Sajid Nadiadwala

Sajid Nadiadwala (born 18 February 1966) is an Indian film producer, film director and screenwriter who works in Hindi cinema. He is the owner of Nadiadwala Grandson Entertainment and the grandson of filmmaker A.K. Nadiadwala. Sajid has produced several films starring Akshay Kumar and Salman Khan. He is known for films such Housefull and Baaghi (2016) and its sequels. He was the director of Kick that won him a debutant director award. He was also involved in the Marathi film Lai Bhaari that was produced by Riteish Deshmukh. In 2026, he co-produced his first Gujarati film Dhabkaaro, to commemorate the completion of 75 years of Nadiadwala Grandson Entertainment. The film was directed by National Award winning director Abhishek Shah.

Early life Sajid's grandfather Abdul Karim Nadiadwala came to Mumbai from Nadiad, Gujarat in 1955. His grandfather produced hundreds of films in Mumbai, including Taj Mahal. After completing his undergraduate degree, he worked under J.P. Dutta as an assistant director on the sets of Ghulami at the age of 21.

Career Sajid started his career as a production assistant in his uncle's production house before establishing his own production company called "Nadiadwala Grandson Entertainment Pvt Ltd" at the age of 25. He brought together Akshay Kumar and Suniel Shetty for the first time on the big screen with his next, Waqt Hamara Hai (1993).

1996–2006

His next production was Salman Khan – Sunny Deol starrer Jeet in 1996 that went on to become a huge hit and popularised Sunny's hook step in the song "Yaara O Yaara". His next, starring Salman Khan in a double role, Judwaa, created a benchmark in the actor's life and was recognised as a cult film. Har Dil Jo Pyar Karega starring Salman Khan, Rani Mukherjee and Preity Zinta (2000) and Mujhse Shaadi Karogi (2004) starring Akshay Kumar, Priyanka Chopra and Salman Khan were the next films he produced under his banner. His 2006 film Jaan-E-Mann was commercially unsuccessful.

2007–2014 Sajid released Heyy Babyy in 2007, wherein he launched director Sajid Khan (director). His 2009 production Kambakkht Ishq, for the very first time in Bollywood included the casting of Hollywood stars such as Sylvester Stallone, Denise Richards and Brandon Routh. The film starred Akshay Kumar and Kareena Kapoor in the lead. Sajid described the moment when he signed Sylvester Stallone for the film as historic since he was so star-struck by Stallone, as he was wondering whether he should get an autograph first or get the contract signed.

His first film of 2010, Housefull held a stellar cast of Akshay Kumar, Ritesh Deshmukh, Deepika Padukone, Lara Dutta, Jiah Khan, Boman Irani, Arjun Rampal and Randhir Kapoor. The film on release became one of the highest grossers and established Housefull as a successful comedy franchise. On 30 September 2010, he announced a sequel to Housefull that would again star Akshay Kumar in the lead. His next film, a love story, Anjaana Anjaani starring Ranbir Kapoor and Priyanka Chopra released on 1 October 2010 and the music of the film was an overnight success with songs like Tujhe Bhula Diya and Aas Paas Hai Khuda becoming all-time chartbusters.

Housefull 2 was released on 5 April 2012 and this franchise film went on to be a blockbuster by entering the 100- crore – club, commemorating Nadiadwala Grandson's first 100-crore film. In 2014, Sajid Nadiadwala came with four successful films which were among the All-Time Top Grossers in Indian cinema. His first production in the year 2014 was Highway starring Alia Bhatt and Randeep Hooda, directed by Imtiaz Ali was a success at the box office. His decision to green-lit film like Highway brought a lot of appreciation from the industry and audience alike. Next was 2 States, the diverse cultural love story starring Alia Bhatt and Arjun Kapoor in lead roles and directed by Abhishek Varman was yet another 100 crore club that catered to the class as well as mass audience. On 23 May 2014, his first movie starring two debutantes in lead roles Heropanti released. The movie stars Tiger Shroff and Kriti Sanon and has the second-highest opening for a movie starring debutantes. Heropanti became a commercial success and a hit movie, earning over 78 crores Worldwide and over 52.92 crores net domestically in India with an opening of 6.65 crores net domestically in India .

