Biography Of Iconic Bollywood Director Raj Khosla To Release This Year

The authorized biography of Raj Khosla, the iconic director of acclaimed Bollywood hits Dostana, CID, and Do Raaste – is to be published by Hachette India in 2022!

The biography provides a first-ever in-depth glimpse into the life and work of one of Bollywood’s most prolific film directors. Raj Khosla sits right on the top of the list of Bollywood greats, alongside other luminaries such as Raj  Kapoor, Yash Chopra, Hrishikesh Mukherjee, Vijay Anand, and Manmohan Desai.

There are few filmmakers in the world who have made as many iconic films as Raj Khosla did. In a  career spanning three decades and 27 films, he achieved staggering success in diverse film genres,  including neo-noir (CID, Kala Pani), thrillers (Bombai ka Babu, Woh Kaun Thi, Mera Saaya,  Anita), romance (Solva Saal, Ek Musafir Ek Hasina, Do Badan, Chirag, Prem Kahani), family drama (Do Raaste, Sunny), social (Main Tulsi Tere Aangan Ki, Naqab), “curry westerns” or dacoit films (Mera Gaon Mera Desh, Kuchche Dhaage, Meraa Dost Meraa Dushman) and slick action dramas (Dostana, Nehle Pe Dehla).

Schooled under Guru Dutt, he shot musical sequences with amazing dexterity, resulting in songs whose popularity have stood the test of time – from the lilting tunes of ‘Lag jaa gale’, ‘Achha ji main haari’,  ‘Mera saaya saath hoga’ and ‘Jaane kya baat hai’ to the light-hearted melodies of ‘Hai apna dil toh  awara’, ‘Ye hai Bombay meri jaan’, ‘Achha ji main haari’, ‘Mera saaya saath hoga’, ‘Maar diya jaay ke  chhod diya jaay’.

The sheer impact and intensity of his work, has made him a legend in the film industry – as much among his peers as to later generations of Bollywood directors.

For the first time ever, an authorized biography delves into the life of this extraordinarily talented filmmaker and the amazing range and expanse of his body of work to reveal the man behind the master.

Based on primary research and conversations with his cast members and crew, containing reminiscences of the actors and stars Raj Khosla worked with, including the likes of Sharmila  Tagore, Mumtaz, Moushumi Chatterjee, Prem Chopra, Lata Mangeshkar, Pyarelal (of the  Laxmikant Pyarelal duo), Birbal, Manoj Kumar, Mahesh Bhatt, Dharmendra, Aamir Khan (who grew up in the same building as Raj Khosla), and many others, this book will be a delight for  Bollywood buffs across generations.

Written by National Award-winning author Amborish Roychoudhury in association with  Raj Khosla’s daughters Uma Kapur and Anita Khosla, the biography will be published by  Hachette India in 2022.

About the Authors:

Amborish Roychoudhury 

Amborish won the National Film Award for Best Book on Cinema (Special Mention) for his first book,  In a Cult of Their Own: Bollywood Beyond Box Office. He has written on cinema in a number of newspapers and periodicals, including The Times of India, Hindustan Times, Filmfare, Cine Blitz,  Huffington Post, Free Press Journal, Mint, and Firstpost. A hardcore film fanatic, he blogs at Amborish.com, and hosts a podcast on pop culture. He is also a digital marketer for hire, who lives in  Mumbai with his wife.

Anita Khosla 

Anita is the third daughter of Raj Khosla and the proprietor of Raj Khosla Films. She has been a  freelance journalist since 1984, having written for Screen, Filmfare, Star & Style, and Eves Weekly. She is a graduate of mass media from Sophia College, Mumbai. She dabbled in photography when she accompanied her father on the sets of Sunny, and also did some photos for Screen magazine. She currently writes about movies on social media and runs the official Instagram account of Raj Khosla  Films. She lives in Gurgaon and has two daughters, Neha and Namrata. Neha is the owner of Thread  Wheel, a brand of handcrafted juttis (@threadwheel on Instagram) while Namrata is a garment designer with her own brand called Namrata Puri Bespoke (@namratapuribespoke on Instagram).

Uma Kapur 

Uma is Raj Khosla’s eldest daughter. She did her schooling at Avabai Petit School at Bandra and graduated from the well-known St. Bede’s College, Shimla. She also attended Trinity College, London where she learned to play the piano. A homemaker and she presently lives in Kolkata with her husband  G.M. Kapur, a business consultant. They have a son, Nikhil, who is a professional photographer living in  Mumbai, and a daughter Nikita, a development economist who was awarded the Chevening  Scholarship, and currently lives in Kullu, Himachal Pradesh. Nikita has also interned with Nobel laureates Abhijit Banerjee and Esther Duflo.