Anil Sharma is an Indian film director and producer.

Biography[link]

He made his directional debut with Shradhanjali with Raakhee Gulzar. He had directed several unsuccessful and unnoticed 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 and became Anil Sharma's First official hit film. 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. The movie failed to do well at the box office. Unlike his glorious association with Dharmendra and Sunny Deol, he was not lucky with Bobby Deol.

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. However, it did not cover its high costs, and flopped.

In 2004, he produced a romantic thriller - Madhoshi (2004) with John Abraham and Bipasha Basu, which was unnoticed. He also directed the War film Ab Tumhare Hawale Watan Saathiyo starring Amitabh Bachchan, Bobby Deol and Akshay Kumar. The year was not a good year for him, as both the films failed.

Recently 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.

Filmography[link]

External links[link]

• Anil Sharma at the Internet Movie Database

References[link]