Sajid made his directorial debut with the July 2014 release Kick, a remake of Ravi Teja's 2009 Telugu film Kick. The film stars Salman Khan and Jacqueline Fernandez as the leads. The film broke all previous Khan records and is one of the top 100 highest-grossing Indian films. Sajid with this film also successfully resurrected Jacqueline Fernandez's Bollywood career and got the actress in many movies. The actress said about her Judwaa 2 producer, Sajid Nadiadwala, admitting that it was he who noticed her before anyone else, giving her the special appearance in Housefull song, "Dhanno" and then going on to cast her in Housefull 2 and his directorial debut, Kick. Fernandez said about Sajid "My oldest equation is with him, his wife Warda is my soul sister and I've watched his kids grow in front of my eyes. I'm in the movies because of him and I'll never forget that. I'll always be there for Nadiad and Salman". Next was the highly talked film, Tamasha starring ex flame Ranbir Kapoor and Deepika Padukone, directed by Imtiaz Ali. The film grossed 100 crore worldwide and is received much love and appreciation by the critics. The music album of the film became hit and is considered one of the top albums of the decade with songs like "Matargashti" and "Agar Tum Saath Ho" ruling the charts.

In 2016, Sajid Nadiadwala had another successful year, with three back-to-back hits, Baaghi, Housefull 3 and Dishoom. Baaghi, an action adventure film starring his protégé Tiger Shroff and actress Shraddha Kapoor grossed 129 crore worldwide. The third installment of the Akshay Kumar lead Housefull franchise, Housefull 3, broke box office records and grossed 195 crore worldwide. On announcing the fourth instalment of the Housefull franchise Sajid said “Yes, that's right we intend to bring back the entire cast from the earlier Housefull films. Of course Jia Khan is no longer with us. God bless her soul. But all the rest are on." On discussing the idea behind the film he said "I just thought we’ve seen so many serious intense romantic films on the theme of reincarnation, you know Madhumati, Karz etc...why not a funny take on punar-janam? That was my idea. I shared it with my story writers. I thought they would take at least a year or two to crack it. But they came up with a terrific plot within no time. So yeah, here we are all set to do a rip-roaring take on reincarnation. We are looking ahead at making the most expensive comedy ever to come from our production house". Housefull 4, set across two time zones, was released Diwali 2019.

Rangoon, starring Saif Ali Khan, Kangana Ranaut and Shahid Kapoor, was released on 24 February 2017. Sajid Nadiadwala's reboot version of his cult classic Judwaa, once again directed by David Dhawan titled Judwaa 2 broke the dry spell running at the box office in 2017. The film was a significant commercial success, earning over ₹223 crores worldwide. The film has become Varun Dhawan's highest-grossing film as a lead actor so far. Nadiadwala then released Baaghi 2 starring Tiger Shroff and Disha Patani in 2018. The film earned over ₹258 crores worldwide, becoming a major commercial success. The film is a remake to the Telugu film Kshanam (2016).

Personal life

Sajid married actress Divya Bharti (who converted to Islam and took the name Sana) on 10 May 1992 in a private Nikah ceremony. She died on 5 April 1993 by accidentally falling from the balcony of her 5th floor apartment in Bombay (Mumbai). Ten months after Divya's death, Sajid met Warda Khan, a journalist. Khan proposed to Nadiadwala and on 18 November 2000, the two were married. The couple later had two sons. He is good friends with popular Bollywood actors Salman Khan, Akshay Kumar, and Tiger Shroff.

Filmography

+Key Denotes films that have not yet been released

Awards and nominations YearCategoryForResult 2015 Filmfare Best Film Award 2 States 2015 IIFA Award for Debut Director Kick 2020 Filmfare Best Film Award Chhichhore 2020 National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Hindi Chhichhore