Hansal Mehta Biography, Movies Age, Net Worth, Awards

Know more facts about Hansal Mehta’s Age, Family, Biography, Relationships, and Career. Keep reading more to get interesting about Hansal Mehta

Profile Summary

Biography

Hansal Mehta is a Mumbai-born Indian film director writer and producer who was born on April 29 1968. He began directing in 1993 with the popular TV cookery show 'Khana Khazana ' hosted by Chef Sanjeev Kapoor.He also directed several television series including Amrita (1994) Highway (1995) Yaadein (1995) Lakshya (1998) and others. 

These television soap operas were well-received by critics and were well-liked by the general public.Jayate (1999) a part of the Indian Panorama 1999-2000 at the International Film Festival of India (IFFI) Hyderabad was Mehta's Bollywood directorial debut.

Age

Hansal Mehta is aged 54 years old as of 2022. Mehta was born on April 29 1968 in Mumbai to a middle-class Gujarati family.

Education

He studied computer engineering and classical music as a child.

Relationships

Sunita Mehta

Mehta married Sunita in his twenties and they have two sons Jay a director and Pallava. Following his divorce from Sunita Mehta began dating actor Yusuf Hussain's daughter Safeena with whom he has two daughters Kimaya and Rehana. Mehta married Safeena in a small ceremony in California in 2022.

Safeena Hussain

On May 25 2022 the celebrated filmmaker announced the marriage of his long-term partner Safeena Husain in an intimate ceremony attended by close friends and family. Hansal stated that the ceremony was unplanned and came after 17 years of marriage and two children. 

In an Instagram post Hansal and Safeena can be seen smiling for photos holding love placards and posing with what appears to be a marriage certificate. So after 17 years two children watching our sons grow up and chasing our respective dreams we decided to get hitched Hansal Mehta said sharing the photos. This like everything else in life was impromptu and unplanned.

Top 5 Hansal Mehta Movies

Dil Pe Mat Le Yaar!!

Dil Pe Mat Le Yaar!! is a 2000 Indian comedy-drama film directed by Hansal Mehta and written by Saurabh Shukla with Ajay Tuli Anish and Hansal Mehta producing. It features pivotal performances by Manoj Bajpayee Tabu Saurabh Shukla and Aditya Srivastava. 

The film received a positive critical response and grossed an average amount at the box office. Ram Saran Pandey (Manoj Bajpai) is a simpleton who leaves his village for Mumbai to make a living. He abandons his parents and promises to summon them to the city once he is stable.

Shahid

Shahid is a 2012 Indian Hindi-language biographical drama film directed by Hansal Mehta written by Sameer Gautam Singh and co-produced by Anurag Kashyap and Sunil Bohra under the UTV Spotboy banner with Ronnie Screwvala and Siddharth Roy Kapur. 

Based on the life of assassinated lawyer and human rights activist Shahid Azmi the film stars Rajkummar Rao as Azmi with Mohammed Zeeshan Ayyub Prabhleen Sandhu and Baljinder Kaur in supporting roles.

Shahid had its world premiere in 2012 as part of the City to City programme at the Toronto International Film Festival. It was shown at the 14th Mumbai Film Festival the New York Indian Film Festival the Indian Film Festival of Stuttgart the Dubai International Film Festival and the Chicago South Asian Film Festival among others.

At the Mumbai Film Festival the film received the Silver Gateway Trophy and Mehta was named Best Director. Mehta was also named best director at the New York Indian Film Festival and the Stuttgart Indian Film Festival. It was released theatrically in India on October 18 2013 and received positive reviews.

CityLights

Play

CityLights is a 2014 Indian drama film directed by Hansal Mehta and starring Rajkummar Rao and Patralekha. It is a remake of the British film Metro Manila which was nominated for a BAFTA (2013). Fox Star Studios presented the film in collaboration with Mahesh Bhatt and Mukesh Bhatt. The plot revolves around a poor farmer from Rajasthan who comes to Mumbai in search of work.

