Rohit Shetty (born 14 March 1974) is an Indian film director, producer and television host who works in Hindi cinema. He is known for creating the Golmaal and Cop Universe film franchises. Shetty's other notable films include Bol Bachchan (2012), Chennai Express (2013) and Dilwale (2015).
Early life
Rohit Shetty was born to M.B Shetty and Ratna, a Bollywood junior artiste, who has acted in Hindi and Kannada films. He has four siblings.
Career
1991–2002: Early work
Shetty began his career at the age of 17 as an assistant director in Bollywood superstar Ajay Devgn's first film Phool Aur Kaante. He then worked with Devgn in Suhaag (where he was a body double for another superstar 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.
2003–2012: Directorial career
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.
Shetty (left) and Ajay Devgn in 2010. They have worked together in 10 films since 2003
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.
2013–present: Commercial success
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 5th 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 (2015 film) with Sharukh Khan and Kajol which is a box office success. He reprised his role as host in season 6 and 8–11 of Fear Factor: Khatron Ke Khiladi.
Shetty directed Golmaal Again, the fourth film of the Golmaal series. The film, starring Ajay Devgn and Parineeti Chopra as lead, 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 the 2018 action comedy Simmba starring Ranveer Singh, Sara Ali Khan and Sonu Sood in lead roles, with Ajay Devgn in a guest appearance as Bajirao Singham. It received mixed reviews, and became one of the highest grossing movies of the year.
