Rahul Rawail

Rahul Rawail is the son of film director Harnam Singh Rawail (often credited as H. S. Rawail) who is known for his films Mere Mehboob (1963), Sunghursh (1968), Mehboob Ki Mehndi (1971) and Laila Majnu (1976).^{[citation needed]} Rawail paid tribute to his father's 1968 film Sunghursh by titling one of his films as Jeevan Ek Sanghursh (1990).^[1] Both his sons, Bharat and Shiv, are assistant directors; Bharat, who also works as a celebrity photographer, had assisted Yash Chopra for the film Jab Tak Hai Jaan (2012).^[2], while Shiv made his directorial debut with the Netflix miniseries The Railway Men (2023).

Rawail began his career as assistant to Raj Kapoor^[3] and debuted as director with 1980 Bollywood film Gunehgaar starring Parveen Babi, Rishi Kapoor, Rajendra Kumar, and Asha Parekh. His first two films were not successful but his third film Love Story (1981) starring débutante Kumar Gaurav and Vijeta Pandit was a turning point for his career. The film was a musical love story and was a commercial success. Since then, Rawail has directed seventeen films and two television series. He has often collaborated with actor Sunny Deol who worked with Rawail on six of his films, including his debut film Betaab (1983) with Amrita Singh.^[4] The film was appreciated for Rawail's "breezy treatment" of the débutantes.^[5] Rawail launched two successful actresses of Bollywood, Kajol and Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, through his films Bekhudi (1992) and Aur Pyaar Ho Gaya (1997) respectively. Both the films did not do well commercially.^[6] He received nominations for the Filmfare Award for Best Director for his films Betaab (1983) and Arjun (1985).^[7][8]

In 2010, Rawail started an acting school in collaboration with the Stella Adler Studio of Acting, New York City.^[9] In spite of famous Bollywood personalities like Sunny Deol enrolling their children to the academy, it was shut down after 2 years in 2012.^[10][11] Rawail released his book "Master at Work" a biographical work written on his mentor Raj Kapoor at the 52nd International Film Festival of India in Goa in 2021.^[12] He has been appointed as Jury at the Moscow International Film Festival 2023.^[13]