Anup Bhandari

Anup Bhandari is an Indian film director, composer and lyricist who works primarily in Kannada cinema. He made his directorial début with the mystery thriller film Rangitaranga, featuring his brother Nirup Bhandari, in 2015.^[3][4]

Anup Bhandari
Bhandari at SIIMA Awards
Born	(1982-03-02) 2 March 1982 (age 42)[1] Puttur, Karnataka, India[2]
Alma mater	VVIET
Occupation(s)	Film director, composer, lyricist
Years active	2015–present
Spouse	Neetha Shetty
Children	1
Relatives	Nirup Bhandari (brother)

Early life

Anup Bhandari was born on 2 March 1982 in Puttur, Karnataka to Sudhakar Bhandary and Rathna Bhandary. He was brought up in Mysore, where he obtained his bachelor's degree in Information Science from Vidya Vikas Institute of Engineering and Technology. After graduating, he joined Infosys Technologies as a Software Engineer in Mysore and eventually moved to USA, where he worked for almost a decade before returning to India to make his debut feature film.^[2]

Career

Bhandari started off making short films while working for Infosys and won several awards. While in the US, he directed a short film called "WORDS" starring Hollywood actor Russell Harvard of There Will Be Blood and Fargo fame. This paved way for his debut feature film RangiTaranga, starring his brother Nirup Bhandari, Radhika Narayan, Avantika Shetty and Sai Kumar.^[5]

RangiTaranga turned out to be one of the biggest blockbusters. It also opened overseas market for Kannada films in a big way. It became the first Kannada film to release in many countries, the first Kannada film to appear on the New York Box Office Listing and the first and only Kannada film to run for 50 days in USA.^[6][7][8][9] RangiTaranga was also one of the 305 films shortlisted for the Academy Awards (The Oscars) but did not make it to the final nominations.^[10][11]

Anup won several awards for his direction, music direction and lyrics including Filmfare, SIIMA, IIFA and Karnataka State Award.^[12][13]

Anup followed this up with Rajaratha starring Nirup Bhandari, Avantika Shetty and Tamil actor Arya in a pivotal role. The film is narrated from the point of view of a bus, which was voiced by Puneeth.

He also provided the music and wrote lyrics for Rockline Productions' Aadi Lakshmi Puraana directed by Priya V and starring Nirup Bhandari and Radhika Pandit. He penned the lyrics for all the songs of Dabangg 3 Kannada version

2022 saw the release of the blockbuster mystery thriller Vikrant Rona with Kichcha Sudeep, which was appreciated for its high standards of making, performances and technical brilliance. It was an unrelated prequel to his debut feature film RangiTaranga.^[14]

Personal life

Anup Bhandari is married to Neetha Shetty, who works as costume designer for all his films. They have a daughter Nishka Bhandari. His brother Nirup Bhandari is an actor.

Filmography

Year	Film	Director	Writer	Music Director	Lyricist	Actor	Notes	Ref.
2015	RangiTaranga	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Playback singer for "Akka Pakka"
2018	Rajaratha	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Playback singer for "Mundhe Banni"	[15] [16] [17]
2019	Aadi Lakshmi Purana	No	No	Yes	Yes	No	Music Director & Lyricist only
2019	Dabangg 3	No	No	No	Yes	No	Lyricist for Kannada Dubbed version	[18]
2021	Kotigobba 3	No	No	No	Yes	No	Lyricist for the song "Pataki Poriyo"
2022	Vikrant Rona	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Cameo appearance as old photographer	[19]
2024	Max	No	No	No	Yes	No	Lyricist for 3 songs
TBA	Billa Ranga Baashaa †	Yes	Yes	TBA	Yes	TBA	Script Finalized. Releasing in 2 parts.	[20]
TBA	Ashwattama †	Yes	Yes	TBA	Yes	TBA	Script work in progress

Awards

Movie	Award	Category	Result	Ref.
RangiTaranga	2015 Karnataka State Film Awards	Best Debut Film Of Newcomer Director	Won	[21]
	1st IIFA Utsavam	Best Picture	Won	[22]
		Best Direction	Won
		Best Music Direction	Won
		Best Lyrics (for "Kareyole")	Won
	63rd Filmfare Awards South	Best Director	Won	[12]
		Best Music Director	Nominated
	5th South Indian International Movie Awards	Best Film- Kannada	Nominated	[13][23]
		Best Debut Director	Won
		Best Music Director	Nominated
		Best Lyricist for "Ee Sanje"	Won
	IBNLive Movie Awards	Best Director South	Won	[24]

