Anubhav Sinha (born 22 June 1965) is an Indian film director, producer and writer known for his work in

Hindi Modern Standard Hindi (, ), commonly referred to as Hindi, is the Standard language, standardised variety of the Hindustani language written in the Devanagari script. It is an official language of India, official language of the Government ...

film industry. His films include '' Tum Bin'' (2001), '' Dus'' (2005) and '' Ra.One'' (2011) He also directed a series of socio-political films '' Mulk'' (2018), '' Article 15'' (2019), '' Thappad'' (2020) followed by '' Anek'', (2022) and '' Bheed'' (2023). His latest

Netflix Netflix is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. The service primarily distributes original and acquired films and television shows from various genres, and it is available internationally in multiple lang ...

Series is '' IC 814: The Kandahar Hijack'' (2024).

Early and education

Anubhav Sinha was born on Tuesday, June 22nd, 1965 in

Allahabad Prayagraj (, ; ISO 15919, ISO: ), formerly and colloquially known as Allahabad, is a metropolis in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh.The other five cities were: Agra, Kanpur, Kanpur (Cawnpore), Lucknow, Meerut, and Varanasi, Varanasi (Benar ...

(now Prayagraj),

Uttar Pradesh Uttar Pradesh ( ; UP) is a States and union territories of India, state in North India, northern India. With over 241 million inhabitants, it is the List of states and union territories of India by population, most populated state in In ...

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

to Prem Govind Sinha and Sushila Sinha. He went to school in Kalagarh, Garhwal, Government Inter College,

and Queen's College,

Varanasi Varanasi (, also Benares, Banaras ) or Kashi, is a city on the Ganges river in northern India that has a central place in the traditions of pilgrimage, death, and mourning in the Hindu world.* * * * The city has a syncretic tradition of I ...

. He completed his graduation in Mechanical Engineering from The Aligarh Muslim University in 1987.

Career

Anubhav Sinha began his career in the entertainment industry with TV shows like '' Sea Hawks'' and then a spate of music videos in the late 90s. Before beginning his career in entertainment industry, Sinha worked for one years in

New Delhi New Delhi (; ) is the Capital city, capital of India and a part of the Delhi, National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the Government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati Bhavan, New Parliament ...

as a theatre artist before moving to

Mumbai Mumbai ( ; ), also known as Bombay ( ; its official name until 1995), is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra. Mumbai is the financial capital and the most populous city proper of India with an estimated population of 12 ...

on 4 December 1990. He worked as an assistant director to

Pankaj Parashar Pankuj Parashar is an Indian film and television director. Among his most-known are police-thriller ''Jalwa'' (1987) starring Naseeruddin Shah, ''ChaalBaaz'' (1989), and television detective series ''Karamchand'' (1985). He also makes televisio ...

until 1994 before branching out as an independent director for television for

Zee TV ZEE TV also known as Z TV is an Indian Hindi language general entertainment pay television channel owned by Zee Entertainment Enterprises. It was launched on 1 October 1992 as the oldest privately owned television channel in India. History ...

. He was noticed for his work on ''Shikast'', the flagship show of the TV network in Mumbai. This was followed by the TV show '' Sea Hawks'' for UTV. ''Sea Hawks'' was the number one show for 35 weeks across all networks. 72 episodes later, he turned to directing music videos. In 2000, he left working on music videos to start his first feature film '' Tum Bin''. It starred

Priyanshu Chatterjee Priyanshu Chatterjee (born 20 February 1973) is an Indian Bengali actor and former model known for his works in Hindi and Bengali cinema. He made his Hindi film debut in '' Tum Bin'' in 2001. His other recognized works include '' Aapko Pehle Bh ...

, Sandali Sinha,

Himanshu Malik Himanshu Malik is an Indian actor, screenwriter and producer known for his works in Bollywood. He started his acting career with the film, ''Kama Sutra: A Tale of Love'' (1996) and gained recognition with his portrayal of Abhigyan, a wealthy Can ...

and

Raqesh Vashisth Raqesh Bapat is an Indian actor and model. He is known for his work in films like ''Tum Bin'' (2001), ''Koi Mere Dil Mein Hai'' (2005), ''Vrundavan'' (2016) and ''Savita Damodar Paranjpe (film), Savita Damodar Paranjape'' (2018) and television ...

