Description
Rajkumar Santoshi is an Indian film director, producer and screenwriter of Hindi films. Having received several accolades including three National Film Awards and six Filmfare Awards, he made his directorial debut with the crime film Ghayal (1990), starring Sunny Deol, Meenakshi Sheshadri and Amrish Puri. Which was a huge critical and commercial success, it made Santoshi a household name in Hindi cinema. The film won him the National Film Award for Best Popular Film Providing Wholesome Entertainment as well as the Filmfare Award for Best Director.
He also directed the thriller Damini (1993) with Deol, Sheshadri and Puri. Besides being critically acclaimed, the film became commercial success. It garnered him a second Filmfare Best Director Award and Filmfare Best Screenplay Award. During this period, Santoshi also received praise for directing the comedy Andaz Apna Apna (1994) starring Aamir Khan and Salman Khan together, which though a box office flop has attained cult status. His next action drama Ghatak: Lethal (1996) was also a huge commercial success and he earned a Filmfare Best Director Award nomination. The major success Barsaat (1995), that marked the film debut of Bobby Deol and Twinkle Khanna. In 2000, he wrote dialogues of the film 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 Best Director nominations at Filmfare. His highest-grossing film came in 2009 with over ₹1.2 billion (US$15 million)-earning romantic comedy Ajab Prem Ki Ghazab Kahani starring Ranbir Kapoor and Katrina Kaif.