References

1. "Read about Rakshit Shetty's books of dreams". The Times of India. 27 January 2015. Archived from the original on 29 July 2015. Retrieved 4 February 2015.
2. Christopher, Kavya (31 May 2015). "It's hard to away from my family: Anup Bhandari - Times of India". The Times Of India. Archived from the original on 11 January 2017. Retrieved 25 August 2016.
3. Srinivasan, Latha (13 October 2015). "'RangiTaranga' director Anup Bhandari talks about his debut Kannada film completing 100 days | Latest News & Updates at Daily News & Analysis". DNA India. Archived from the original on 16 August 2016. Retrieved 25 August 2016.
4. "3d胆码预测10中10-官网". www.rangitaranga.com. Archived from the original on 10 September 2016. Retrieved 27 July 2015.
5. "RANGITARANGA - Bengaluru International Film Festival". engaluru International Film Festival. Archived from the original on 13 August 2016. Retrieved 25 August 2016.
6. IBTimes (18 August 2015). "Box Office Collection: 'RangiTaranga' Creates History to Overpower 'Bajrangi Bhaijaan', 'Baahubali', 'Vaalu' but fails to Beat "Brothers in US". www.ibtimes.co.in. Archived from the original on 7 September 2021. Retrieved 7 September 2021.
7. "Rangitaranga". The Times of India. 28 July 2020. Archived from the original on 7 September 2021. Retrieved 7 September 2021.
8. S, Shyam Prasad (18 August 2015). "Rangi Taranga does a Bahubali in USA". Bangalore Mirror. Retrieved 7 September 2021.
9. "RangiTaranga Becomes Biggest Overseas Release Ever". Desimartini. 18 August 2015. Archived from the original on 7 September 2021. Retrieved 7 September 2021.
10. "Never expected 'RangiTaranga' to make it to Oscar race: Anup Bhandari". The Indian Express. 16 December 2015. Archived from the original on 7 September 2021. Retrieved 7 September 2021.
11. 88th reminder list Archived 21 October 2021 at the Wayback Machine oscars.org
12. "Winners: 63rd Filmfare South Awards". The Times of India. 19 June 2016. Archived from the original on 23 June 2016. Retrieved 26 September 2020.
13. "5th SIIMA WINNERS LIST". Archived from the original on 14 July 2016. Retrieved 24 June 2020.
14. "Kiccha Sudeep - Anup Bhandari's film to be titled 'vikrantrona". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 26 October 2019. Retrieved 26 October 2019.
15. Upadhyaya, Prakash (7 July 2016). "'RangiTaranga' director Anup Bhandari set to announce the title of his next film". International Business Times, India. Archived from the original on 21 September 2017. Retrieved 25 August 2016.
16. "Anup Bhandari's Next Titled As Rajaratha". Film Beat. 11 July 2016. Archived from the original on 26 August 2016. Retrieved 25 August 2016.
17. Upadhyaya, Prakash (11 July 2016). "'Rajaratha:' Ravichandran, Juhi Chawla reveal the title of 'RangiTaranga' director Anup Bhandari's next film on 'Dancing Stars 3'". International Business Times. Archived from the original on 27 August 2016. Retrieved 25 August 2016.
18. "Anup Bhandari on writing Dabangg 3 Kannada lyrics - Times of India". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 10 January 2020. Retrieved 9 November 2019.
19. Manoj Kumar R (11 August 2020). "Phantom first look: Sudeep is Vikranth Rona". Indian Express. Archived from the original on 23 September 2020. Retrieved 26 September 2020.
20. "Kiccha Sudeep shelves 'Billa Ranga Baashaa' to work with director Anup Bhandari?". The News Minute. 6 June 2019. Archived from the original on 29 November 2020. Retrieved 26 September 2020.
21. May 17, 2016. "Karnataka State Film Awards, 2015: Full List". Bangalore Mirror. Archived from the original on 18 May 2016. Retrieved 17 February 2020.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
22. "'Srimanthudu', 'Rangitaranga' win laurels at IIFA Utsavam". The Indian Express. 27 January 2016. Archived from the original on 21 June 2017. Retrieved 26 September 2020.
23. "5th SIIMA Awards 2016 Winners List, Nominees, Voting Details". Scoop times. 30 June 2016. Archived from the original on 8 August 2020. Retrieved 26 September 2020.
24. IBNLive Movie Awards

    • "IBNLive Movie Awards: Anup Bhandari wins Best Southern director for 'Rangi Taranga'". Archived from the original on 12 June 2016. Retrieved 9 March 2016.