Sanjay Leela Bhansali's 'Bajirao Mastani' and others that earned him the National Awards

Director, producer and screenwriter Sanjay Leela Bhansali has weaved magic on screen with his grand movies and magnificence and redefined the conventional array of the Hindi film industry. Making his directorial debut with the film Khamoshi: The Musical in 1996, the filmmaker today completed 25 glorious years with his impeccable curation of movies, building a legacy. The maestro has been a recipient of several esteemed awards including five National Film Awards and ten Filmfare Awards. One of the biggest milestones in his career came as he was awarded the Padma Shri, the fourth highest civilian award, in 2015.

From Bajirao Mastani to Black, let us take a look at some of Sanjay Leela Bhansali's iconic movies that endowed him with the prestigious National Award. 

A look at the director's National Award-winning movies 

Devdas 

The 2002  epic romantic drama starring megastars like Shah Rukh Khan, Aishwarya Rai, and Madhuri Dixit is to date, one of the most loved Bollywood movies. The film was a commercial success and emerged as the highest-grossing Indian film of the year, earning ₹998.8 million (US$14 million) in both India and overseas. With expansive sets and iconic dialogues, the movie went onto receive 5 national awards, including the first-ever for Bhansali for the category of the Best Popular Film Providing Wholesome Entertainment. 

Black

 The 2005 language drama was co-written, directed, and co-produced by Sanjay Leela Bhansali and starred Amitabh Bachchan and Rani Mukherjee in lead roles. The film narrates the beautiful tale of Michelle McNally (Mukerji), a deaf-and-blind woman, and her relationship with her teacher Debraj Sahai (Bachchan), who later develops Alzheimer's disease. The movie was a commercial success and was deemed as one of the highest-grossing movies of its time. For Bhansali, it gave him his second National Award for the Best Feature Film in Hindi. 

Mary Kom

 Based on the life of the eponymous boxer Mary Kom, the movie was released in 2014 and the biography starred Priyanka Chopra.  Produced by Viacom18 Motion Pictures and Sanjay Leela Bhansali, the movie depicts Kom's journey of becoming a boxer to her victory at the 2008 World Boxing Championships.  Upon its release, the film recorded the highest opening weekend of all time for a female-led Indian film and went onto become the highest-grossing female-led movie earning  ₹1.04 billion at the box office. For this, Bhansali was awarded the National Award for the Best Popular Film Providing Wholesome Entertainment.

Bajirao Mastani

The 2015 epic historical romance film was directed by Sanjay Leela Bhansali, who also composed its soundtrack. It starred  Ranveer Singh, Deepika Padukone and Priyanka Chopra in pivotal roles. This project marked one of the directors most passionate interests, with Bhansali spending 11 years developing this movie. Based on the Marathi fictional novel Rau by Nagnath S. Inamdar, Bajirao Mastani narrates the story of the Maratha Peshwa Bajirao and his second wife, Mastani. Bhansali received the National award for the Best Director for helming this blockbuster hit. 

Padmaavat

The 2018 epic period drama marks the directors latest National Award.  Based on the epic poem of the same name, the movie stars Deepika Padukone as Rani Padmavati, a Rajput queen known for her beauty, wife of Maharawal Ratan Singh, played by Shahid Kapoor. Ranveer Singh helms the role of  Sultan Alauddin Khilji, who hears of her beauty and attacks her kingdom to enslave her. The movie faced several controversies but still went onto become the 10th highest-grossing Indian film of all time. It also won three National Film Awards, including Best Music Direction for Bhansali.

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