Mohammed Ibrahim Baloch (orBloch; born 1949), better known asMehul Kumar, is an Indian filmmaker and writer inBollywood.^[2][3] He is known for directing the filmsTirangaa (1992),Krantiveer (1993) andKohram (1999).^[1] His other works includeMrityudaata (1997) andKitne Door Kitne Paas (2002) among others as well as severalGujarati films.

Mehul Kumar was born as Mohammed Baloch into aMakrani Baloch family in the city ofJamnagar, Gujarat in 1949. Graduating fromBombay University he started as a journalist during the early 1970s which included writing film reviews. He then moved to work inGujarati theatre.^[1]

He made his directorial debut with a Gujarati comedyChandu Jamadar (1977), a remake ofDada Kondke's highly successful lowbrow Marathi comedyPandu Havaldar (1975).^[1] Though it was Kumar's 1977 bilingual Hindi-Gujarati filmPhir Janam Lenge Hum/Janam Janam Na Saathi^[4][5] produced by Tahir Hussain which first gained recognition. After its success, Kumar directed eighteen successful Gujarati films over the years.

Kumar then made his second Hindi projectAnokha Bandhan (1982). After that he directed films with actors likeDharmendra,Jeetendra,Anil Kapoor,Meenakshi Sheshadri,Shabana Azmi,Madhuri Dixit,Shatrughan Sinha,Mehmood andFeroz Khan among others.

Then came Kumar's blockbuster golden jubilee hitMarte Dam Tak (1987) which starredRaaj Kumar,Govinda andFarah.Jungbaaz,Nafrat Ki Aandhi and a string of back-to-back films followed in the 1980s. In the '90s he made commercially successful films likeTirangaa (1992) starring Raaj Kumar andNana Patekar. Then followedKrantiveer (1993) based on theBombay riots.Krantiveer was a blockbuster with Patekar winning aNational Film Award for his performance.^[1]

Kumar then directedABCL's debut ventureMrityudaata (1997) which wasAmitabh Bachan's comeback film after five years, but it emerged as a box-office failure. He brought Nana Patekar and Amitabh Bachchan together inKohram (1999). Although it was commercially unsuccessful as well, it is remembered for the performances of its lead actors. He then madeKitne Door Kitne Paas (2002), which fared well. His next filmJaago (2004) was based on a real life incident and was one of the first films to raise awareness aboutrape in India. His last film wasKrantiveer: The Revolution (2010) starred his daughter Jahan Bloch in the lead role and was a sequel toKrantiveer.

He has also produced some of his films likeTirangaa,Krantiveer,Kohram andJaago. Other actors which have appeared and collaborated with Kumar on film projects includeDimple Kapadia,Naseeruddin Shah,Akshay Kumar,Raveena Tandon andKarisma Kapoor.

Kumar runs Mehul Cinemax, a film theatre in Jamnagar owned by his production company Mehul Entertainments Private Limited.^[6]

His brother Hussain Bloch is a film director in Gujarati cinema and has also worked with Kumar in many of his films.^[7] Kumar's daughter Jahan Bloch appeared as the lead inKrantiveer's sequelKrantiveer: The Revolution (2010). She had previously appeared as a child actress in his films. Having since moved toPrince Edward's Island with her chef husband, she now runs a bakery while also working as a filmmaker.^[8] His son Zoheb Mohammed Bloch has assisted Kumar as a director in films. He has another daughter Shameem Khan, a costume designer, and a brother production manager Mohamed Bloch; both of whom have worked with Kumar on his films.^[3]

• Mehul Kumar atIMDb

• Gujarati-language film directors
• Hindi-language film directors
• Living people
• 1949 births
• 20th-century Indian people
• 21st-century Indian people
• Film directors from Mumbai
• Indian people of Baloch descent
• Gujarati people

• Articles with short description
• Short description is different from Wikidata
• Use dmy dates from October 2016
• Use Indian English from October 2016
• All Wikipedia articles written in Indian English
• Articles with hCards
• Articles containing Hindi-language text