Subhash Ghai (born January 24, 1945 in Nagpur, India) is an Indian film director, producer and screenwriter. His most notable films include Karz (1980), Hero (1983), Meri Jung (1985), Karma (1986), Saudagar (1991), Khalnayak (1993), Pardes (1997) and Taal (1999). He launched 'Mukta Arts', a film production company in 1982, and is known as the "showman" of Bollywood, for making epic films that portray grandeur and a very rich theme.

Early life

Born in Nagpur to a dentist father who practiced in Delhi, Subhash did his Higher secondary in Delhi, and thereafter graduated in Commerce from Rohtak, Haryana . Next he moved to Pune, Maharashtra to join the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII). After attaining a diploma, he started working in the Indian film industry in 1970.

Career

Actually he started his career as a hero in the 1970 film Umang, which did not do well in the box office.

He started his career in Hindi cinema as an actor in a small roles in six films, like Taqdeer (1967), followed by Aradhana (1969) . His directorial break was the film Kalicharan (1976) which he obtained through a recommendation by Shatrughan Sinha, which was one of the biggest hits of its time. As of 2005, he has written and directed 15 movies out of which 13 were highly successful. In 1982, he formed a company - Mukta Arts Private Limited which, in 2000, became a public company. Subhash Ghai is its chairman and managing director.

His most notable films in the 1980s were Karz (1980), Vidhaata (1982), Hero (1983), Karma (1986) and Ram Lakhan (1989). He went onto win a Filmfare Best Director Award for Saudagar (1991) which pitted legendary actors Dilip Kumar and Raaj Kumar against each other. His 1993 release Khalnayak which was known for its controversies at the time for its use of the popular song Choli Ke Peeche Kya Hai and its star Sanjay Dutt's breakthrough performance.

Two of his films in the late 1990s, Pardes (1997) (Foreign) and Taal (1999) (The Beat) were released internationally and featured in the Top 20 movies in the U.S. Box office charts for several weeks. His following films, Yaadein (2001) and Kisna (2005) were box office and critical failures.

He then took a break from directing and turned producer having success with producing box office hits such as Aitraaz (2004), 36 China Town (2006) and Apna Sapna Money Money (2006).

As a producer, most of his films were average except for Iqbal (2005) which was brilliantly written by Vipul K Rawal, and directed by Nagesh Kukunoor. His director Nagesh was accused of plagarism charges by the writer Vipul Rawal and ultimately he had to settle with him out of court. It is not sure whether Ghai paid out of his own pocket or it was Kukunoor's money, however after this film, Ghai banned Kukunoor from entering his office premises. It was only after Kukunoor convinced his son-in-law that Ghai allowed him to direct the superflop Bombay to Bangkok and after its failure, Ghai has permanently washed his hands off kukunoor.

In 2006, he set up his own state of the art film institute Whistling Woods International in Mumbai . The institute trains students in various aspects of film making - production, direction, cinematography, acting, animation etc.

After a three year hiatus from directing he returned in 2008 with Black & White released on March 7, 2008, and later Yuvvraaj also released in 2008; incidentally the song Jai Ho was to be part of this film, but Ghai felt it was unsuitable for the actor Zayed Khan to perform onscreen , later it was used in film Slumdog Millionaire, after his Oscar win, A. R. Rahman revealed in an interview that it was Ghai who had asked him to use words Jai Ho in a song .

Personal life

Ghai is married to Mukta Ghai after which he named his company as 'Mukta Arts'. He has two daughters, the elder Meghna Ghai who looks after his dream project Whistling Woods International.

Awards

Filmfare Awards

* 1992: Best Director: Saudagar
* 1998: Best Screenplay: Pardes