The film was released on May 30 2014 and received positive reviews from most critics. Despite being released in only 350 theatres CityLights became a box office success due to its low production costs and consistent box office collections. 

Anwita Paul better known by her screen name Patralekha made her film debut in CityLights. Because Paul was in a relationship with the lead actor Rao the production company withheld her identity until the trailer was released. When the press continued to question the lead actress the filmmakers dismissed the question. 

While Ajay Bahl was originally set to direct the film he was replaced by Hansal Mehta due to creative differences. It was announced in December 2013 that filming would begin in Rajasthan.

Simran

Simran is a 2017 Hindi-language Indian heist drama film directed by Hansal Mehta and written by Apurva Asrani. The film loosely based on the true story of Sandeep Kaur stars Kangana Ranaut as Praful Patel a divorcee who loses her savings in a gambling spree. 

She takes out a loan to repair the damage but when she cannot repay it she is drawn into a life of crime. In supporting roles Hiten Kumar Kishori Shahane and Sohum Shah appear.

Simran was released in theatres worldwide on September 15 2017. The film received generally positive reviews from critics; Ranaut's performance was widely praised though the screenplay and execution received mixed reviews and criticism. For her performance in Simran critics such as Baradwaj Rangan and Stutee Ghosh named Ranaut the Best Actress of 2017. 

It was a commercial flop grossing only 27.25 crore globally against a budget of 28 crore. Due to Ranaut's star power the film was deemed a box office failure. Ranaut was nominated for a Screen Award for Best Actress for her performance.

Chhalaang

Hansal Mehta's Chhalaang is a 2020 Indian Hindi-language sports black comedy film. It is directed by Bhushan Kumar and produced by Ajay Devgan Luv Ranjan and Ankur Garg. Rajkummar Rao Nushrat Bharucha and Mohammed Zeeshan Ayyub star in Chhalaang. Principal photography began in the fourth quarter of 2018. Chhalaang originally titled Turram Khan was completed in August 2019. 

Originally scheduled for a theatrical release it was released directly online on Amazon Prime Video on November 13 2020 coinciding with Diwali. The song Deedar De is a remake of Vishal-Deedar Shekhar's De from the film Dus. People on social media chastised Vishal-Shekhar for remaking their song but the duo clarified that they were credited because they composed the original.

Hansal Mehta Web Series

Bose: Dead/Alive

Bose: Dead/Alive is an Indian historical drama streaming television miniseries based on activist Anuj Dhar's 2012 book India's Biggest Cover-up which premiered on ALTBalaji on November 20 2017 IST. The show stars Rajkummar Rao as the titular protagonist based on the life of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose with Naveen Kasturia as Darbari Lal Edward Sonnenblick as Stanley Allen and Anna Ador as Emilie Schenkl in supporting roles.

Scam 1992: The Harshad Mehta Story

Play

Scam 1992: The Harshad Mehta Story is a Hindi-language biographical financial thriller streaming television series on SonyLIV directed by Hansal Mehta and co-directed by Jai Mehta. The series is based on the 1992 Indian stock market scam perpetrated by many stockbrokers including Harshad Mehta and is based on journalist Sucheta Dalal and Debashish Basu's 1992 book The Scam: Who Won Who Lost Who Got Away. Sumit Purohit Saurabh Dey Vaibhav Vishal and Karan Vyas wrote the screenplay and dialogues.

It stars Pratik Gandhi as the protagonist Harshad Mehta with Shreya Dhanwanthary playing Sucheta Dalal in a parallel lead role. Satish Kaushik Anant Mahadevan Rajat Kapoor K K Raina Lalit Parimoo Hemant Kher and Nikhil Dwivedi also play pivotal roles in the series.

Modern Love Mumbai

Modern Love Mumbai is a Pritish Nandy-produced Indian Hindi-language romantic comedy anthology Amazon Prime Video series that premiered on May 13 2022. Its episodes last 40 to 45 minutes. The Mumbai chapter of the American anthology series Modern Love is called Modern Love Mumbai.

