| David Dhawan | |
| Birth Name: | Rajinder Dhawan |
| Birth Date: | 1951 8, df=yes |
| Birth Place: | Agartala, Tripura, India |
| Spouse: | Karuna Dhawan |
| Children: | Rohit Dhawan (son) Varun Dhawan (son) |
| Occupation: | Filmmaker |
| Relatives: | See Dhawan family |
David Dhawan (born Rajinder Dhawan; 16 August 1951) is an Indian director of Hindi films. A member of the Dhawan family, he has directed over 42 films. The 1993 action thriller Hindi: [[Aankhen (1993 film)|Aankhen]] and 1999 comedy Biwi No.1 earned him nominations for the Filmfare Award for Best Director. His notable works include Swarg (1990), Shola Aur Shabnam, Bol Radha Bol (both 1992), Raja Babu (1994), Coolie No.1 (1995), Saajan Chale Sasural (1996), Judwaa, Hero No. 1, Deewana Mastana (all 1997), Bade Miyan Chote Miyan (1998), Haseena Maan Jaayegi (1999), Dulhan Hum Le Jayenge (2000), Jodi No.1 (2001), Ek Aur Ek Gyarah (2003), Mujhse Shaadi Karogi (2004), Partner (2007), Chashme Baddoor (2013), Main Tera Hero (2014), Judwaa 2 (2017), and Coolie No. 1 (2020).
David Dhawan was born on 16 August 1951[1] [2] as Rajinder Dhawan in Agartala, Tripura in a Punjabi family. His father, a manager in UCO Bank, got transferred to Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh.He studied in Christ Church College and BNSD Inter College until Class XII, and then joined FTII for acting where he changed his name to David Dhawan, a name given by his Christian neighbours in Agartala. Seeing other actors like Satish Shah and Suresh Oberoi, Dhawan realised that he cannot act. So he took up editing as an option. He became a fan of Manmohan Desai and Hrishikesh Mukherjee. Watching the Bengali film Meghe Dhaka Tara, directed by Ritwik Ghatak, made him interested in filmmaking and passed with a gold medal.[3] [4] Dhawan has two brothers, actor Anil and Ashok.
Dhawan is married to Karuna Dhawan (née Chopra),[5] [6] with whom he has two sons, Rohit Dhawan and Varun Dhawan. His brother is actor Anil Dhawan and nephew is actor Siddharth Dhawan.[7]
Dhawan[8] started off as an editor in Saaransh in 1984 before moving into directing. He specialises in directing comedy films.[9] His 1993 film Aankhen, starring Govinda, Chunky Pandey and Kader Khan, was highly successful at the box office, and earned him his first nomination for the Filmfare Award for Best Director.[9] Another successful film was Shola Aur Shabnam.[9] His 2007 film Partner was successful.[10]
Dhawan is on the board of Asian Academy of Film & Television and Asian School of Media Studies where he has been honoured with an academy award by Sandeep Marwah. He was a judge on the Star Plus show Nach Baliye 3[11] in 2008 and on the show Hans Baliye.[12]
Dhawan first teamed with actor Govinda[13] for the film Taaqatwar (1989). He then formed a collaboration with Govinda and directed 18 films with him as the leading actor, including Swarg (1990), Shola Aur Shabnam (1992), Hindi: [[Aankhen (1993 film)|Aankhen]] (1993), Raja Babu (1994), Coolie No. 1 (1995), Saajan Chale Sasural (1996), Banarasi Babu (1997), Deewana Mastana (1997), Hero No. 1 (1997), Bade Miyan Chote Miyan (1998), Haseena Maan Jaayegi (1999), Kunwara (2000), Jodi No.1 (2001), Kyo Kii... Main Jhuth Nahin Bolta (2001), Ek Aur Ek Gyarah (2003), Partner (2007) and Do Knot Disturb (2009). Partner, which also starred Salman Khan, grossed Rs. 300 Million in India on its opening week, the second highest domestic opening week gross for an Indian film at that time.[14] The same year, Salman Khan invited Dhawan[15] and Govinda[16] on his show 10 Ka Dum to celebrate Partner. Dhawan also collaborated with Khan in Biwi No.1 (1999), which emerged as a critical and commercial success, and earned Dhawan his second nomination for the Filmfare Award for Best Director. Dhawan got back to the trio of Govinda, Ritesh Deshmukh and himself with the film, Do Knot Disturb.
