Career beginnings, directorial breakthrough and success (1982-1999)

Santoshi started his career in 1982 as an assistant director on Govind Nihalani on the coming-of-age film Vijeta (1982) and the crime drama Ardh Satya (1983).

Santoshi made his directorial debut with the action drama Ghayal (1990), starring Sunny Deol and Meenakshi Seshadri in lead roles. The film tells the story of a person in search of his missing brother and the events that follow. It emerged as a critical and commercial success, ranking as the second highest-grossing Hindi film of the year. Ghayal earned Santoshi his first Filmfare Award for Best Director, the Filmfare Award for Best Story, and the National Film Award for Best Popular Film Providing Wholesome Entertainment.^[2]

Santoshi followed it up with was the crime drama thriller Damini (1993), which dealt with themes considered bold at the time, such as the status of women in our society and the perspective of people towards women. The film starred Seshadri in the lead role, alongside Deol, Rishi Kapoor and Amrish Puri. It opened to universal critical acclaim, with widespread praise for its storyline, execution and themes; moreover, It also emerged as a major commercial success at the box-office, ranking as the fifth highest-grossing Hindi film of the year. Damini earned Santoshi his second consecutive Filmfare Award for Best Director, thus becoming the only director to have won the award for his first two films.^[3] The film is now considered a cult feminist film and important for portraying women empowerment in cinema.^[4] The pathbreaking film was praised for breaking social taboos and handling the subject of rape with sensitivity; a rarity in Bollywood at the time.^[5]

After making two back-to-back serious films, Santoshi decided to make a light film. He then wrote and directed the comedy Andaz Apna Apna (1994), starring an ensemble cast of Aamir Khan, Salman Khan, Raveena Tandon, Karisma Kapoor, Paresh Rawal (in a dual role) and Shakti Kapoor in lead roles. The film received mixed-to-positive reviews from critics upon release, but emerged as a commercial failure at the box-office. It earned Santoshi his third nomination for the Filmfare Award for Best Director.^[6] However over the years, it is considered a cult classic comedy, with its lexicon having become a part of everyday and ordinary language.^[7]

Santoshi then went on to make the action romance Barsaat (1995), which marked the debut of actors Bobby Deol and Twinkle Khanna. The film received mixed reviews from critics upon release, but emerged as a commercial success at the box-office, ranking as the fourth highest-grossing Hindi film of the year.

The following year, Santoshi wrote and directed the action drama Ghatak: Lethal (1996), marking his third collaboration with Deol and Sheshadri. The film received positive reviews from critics upon release, and emerged as a major commercial success at the box-office, ranking as the fourth highest-grossing Hindi film of the year. It earned Santoshi the Filmfare Award for Best Screenplay, in addition to his fourth nomination for the Filmfare Award for Best Director.

His next venture was the action film China Gate (1998), inspired from Akira Kurosawa's epic drama Seven Samurai (1954).^[8] It follows the story of a village that hire a group of veterans to combat bandits who terrorise them. The film received mixed-to-negative reviews from critics upon release, with criticism for its story, screenplay and execution, and emerged as an average commercial success at the box-office, ranking as the tenth highest-grossing Hindi film of the year. However, it won Santoshi the Filmfare Award for Best Dialogue.

Career fluctuations (2000-present)

Santoshi began the new millennium with writing and directing the action thriller Pukar (2000) starring Anil Kapoor and Madhuri Dixit in lead roles. The film tells the story of a notorious terrorist who manipulates an Indian army major's jilted lover into helping him obtain a classified military code. The film received mixed-to-positive reviews from critics upon release, but emerged as an average grosser at the box-office.^[9] It won Santoshi the Nargis Dutt Award for Best Feature Film on National Integration.^[10]

