Anees Bazmee

Director/Story Writer/Screenplay Writer

Biography

Anees Bazme is an Indian film producer and director in Bollywood. He is best known for directing comedy films like No Entry (2005), Welcome (2007) and Singh Is Kinng (2008), among others. Bazmee started his career in 1988, as a dialogue writer for the film Hum Farishte Nahin. He then took a year's break and returned in 1990 as a writer for the film Swarg, which was directed by David Dhawan and starred Rajesh Khanna and Govinda. He then subsequently collaborated with Dhawan several times. In 1995, after having written over ten scripts for ten films, including hits such as Aankhen, Bazmee made his directorial debut with the film Hulchul. Starring Ajay Devgan and Kajol, the film went unnoticed critically and commercially as well. However, his attempt to cast Devgan and Kajol once again in 1998 for his second directorial venture, Pyaar To Hona Hi Tha proved successful. The film was both a major critical and commercial success, and turned out as one of the industry's biggest hits that year. After the success of Pyaar To Hona Hi Tha, Bazmee took a five year's break from directing. He returned in 2002, with the thriller Deewangee, which performed poorly at the box office. In 2005, Bazmee directed the multi-starrer comedy film, No Entry. The film became the biggest hit of the year, earning over Rs 744 million in its domestic box office. Although his two subsequent directorial releases failed commercially, he had a great success with Welcome. Starring Akshay Kumar and Katrina Kaif in lead roles, the film, which released in the end of 2007, grossed over Rs 760 million.