Danish Renzu is an Indian born

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

based

film director A film director or filmmaker is a person who controls a film's artistic and dramatic aspects and visualizes the screenplay (or script) while guiding the film crew and actors in the fulfillment of that Goal, vision. The director has a key role ...

, producer, and

screenwriter A screenwriter (also called scriptwriter, scribe, or scenarist) is a person who practices the craft of writing for visual mass media, known as screenwriting. These can include short films, feature-length films, television programs, television ...

. He is also the founder of Renzu Films. Renzu is best known for directing and producing films like ''

Half Widow ''Half Widow'' is a 2017 Indian drama film directed by debutant Danish Renzu and written by Renzu and Gaya Bhola. The film tells the story of a woman from Srinagar in Kashmir, who tries to find her husband who is abducted by the Indian army. Join ...

'', '' The illegal'', and ''

Songs of Paradise Danish Renzu is an Indian born Los Angeles based film director, producer, and screenwriter. He is also the founder of Renzu Films. Renzu is best known for directing and producing films like ''Half Widow'', '' The illegal'', and '' Songs of Par ...

'' featuring

Saba Azad Saba Azad (born Saba Singh Grewal, 1 November 1985) is an Indian actress, theatre director and musician. She is one half of Mumbai-based electro funk duo Madboy/Mink. She made her Bollywood debut as one of the leads Raaga in the indie film ''Di ...

Soni Razdan Soni Mahesh Bhatt, born and known professionally as Soni Razdan, is a British actress and film director who works in Indian Hindi-language films. She had established herself as a leading actress of the 1980s and early 1990s and is part of the ...

Lillete Dubey Lillete Dubey (born 7 September 1953) is an Indian actress and theatre director. She has worked in Indian and international theatre, television and films in Hindi and English languages. Dubey began her career with Barry John in Delhi and was th ...

, currently in post production. Renzu has received numerous accolades, his film '' The illegal'' as a writer and director was shortlisted for nominations for the Best Picture Category at the Academy Awards 2019.

Early life and education

Danish Renzu was born in

Kashmir, India Kashmir ( or ) is the northernmost geographical region of the Indian subcontinent. Until the mid-19th century, the term ''Kashmir'' denoted only the Kashmir Valley between the Great Himalayas and the Pir Panjal Range. The term has since a ...

. In 2005, he shifted to Los Angeles for further studies, where he graduated from the

University of California, Los Angeles The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school the ...

. He holds a degree in Electrical Engineering and UCLA Writers' Program certification in screenwriting from the same university.

Career

Renzu started directing short movies in 2015. He directed two short films ''In Search of America, Inshallah'' (2014) and ''First Love'' (2015). His first feature film ''

'' was released in 2017 and narrates the story of a woman searching for her husband against the backdrop of the

Kargil War The Kargil War, was fought between India and Pakistan from May to July 1999 in the Kargil district of Ladakh, then part of the Indian-administered state of Jammu and Kashmir (state), Jammu and Kashmir and along the Line of Control (LoC). In In ...

. His second directorial film was '' The illegal'' (2019) starring

Suraj Sharma Suraj Sharma (born 16 March 1993) is an Indian actor who made his debut in the 2012 film ''Life of Pi (film), Life of Pi''. Directed by Ang Lee, the film was adapted from the Life of Pi, novel of the same name, and earned Sharma critical acclai ...

Oscar-winning The Academy Awards, commonly known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit in film. They are presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) in the United States in recognition of excellence in ...

film

Life of Pi ''Life of Pi'' is a Canadian philosophical novel by Yann Martel published in 2001. The protagonist is Piscine Molitor "Pi" Patel, an Indian boy from Pondicherry, who explores issues of spirituality and metaphysics from an early age. After a ...

Shweta Tripathi Shweta Tripathi Sharma (née Tripathi; born 6 July 1985) is an Indian actress popularly known for the character of Golu Gupta in Mirzapur. She began her film career as a production assistant and associate director and gained wider recognition ...

, and

Adil Hussain Khandkar Mohammad Adil Hussain (; born 5 October 1963) is an Indian actor who is known for his work in several Indian independent and mainstream film productions, as well as international cinema, in films such as '' The Reluctant Fundamentali ...

. The film was shortlisted for nominations for the Best Picture Category at the Academy Awards 2019. He also directed and produced the music video ''Ae Savere'' starring

and Taha Shah Badussha which traces a life of a Kashmiri Pandit woman returning to Kashmir. It was very well received. His recent award winning short films ''The Good News'' and ''My Father's Doctor'' are both streaming on

JioCinema JioCinema was an Indian subscription video-on-demand over-the-top streaming service owned by Viacom18. The service was merged with Disney+ Hotstar on 14 February 2025, to form JioHotstar. In April 2022, the service was brought under Relianc ...

. His film

is coming in 2025 produced by Excel Entertainment. Recently Renzu announced his Music label, Renzu Music representing many Kashmiri artists with an intention to create a platform for artists in the valley.

Filmography

Awards and recognition

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Renzu, Danish Living people Indian film directors Film producers from Jammu and Kashmir Year of birth missing (living people)