Sanjay Khanna later joined Suniel Shetty's company Popcorn Entertainment as a Creative Director where he creatively executed all the films Produced by Popcorn Ent. and also shot songs for EMI starring Sanjay Dutt, Arjun Rampal and Mallaika Arora Khan.
Sanjay Khanna's association with the celluloid began with assisting internationally renowned director Shekhar Kapur on the fantasy film, 'Mr. India' where he got to handle the entire shoot and pre to post-production of the film. As Shekhar Kapur got involved with 'Bandit Queen' he appointed Sanjay Khanna as a Director to complete 'Dushmani' Starring Sunny Deol & Manisha Koirala. Sanjay then went to be the COO for Shekhar Kapur's Quasar Films and the Associate Director for all the commercials produced and directed by him. The last commercial was 'Force One Suv' starring Amitabh Bachchan.
With his first film 'Anth', ironically (in Hindi Anth translates to 'the end'), Sanjay Khanna began his first Directorial, starring Sunil Shetty, Somy Ali and Paresh Rawal. The film went on to be Silver Jubilee at the box office and also won the year's Filmfare Award for the 'Best Action Film'. Sanjay Khanna's next film was 'Shastra', most remembered for the song 'Kya Ada Kya Jalwe Tere Paro' which was a Chartbuster, that stayed on the top of charts for almost a year. This film marked the debut for today's successful singer Sunidhi Chauhan and writer Yunus Sejawal. He then directed an action-comedy 'Ittefaq' and a thriller 'Junoon'. Even as the Silver Screen has not enough of Sanjay Khanna, he went testing the still waters of the Small Screen. That is when he directed, For Sahara One - a psychological thriller 'Katputtli which was a tight budget film for digital theatres and overseas market.
Sanjay ventured into Television and directed hundreds of episodes for various Channels like Star TV, Zee TV, Sony TV, Sahara One etc
Also, for Sony TV, he did a Director's special show for Vikram Bhatt called 'Specials at 10: Shauhrat Nafrat Aur Showbiz' which is a story of an upcoming Bollywood actress and how she attains stardom. This mini-series was nominated for 'the best series' category at the Seoul Festival & won several TV Awards.
Sanjay Khanna's career in film began with assisting internationally acclaimed filmmaker Shekhar Kapur in the fiction film 'Mr. India,' where he was in charge of the entire shoot from pre-production to post-production. Shekhar Kapur provided Sanjay Khanna an opportunity to direct 'Dushmani,' starring Sunny Deol and Manisha Koirala while working on 'Bandit Queen.' Sanjay went on to work with Shekhar Kapur's Quasar Films as the COO and Associate Director for all of the commercials he created and directed. 'Force One Suv,' starring , was the most recent advertisement. Sanjay Khanna began his directorial career with his first picture, 'Anth,' which starred Suniel Shetty, Somy Ali, and Paresh Rawal and ironically (in Hindi, Anth translates to 'the end'). The film went on to win the year's Filmfare Award for 'Best Action Film' and a Silver Jubilee at the box office.
Sanjay Khanna's next film, 'Shastra,' is best known for the chart-topping song 'Kya Ada Kya Jalwe Tere Paro,' which remained at the top for nearly all charts a year. Sunidhi Chauhan, today's successful singer, and Yunus Sejawal, today's successful writer, debuted in this film. After that, he directed two films: 'Ittefaq,' an action-comedy, and 'Junoon,' a thriller. Sanjay Khanna has gone to try the quiet waters of the Small Screen, even though the Silver Screen has had enough of him. That's when he directed For Sahara One, a psychological thriller titled 'Katputtli,' a low-budget film aimed at digital theatres and the international market. Sanjay dabbled with television, directing hundreds of episodes for Star TV, Zee TV, Sony TV, and Sahara One.
He also directed a special show for Vikram Bhatt for Sony TV called 'Specials at 10: Shauhrat Nafrat Aur Showbiz,' which narrates about an aspiring Bollywood actress and her journey to stardom. This mini-series was nominated for the Seoul Festival's 'best series' category and won multiple TV Awards. Sanjay Khanna then worked as a Creative Director for Suniel Shetty's Popcorn Entertainment. He was responsible for the creative direction of all Popcorn Entertainment films and shooting songs for EMI starring Sanjay Dutt, Arjun Rampal, and Malaika Arora Khan. He even directed the action sequences for Govinda and Suniel Shetty's film 'Loot.' He subsequently went on to work as a Creative Director for Spectrum 7, a Dubai-based advertising agency, where he worked on several international advertising and corporate films.
# | Released Date | Type | Credited As | Movie |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 07 Nov 2008 | Film | Assistant director | EMI Liya Hai Toh Chukana Parega |
2 | 18 Aug 2006 | Film | Director | Katputtli |
3 | 03 Feb 2006 | Film | Director | Chor Mandli |
4 | 01 Jan 2002 | Film | Director | Junoon |
5 | 14 Sep 2001 | Film | Director | Ittefaq |
6 | 04 Oct 1996 | Film | Director | Shastra |
7 | 19 Jan 1996 | Film | Director | Dushmani |
8 | 06 Oct 1994 | Film | Director | Anth |
9 | 09 Sep 1994 | Film | Assistant director | Bandit Queen |
10 | 29 May 1987 | Film | Assistant director | Mr India |