Danish Renzu
Danish Renzu is an Indian born Los Angeles based film director, producer, and screenwriter. He is also the founder of Renzu Films. Renzu is best known for directing and producing films like Half Widow, The Illegal, and Songs of Paradise featuring Saba Azad, Soni Razdan, Taaruk Raina, Lillete Dubey, which released worldwide one Prime Video on August 29, 2025.
Danish Renzu
Saraforreal · CC BY-SA 4.0
- Name
- Danish Renzu
- Born
- 11 March 1989
- Birthplace
- Kashmir, India
- Education
- University of California, Los Angeles
- Occupation
- * Director
- Nationality
- India
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Danish Renzu is an Indian born Los Angeles based film director, producer, and screenwriter. He is also the founder of Renzu Films. Renzu is best known for directing and producing films like Half Widow, The Illegal, and Songs of Paradise featuring Saba Azad, Soni Razdan, Taaruk Raina, Lillete Dubey, which released worldwide one Prime Video on August 29, 2025.
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Danish Renzu (born 1986) is a film director and screenwriter, of Indian nationality. The film director was born in Srinagar.
Composed from admitted, traceable facts · 01 October 2026
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In this article
Biography
Biography
Renzu has received numerous accolades, his film The illegal as a writer and director was shortlisted for nominations for the Best Picture Category at the Academy Awards 2019.
Key facts
Key facts
• Name — Danish Renzu • Born — 11 March 1989 • Birthplace — Kashmir, India • Education — University of California, Los Angeles • Occupation — * Director • screenwriter • producer • Notable Works — Half Widow, The illegal, Songs of Paradise
Early life and education
Early life and education
Danish Renzu was born in Kashmir, India. In 2005, he shifted to Los Angeles for further studies, where he graduated from the University of California, Los Angeles. He holds a degree in Electrical Engineering and UCLA Writers' Program certification in screenwriting from the same university. He worked at AT&T for five years before he made the drastic career change.
Career
Career
Renzu started directing short movies in 2015. He directed two short films In Search of America, Inshallah (2014) and First Love (2015). His first feature film Half Widow was released in 2017 and narrates the story of a woman searching for her husband against the backdrop of the Kargil War. His second directorial film was The illegal (2019) starring Suraj Sharma of Oscar-winning film Life of Pi, Shweta Tripathi, and Adil Hussain. The film was shortlisted for nominations for the Best Picture Category at the Academy Awards 2019. He also directed and produced the music video Ae Savere starring Soni Razdan and Taha Shah Badussha which traces a life of a Kashmiri Pandit woman returning to Kashmir. It was very well received. His recent award-winning short films The Good News and My Father's Doctor are both streaming on JioCinema. His film Songs of Paradise released in August 2025 produced by Excel Entertainment. Recently Renzu announced his Music label, Renzu Music representing many Kashmiri artists with an intention to create a platform for artists in the valley.
Filmography
Filmography
• Year — Film — Director — Writer — Notes • 2025 — Songs of Paradise • 2023 — My Father’s Doctor • 2022 — The Good News • 2021 — The Illegal • 2017 — Half Widow • 2014 — In Search of America, Inshallah
Life and career
Dated record
Life and career
The full dated record · 1 entries
1986
Danish Renzu born at Srinagar.
Awards and recognition
Awards and recognition • Year — Award — Category — Work — Result — References • 2021 — Austin Film Festival — Best Feature Film and Best Director — The illegal • 2019 — Mumbai International Film Festival (MIFF) — Jury Special Prize • 2018 — New Jersey International Festival — Best Feature Film (Grand Prize) • 2017 — South Asian Film Festival — Best Feature (Audience Award) • 2015 — Canada Short Film Festival Award — Award of Excellence for Best Director (Short film)
Notes from the source article
Cited by Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
These works are cited by the source article, in its own numbering. They are recorded as its citations, not as sources VALÉORINE has verified.
- 1.Tagat, Anurag. Premiere: Watch the Teaser for Kashmiri Short Film 'The Good News' by Filmmaker Danish Renzu. Rolling Stone India. 2022-05-05.
- 2.'The Illegal' movie review: A sublime take on hopes, aspirations and despair. Deccan Herald. 2021-03-23.
- 3.The Illegal Movie Review: Suraj Sharma pays the price of his American dream. India Today. 23 March 2021.
- 4.Bukhtiyar, Idrees. 'Kashmir needs to have its own regional cinema'. Greater Kashmir. 12 September 2022.
- 5.Staff, Amazon. How to watch 'Songs of Paradise' starring Saba Azad and Soni Razdan, streaming exclusively on Prime Video. Amazon. 2025-08-29.
- 6.Dore, Shalini. AFI Alums Pitch in for Classmate's Movie. Variety. 2017-06-29.
- 7.Hrithik Roshan's girlfriend Saba Azad to play lead role in Danish Renzu's Songs Of Paradise; deets inside. Pinkvilla. August 2025.
- 8.Sehgal, Chirag. Saba Azad Wraps Up Rocket Boys 2, Minimum, and Songs of Paradise Shoot; Deets Inside. News18. 2022-12-15.
- 9.Saba Azad to play Raj Begum in Danish Renzu's Songs Of Paradise - Exclusive. The Times of India. 2022-09-25. 0971-8257.
- 10.Chhibber, Mini Anthikad. Danish Renzu talks about 'The Illegal'. The Hindu. 2021-04-17. 0971-751X.
- 11.Seta, Keyur. We have had enough of 'Bumbro' from Kashmir: Danish Renzu on Half Widow. Cinestaan.
- 12.Bhat, Adil. A window to the Valley - Danish Renzu talks about reviving cinema in Kashmir. The Hindu. 2017-09-19. 0971-751X.
- 13.Danish Renzu. www.platform-mag.com.
- 14.Bhat, Niyati. Half Widow does not fall into the Bollywood trap of the formula Kashmir film. The Hindu. 2020-01-10. 0971-751X.
- 15.Seta, Keyur. Half Widow review: Hopeful end to grim tale of a missing husband. Cinestaan.
- 16.Seta, Keyur. The Illegal review: This story of immigrants in the US is filled with reality and hope. Cinestaan.
- 17.Roy, Lachmi Deb. 'I Am An Immigrant From Assam To Delhi, So I Can Relate To 'The Illegal': Adil Hussain. Outlook India. 25 March 2021.
- 18.Ramanan, Manju. Oscar nominee 'The Illegal,' written and directed by Danish Renzu, to release on OTT. FilmFare. 2021-03-21.
- 19.Ramanan, Manju. Taha Shah and Soni Razdan talk of their music video 'Ae Savere', shot in Kashmir. FilmFare. 2021-08-10.
- 20.Ramachandran, Naman. Excel Entertainment Boards Kashmir-Set Music and Woman Empowerment Tale 'Songs of Paradise'. Variety. 30 January 2024.
- 21.Tagat, Anurag. Kashmir's New Record Label Renzu Music Launches Debut Release with Pensive Song 'Hoshdar'. RollingStone. 20 May 2023.
- 22.HK, Varun. Cinema has a responsibility to bring people together, says 'The Illegal' director Danish Renzu. Deccan Herald. 2021-04-02.
- 23.Past Films. Austin Film Festival.
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1- IndiaPlace
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The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 20 August 2026.
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