Kuku Kohli (born Avtar Kohli) is a director, writer, editor and screenwriter of Bollywood Films. He was born in

Peshawar Peshawar (; ps, پېښور ; hnd, ; ; ur, ) is the sixth most populous city in Pakistan, with a population of over 2.3 million. It is situated in the north-west of the country, close to the International border with Afghanistan. It is ...

. He is known to give Ajay Devgan his first break in Bollywood in the movie ''

Phool Aur Kaante ''Phool Aur Kaante'' () is a 1991 Indian Hindi-language action-romance film directed by Kuku Kohli. It stars Ajay Devgan, Madhoo, Aruna Irani, Jagdeep and Amrish Puri among others. The film marked the debut of Devgan, son of late stunt and ac ...

''.

Career

Early in his career, he worked under

Raj Kapoor Raj Kapoor (pronunciation: �aːd͡ʒ kəpuːɾ born Shrishti Nath Kapoor; also known as Ranbir Raj Kapoor; 14 December 1924 2 June 1988) was an Indian actor, film director and producer, who worked in Hindi cinema. He is considered one of th ...

for many years where he learned his skills. Kuku Kohli has been in the film industry for more than 30 years. He was the second unit director of the film ''

Betaab ''Betaab'' (''Restless'') is a 1983 Indian romance film written by Javed Akhtar, directed by Rahul Rawail and produced by Bikram Sing Dahal. The film stars Sunny Deol and Amrita Singh in their debut roles along with Shammi Kapoor. The music ...

'' which was the launch pad of Sunny Deol and Amrita Singh and catapulted both into stardom as it was a golden jubilee film. Another film was '' Arjun'' starring Sunny Deol and

Dimple Kapadia Dimple Kapadia (born 8 June 1957) is an Indian actress predominantly appearing in Hindi films. Born and raised in Mumbai by wealthy parents, she aspired to become an actress from a young age and received her first opportunity through her father ...

, was a silver jubilee film. The action sequences of this film shot by Kohli himself and are acclaimed to be among the best sequences ever shot. He, then, directed ''

'' which achieved diamond jubilee status and made Ajay Devgan one of the most sought after stars of the country. After this, he directed '' Kohraam'' starring

Dharmendra Dharam Singh Deol (born 8 December 1935), also known Mononymous person, mononymously as Dharmendra, is an Indian actor, producer and politician who is known for his work in Hindi films. Known as the first "He-Man" of Bollywood, Dharmendra has w ...

, '' Suhaag'' starring Ajay Devgan,

Akshay Kumar Rajiv Hari Om Bhatia (born 9 September 1967), known professionally as Akshay Kumar (), is an Indian-born naturalised Canadian Quote: "(Former prime minister Stephen) Harper campaigned in 2011 alongside one of Modi's biggest celebrity backer ...

Karishma Kapoor Karisma Kapoor (born 25 June 1974) is an Indian actress, who works in Hindi films. A member of the Kapoor family, she is the recipient of several accolades, including a National Film Award and four Filmfare Awards. Kapoor made her acting de ...

Nagma Nagma Arvind Morarji (born Nandita Arvind Morarji on 25 December 1974) is an Indian politician and former actress. She was a popular lead actress in the 1990s. She made her cinematic debut in the film '' Baaghi'' opposite Salman Khan in 1990. ...

was again a golden jubilee. '' Haqeeqat'' starring Ajay Devgan and Tabu was critically acclaimed and was a hit all over. It was nominated in 7 categories including best director for the Filmfare Awards. Kohli was also nominated as the best director of the year for the same film for the

Screen Awards The Screen Awards is an annual awards ceremony held in India honouring professional excellence in Bollywood. The nomination and award selection is done by a panel of distinguished professionals from the industry. The awards were introduced by t ...

. His directorial venture was ''

Zulmi ''Zulmi'' is an Indian Hindi action drama crime film directed by Kuku Kohli, released on 16 April 1999. It stars Akshay Kumar and Twinkle Khanna. Plot Balraj Dutt is a bodyguard of Baba Thakur, who, while dying, makes Balraj promi ...

'' starring

and

Twinkle Khanna Twinkle Khanna (also known as Tina Jatin Khanna; born on 29 December) is an Indian author, columnist, interior designer, film producer and a former film actress. In 2015, she released her first non-fiction book, " Mrs Funnybones" which was decl ...

. This film had also run successfully everywhere. His next film was '' Anari No.1'' starring

Govinda Govinda (), also rendered Govind and Gobind, is an epithet of Vishnu which is also used for his avatars such as Krishna. The name appears as the 187th and the 539th name of Vishnu in '' Vishnu Sahasranama''. The name is also popularly addresse ...

in a double role. This film was a huge success worldwide. Since then he had made '' Yeh Dil Aashiqanaa''. Music maestros Nadeem-Shravan made a comeback into the industry with this film. His last directorial was ''

Woh Tera Naam Tha ''Woh Tera Naam Tha'' is a 2004 Indian Hindi-language film starring Arjan Bajwa, Kanchi Kaul and Amrish Puri. The music was composed by Roop Kumar Rathod. The cinematographer was by Manmohan Singh (director), Manmohan Singh. Synopsis Orphaned ...

'' starring

Arjan Bajwa Arjan Bajwa (born 3 September 1979) is an Indian actor known for his work in Hindi and Telugu films. He is credited as Deepak in Telugu films where he started his career. He made a breakthrough in Bollywood with the critically acclaimed 2007 fi ...

and

Kanchi Kaul Kanchi Kaul (born 24 May 1982) is an Indian actress who predominantly appeared in Telugu films and Hindi television shows. She is best known for playing Ananya Sachdev-Samarth in the show ''Ek Ladki Anjaani Si ''opposite Shakti Anand and Shra ...

Personal life

He is married to actress

Aruna Irani Aruna Irani (born 3 May 1946) is an Indian actress, who has acted in over 500 films throughout Hindi, Kannada, Marathi and Gujarati cinema, playing mostly supporting and character roles. She has won two Filmfare Awards for Best Supporting Ac ...

Filmography

Director

* ''

'' (1991) * '' Kohraam'' (1991) * '' Suhaag'' (1994) * '' Haqeeqat'' (1995) * '' Anari No.1'' (1999) * ''

'' (1999) * '' Yeh Dil Aashiqanaa'' (2002) * ''

'' (2004)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kohli, Kuku Hindi-language film directors Indian male screenwriters Living people People from Peshawar Punjabi people Year of birth missing (living people)