Rajkumar Santoshi is an well-known Indian director, producer and screenwriter. He was born on 17th July 1956 in Madras, Madras State, India. Rajkumar is best known for his Ardh Satya (1982), Barsaat (1995), Jaanam Samjha Karo (1999), The Legend of Bhagat Singh (2002), Halla Bol (2008), Ajab Prem Ki Ghazab Kahani (2009), Phata Poster Nikhla Hero (2013) and Gandhi Godse – Ek Yudh (2023). Apart, Rajkumar Santoshi also will be a director and writer of the new upcoming Indian movie Bad Boy (2023).
In the year 1990, Rajkumar Santoshi made his directorial debut with the crime film Ghayal, which won him the National Film Award for Best Popular Film Providing Wholesome Entertainment as well as the Filmfare Award for Best Director. He next directed the thrillers Damini (1993) and Ghatak: Lethal (1996). He next directed the thrillers Damini (1993) and Ghatak: Lethal (1996). All these three financially successful films starred Sunny Deol, Amrish Puri and Meenakshi Seshadri; the second of these garnered him a second Filmfare Best Director Award and the latter fetched him the Filmfare Best Screenplay Award as well as a Filmfare Best Director Award nomination.
During this period, Santoshi also received praise for directing the comedy Andaz Apna Apna (1994), which though a box office flop has attained cult status, and the major box-office hit Barsaat (1995), that marked the film debut of Bobby Deol and Twinkle Khanna. In 2000, he wrote dialogues of the average-earning film Pukar which garnered him the Nargis Dutt Award for Best Feature Film on National Integration.
Rajkumar Santoshi 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 the Filmfare. Santoshi’s highest-grossing film release came in 2009 with the romantic comedy Ajab Prem Ki Ghazab Kahani, starring Ranbir Kapoor and Katrina Kaif, in which he also appeared in a cameo role.