Vashu Bhagnani is a Bollywood movie producer and a realtor. He is best known for producing a series of superhit “No. 1” movies like Coolie No. 1 (1995), Hero No. 1 (1997), Biwi No. 1 (1999), and Shaadi No. 1 (2005).
Contents
Wiki/Biography
Vashu Bhagnani was born on Wednesday, 19 April 1961 (age 63 years; as of 2024) in Kolkata, India. His zodiac sign is Aries. Vashu Bhagnani worked with his father at his clothing shop when he was just 11 years old. When Vashu was in the sixth standard, he had to quit school because of a slight financial hiccup faced by the family after a huge loss in the business. To earn a livelihood, Vashu travelled by train to different cities to sell sarees.
Physical Appearance
Height (approx.): 5′ 7″
Eye Colour: Black
Hair Colour: Black
Family & Caste
Vashu Bhagnani was born in a Sindhi family in Kolkata, India. [1]TheSindhuWorld
Parents & Siblings
Vashu Bhagnani’s father’s name is Lilaram Bhagnani, and his mother’s name is not known. He has one younger brother.
Wife & Children
Vashu Bhagnani got married to Pooja Bhagnani on 6 February in Mumbai. They had an arranged marriage. They have two children together, Jackky Bhagnani and Deepshikha Deshmukh.
Career
Vashu Bhagnani moved to Mumbai from Kolkata in 1989 to start his own business. He began with manufacturing parts for TV, manufacturing clothing, etc. He then changed his field and entered the construction business before becoming a film producer. In 1995, Vashu Bhagnani signed Govinda and David Dhawan for Rs. 5 lakh each. The first movie produced by him was “Coolie No. 1” starring Govinda and Karishma Kapoor. The movie was a blockbuster and commercially successful, and Vashu started his own production company, Pooja Entertainment India Limited. After the success of “Coolie No. 1”, Vashu started a whole series of ‘No. 1’ movies and released ‘Hero No. 1’ (1997), ‘Biwi No. 1’ (1999), and ‘Shaadi No. 1’ (2005). In 1997, he released another movie “Bade Miyan Chhote Miyan” with Amitabh Bachchan, Govinda, Anupam Kher, and Raveena Tandon as the star cast.
Team ‘Hero No. 1’ – Govinda, director David Dhawan, producer Vashu Bhagnani & #KaderKhan
@govindaahuja21 @Varun_dvn @vashubhagnani pic.twitter.com/eVDp3VgkyL
— Film History Pics (@FilmHistoryPic) January 3, 2019
In 2002, Vashu Bhagnani produced “Om Jai Jagadish” which was a family drama film. However, things didn’t go well for him as the movie was not appreciated by the audience, and it caused a huge financial loss to him. Vashu left the field of film production and entered the real estate business again to make more money.
Vashu made a comeback in 2009 with the movie “Kal Kissne Dekha,” and he launched his son, Jackky Bhagnani, as the lead actor. The movie was a romance science fiction and received a good response from the audience in theatres.
Controversy
Allegations of Not Paying Fees
Director Ali Abbas Zafar filed a lawsuit against Vashu in September 2024 after the latter reportedly refused to pay him his fees of Rs. 7.30 crore for his work on the Hindi film Bade Miyan Chote Miyan. Vashu’s production house later denied the claims and revealed in a statement,
The dues claimed do not constitute a legitimate claim and are subject to various set-offs, as communicated to us by BMCM Films Ltd.”
He and Jackky later filed a counter-complaint against Ali claiming him to have embezzled the funds handed to the production house for the shooting of the film by authorities in Abu Dhabi. [2]The Indian Express
Facts/Trivia
- “Bade Miyan Chhote Miyan” was produced by Vashu Bhagnani and it was his third film that turned out to be a super hit movie in theatres. This movie was the second highest-earning movie of the year after “Kuch Kuch Hota Hai” in 1997.
- Vashu Bhagnani named his daughter, Deepshikha Deshmukh as ‘Junior Vashu.’ For Deepshikha, her parents have always been her biggest inspiration. Deepshikha worked with his father in the real estate business and as a movie producer as well.
- Vashu Bhagnani collaborated with David Dhawan to remake their first movie together, Coolie No. 1. The film’s remake, which has the same title, i.e., ‘Coolie No. 1,’ was released on the online streaming platform, Amazon Prime on 25 December 2020 in which Sara Ali Khan and Varun Dhawan appeared in lead roles. Jackky Bhagnani and Deepshikha Deshmukh also worked as assistant producers on the movie.
Presenting to you #CoolieNo1trailer with a heart full of love, joy & gratitude. #CoolieNo1OnPrime @PrimeVideoIN https://t.co/xGo7RnIk5z@Varun_dvn #SaraAliKhan #DavidDhawan @vashubhagnani @jackkybhagnani @poojafilms @rumyjafry @ZeeMusicCompany @tipsofficial @SirPareshRawal
— Vashu Bhagnani (@vashubhagnani) November 28, 2020
- After most of his films, including Bade Miya Chote Miya, and Bell Bottom, didn’t do well at the box office, he had to sell his production house Pooja Entertainment’s Mumbai office to repay debt worth Rs. 250 crore.
References
↑1 | TheSindhuWorld |
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↑2 | The Indian Express |