Rohit Shetty

Rohit Shetty (born 14 March 1974) is an Indian director, screenwriter, stuntman, producer and television personality who works in Hindi cinema. A notable director of Hindi cinema, his movies often mix the genres of action comedy and masala films.

His breakthrough came with the first installment of the comedy film franchise Golmaal (2006), starring Ajay Devgn and Arshad Warsi, which became a sleeper hit. Further subsequent successful films in the franchise included Golmaal Returns (2008) and Golmaal 3 (2010), which became one of the highest-grossing films of the year.

Shetty returned to the action genre with Singham (2011) after eight years of his debut action thriller Zameen (2003). It also starred Ajay Devgn in the lead; the film turned out to be one of the highest grossers of the year. Later on, it expanded into the Cop Universe with other successful films such as Singham Returns (2014), Simmba (2018) and Sooryavanshi (2021). His other notable successes include All the Best: Fun Begins (2009), Bol Bachchan (2012), and Chennai Express (2013); latter became the highest grossing Hindi film, surpassing 3 Idiots at that time.

Apart from film directing, he has also hosts the stunt-based adventure show Fear Factor: Khatron Ke Khiladi since 2014.

Early life

Shetty was born to M. B. Shetty, an action choreographer and Ratna, a junior artist. His father belonged to the Tulu-speaking community from Mangalore, while his mother was from Madhya Pradesh. His grandmother is from Afghanistan. Shetty speaks Hindi at home.

Career

1991–2002: Early work

Shetty began his career at the age of 17 as an assistant director in Ajay Devgn's first film Phool Aur Kaante. He then worked with Devgn in Suhaag (where he was a body double for Akshay Kumar, who was its second main hero) and Haqeeqat, and with Kumar in Zulmi. He then joined the Devgn starrers Pyaar To Hona Hi Tha, Hindustan Ki Kasam and Raju Chacha.

2003–2009: Directorial debut and breakthrough

Shetty debuted as an independent director in 2003 with the Devgn starrer Zameen, an average grosser, before he rose to fame in 2006 when he directed the first part of Devgn's cult comedy series Golmaal that became his first hit. His next two directorials—the comic thriller Sunday and the successful sequel of Golmaal named Golmaal Returns (both featuring Devgn)–were released theatrically in 2008 followed by All the Best: Fun Begins in 2009.

2010–2021: Commercial success

The third part of Golmaal series titled Golmaal 3 (again starring Devgn) that opened theatrically in 2010 ended up as Shetty's first and an surprising blockbuster that entered 100 Crore Club domestically. Continuing his collaborations with Devgn, Shetty begun his Cop Universe in 2011 through his action film Singham (that saw Devgn portray a police inspector fighting against corruption) and directed the comedy Bol Bachchan (also featuring Abhishek Bachchan) in 2012; both films were super hits and crossed 100 Crore Club domestically.

Shetty's Chennai Express, starring Shah Rukh Khan and Deepika Padukone, was released on 9 August 2013. Chennai Express became the highest-grossing Bollywood film in the domestic market. The film earned over US$17.4 million to become the third-highest-grossing Bollywood film overseas. The film also set a number of box office records, for the highest opening-day gross, highest paid preview, highest single-day gross, biggest opening weekend, highest opening week and the fastest film to reach ₹100 crore and ₹2 billion in the domestic market.

Shetty has played the judge of the television show Comedy Circus.

In 2014, Shetty directed Singham Returns with Ajay Devgn, a sequel to his 2011 film Singham. He was also a part of the fifth season of television stunt game show Fear Factor: Khatron Ke Khiladi in 2014 as the host taking over from the previous host Akshay Kumar. In 2014, he turned into a producer with Singham Returns, co-producing the film under his banner Rohit Shetty Productions. He directed Dilwale with Shah Rukh Khan and Kajol, which was a moderate box-office success. He reprised his role as host in season 6 and 8–11 of Fear Factor: Khatron Ke Khiladi.

Shetty next directed Golmaal Again, the fourth film of the Golmaal series. The film, starring Ajay Devgn and Parineeti Chopra in the lead roles, was released in October 2017, and received mixed reviews. It became the highest grossing Hindi film in 2017, the first Hindi blockbuster of 2017, as well as the highest grossing Diwali release of all time. He directed then directed the 2018 action comedy, Simmba, starring Ranveer Singh, Sara Ali Khan and Sonu Sood in the lead roles, with Ajay Devgn in a guest appearance as Bajirao Singham.

Shetty directed another feature in the Cop Universe, Sooryavanshi, starring Akshay Kumar, Katrina Kaif and Jackie Shroff, which was released during Diwali in 2021. It was the first major release from Hindi Cinema after lockdown due to COVID-19, the film became highest grossing Hindi film of the year. Shetty has made his OTT debut with Indian Police Force, starring Sidharth Malhotra for Amazon Prime Video.

2022–present: Career fluctuations

In 2022, Shetty took break from action films and directed period comedy drama Cirkus, loosely adapted from William Shakespeare's The Comedy of Errors. It stars Ranveer Singh and Varun Sharma, both in double roles, alongside Pooja Hegde and Jacqueline Fernandez. The film was both a major critical and commercial failure, holding a 0% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, and emerged as one of the biggest flops of 2022.

The following year, Shetty marked his Marathi film debut by producing the coming-of-age romantic film School College Ani Life (2023), directed by Vihan Suryavanshi and starring Karan Parab, Tejasswi Prakash, and Jitendra Joshi. Shetty had been planning to do a Marathi film from a long time on the demand of his regional fans. Anub George of The Times of India wrote a mixed review, criticizing the slow second act and clichéd plot, but praised the cast performances and cinematography, writing, "the film offers multiple moments of pure joy and emotion in a visual treat of an experience."

He returned to directing with Singham Again (2024), the fifth installment of Shetty's Cop Universe. Ajay Devgn stars the film, reprising his title role of Bajirao Singham, alongside an ensemble star cast that includes Akshay Kumar, Ranveer Singh, Tiger Shroff, Kareena Kapoor Khan, Deepika Padukone, Arjun Kapoor and Jackie Shroff. The film released on Diwali to mixed to negative reviews, with vital criticism focused on its clichéd storyline, illogical scenes, lack of originality, and poor adaptation of Ramayana's plot, while some critics praised its action sequences and mass appeal. The film was made on a high budget of ₹375 crore, making it one of most expensive Indian films of all time, but underperformed theatrically, earning ₹389 crore globally, despite being one of the highest grossing Indian films of 2024. However, Singham Again made profit through the sale of its satellite, music, and streaming rights, earning around ₹180-₹200 crore. It eventually emerged as a moderate success financially.

Filmography

Directed feature films

Television

Short films

Awards and nominations

External links

• at IMDb
• on Instagram