Anup Bhandari is an Indian film director, composer and lyricist who works primarily in

Kannada cinema Kannada cinema, also known as Sandalwood, or Chandanavana, is the segment of Indian cinema dedicated to the production of motion pictures in the Kannada language widely spoken in the state of Karnataka. The 1934 film ''Sati Sulochana'' directed ...

. He made his directorial début with the mystery thriller film ''

Rangitaranga ''RangiTaranga'' (English: ''Colourful Wave'') is a 2015 Indian Kannada-language mystery thriller film written and directed by Anup Bhandari in his debut, and produced by H. K. Prakash, under Shree Devi Entertainers. It features debutantes Nirup ...

'', featuring his brother

Nirup Bhandari Nirup Bhandari is an Indian actor who works in Kannada cinema. He made his debut in the 2015 critically and commercially acclaimed movie ''RangiTaranga'', directed by his brother, Anup Bhandari. Early life Nirup Bhandari was born on 13th August ...

, in 2015.

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 Infosys Limited is an Indian multinational information technology company that provides business consulting, information technology and outsourcing services. The company was founded in Pune and is headquartered in Bangalore. Infosys is the se ...

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.

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 Russell Wayne Harvard (born April 16, 1981) is an American actor. He made his feature film debut in Paul Thomas Anderson's ''There Will Be Blood'' (2007), playing opposite Daniel Day-Lewis as his adopted son, H.W. Plainview. In the 2010 biopic '' ...

There Will Be Blood ''There Will Be Blood'' is a 2007 American historical drama, period drama film written and directed by Paul Thomas Anderson, loosely based on the 1927 novel ''Oil!'' by Upton Sinclair. It stars Daniel Day-Lewis as Daniel Plainview, a Silver mini ...

and Fargo fame. This paved way for his debut feature film

RangiTaranga ''RangiTaranga'' (English: ''Colourful Wave'') is a 2015 Indian Kannada-language mystery thriller film written and directed by Anup Bhandari in his debut, and produced by H. K. Prakash, under Shree Devi Entertainers. It features debutantes Nirup ...

, starring his brother

Radhika Narayan Radhika Narayan is an Indian actress, working primarily in mainstream Kannada cinema, and in Kannada theater, is a method actress who is known for the selection of her projects. Early life Radhika Narayan was born in the Krishna Temple city Ud ...

Avantika Shetty Avantika Shetty is an Indian actress and advertiser working primarily in Kannada cinema. She made her film debut in ''RangiTaranga'' (2015) which found a worldwide release and declared a blockbuster, earning her a nomination at the Filmfare Awar ...

and Sai Kumar. 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. RangiTaranga was also one of the 305 films shortlisted for the Academy Awards (The Oscars) but did not make it to the final nominations. Anup won several awards for his direction, music direction and lyrics including Filmfare, SIIMA, IIFA and Karnataka State Award. Anup followed this up with ''

Rajaratha ''Rajaratha'' is a 2018 Indian Kannada-language romantic comedy film written and directed by Anup Bhandari, who also composed the film's music. It stars Nirup Bhandari and Avantika Shetty in the lead roles in their second collaboration with the ...

'' starring Nirup Bhandari, Avantika Shetty and Tamil actor

Arya Aryan or Arya (, Indo-Iranian *''arya'') is a term originally used as an ethnocultural self-designation by Indo-Iranians in ancient times, in contrast to the nearby outsiders known as 'non-Aryan' (*''an-arya''). In Ancient India, the term ' ...

in a pivotal role. The film is narrated from the point of view of a bus, which was voiced by

Puneeth Rajkumar Puneeth Rajkumar (17 March 1975 – 29 October 2021), colloquially known as Appu, was an Indian actor, playback singer, television presenter, and producer, who worked in Kannada cinema. He was the youngest son of actor and matinee idol Dr. Rajk ...

. He also provided the music and wrote lyrics for

Rockline Productions Thirupathi Narasimhalunaidu Venkatesh (born 23 March 1963), better known by his stage name Rockline Venkatesh, is an Indian actor and producer known for his works in Kannada, and Hindi cinemas. He is the founder and owner of the production and d ...

Aadi Lakshmi Puraana ''Aadi Lakshmi Puraana'' is a 2019 Indian Kannada-language romantic comedy film written and directed by V. Priya and produced by Rockline Venkatesh under his banner Rockline Entertainment Pvt Ltd. The film starring Radhika Pandit and Nirup Bha ...

directed by Priya V and starring Nirup Bhandari and

Radhika Pandit Radhika Pandit is an Indian film and television actress. She has established a career in Cinema of Karnataka, Kannada cinema as a leading actress. Having worked in Soap opera, television serials such as ''Nandagokula'', ''Kaadambari'', and ''Su ...

. He penned the lyrics for all the songs of Dabangg3 Kannada version 2022 saw the release of the blockbuster mystery thriller

Vikrant Rona ''Vikrant Rona'' is a 2022 Indian Kannada-language action thriller film written and directed by Anup Bhandari, produced by Jack Manjunath and co-produced by Alankar Pandian. It stars Sudeepa in the title role with Nirup Bhandari, Neetha Ash ...

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.

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

is an actor.

Filmography

Awards

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bhandari, Anup Film directors from Karnataka Living people 1982 births