Tanuja Chandra (born 1969) is an Indian film director and writer. Chandra is the daughter of writer Kamna Chandra and sister of author Vikram Chandra and film critic Anupama Chopra. She co-wrote the screenplay of

Yash Chopra Yash Raj Chopra (27 September 1932 21 October 2012) was an Indian film director and film producer who worked in Hindi cinema. The founding chairman of the film production and distribution company Yash Raj Films, Chopra was the recipient of se ...

's '' Dil To Pagal Hai'' (1997) and is known for frequently directing women-oriented films where female characters are the main protagonists, notably '' Dushman'' (1998) and '' Sangharsh'' (1999).

Family

Chandra was born in

Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, primarily its western or right bank, Delhi shares borders wi ...

. She is the sister of the writer Vikram Chandra and film critic Anupama Chopra. Her mother is film writer Kamna Chandra.

Career

Chandra began her career in 1995 and made her directorial debut with the TV series ''Zameen Aasmaan (TV series), '', starring

Tanvi Azmi Tanvi Azmi is an Indian film and television actress. Early life and career She was born to Marathi-Hindi actress Usha Kiran and Manohar Kher. Azmi portrayed a troubled doctor in the tele-series, ''Jeevanrekha'' and as a young widow in telefi ...

. In 1996, she directed another television serial along with Shabnam Sukhdev, called '' Mumkin''. In 1997, she wrote the screenplay for

's '' Dil To Pagal Hai'', which was a commercial success. She went on to collaborate often with

Mahesh Bhatt Mahesh Bhatt (born 20 September 1948) is an Indian film director, producer and screenwriter known for his works in Hindi cinema. A stand-out film from his earlier period is '' Saaransh'' (1984), screened at the 14th Moscow International Film ...

and wrote the screenplay for his film, '' Zakhm'' (1998). She also made her cinematic directorial debut with his '' Dushman'' in the same year. The movie, starring

Kajol Kajol Devgan (née Mukherjee; born 5 August 1974), known mononymously as Kajol, is an Indian actress. Described in the media as one of the most successful actresses of Hindi cinema, she is the recipient of numerous accolades, including six ...

in the lead role, received critical praise and performed moderately-well at the box office. Her next film, '' Sangharsh'' (1999), was also produced by Mahesh Bhatt and starred

Akshay Kumar Rajiv Hari Om Bhatia (born 9 September 1967), known professionally as Akshay Kumar (), is an Indian-born naturalised Canadian Quote: "(Former prime minister Stephen) Harper campaigned in 2011 alongside one of Modi's biggest celebrity backer ...

, Preity Zinta and

Ashutosh Rana Ashutosh Ramnarayan Neekhra (born 10 November 1967), known professionally as Ashutosh Rana, is an Indian actor, producer, author and television personality. He has worked in Marathi, Telugu, Kannada, Tamil, and Hindi films. He has also worked ...

in leading roles. Since then, Chandra has directed several films, many of which went unnoticed. Yet films like ''

Sur – The Melody of Life ''Sur – The Melody of Life'' is a 2002 Hindi musical film starring Lucky Ali and Gauri Karnik in the main leads. Its co-stars are Simone Singh, Achint Kaur, Ehsaan Khan, Divya Dutta, Nitin, and Harsh Vashisht. This movie is loosely based on ...

'' (2002) and '' Film Star'' (2005), which were directed and written by Chandra, received favourable reviews from critics and praise for her work as a director and writer. Recent films were '' Zindaggi Rocks'' (2006), starring Sushmita Sen. Chandra also wrote the story and the screenplay for the film. Her most recent film was '' Hope and a Little Sugar'' (2008), was shot entirely in English in the US. In early 2016, She directed a short film ''Silvat'' for Zee telefilms, which stars Kartik Aaryan. Tanuja's latest released film is Qarib Qarib Singlle starring

Irrfan Khan Irrfan Khan () (born Sahabzade Irfan Ali Khan; 7 January 196729 April 2020), also known simply as Irrfan, was an Indian actor who worked in Indian cinema as well as British and American films. Widely regarded as one of the finest actors in I ...

and Parvathy. She has been working on the development of a television show for Star which will begin production soon. A book titled "BIJNIS WOMEN" of short stories by her has just been published by

Penguin Random House Penguin Random House LLC is an Anglo-American multinational conglomerate publishing company formed on July 1, 2013, from the merger of Penguin Group and Random House. On April 2, 2020, Bertelsmann announced the completion of its purchase o ...

Filmography

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Chandra, Tanuja 1969 births Indian women film directors 20th-century Indian film directors Hindi-language film directors Living people Indian women television directors Indian television directors Indian women screenwriters Writers from Lucknow 20th-century Indian women writers 20th-century Indian dramatists and playwrights Women writers from Uttar Pradesh Hindi screenwriters Screenwriters from Uttar Pradesh