Director, screenwriter and producer, graduated from the Film and Television Institute of India. His first job in film was 1942: A Love Story (1994) by director Vidhu Vinod Chopra, where he worked as a co-screenwriter. His film debut was Khamoshi: The Musical (1996) which was not a box office success, but it received positive reviews. His romantic drama Hum Dil de Chuke Sanam (I have Already Given My Heart Darling, 1999) was very successful, winning many awards at the Indian Film Academy, some of which were for best film and best director, and Filmfare awards in the same categories. He founded the production company SLB Films in 1999, and then filmed his romantic musical Devdas (2002), which was successful commercially as well as with the critics, winning many awards. The following film, Black (2005), inspired by the story of Helen Keller, was also very successful, but Saawariya (2007) broke the winning streak. Three years later he recovered with the film Guzaarish (2010), and his new film Ram Leela is currently in the pre-production stage.