
1994	Amrita	Yes	No	No
1999	Dooriyan	Yes	No	No
2000	Dil Pe Mat Le Yaar	Yes	No	No
2002	Chhal	Yes	No	No
	Yeh Kya Ho Raha Hai?	Yes	No	No
2005	Anjaan	Yes	No	No
2007	Dus Kahaniyaan	Yes	No	Yes	Anthology film
2008	Woodstock Villa	Yes	No	No
2010	Raakh	Yes	No	Yes
2013	Shahid	Yes	No	Yes
2014	CityLights	Yes	No	No
2015	Aligarh	Yes	No	No
2017	Simran	Yes	No	No
	Omerta	Yes	No	Yes
2018	Garbage	No	Yes	No
2019	The Accidental Prime Minister	No	Creative	No
2020	Chhalaang	Yes	No	No
2022	Faraaz	Yes	No	No	Completed [17]
TBA	Dedh Bigha Zameen	No	Yes	No	Filming [18]

Television

Year	Title	Director	Executive Producer	Writer	Showrunner	Notes
1993-1999	Khana Khazana	Yes	No	No	No
1994	Kalakaar	Yes	No	No	No
	Amrita	Yes	No	No	No
1995	Highway	Yes	No	No	No
	Yaadein	Yes	No	No	No
1998	Lakshya	Yes	No	No	No
	Neeti	Yes	No	No	No
1999	Star Bestsellers	Yes	No	No	No
2004	Family Business	Yes	No	No	No
2017	Bose: Dead/Alive	No	Yes	No	No	ALT Balaji series
2020	Locked in Love	Yes	Yes	No	No
	Scam 1992	Yes	Yes	No	No	Co-directed with Jai Mehta
2022	Modern Love: Mumbai	Yes	No	Yes	No	Episode: "Baai"
TBA	Scoop	Yes	Yes	No	No	Filming [19]
TBA	Scam 2003	No	Yes	No	Yes	Filming [20]

Awards and nominations

Year	Award	Category	Nominated work	Result	Ref(s)
2014	National Film Awards	Best Direction	Shahid	Won	[21]
2021	Filmfare OTT Awards	Best Director - Drama, Series	Scam 1992	Won	[22]

References

External links

• Hansal Mehta at IMDb 
• Hansal Mehta at Bollywood Hungama

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