Tanuja Chandra (born 1969) is an Indian film director and writer. Chandra is the daughter of writer

Kamna Chandra Kamna Chandra is an Indian writer who has written plays for All India Radio and stories and dialogues for the screen which include the films '' Chandni'', '' 1942: A Love Story'' (directed by her son-in-law Vidhu Vinod Chopra), ''Prem Rog'' and t ...

and sister of author Vikram Chandra and film critic

Anupama Chopra Anupama Chopra () is an Indian author, journalist, film critic and director of the MAMI Mumbai Film Festival. She is also the founder and editor of the digital platform Film Companion, which offers a curated look at cinema. She has written sev ...

. She co-wrote the screenplay of

Yash Chopra Yash Raj Chopra (27 September 1932 21 October 2012) was an Indian people, Indian film director and film producer who worked in Bollywood, Hindi cinema. The founding chairman of the film production and distribution company Yash Raj Films, Chop ...

's ''

Dil To Pagal Hai ''Dil To Pagal Hai'' (; ), is a 1997 Indian Hindi-language musical romance film directed by Yash Chopra. The film follows the love lives of the members of a musical troupe, in which two dancers played by Madhuri Dixit and Karisma Kapoor get ent ...

'' (1997) and is known for frequently directing women-oriented films where female characters are the main protagonists, notably '' Dushman'' (1998) and '' Sangharsh'' (1999).

Family

Chandra was born in

Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, primarily its western or right bank, Delhi shares borders w ...

. She is the sister of the writer Vikram Chandra and film critic

. Her mother is film writer

Career

Chandra began her career in 1995 and made her directorial debut with the TV series ''Zameen Aasmaan (TV series), '', starring

Tanvi Azmi Tanvi Azmi is an Indian film and television actress. Early life and career She was born to Marathi-Hindi actress Usha Kiran and Manohar Kher. Azmi portrayed a troubled doctor in the tele-series, ''Jeevanrekha'' and as a young widow in telefil ...

. In 1996, she directed another television serial along with Shabnam Sukhdev, called '' Mumkin''. In 1997, she wrote the screenplay for

's ''

'', which was a commercial success. She went on to collaborate often with

Mahesh Bhatt Mahesh Bhatt (born 20 September 1948) is an Indian film director, producer and screenwriter known for his works in Hindi cinema. A stand-out film from his earlier period is ''Saaransh'' (1984), screened at the 14th Moscow International Film F ...

and wrote the screenplay for his film, ''

Zakhm ''Zakhm'' () is a 1998 Indian Hindi-language drama film written and directed by Mahesh Bhatt. The film stars Ajay Devgn, Kunal Khemu, Pooja Bhatt, Sonali Bendre and Nagarjuna. ''Zakhm'' was awarded with the Nargis Dutt Award for Best Feature F ...

'' (1998). She also made her cinematic directorial debut with his '' Dushman'' in the same year. The movie, starring

Kajol Kajol Devgan (née Mukherjee; born 5 August 1974), known mononymously as Kajol, is an Indian actress. Described in the media as one of the most successful actresses of Hindi cinema, she is the recipient of numerous accolades, including six F ...

in the lead role, received critical praise and performed moderately-well at the box office. Her next film, '' Sangharsh'' (1999), was also produced by Mahesh Bhatt and starred

Akshay Kumar Rajiv Hari Om Bhatia (born 9 September 1967), known professionally as Akshay Kumar (), is an Indian-born naturalised Canadian Quote: "(Former prime minister Stephen) Harper campaigned in 2011 alongside one of Modi's biggest celebrity backer ...

Preity Zinta Preity G Zinta (pronounced ; born 31 January 1975) is an Indian actress and entrepreneur primarily known for her work in Hindi cinema, Hindi films. After graduating with degrees in English literature, English honours and criminal psychology, Z ...

and

Ashutosh Rana Ashutosh Ramnarayan Neekhra (born 10 November 1967), known professionally as Ashutosh Rana, is an Indian actor, producer, author and television personality. He has worked in Marathi, Telugu, Kannada, Tamil, and Hindi films. He has also worked ...

in leading roles. Since then, Chandra has directed several films, many of which went unnoticed. Yet films like '' Sur – The Melody of Life'' (2002) and ''

Film Star A movie star (also known as a film star or cinema star) is an actor or actress who is famous for their starring, or leading, roles in movies. The term is used for performers who are marketable stars as they become popular household names and w ...

'' (2005), which were directed and written by Chandra, received favourable reviews from critics and praise for her work as a director and writer. Recent films were ''

Zindaggi Rocks ''Zindaggi Rocks'' (translates as ''Life Rocks'') is a 2006 Bollywood film, directed by Tanuja Chandra and produced by Anurradha Prasad. It is about the love story between a famous singer, Kriya, played by Sushmita Sen and a doctor, played by Shi ...

'' (2006), starring

Sushmita Sen Sushmita Sen (born 19 November 1975) is an Indian actress, model and the winner of the Miss Universe 1994 pageant. She is the first Indian to win the Miss Universe pageant. She was previously crowned Femina Miss India 1994 at the age of 18. A ...

. Chandra also wrote the story and the screenplay for the film. Her most recent film was ''

Hope and a Little Sugar ''Hope and a Little Sugar'' is a 2006 Indian English-language film shot in New York City and directed by Tanuja Chandra. It premiered and won an award on 6 October 2006 at the ''South Asian International Film Festival'' in New York. In addition ...

'' (2008), was shot entirely in English in the US. In early 2016, She directed a short film ''Silvat'' for

Zee telefilms Essel Group, (also known as Zee Group) is an Indian multinational conglomerate holding company and corporate promoter headquartered in Mumbai, Maharashtra, India. The company has had business interests in mass media, infrastructure and pac ...

, which stars

Kartik Aaryan Kartik Aaryan Tiwari (born 22 November 1990), is an Indian actor who works in Hindi films. After pursuing a degree in engineering, he made his acting debut with Luv Ranjan's buddy film ''Pyaar Ka Punchnama'' (2011). He went on to star in the ...

. Tanuja's latest released film is

Qarib Qarib Singlle ''Qarib Qarib Singlle'' () is a 2017 Indian Hindi-language romantic comedy film co-written and directed by Tanuja Chandra and produced by Zee Studios, JAR Pictures and Sutapa Sikdar. The film stars Irrfan Khan and debuting Malayalam actress Parv ...

starring

Irrfan Khan Irrfan Khan () (born Sahabzade Irfan Ali Khan; 7 January 196729 April 2020), also known simply as Irrfan, was an Indian actor who worked in Indian cinema as well as British and American films. Widely regarded as one of the finest actors in In ...

and Parvathy. She has been working on the development of a television show for Star which will begin production soon. A book titled "BIJNIS WOMEN" of short stories by her has just been published by

Penguin Random House Penguin Random House LLC is an Anglo-American multinational corporation, multinational conglomerate (company), conglomerate publishing company formed on July 1, 2013, from the merger of Penguin Group and Random House. On April 2, 2020, Bertels ...

Filmography

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Chandra, Tanuja 1969 births Indian women film directors 20th-century Indian film directors Hindi-language film directors Living people Indian women television directors Indian television directors Indian women screenwriters Writers from Lucknow 20th-century Indian women writers 20th-century Indian dramatists and playwrights Women writers from Uttar Pradesh Hindi screenwriters Screenwriters from Uttar Pradesh