Anup Bhandari (born 2 March 1982) is an Indian film director, composer and lyricist who works primarily in

Kannada cinema Kannada cinema, also known as Sandalwood, or Chandanavana, is the segment of Indian cinema dedicated to the production of motion pictures in the Kannada language widely spoken in the state of Karnataka. Kannada cinema is based in Gandhi Nagar ...

. He made his directorial début with the mystery thriller film '' Rangitaranga'', featuring his brother Nirup Bhandari, in 2015.

Early life

Anup Bhandari was born on 2 March 1982 in Puttur, Karnataka to Sudhakar Bhandary and Rathna Bhandary. He was brought up in Mysore, where he obtained his bachelor's degree in Information Science from Vidya Vikas Institute of Engineering and Technology. After graduating, he joined Infosys Technologies as a Software Engineer in Mysore and eventually moved to USA, where he worked for almost a decade before returning to India to make his debut feature film.

Career

Bhandari started off making short films while working for Infosys and won several awards. While in the US, he directed a short film called "WORDS" starring Hollywood actor Russell Harvard of

There Will Be Blood ''There Will Be Blood'' is a 2007 American epic film, epic historical drama, period drama film written and directed by Paul Thomas Anderson, loosely based on the 1927 novel ''Oil!'' by Upton Sinclair. It stars Daniel Day-Lewis, Paul Dano, Kev ...

and Fargo fame. This paved way for his debut feature film RangiTaranga, starring his brother Nirup Bhandari, Radhika Narayan, Avantika Shetty and Sai Kumar. RangiTaranga turned out to be one of the biggest blockbusters. It also opened overseas market for Kannada films in a big way. It became the first Kannada film to release in many countries, the first Kannada film to appear on the New York Box Office Listing and the first and only Kannada film to run for 50 days in USA. RangiTaranga was also one of the 305 films shortlisted for the Academy Awards (The Oscars) but did not make it to the final nominations. Anup won several awards for his direction, music direction and lyrics including Filmfare, SIIMA, IIFA and Karnataka State Award. Anup followed this up with ''

Rajaratha ''Rajaratha'' is a 2018 Indian Kannada-language romantic comedy film written and directed by Anup Bhandari, who also composed the film's music. It stars Arya, Nirup Bhandari and Avantika Shetty in the lead roles in their second collaboration ...

'' starring Nirup Bhandari, Avantika Shetty and Tamil actor

Arya ''Aryan'' (), or ''Arya'' (borrowed from Sanskrit ''ārya''),Oxford English Dictionary Online 2024, s.v. ''Aryan'' (adj. & n.); ''Arya'' (n.)''.'' is a term originating from the ethno-cultural self-designation of the Indo-Iranians. It stood i ...

in a pivotal role. The film is narrated from the point of view of a bus, which was voiced by Puneeth. He also provided the music and wrote lyrics for Rockline Productions'

Aadi Lakshmi Puraana ''Aadi Lakshmi Puraana'' is a 2019 Indian Kannada-language Romance film, romantic action comedy film written & directed by V. Priya and produced by Rockline Venkatesh. The film stars Nirup Bhandari and Radhika Pandit, alongside Tara (Kannada ac ...

directed by Priya V and starring Nirup Bhandari and

Radhika Pandit Radhika Pandit (born 7 March 1984) is an Indian actress who predominantly works in Kannada films. Among the most popular and highest paid Kannada actresses, she is a recipient of several accolades including three Filmfare Awards South, one Kar ...

. He penned the lyrics for all the songs of Dabangg 3 Kannada version 2022 saw the release of the blockbuster mystery thriller

Vikrant Rona ''Vikrant Rona'' is a 2022 Indian Kannada-language action thriller film written and directed by Anup Bhandari, produced by Jack Manjunath and co-produced by Alankar Pandian. It stars Sudeepa in the title role with Milana Nagaraj, Nirup Bha ...

with Kichcha Sudeep, which was appreciated for its high standards of making, performances and technical brilliance. It was an unrelated prequel to his debut feature film RangiTaranga.

Personal life

Anup Bhandari is married to Neetha Shetty, who works as costume designer for all his films. They have a daughter Nishka Bhandari. His brother Nirup Bhandari is an actor.

Filmography

Awards

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bhandari, Anup Film directors from Karnataka Living people 1982 births IIFA Utsavam winners