Subhash Ghai (born 24 January 1945) is an Indian film director, producer and screenwriter, often called the “Showman” of Hindi cinema, a title earlier given to Raj Kapoor. Between the mid-1970s and the end of the 1990s he directed a string of large-scale musical dramas, among them Karz, Hero, Karma, Ram Lakhan, Saudagar, Khalnayak, Pardes and Taal. He founded the production company Mukta Arts and the film school Whistling Woods International.
Quick Facts
| Full name | Subhash Ghai |
| Born | 24 January 1945, Nagpur, Maharashtra, India |
| Age | 81 |
| Occupation | Film director, producer, screenwriter |
| Years active | 1967–present |
| Known for | Karz, Hero, Ram Lakhan, Khalnayak, Taal |
| Education | Commerce graduate, Rohtak; Film and Television Institute of India, Pune |
| Spouse | Mukta Ghai |
| Children | 2 daughters (Meghna and Muskaan) |
Early Life
Ghai was born in Nagpur and grew up in Delhi, where his father practised as a dentist. After a commerce degree at Rohtak in Haryana he joined the acting course at the Film and Television Institute of India in Pune.
Career
He arrived in Mumbai hoping to be an actor and had small parts in films such as Taqdeer and Aradhana, and a few leads, including Umang (1970), without success. He turned to writing stories and scripts, which led to his first chance to direct.
Kalicharan (1976), with Shatrughan Sinha in a double role, was a hit. Karz (1980), a reincarnation thriller with Rishi Kapoor and a celebrated score by Laxmikant–Pyarelal, did only moderately on release but became one of the most imitated Hindi films. Vidhaata (1982) paired Dilip Kumar with Sanjay Dutt. With Hero (1983) he launched Jackie Shroff, a newcomer with no film background, and the film ran for months.
He followed it with Meri Jung, the multi-star patriotic drama Karma (1986) and Ram Lakhan (1989), with Anil Kapoor and Shroff as brothers. Saudagar (1991) brought Dilip Kumar and Raaj Kumar together and won him the Filmfare Award for Best Director. Khalnayak (1993), with Sanjay Dutt as a criminal on the run and Madhuri Dixit, was surrounded by controversy over the song “Choli Ke Peeche” and was among the year’s biggest earners. Pardes (1997), with Shah Rukh Khan, and Taal (1999), with Aishwarya Rai and music by A. R. Rahman, did especially well with Indian audiences abroad.
His later films, Yaadein, Kisna, Yuvvraaj and Kaanchi, were less successful. He is known for making a brief on-screen appearance in almost all his films and for his attention to songs and their picturisation.
He set up Mukta Arts in the late 1970s, naming it after his wife. In 2000 it became one of the first Indian film companies to be listed on the stock exchange, and with Taal he introduced film insurance to the industry. As a producer he backed smaller films as well, notably Iqbal (2005), about a deaf and mute village boy who dreams of playing cricket for India, which won a National Film Award. In 2006 he opened Whistling Woods International, a film, media and design school in Mumbai’s Film City, which is now led by his daughter Meghna Ghai Puri.
Personal Life
He married Rehana, who took the name Mukta, in 1970. They have two daughters, Meghna and Muskaan.
Selected Filmography
Frequently Asked Questions
When and where was Subhash Ghai born?
Subhash Ghai was born on 24 January 1945 in Nagpur, Maharashtra, India and is 81 years old.
What is Subhash Ghai known for?
Known for: Karz, Hero, Ram Lakhan, Khalnayak, Taal.
Featured image: Subhash Ghai speaks at the opening of a festival of film-school films at the NCPA, Mumbai, 4 February 2010. Photo by Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, licensed under Government Open Data License – India, via Wikimedia Commons.
