Veteran filmmaker Kuku Kohli, best known for launching Ajay Devgn with Phool Aur Kaante, died in Mumbai on Tuesday, August 25, at the age of 77. Kohli suffered a massive cardiac arrest (at Kokilaben Dhirubhai Ambani Hospital), where he had been admitted after experiencing a health scare. His brother-in-law Balraj Irani confirmed that Kohli had been treated for a blockage and had a stent fitted before his condition suddenly deteriorated.
For many Hindi film audiences, Kuku Kohli will forever be linked to one of the most recognisable introductions in Bollywood history. Phool Aur Kaante, released in 1991, did more than announce a newcomer. It established Ajay Devgn as an action hero almost instantly, with the now iconic opening sequence in which he arrives standing on two moving motorcycles. The film became a major success and earned Devgn the Filmfare Award for Best Male Debut.
The story of how Devgn entered Bollywood is closely tied to Kohli’s own instincts as a filmmaker. In a 2022 interview with The Times of India, Kohli recalled seeing a photograph of Ajay in the office of his father, action choreographer Veeru Devgan. Ajay was then known as Raju. Kohli asked Veeru Devgan whether his son wanted to become an actor, auditioned him and was impressed by his confidence. Kohli later said that he considered Phool Aur Kaante his most important film because, in his words, a filmmaker is often remembered for his first successful work.
That debut also reflected Kohli’s own journey through the Hindi film industry. He began his career working under Raj Kapoor and subsequently worked as a second-unit director, including on Betaab and Arjun. Those experiences helped shape his preference for combining action with romance and mainstream storytelling, an approach that became his signature during the 1990s.
Kohli followed Phool Aur Kaante with films such as Kohraam, Suhaag, Haqeeqat, Zulmi, Anari No. 1 and Yeh Dil Aashiqanaa. His collaboration with Ajay Devgn continued with Suhaag and Haqeeqat, while Suhaag also brought together Devgn and Akshay Kumar at a time when both were becoming major commercial stars.
His career was not confined to directing. Kohli also wrote, edited and produced films, and remained associated with the industry long after his last directorial release, Woh Tera Naam Tha, in 2004. In later years, he was also active in industry organisations and served as General Secretary of the Indian Film and Television Directors’ Association, according to filmmaker Ashoke Pandit.
Kohli’s personal life was itself a subject of public interest, particularly because of his marriage to veteran actor Aruna Irani. The two married in 1990, and Kohli’s relationship with Irani became public only after remaining private for years. In a candid 2022 interview, he acknowledged that Irani had initially not known that he was already married. Kohli was reluctant to discuss the details, saying such things happened in the film industry.
The couple did not have children together. Kohli had two daughters, Pooja and Karishma, from his first marriage to Rita Kohli. Karishma later worked in the film industry, including as an assistant director on Ek Tha Tiger and Bajrangi Bhaijaan, and was associated with The Fame Game.
For Aruna Irani, the loss is therefore not simply that of a filmmaker whose name remains attached to one of Bollywood’s most memorable debuts. It is also the end of a relationship that had lasted more than three decades.
Kuku Kohli may not have directed a film in more than two decades, but his place in Hindi cinema remained unusually secure because of the career he helped set in motion. Every time Ajay Devgn’s emergence as one of Bollywood’s enduring stars is revisited, Phool Aur Kaante inevitably returns to the conversation, and with it, the filmmaker who saw something in a young Ajay Devgan before the rest of the industry did.
Kohli is survived by Aruna Irani and his two daughters.
