Rajkumar Kohli's death: Dissecting his expertise of making multi-starrers
Bollywood has withstood several paradigm shifts in filmmaking. Many directors like Karan Johar have been vocal about hindrances faced by filmmakers to mount a multi-starrer film these days. As veteran filmmaker Rajkumar Kohli passed away on Friday, aged 93, we look back at his illustrious career and the art of helming multi-starrers back in the 1970s and 1980s.
'Naagin' (1976)
The Kohli directorial is a cult film in Bollywood and it was inspired by François Truffaut's French film The Bride Wore Black. The horror drama went on to become the highest grosser of 1976 and made actor Reena Roy taste stardom. The cast included Sunil Dutt, Feroz Khan, Mumtaz, Yogeeta Bali, Jeetendra, Kabir Bedi, Rekha, and Sanjay Khan, among others.
'Jaani Dushman' (1979)
Kohli is synonymous with this cult horror film which received both critical and commercial acclaim. Interestingly, the music composer duo Laxmikant-Pyarelal was his frequent collaborator. The ensemble cast included Dutt, Sanjeev Kumar, Jeetendra, Shatrughan Sinha, Rekha, Neetu Kapoor, Sarika, Amrish Puri, Shakti Kapoor, Roy, and Bali. Kohli's ability to cast such a humongous cast and justify their character arcs was nothing less than magic!
'Badle Ki Aag' (1982)
Kohli's filmography has several kinds of films but this action thriller stands out for its storyline. The film went on to become a massive success at the box office, too. Much like his other films, he collaborated with Dutt, Jeetendra, Roy, Sarika, and Shakti. The cast also included Dharmendra, Smita Patil, Nirupa Roy, Kader Khan, and Pran, among others.
'Jaani Dushman: Ek Anokhi Kahaani' (2002)
This marked Kohli's final directorial and it was a box office and critical failure owing to the shifting patterns in storytelling. However, Kohli's film was a pioneer as it used VFX a lot and featured a star-studded cast. The cast included Sunny Deol, Suniel Shetty, Akshay Kumar, Arshad Warsi, Aditya Pancholi, Manisha Koirala, Raj Babbar, Aftab Shivdasani, Armaan Kohli, and Siddharth Ray, among others.
