Hansal Mehta is an Indian director, producer and writer. In 2012, he won the National Film Award for his biographical drama Shahid.
Wiki/Biography
Hansal Mehta was born on Monday, April 29, 1968, in Mumbai (53 years old, 2021). He went to school at Rose Manor International School in Mumbai and then did his Bachelor of Technology in Electronics at Dr. DY Patil Institute of Technology in Pune.
Hansal Mehta’s childhood photo
appearance
Height (approximate): 5′ 8″
Hair color: gray and white
Eye color: Black
Family and caste
Hansal Mehta was born in a middle-class family in Gujarat.
Parents and siblings
His father’s name is Deepak Subodh Mehta and his mother’s name is Kishori Mehta. His mother passed away in January 2013. Hansal has a brother named Parad D Mehta and a sister named Sheetal Mehta Vyas.
Hansal Mehta’s father
Hansal Mehta’s Mother
Hansal Mehta and his brothers
Hansal Mehta’s sister
Relationships, Wife and Children
Hansal married his first wife, Sunita, in 1989 at the age of 21, but they separated 11 years after their marriage. Sunita died of cancer on July 25, 2015. He has two sons, Jai and Pallava, with his first wife. Jai is a filmmaker who assisted his father in filming City Lights (2014), Shahid (2012), Aligarh (2015) and Scam 1992 (2020). Pallava is a special child with Down syndrome.
Hansal Mehta’s first wife Sunita
Hansal Mehta and his son Pallava
Hansal Mehta and his son Jai
In 2005, Hansal met Safeena Husain, a well-known social worker. They have two daughters, Kimaya and Rihanna. Both daughters were born out of wedlock. In an interview, when asked why they did not get married, he said,
After having children, I feel it is stupid to get married now. Marriage as an institution is redundant. We are together because of love, not certificates. “
Hansal Mehta and Safeena Husain
Hansal Mehta and his daughters (Rihanna in the middle and Kimaya on the right)
On May 25, 2022, Hansal married his partner of 17 years, Safeena Husain, at Taj Campton Place in San Francisco, California. He shared the news with his fans on Instagram. He wrote,
So, 17 years later, after having two children, watching our son grow up, and chasing our respective dreams, we decided to get married. Like so many things in life, this too was impromptu and unplanned. Yet, our vows were true and we never would have said them without this little ceremony. Ultimately, love trumps all. And it has…”
Profession
Hansal made his directorial debut in 1993 with Zee TV’s popular food show Khana Khazana. The producers of the show gave Hansal the task of finding a beautiful female host for the show. Talking about the journey of finding the right host for the show, he said:
I looked around for pretty chefs and ended up at Hotel Centaur, where I didn’t find pretty girls but I found a tall chef called Sanjeev Kapoor. I decided to do the show with him but didn’t tell the channel. When they saw the episode, they were shocked and thought it was boring with no pretty girls and this man in a chef’s uniform. But they aired four episodes and extended them every four weeks until he made a dish called Shaam Savera which became a huge hit and he became a household name.”
Dinner with famous director Hansal Mehta at home. Good food and good company 🍽 pic.twitter.com/4KBcz1iNz4
— Sanjeev Kapoor (@SanjeevKapoor) August 3, 2017
The show was a huge success and became one of the most popular shows in India, and chef Sanjeev Kapoor became a household name. In an interview, when talking about some of the mistakes he and Sanjeev made while making the show, Hansal said:
Stick the scones to the inside of the pressure cooker and it would work. We demonstrated this and it was very successful, but the pressure cooker company sent us a legal notice. They argued that the pressure cooker was not designed for this and might explode. One time, we made soft serve ice cream without an ice cream maker. I remember trying it and telling Sanjeev that it didn’t work. He told us with my limited understanding and I allowed it to air. After this episode aired, everything went to hell. Women started writing in saying that their in-laws were no longer talking to them. One said her husband was furious. ”
Apart from Khana Khazana, he has directed other TV series such as Highway (1995), Yaadein (1995), Lakshya (1998) and Neeti (1998). He re-used the plot of his sitcom Highway in the Bollywood film Dus Kahaaniyan (2007). Hansal made his debut as a film director with the 1997 Bollywood film Jayate, which was inspired by the 1984 Bollywood film Saaransh, but Jayate was never released theatrically. The film was screened as part of the Indian Panorama during the Hyderabad Film Festival (1999).
