Anil Sharma - Biography

Biography

Anil Sharma is one of the few directors of Indian cinema best known for his big vision whose films have always stood out because of their huge canvas and broken new ground.He made his directional debut with Shradhanjali with Raakhee. Born in Mathura, Anil has grown up hearing mythological stories from his grandfather. These stories have left a deep impact on Sharma and have been instrumental in making him such a fine storyteller. Having arrived in Mumbai during the mid-70s, Anil was pursuing B.Sc at Khalsa College when he got enamored by the Hindi film industry. Sharma used to catch up with Hindi films at every given opportunity while studying in college. After having dabbled with theater, poetry and even writing for radio, Sharma got his first break in the Hindi film industry, thanks to B.R. Chopra.Anil assisted Chopras on films such as 'Pati Patni Aur Woh', 'The Burning Train' and 'Insaf Ka Tarazu'. Along with assisting, he also took on short roles in the films, 'The Burning Train' and 'Insaf Ka Tarazu'.

Anil Sharma had directed several successful and noticed films in the early 1980s before he started also to produce films with Elaan-E-Jung (1989) which was also directed by him and became the first production film of his to become a resounding success. During the 90s, he has directed films like Farishtay (1991) and Maharaja (1998), and produced two films. He has worked with various established artists like Mega star Amitabh Bachchan, Sridevi, Akshay Kumar, Karisma Kapoor, Govinda, Manisha Koirala and a host of others. Despite this, he did not achieve neither Box-Office success, nor critical acclaim. The only actor who proved to be his lucky star was the Famous Hindi star, Dharmendra. His first liaison with Dharmendra began in the year 1987 when he directed Hukumat. This film became the Highest Grossing Film of the year. Hukumat was also noted for being one of the biggest money spinners of the 1980s decade and was a come back for Dharmendra at the time, who was brimming from a quite unsuccessful spell the year before. The film had the popular song "Pyar ha han han Karega" which became a Chart-buster of its time. From then on, the Dharmendra-Anil Sharma team delivered several successful projects from Elaan-E-Jung (1989), Farishtay (1991), Tahalka (1992) and most recently, the critically acclaimed film, Apne (2007). In the mid-1980s, Anil Sharma was one of only two directors that had a special working relationship with Dharmendra, The other being J.P. Dutta. His working relationship with Dharmendra yielded a record of sorts since having not to have delivered a single flop film with him till date.

In 2001, his years in the industry paid off, as he directed the film Gadar: Ek Prem Katha starring Sunny Deol who happened to be the son of his favorite actor, Dharmendra and Amisha Patel as the heroine. The film was a huge commercial success, and critically appreciated as well. Gadar: Ek Prem Katha went on to become one of the biggest hits in the history of Hindi cinema and till today, it still remains the most successful film of the first decade of the 21st century. Sharma received his first award nominations for Best Director and Best Film in different award ceremonies. In that same year, he however produced the film Aashiq, directed by Indra Kumar, starring Karisma Kapoor and Bobby Deol, the second son of Dharmendra.

In 2003, Sharma tried to repeat the success of "Gadar" and collaborated once again with Sunny Deol in the film The Hero: Love Story of a Spy starring Preity Zinta and then a newcomer Priyanka Chopra. The film, at its time, was considered to be the most expensive film ever made in Bollywood with the biggest film budget ever. The film went on to be the third highest grosser of the year.

In 2004, he produced a romantic thriller - Madhoshi (2004) with John Abraham and Bipasha Basu, which was an average film. He also directed the War film Ab Tumhare Hawale Watan Saathiyo starring Amitabh Bachchan, Bobby Deol and Akshay Kumar.

In 2007, he made a comeback of sorts when directed the family Drama Apne. This film generated extremely good reviews from critics, and performed very well at the box office. The film was also noted for the enormous success it enjoyed in the overseas market most notably in countries like Canada, UK and Australia. It was the first ever film that brought the famous deol family of Dharmendra-Sunny Deol-Bobby Deol together and Anil Sharma was praised for his perfect timing. The film became his 5th Straight hit with Dharmendra as Main lead completing a remarkable 100% record with the Actor Icon.

In 2010, his directorial next ‘Veer’, starring Salman Khan, was much talked-about for its massive scale as well as the debut of Zarine Khan. The period drama was written by Salman himself. Salman's look from the film was much appreciated by the masses and is replicated by many of his fans till date. Sharma is one of the few directors to have introduced new talent in each of his films. Be it Priyanka Chopra in ‘The Hero – Love Story Of A Spy’, Ameesha Patel in ‘Gadar: Ek Prem Katha’ or Zarine Khan in ‘Veer’, the leading ladies of his films have gone on to become huge stars.

In 2012, he is all set to reunite with Sunny Deol in a film titled 'Singh Saheb The Great'.