He followed it up with the social drama Lajja (2001), which told the story of four Indian women belonging to different strata of society. The film dealt with issues like gender inequality and the status of women in our society.^[11] The film starred an ensemble cast of Rekha, Manisha Koirala, Dixit, Mahima Chaudhary, Anil Kapoor, Ajay Devgn and Jackie Shroff in lead roles. Lajja opened to mixed reviews from critics upon release, with criticism for Santoshi's story and screenplay. It emerged as a commercial failure at the Indian box-office, but was successful in overseas markets.^[12][13][14]

His next venture was The Legend of Bhagat Singh (2002), a biopic on the freedom fighter Bhagat Singh, portrayed by Devgn. The film opened to mixed-to-positive reviews upon release, with praise for its direction, story and screenplay. It released alongside another film based on Bhagat, 23rd March 1931: Shaheed, which featured Bobby Deol as the revolutionary. Despite hype prior to release, the film emerged as a commercial failure at the box-office.^[15] The film's failure was attributed to its release on the same day as 23rd March 1931: Shaheed, with "the two Bhagats eating into each other's business". It, however, won Santoshi the National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Hindi.^[16] Since its release, The Legend of Bhagat Singh has been considered one of Santoshi's best works.^[17] In 2016, the film was included in Hindustan Times's list of "Bollywood's Top 5 Biopics".^[18]

Santoshi wrote and directed the ensemble neo-noir crime thriller Khakee (2004), starring Amitabh Bachchan, Akshay Kumar, Devgn, Aishwarya Rai and Tusshar Kapoor in lead roles. The film told the story of a group of cops who get embroiled in a mystery surrounding a terrorist attack. It opened to high critical acclaim upon release, with Derek Elley of Variety writing: "Powerhouse casting, and equally powerhouse direction by Rajkumar Santoshi, makes this an above-average example of mainstream Bollywood thrillers."^[19] The film emerged as a major commercial success at the box-office, ranking as the fifth highest-grossing Hindi film of the year. Khakee's success reiterated Santoshi as one of Bollywood's most sought-after directors, and earned him his fifth nomination for the Filmfare Award for Best Director.^[20]

His next venture was the action thriller family drama Family – Ties of Blood (2006) starring Bachchan, Kumar and Bhumika Chawla in lead roles. The film opened to negative reviews from critics upon release, and emerged as a commercial disaster at the box-office.^[21][22]

He next wrote and directed the social action drama Halla Bol (2008) starring Devgn, Vidya Balan and Pankaj Kapur in lead roles. The film was based on the life of activist Safdar Hashmi, who was killed by political rivals while performing in a street play (by the name of Halla Bol) in 1989.^[23] It was shot in 75 days in over 65 locations.^[23] Halla Bol was panned by critics, with Khalid Mohamed calling it "downright awful" [..] "packed with mind-benders galore."^[24] The film emerged as his second consecutive commercial disaster at the box-office.^[25]

Santoshi's career prospects improved when he wrote and directed the romantic comedy Ajab Prem Ki Ghazab Kahani (2009) starring Ranbir Kapoor and Katrina Kaif in lead roles. The film opened to positive reviews from critics upon release, with particular praise for its direction, story, screenplay, dialogues. It emerged as a major commercial success at the box-office, grossing ₹103.21 crore (US$12.4 million) worldwide, ranking as the third highest-grossing Hindi film of the year, and is currently the highest-grossing film of Santoshi's career.^[26][27]

After a 4-year hiatus, Santoshi made a comeback with the action comedy Phata Poster Nikhla Hero (2013) starring Shahid Kapoor and Ileana D'Cruz in lead roles. The film received mixed reviews from critics upon release and emerged as a commercial failure at the box-office.^[28][29][30]

After a 10-year hiatus, Santoshi made a comeback with three diverse ventures – the historical Gandhi Godse – Ek Yudh, the social comedy-drama Aalay Mazya Rashila and the romantic comedy Bad Boy. All the three films opened to mixed-to-negative reviews upon release, and emerged as commercial disasters at the box-office.