Rajkumar Santoshi

Rajkumar Santoshi is an Indian film director, producer and screenwriter of Hindi films. A recipient of several accolades including three National Film Awards and six Filmfare Awards, he made his directorial debut with the action drama Ghayal (1990), starring Sunny Deol, Meenakshi Sheshadri and Amrish Puri. The film emerged as a major critical and commercial success, making Santoshi a household name in Hindi cinema. The film won also him the National Film Award for Best Popular Film Providing Wholesome Entertainment as well as his first Filmfare Award for Best Director.

He also directed the crime drama thriller Damini (1993), again starring Sheshadri, Deol and Puri. It also emerged as a major critical and commercial success, garnering Santoshi the Filmfare Award for Best Screenplay and his second consecutive Filmfare Award for Best Director. During this period, Santoshi also received praise for directing the comedy Andaz Apna Apna (1994) starring Aamir Khan and Salman Khan together, which despite being a box-office flop has attained cult status. He next directed the action romance Barsaat (1995), which marked the film debut of Bobby Deol and Twinkle Khanna. His next action drama Ghatak: Lethal (1996), also emerged as a commercial success. Andaz Apna Apna and Ghatak: Lethal earning him nominations for the Filmfare Award for Best Director.

In 2000, he wrote dialogues of the action thriller Pukar which earned him the Nargis Dutt Award for Best Feature Film on National Integration. He followed it by directing two moderate commercial successes—the biopic The Legend of Bhagat Singh (2002) and the action thriller Khakee (2004)—both of which earned him nominations for the Filmfare Award for Best Director. His highest-grossing film came in 2009 with the romantic comedy Ajab Prem Ki Ghazab Kahani starring Ranbir Kapoor and Katrina Kaif, which grossed ₹1.2 billion (US$15 million) worldwide.