David Dhawan

Biography

David Dhawan (born Rajinder Dhawan; 16 August 1951) is an Indian director of Hindi films. A member of the Dhawan family, he has directed over 42 films. The 1993 action thriller Aankhen and 1999 comedy Biwi No.1 earned him two Filmfare Awards for Best Director nominations.

His notable works include Swarg (1990), Shola Aur Shabnam (1992), Bol Radha Bol (1992), Raja Babu (1994), Coolie No.1 (1995), Saajan Chale Sasural (1996), Judwaa (1997), Hero No.

1 (1997), Deewana Mastana (1997), Bade Miyan Chote Miyan (1998), Haseena Maan Jaayegi (1999), Dulhan Hum Le Jayenge (2000), Jodi No.1 (2001), Mujhse Shaadi Karogi (2004), Partner (2007), Chashme Baddoor (2013), Main Tera Hero (2014) and Judwaa 2 (2017).

David Dhawan was born on 16 August 1951 as Rajinder Dhawan in Agartala, Tripura in a Punjabi family. His father, a manager at UCO Bank, got transferred to Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh.

He studied at Christ Church College and BNSD Inter College until Class XII, and then joined FTII for acting where he changed his name to David Dhawan, a name given by his Christian neighbors in Agartala.

Seeing other actors like Satish Shah and Suresh Oberoi, Dhawan realized that he cannot act. So he took up editing as an option. He became a fan of Manmohan Desai and Hrishikesh Mukherjee.

Watching the Bengali film Meghe Dhaka Tara, directed by Ritwik Ghatak, made him interested in filmmaking, and passed with a gold medal. Dhawan has two brothers, actor Anil and Ashok.

Dhawan is married to Karuna Chopra, with whom he has two sons, Rohit Dhawan and Varun Dhawan. His brother is actor Anil Dhawan and his nephew is actor Siddharth Dhawan.

Dhawan started off as an editor in Saaransh in 1984 before moving into directing. He specializes in directing comedy films. His 1993 film Ankhen, starring Govinda, Chunky Pandey, and Kader Khan, was highly successful at the box office.

Another successful film was Shola Aur Shabnam. His 2007 film Partner was successful.

Dhawan is on the board of the Asian Academy of Film & Television and Asian School of Media Studies where he has been honoured with an academy award by Sandeep Marwah. He was a judge on the Star Plus show Nach Baliye 3 in 2008 and on the show Hans Baliye.