| Year | Film | Cast | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1989 | Taaqatwar | Sanjay Dutt, Govinda | ||
| Gola Barood | Shatrughan Sinha | |||
| Aag Ka Gola | Sunny Deol, Dimple Kapadia | |||
| Jurrat | Shatrughan Sinha | Remake of The Untouchables | ||
| 1990 | Swarg | Rajesh Khanna, Govinda | Inspired by Mehrban | |
| Aandhiyan | Shatrughan Sinha | |||
| 1991 | Ek aur Faulad | Sunil Shetty, Divya Bharti | Unreleased | |
| 1992 | Shola Aur Shabnam | Govinda, Divya Bharti | ||
| Bol Radha Bol | Rishi Kapoor, Juhi Chawla | |||
| 1993 | Hindi: [[Aankhen (1993 film)|Aankhen]] | Govinda, Chunkey Pandey | Inspired by Anubavi Raja Anubavi | |
| 1994 | Raja Babu | Govinda, Karishma kapoor | Inspired by Rasukutty | |
| Eena Meena Deeka | Rishi kapoor, Vinod Khanna, Juhi Chawla | Inspired by Three Fugitives | ||
| Anil Kapoor, Karishma Kapoor | Remake of Sundara Kandam | |||
| 1995 | Yaraana | Rishi Kapoor, Madhuri Dixit | Based on Sleeping with the Enemy | |
| Coolie No. 1 | Govinda, Karishma Kapoor | Remake of Sinna Mapplai | ||
| 1996 | Loafer | Anil Kapoor, Juhi Chawla | Remake of Velai Kidaichuduchu | |
| Saajan Chale Sasural | Govinda, Karishma Kapoor, Tabu | Remake of Allari Mogudu | ||
| 1997 | Mr and Mrs Khiladi | Akshay Kumar, Juhi Chawla | Remake of Aa Okkati Adakku | |
| Banarasi Babu | Govinda | Inspired by The Taming of the Shrew and Pattikada Pattanama | ||
| Judwaa | Salman Khan, Karishma Kapoor, Rambha | Remake of Hello Brother | ||
| Deewana Mastana | Govinda, Anil Kapoor, Juhi Chawla | Inspired by What About Bob? | ||
| Hero No. 1 | Govinda, Karishma Kapoor | Inspired by Bawarchi | ||
| 1998 | Gharwali Baharwali | Anil Kapoor, Raveena Tandon | Remake of Thaikulame Thaikulame | |
| Bade Miyan Chote Miyan | Amitabh Bachchan, Govinda | Inspired by Bad Boys | ||
| 1999 | Biwi No.1 | Salman Khan, Anil Kapoor, Karishma Kapoor, Tabu, Sushmita Sen | Remake of Sathi Leelavathi | |
| Haseena Maan Jaayegi | Govinda, Sanjay Dutt | Inspired by Pyar Kiye Jaa | ||
| 2000 | Dulhan Hum Le Jayenge | Salman Khan, Karishma Kapoor | Inspired by Ek Phool Char Kaante | |
| Kunwara | Govinda, Urmila | Remake of Bavagaru Bagunnara? | ||
| Chal Mere Bhai | Salman Khan, Sanjay Dutt, Karishma Kapoor | |||
| 2001 | Jodi No.1 | Govinda, Sanjay Dutt | ||
| Kyo Kii... Main Jhuth Nahin Bolta | Govinda, Sushmita Sen | Inspired by Liar Liar | ||
| 2002 | Chor Machaaye Shor | Bobby Deol, Shilpa Shetty | Remake of Blue Streak | |
| Yeh Hai Jalwa | Salman Khan, Ameesha Patel | Inspired by Carbon Copy | ||
| Hum Kisise Kum Nahin | Amitabh Bachchan, Sanjay Dutt | Inspired by Analyze This | ||
| 2003 | Ek Aur Ek Gyarah | Sanjay Dutt, Govinda | ||
| 2004 | Mujhse Shaadi Karogi | Salman Khan, Akshay Kumar, Priyanka Chopra | ||
| 2005 | Shaadi No. 1 | Multi Star | Remake of Kothigalu Saar Kothigalu | |
| Maine Pyaar Kyun Kiya | Salman Khan, Katrina Kaif, Sushmita Sen | Adaptation of Cactus Flower | ||
| 2007 | Partner | Salman Khan, Govinda | Based on Hitch | |
| 2009 | Do Knot Disturb | Govinda | Remake of The Valet | |
| 2011 | Rascals | Arjun Rampal, Sanjay Dutt, Ajay Devgan | ||
| 2013 | Chashme Buddoor | Ali Zafar, Taapsee Pannu | Remake of Chashme Buddoor | |
| 2014 | Main Tera Hero | Varun Dhawan | Remake of Kandireega | |
| 2017 | Judwaa 2 | Varun Dhawan | Remake of Judwaa | |
| 2020 | Coolie No. 1 | Varun Dhawan | Remake of Coolie No. 1 | |
| width=5% | Year± | width=20% | Film | width=30% | Award Ceremony | width=29% | Category | width=15% | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1994 | Hindi: [[Aankhen (1993 film)|Aankhen]] | Best Director | |||||||
| 2000 | Biwi No.1 | ||||||||
| Best Film | |||||||||
| 2024 | – | Lifetime Achievement Award |