Dharmesh Darshan

Dharmesh was born Dharmesh Sabharwal, the son of film producer Darshan Sabharwal by his wife Sheila, who is the elder sister of filmmakers Mahesh Bhatt and Mukesh Bhatt. Thus, both of his parents were linked to the Hindi film industry. At some point, Dharmesh decided to adopt his father's first name as his own surname, and came to be known as Dharmesh Darshan. He began his illustrious career as one of the youngest filmmakers of Indian Cinema, in the league of Sooraj Barjatya, Aditya Chopra, Karan Johar, and Sanjay Leela Bhansali.

He made his directional debut with Lootere (1993), at the age of 24, which he also wrote. The film was produced by his brother Suneel Darshan and was a big hit at the box office nationwide.

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In 1996, he made his second film in a big way with Raja Hindustani, starring Aamir Khan and Karisma Kapoor. The movie was the biggest hit of that year as well as one of the biggest blockbusters of the 90s and is also the 4th biggest box office hit of 100 years of Indian cinema (Bollywood) as of 2019.[2] It was also much appreciated as Darshan won the Filmfare Best Movie Award and several awards at the Star Screen Awards ceremony.

He took a break of four years after the success of Raja Hindustani. He returned in 2000 with two releases, which were directed and written by himself. His first film Mela starring again Aamir Khan with his real-life younger brother, Faisal Khan, was a disaster at box office and considered to be one of the worst films of Aamir Khan's career.[3] However, his second release Dhadkan with Akshay Kumar and Shilpa Shetty did fairly well at the box office and was the fourth biggest hit of that year. The movie won him acclaim & cult status as one of the finest romantic directors. It was also critically acclaimed and he was nominated for Dhadkan in different award ceremonies in the Best Director, Best Film and the Best Story categories, apart from resurrecting the flagging career and image of Akshay Kumar as he had done with Aamir Khan & Karisma Kapoor.

His next release in 2002, Haan Maine Bhi Pyaar Kiya starring Karisma Kapoor and her boyfriend of that period, Abhishek Bachchan was a remake of the 1981 film Ek Hi Bhool and was described as a flop at the box office.[4]

The 2005 film Bewafaa was the next venture of Darshan. The film was a remake of an old B.R.Chopra classic Gumrah. It was expected that the film would be a success because of its successful songs and well-known stars. It performed above average at the box office nationwide, but was a major success in the overseas markets, breaking the jinx of its producer Boney Kapoor.[5]

He is one of the youngest directors in Bollywood making the box office history Raja Hindustani only at the age of 28 and is also widely reputed for being a strong woman's director creating the metamorphosis of top heroines as Juhi Chawla (in Lootere), Karisma Kapoor (in Raja Hindustani), Shilpa Shetty (in Dhadkan), Kareena Kapoor, Priyanka Chopra and Sushmita Sen.

His latest release in 2006 was Aap Ki Khatir (2006) which was a remake of the 2005 American film The Wedding Date. It was average at the box office but earning huge profits in the overseas markets and musically for its producers Venus.[6]

The maverick filmmaker took a break abruptly when he suffered the personal loss of losing his parents and since then he has not broken his sabbatical from the silver screen, having been on the very top for around 18 years.

He is the life member of International Film And Television Club Of Asian Academy Of Film & Television. and a major keynote speaker at various podiums of media, related to all aspects of cinema and marketing, with his unique legitimate Bollywood branding. He also is an accomplished singer and raconteur of the stories of his cult Bollywood songs in this multi-faceted era.

• Dharmesh Darshan at IMDb