Rajkumar Santoshi
Santoshi in 2015
Born	(1956-07-17)17 July 1956 (age 69) Bhopal,Madhya Pradesh, India
Other names	Raj Santoshi
Occupation(s)	Film director,producer,screenwriter
Years active	1982–present
Notable work	Ghayal Damini Andaz Apna Apna Barsaat Ghatak China Gate Pukar The Legend of Bhagat Singh Khakee Ajab Prem Ki Ghazab Kahani

Rajkumar Santoshi is an acclaimed award-winning Indian film director, producer and screenwriter ofHindi films. A recipient of several accolades including threeNational Film Awards and sixFilmfare Awards, he made his directorial debut with the action dramaGhayal (1990), starringSunny Deol,Meenakshi Sheshadri andAmrish Puri. The film emerged as ablockbuster and critical success,^[1] making Santoshi a household name inHindi cinema. The film also won him theNational Film Award for Best Popular Film Providing Wholesome Entertainment as well as his firstFilmfare Award for Best Director.

His next film, the universally acclaimed social dramaDamini (1993), which again starred Deol, Sheshadri, and Puri, also emerged as a blockbuster.^[2] It is widely considered the best movie made by Santoshi, garnering him theFilmfare Award for Best Screenplay and his second consecutive Filmfare Award for Best Director. During this period, Santoshi also received praise for directing the comedyAndaz Apna Apna (1994) starringAamir Khan andSalman Khan together, which despite being a box-office flop has attainedcult status. Later, he directed the successful action romance filmBarsaat (1995), which marked the film debut ofBobby Deol andTwinkle Khanna. His next action dramaGhatak (1996), again emerged as a commercial blockbuster and critical success.^[3] BothAndaz Apna Apna andGhatak earned him nominations for the Filmfare Award for Best Director.

Although his next film, the 2000 action thrillerPukar, was not successful, his work was appreciated and he won theNargis Dutt Award for Best Feature Film on National Integration for it. He followed it by directing two moderate commercial successes—the biopicThe Legend of Bhagat Singh (2002) and the action thrillerKhakee (2004) —both of which earned him nominations for the Filmfare Award for Best Director. His highest-grossing film of the decade came in 2009 with the romantic comedyAjab Prem Ki Ghazab Kahani starringRanbir Kapoor andKatrina Kaif, which grossed₹1.2 billion (US$14 million) worldwide and was declared a Semi-Hit at box-office.

He is the son of producer-director P. L. Santoshi and his second wife. Rajkumar was born in Chennai (then Madras) and currently lives with his wife Manila and children; Ram and Tanisha.^[4]

Santoshi started his career in 1982 as an assistant director onGovind Nihalani on the coming-of-age filmVijeta (1982) and the crime dramaArdh Satya (1983).

Santoshi made his directorial debut with the action dramaGhayal (1990), starringSunny Deol andMeenakshi Seshadri in lead roles. The film tells the story of a person in search of his missing brother and the events that follow. It emerged as a blockbuster hit and a critical success,^[1] ranking as thesecond highest-grossing Hindi film of the year.Ghayal earned Santoshi his firstFilmfare Award for Best Director, theFilmfare Award for Best Story, and theNational Film Award for Best Popular Film Providing Wholesome Entertainment.^[5]

Santoshi followed it up with was the crime drama thrillerDamini (1993), which dealt with themes considered bold at the time, such as the status of women in our society and the perspective of people towards women. The film starred Seshadri in the lead role, alongside Deol,Rishi Kapoor andAmrish Puri. It opened to universal critical acclaim, with widespread praise for its storyline, execution and theme.Damini also emerged as a blockbuster at the box-office and earned Santoshi his second consecutive Filmfare Award for Best Director, afterGhayal, thus becoming the only director to have won the award for his first two films.^[6] The film is now considered acult feminist film and important for portraying women empowerment in cinema.^[7] The pathbreaking film was praised for breaking social taboos and handling the subject of rape with sensitivity; a rarity in Bollywood at the time.^[8]

After making two back-to-back serious films, Santoshi decided to make a light film. He then wrote and directed the comedyAndaz Apna Apna (1994), starring anensemble cast ofAamir Khan,Salman Khan,Raveena Tandon,Karisma Kapoor,Paresh Rawal (in a dual role) andShakti Kapoor in lead roles. The film received critical acclaim upon release but emerged as a commercial failure at the box-office. It earned Santoshi his third nomination for the Filmfare Award for Best Director.^[9] However over the years, it is considered acult classic comedy, with itslexicon having become a part of everyday and ordinary language.^[10]

Santoshi then went on to make the action romanceBarsaat (1995), which marked the debut of actorsBobby Deol andTwinkle Khanna. The film emerged as a big commercial success at the box-office, ranking as thefourth highest-grossing Hindi film of the year.

The following year, Santoshi wrote and directed the action dramaGhatak (1996), marking his third collaboration with Deol and Sheshadri. The film received highly positive reviews from critics upon release, and emerged as a blockbuster at the box-office.^[3] It earned Santoshi theFilmfare Award for Best Screenplay, in addition to his fourth nomination for the Filmfare Award for Best Director.

His next venture was the action filmChina Gate (1998), inspired fromAkira Kurosawa's epic dramaSeven Samurai (1954).^[11] It follows the story of a village that hire a group of veterans to combat bandits who terrorise them. The film received mixed-to-negative reviews from critics upon release, with criticism for its story, screenplay and execution, and emerged as an average commercial success at the box-office, ranking as thetenth highest-grossing Hindi film of the year. However, it won Santoshi theFilmfare Award for Best Dialogue.