 Modern Love Mumbai - Six distinct yet universal stories of human connection and love in its various forms including romantic platonic parental sexual familial marital and self-love presented in six episodes. It debuted on Amazon Prime Video on May 13 2022.

Career Timeline

Hansal Mehta Controversies

Hansal Mehta and Kangna Ranaut Controversy

Hansal Mehta and Kangana Ranaut collaborated on the former's film Simran but their falling out during production had a negative impact on the film. The film was critically panned and failed to wow the audience. When asked if Kangana took over the editing of the film Hansal replied that there was nothing left to take over because they had only shot what she wanted to shoot. To be fair to her edit nahi takeover kia the usne but edit take over karne ke liye kuch tha nahi kyunki material hi vahi tha jo usne shoot karvaya tha he said in an interview with Mashable India.

Networth

Hansal Mehta's net worth is estimated to be $ USD 10 million with his primary source of income as a screenwriter and film director.

Awards won by Hansal Mehta

• In 2014 Hansal won National Film Award for Best Direction for Shahid
• In 2014 Hansal won Screen Award for Best Screenplay for Shahid

14 Interesting facts about Hansal Mehta

• Hansal Mehta is a well-known national award-winning Indian director whose career spans three decades. Among his notable works are the films 'Shahid' (2012) 'CityLights' (2014) and the web series 'Scam 1992.'
• Hansal Mehta was born into a middle-class Gujarati family. He claimed to have a fear of exams because it was difficult for him to accept failure.
• Hansal got a job in Australia with South Pacific Recordings after finishing his engineering and marrying at the age of 21. His life there became monotonous and he soon realised that this was not his calling. He worked for a company that rented out stores for pirated movies.
• In 1993 he returned to India with the goal of becoming a director. Mr. Mehta's passion for food led him to propose a cooking show called Khana Khazana to Zee TV. According to him his proposal was accepted on the condition that he find a beautiful girl to host the show.
• The show was a watershed moment for both chef Sanjeev Kapoor and director Hansal Mehta. Hansal also recalls a few mistakes they made in order to make the show unique; for example they once attempted to make tandoori roti without a tandoor.
• While working on Khana Khazana Hansal was also hired to edit a song for the well-known Indian filmmaker Vishal Bhardwaj who was also a composer at the time. Mr. Mehta revealed in an interview that Vishal was initially rude to him because Vishal was not paid but after seeing his work Vishal apologised and they became friends.
• Other television series he has directed include Amrita (1994) Highway (1995) Yaadein (1995) Lakshya (1998) and Neeti (2001). (1998). 'Jayate ' Hansal's first independent film as a director was released as part of the Indian Panorama (1999-2000) at a film festival in Hyderabad. The 1984 Bollywood film 'Saaransh ' which inspired Jayate was never released.
• The bankable director went through a rough patch at the start of his career. He directed the Bollywood film Dil Pe Mat Le Yaar!! in 2000 starring Manoj Bajpayee and Tabu. Despite its box office failure the film received critical acclaim for its dark humour.
• The director made a comeback in 2012 with the biographical drama film Shahid which was based on the life of assassinated human rights lawyer and activist Shahid Azmi. He was well-known for defending only those who were accused of terrorism.
• Hansal was blown away by Rajkummar Rao's performance in Shahid. He also worked with Rao on films such as CityLights (2014) Aligarh (2015) Omerta (2017) and Chhalaang (2020).
• Hansal Mehta rose to prominence as a critically and commercially successful director following the massive success of SonyLiv's web series Scam 1992: The Harshad Mehta Story which debuted in 2020.
• After 11 years of marriage Hansal and his wife Sunita divorced. Pallava his son is a special needs child who has Down syndrome.
• Kimaya and Rihanna (from Hansal's wife Safeena) were born out of wedlock.
• Karma Pictures is his own production company.

Social Media