Rajkumar Santoshi
Santoshi in 2015
Born	(1956-07-17)17 July 1956 (age 69) Bhopal,Madhya Pradesh, India
Occupations	Film director screenwriter producer
Years active	1982–present
Spouse	Manila Santoshi
Children	2

Rajkumar Santoshi (born 17 July, 1956) is an Indian film director, screenwriter and producer. He is the recipient of several accolades, including fourNational Awards and fiveFilmfare Awards. He is best known for his collaboration withSunny Deol on films includingGhayal (1990),Damini (1993) andGhatak (1996).

He is the son of producer-director P. L. Santoshi and his second wife.

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.^[2]

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 starredSeshadri in the lead role, alongsideDeol,Rishi Kapoor andAmrish Puri. It opened to universal 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.^[3] The film is now considered acult feminist film and important for portraying women empowerment in cinema.^[4] The pathbreaking film was praised for breaking social taboos and handling the subject of rape with sensitivity; a rarity in Bollywood at the time.^[5]

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.^[6] However over the years, it is considered acult classic comedy, with itslexicon having become a part of everyday and ordinary language.^[7]

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.^[8] 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).^[9] 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.^[10][11] Nonetheless, it won Santoshi theNargis Dutt Award for Best Feature Film on National Integration.^[12]

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.^[13] The film starred an ensemble cast ofManisha Koirala, Madhuri Dixit,Rekha,Mahima Chaudhary, Anil Kapoor,Ajay Devgn,Jackie Shroff andDanny Denzongpa 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.^[14][15][16]

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.^[17] 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.^[18] Since its release,The Legend of Bhagat Singh has been considered one of Santoshi's best works.^[19] In 2016, the film was included inHindustan Times's list of "Bollywood's Top 5 Biopics".^[20]

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 positive 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."^[21] 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.^[22]

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.^[23][24]

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.^[25] It was shot in 75 days in over 65 locations.^[25]Halla Bol was panned by critics, withKhalid Mohamed calling it "downright awful" [..] "packed with mind-benders galore."^[26] The film emerged as his second consecutive commercial disaster at the box-office.^[27]

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.^[28][29]

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-to-positive reviews from critics upon release and emerged as an average grosser at the box-office.^[30][31][32] 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.^[33]

• Vijeta (1982)
• Ardh Satya (1983)
• Party (1984)
• Aghaat (1985)

• Rajkumar Santoshi atIMDb 
• Rajkumar Santoshi atBollywood Hungama

• Living people
• Hindi-language film directors
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• 20th-century Indian dramatists and playwrights
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• 1956 births

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