Santoshi began the new millennium with writing and directing another action thrillerPukar (2000) starringAnil Kapoor andMadhuri Dixit in lead roles. The film tells the story of a notorious terrorist who manipulates an Indian army major's jilted lover into helping him obtain a classified military code. The film received mixed-to-positive reviews from critics upon release and emerged as an average grosser at the box-office.^[12][13] Nonetheless, it won Santoshi theNargis Dutt Award for Best Feature Film on National Integration.^[14]

He followed it up with the social dramaLajja (2001), which told the story of four Indian women belonging to different strata of society. The film dealt with issues likegender inequality and the status of women in our society.^[15] The film starred an ensemble cast ofManisha Koirala, Madhuri Dixit,Rekha,Mahima Chaudhary, Anil Kapoor,Ajay Devgn andJackie Shroff in lead roles.Lajja opened to mixed reviews from critics upon release, with criticism for Santoshi's story and screenplay. It emerged as a commercial failure at the Indian box-office, but was successful in overseas markets.^[16][17][18]

His next venture wasThe Legend of Bhagat Singh (2002), a biopic on the freedom fighterBhagat Singh, portrayed by Devgn. The film opened to positive reviews upon release, with praise for its direction, story and screenplay. It released alongside another film based on Bhagat,23 March 1931: Shaheed, which featuredBobby Deol as the revolutionary. Despite hype prior to release, the film emerged as a commercial failure at the box-office.^[19] The film's failure was attributed to its release on the same day as23rd March 1931: Shaheed, with "the two Bhagats eating into each other's business". It, however, won Santoshi theNational Film Award for Best Feature Film in Hindi.^[20] Since its release,The Legend of Bhagat Singh has been considered one of Santoshi's best works.^[21] In 2016, the film was included inHindustan Times's list of "Bollywood's Top 5 Biopics".^[22]

Santoshi wrote and directed the ensemble neo-noir crime thrillerKhakee (2004), starringAmitabh Bachchan,Akshay Kumar, Devgn,Aishwarya Rai andTusshar Kapoor in lead roles. The film told the story of a group of cops who get embroiled in a mystery surrounding a terrorist attack. It opened to critical acclaim upon release, withDerek Elley ofVariety writing: "Powerhouse casting, and equally powerhouse direction by Rajkumar Santoshi, makes this an above-average example of mainstream Bollywood thrillers."^[23] The film emerged as an average success at the box-office, ranking as thefifth highest-grossing Hindi film of the year.Khakee reiterated Santoshi as one of Bollywood's most sought-after directors, and earned him his fifth nomination for the Filmfare Award for Best Director.^[24]

His next venture was the action thriller family dramaFamily – Ties of Blood (2006) starring Bachchan, Kumar andBhumika Chawla in lead roles. The film opened to negative reviews from critics upon release, and emerged as a commercial disaster at the box-office.^[25][26]

He next wrote and directed the social action dramaHalla Bol (2008) starring Devgn,Vidya Balan andPankaj Kapur in lead roles. The film was based on the life of activistSafdar Hashmi, who was killed by political rivals while performing in a street play (by the name ofHalla Bol) in 1989.^[27] It was shot in 75 days in over 65 locations.^[27]Halla Bol was panned by critics, withKhalid Mohamed calling it "downright awful" [..] "packed with mind-benders galore."^[28] The film emerged as his second consecutive commercial disaster at the box-office.^[29]

Santoshi's career prospects improved when he wrote and directed the romantic comedyAjab Prem Ki Ghazab Kahani (2009) starringRanbir Kapoor andKatrina Kaif in lead roles. The film opened to positive reviews from critics upon release, with particular praise for its direction, story, screenplay, dialogues. It emerged as a Semi-Hit at the box-office, grossing ₹103.21 crore (US$12.4 million) worldwide, ranking as thethird highest-grossing Hindi film of the year.^[30][31]

After a 4-year hiatus, Santoshi made a comeback with the action comedyPhata Poster Nikhla Hero (2013) starringShahid Kapoor andIleana D'Cruz in lead roles. The film received mixed reviews from critics upon release and emerged as a commercial failure at the box-office.^[32][33][34] After another 10-year hiatus, Santoshi made a comeback in 2023 with two diverse ventures – the historicalGandhi Godse – Ek Yudh and the romantic comedyBad Boy. Both the films opened to mixed-to-negative reviews upon release, and emerged as commercial disasters at the box-office.

Since 2024, he is directing an ambitious big budgetperioddrama film,Lahore 1947 starringSunny Deol,Preity Zinta andShabana Azmi. The film is produced byAamir Khan.

He will next direct the upcoming filmJaat 2, starringSunny Deol. Its shooting will begin in 2026 and it will be released in 2027.^[35]

This is a list of films that Santhoshi did not direct.

• Rajkumar Santoshi atIMDb 
• Rajkumar Santoshi atBollywood Hungama

• Living people
• Hindi-language film directors
• Filmfare Awards winners
• Indian male screenwriters
• Film directors from Chennai
• Hindi-language screenwriters
• Screenwriters from Chennai
• Hindi film producers
• Film producers from Chennai
• 20th-century Indian dramatists and playwrights
• 21st-century Indian dramatists and playwrights
• 20th-century Indian male writers
• 21st-century Indian male writers
• Directors who won the Best Popular Film Providing Wholesome Entertainment National Film Award
• Directors who won the Best Film on National Integration National Film Award
• 1956 births

• Articles with short description
• Short description matches Wikidata
• Use British English from August 2014
• All Wikipedia articles written in British English
• Use dmy dates from April 2024
• Articles containing Hindi-language text
• Articles with hCards
• Pages using infobox person with deprecated parameters
• Bollywood Hungama person template using Wikidata property P7923