Mumbai: Director-producer Rohit Shetty will celebrate his 47th birthday Saturday. The filmmaker has made a name for himself with his action-packed movies. Most of his films, including the last one Simmba (2018) has grossed well over Rs 100 crore. Among his other films to do well are Singham, Chennai Express and the Golmaal Series.
Rohit was born March 14, 1973 to Ratna, a junior artist in the Hindi film industry and actor/stuntman MB Shetty. He has four siblings.
Since childhood, Rohit was more interested in the art of movie-making than studies. When he was 14, he decided to become a director. He started his career at the age of 17 years as assistant director in the Ajay Devgn-starrer film Phool Aur Kaante with director Kuku Kohli. He continued to work as an assistant director for 13 long years.
Once in an interview, Rohit had said, “My first Salary was Rs 35. There was no money to run home, so I left college and started working.” Narrating the hard times Rohit said that once he entrusted with the task of ironing Tabu’s sarees during the shooting for Haqeeqat (1995).
In 2003, Rohit decided to venture into direction. His first directorial effort Zameen which had Devgn in the lead role did average business at the box office. However he rose to prominence with the 2006 comedy film, Golmaal: Fun Unlimited starring Devgn, Arshad Warsi, Tusshar Kapoor and Sharman Joshi.
Rohit’s Chennai Express, starring Shah Rukh Khan and Deepika Padukone, was released August 9, 2013. Till date it is one of the highest grossers in the Hindi film industry. He also directed Dilwale (2015) with Shar Rukh and Kajol which also was a huge box office success. The reality show Fear Factor: Khatron Ke Khiladi has become a huge success since Rohit started hosting it.
In 2005, Rohit married Maya who is a banker and prefers to stay away from the limelight. The couple has a son named Ishaan Rohit Shetty.
Rohit was getting ready for the release of Sooryavanshi which was scheduled to hit the screens March 24. However, it has now been postponed due to the coronavirus threat. The film has Akshay Kumar in the lead with Katrina Kaif playing the heroine. The film also has Gulshan Grover, Abhimanyu Singh, Niharica Raizada, Jackie Shroff, Sikandar Kher, Nikitin Dheer and Vivan Bhatena while Devgn and Ranveer Singh make cameo appearances as Sooryavanshi is part of the Singham franchise.