. It went on to become a major box-office success and has gained a

cult Cults are social groups which have unusual, and often extreme, religious, spiritual, or philosophical beliefs and rituals. Extreme devotion to a particular person, object, or goal is another characteristic often ascribed to cults. The term ...

status over the years. Sinha's second feature '' Aapko Pehle Bhi Kahin Dekha Hai'' starred

and

Sakshi Shivanand Sakshi Shivanand is an Indian actress, who has appeared in Telugu, Tamil, Kannada, Malayalam and Hindi films. Her most notable work is '' Aapko Pehle Bhi Kahin Dekha Hai'' which was directed by Anubhav Sinha and co-starred Priyanshu Chatter ...

. His third film, the multi-starrer '' Dus'', was the eighth highest-grossing film of the year 2005. This was followed by ''

Tathastu ''Tathastu'' () is a 2006 Indian Hindi-language drama film starring Sanjay Dutt and directed by Anubhav Sinha. It is based on the 2002 American film '' John Q.'' Plot Ravi Rajput comes from a poor family; his father was a foreman at a mill and ...

'' (2006) and ''

Cash In economics, cash is money in the physical form of currency, such as banknotes and coins. In book-keeping and financial accounting, cash is current assets comprising currency or currency equivalents that can be accessed immediately or near-i ...

'' (2007). Before directing and producing '' Tum Bin II'' and '' Mulk'', Sinha directed

Shah Rukh Khan Shah Rukh Khan (; born 2 November 1965), also known by the initialism SRK, is an Indian actor and film producer who works in Hindi cinema. Referred to in the media as the "Padishah, Baadshah of Bollywood" and "King Khan", he has Shah Rukh K ...

Arjun Rampal Arjun Rampal (born 26 November 1972) is an Indian actor and model who mainly works in Hindi films. He made his acting debut in Rajiv Rai's romance film ''Pyaar Ishq Aur Mohabbat'' (2001) and has since gone on to Arjun Rampal filmography, act in ...

and

Kareena Kapoor Kareena Kapoor Khan (; ; born 21 September 1980) is an Indian actress. A prolific leading lady of Hindi cinema since 2000, she is noted for her roles in a range of film genres—from romantic comedies to crime dramas. Kapoor is the recipient ...

starrer

superhero film Superhero film/movie is a film genre categorized by the presence of superhero characters, individuals with extraordinary abilities who are dedicated to fighting crime, saving the world, or helping the innocent. It is sometimes considered a sub ...

, '' Ra.One'' for which he wrote the script as well along with Kanika Dhillon. In 2019, Sinha produced and directed '' Article 15'' under his production house Benaras Media Works with

Ayushmann Khurrana Ayushmann Khurrana (born Nishant Khurrana; 14 September 1984) is an Indian actor and singer who works in Hindi films. Known for his portrayals of ordinary men often battling social norms, he is the recipient of several awards, including a Na ...

in the lead. The film is based on ''Article 15'' of the

Indian Constitution The Constitution of India is the supreme legal document of India, and the longest written national constitution in the world. The document lays down the framework that demarcates fundamental political code, structure, procedures, powers, and ...

, which is about prohibition of discrimination on grounds of religion, race,

caste A caste is a Essentialism, fixed social group into which an individual is born within a particular system of social stratification: a caste system. Within such a system, individuals are expected to marry exclusively within the same caste (en ...

sex Sex is the biological trait that determines whether a sexually reproducing organism produces male or female gametes. During sexual reproduction, a male and a female gamete fuse to form a zygote, which develops into an offspring that inheri ...

or place of birth. The film generally received positive reviews from critics and was a commercial success. In 2020, Sinha helmed '' Thappad'' starring

Taapsee Pannu Tapasee Pannu (born 1 August 1987), professionally known as Taapsee Pannu, is an Indian actress who works in Hindi, Telugu language, Telugu and Tamil language, Tamil films. Pannu is the recipient of two Filmfare Awards and a Filmfare OTT Award ...

, which released on 28 February 2020, and received highly positive reviews from critics, but was an average success at the box-office. Sinha is also the founder and owner of Benaras Mediaworks, the production company that he established in 2012 to produce his films and television projects.

Filmography

Awards and nominations

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Sinha, Anubhav 1965 births Living people Filmfare Awards winners 21st-century Indian people Hindi-language film directors Film directors from Mumbai Aligarh Muslim University alumni