Hansal Mehta on the sets of his film Jayate
This successful director had a tough start. His 2000 film Dil Pe Mat Le Yaar!! starring Manoj Bajpayee and Tabu flopped at the box office and led to his bankruptcy. He followed this up with a string of failed films like Chhal (2002), Yeh Kya Ho Raha Hai? (2002) and Woodstock Villa (2008). After Woodstock Villa did not do well at the box office, Hansal took a three-year break from directing. He quit his job at White Feather Films Ltd, a production house founded by renowned producer and filmmaker Sanjay Gupta. In an interview with The Times of India, he said:
My partner Safeena Hussain and I went to Malavali, a small village between Lonavala and Pune. We were barely making ends meet with Rs 10,000 to 15,000 a month. I wanted to release the troubles in my mind. I cooked and wrote blogs. Through blogging, my political thoughts also found a way to express themselves. This reminded me of the story of Shahid Azmi (the murdered human rights lawyer).
After his break, Hansal directed the biographical drama Shahid, for which he won the National Film Award for Best Director. Shahid Azmi was a lawyer and human rights activist known for his work fighting cases of people falsely accused of terrorism. He was assassinated in 2010. The film had its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2012. After winning the National Award, he said in an interview,
Shahid’s brothers saw the film. After the National Awards ceremony, his younger brother Khalid broke down. He said, “You made him a household name. Apna Shahid, you are such a fool.” Understandably, his mother did not see the film. She said, “I can’t watch my son die anymore.”
His 2015 film Aligarh was critically acclaimed and even received a standing ovation at the 20th Busan Film Festival and the 17th Jio MAMI Film Festival in Mumbai. Mr. Mehta’s commercial success as a director came with the 2020 web series Scam 1992: The Harshad Mehta Story. Released on Sony’s OTT platform, the series became one of the most watched Indian web series of all time. The series follows the life of notorious stockbroker Harshad Mehta, who is accused of perpetrating India’s largest financial scam.
Hansal Mehta’s “Scam” (1992)
Awards, Honors, Achievements
- Winner (2014): Won the inaugural KA Abbas Award for Outstanding Socially Sensitive Film in 2013 for Shahid (2012)
- Winner(2012): India Gold and Silver Gate Awards Shahid(2012)
- Winner (2014): Golden Lotus Award for Best Director (Shahid) (2012)
- Winner (2013): New York Indian American Arts Council Film Festival Best Director Award Shahid (2012)
- Winner (2014): Zee Anmol Award Shahid (2012)
- Winner (2013): National Film Award for Best Director Shahid (2012)
Hansal Mehta wins National Award for Best Director
dispute
- In 2017, Hansal starred in the film Simran with Bollywood actress Kangana Ranaut. The film tells the story of a girl who loses her savings due to gambling addiction. The film was a flop at the box office, which led to a quarrel between Kangana and Hansal. Rumor has it that Kangana sabotaged him on the sets and she also called him a coward. Talking about the experience of shooting for the film in a media interaction, he said,
“To be honest, I enjoyed Kangana’s company off the sets and had a lot of fun with her. (But on the sets) everything was totally out of my control. It was not a pleasant situation. Besides the fact that she (Kangana) took complete control of the sets and started directing other actors, I also lost a lot of money.”
- In January 2020, Indian filmmaker Vivek Agnihotri tweeted that the anti-CAA protests at Shaheen Bagh had become a centre for Islamic conversions. Hansal responded by calling Vivek a hate monger and suggested him to convert to Islam. Hansal’s reply was heavily criticised by Twitter users.
Favorite things
- Movies: AndhaDhun, Stree, A Star is Born
Car Collection
He bought a Mercedes-Benz E-Class in 2021.
Hansal Mehta buys his car
Facts/Trivia
- Hansal is a food lover and loves to cook. His website is full of food recipe blogs that he has made. When he took a break from directing, he focused on food blogging, which he says helped him get his life back on track.
Hansal Mehta cooking food
- He was a former smoker but quit in 2018 due to deteriorating health.
- He is a diligent student, but apparently he is not good at studying. According to him, he suffers from test phobia. In an interview, speaking about his fear of failure, he said,
Exams cause me a lot of anxiety. I don’t like being judged in two hours. Being rejected really scares me, and it always has.”
- After completing his B.Tech degree, Hansal went to Australia and worked for a company called South Pacific Records. The company used to edit and sell pirated movies. While working for this company, Hansal learned how to edit videos and use a video camera.
- According to Hansal, when they first worked together, the famous Indian film director Vishal Bhardwaj was very rude to him, but later Vishal was impressed by Hansal’s work and apologized to Hansal, and the two later became good friends.
Hansal Mehta posted on Instagram about his friend
Categories: Biography
Source: HIS Education