Sooraj Barjatya
Sooraj R. Barjatya (born 22 February 1965) is an Indian film director, producer, screenwriter and distributor, predominantly working in Hindi cinema. Barjatya has directed and produced some of the most commercially successful Indian films in Indian film history. His movies often include family drama and values as well as culturally influenced. Barjatya is the current chairman of the Indian media conglomerate Rajshri Productions. His films are produced under the Rajshri Productions banner, which was founded in 1947 by his late grandfather Tarachand Barjatya. Barjatya began his career as an assistant director to Mahesh Bhatt. He made his directorial debut with blockbuster hit  (1989), a romantic musical film about friendship. He then wrote and directed one of India's biggest blockbusters ever, the wedding celebration drama Hum Aapke Hain Koun..! (1994), which received widespread critical acclaim and accolades, and became the most commercially successful Indian film of all time, selling over 7 crore tickets during its box office run, the highest estimated admissions for any film in Hindi market since Sholay (1975). This was produced by his father Rajkumar Barjatya for Rajshri Productions. In 1999, Barjatya directed the commercially successful film Hum Saath-Saath Hain, another major hit of 90s. In 2006, Barjatya directed and produced Vivah, which established Shahid Kapoor as a leading actor in Bollywood. In 2015, the film Prem Ratan Dhan Payo, again written and directed by him with Salman Khan, his fourth collaboration with him, was one of the highest-grossing films of the year. His next directorial Uunchai based on friendship, starring Amitabh Bachchan in lead, released with positive reception in November 2022. Sooraj Barjatya's films had major impact on society and pop culture as well. He is credited for bringing change in Hindi cinema in terms of making films without action and vulgarity. He inspired hugely successful filmmakers such as Aditya Chopra and Karan Johar to make films with cultural themes. His films such as  and Hum Aapke Hain Koun..!, Barjatya's two consecutive films, are still placed among the top ten most successful films of the last 80 years. Hum Saath Saath Hain was the highest grossing film of 1999. and Vivah proved to be one of the highest grossers of 2006, having celebrated a silver jubilee run at 25 centers across the country. The film was nominated for more than 15 awards. Early life
Sooraj Barjatya was born in a Marwari Jain family in Mumbai. He attended St. Mary's School, Mumbai and The Scindia School in Gwalior. Encouraged by his paternal grandfather, Tarachand Barjatya, he directed his first film  for Rajshri at the young age of 24. He married Vineeta Barjatya in 1986 and the couple have three children. Career
He made his directorial debut with  (1989) starring Salman Khan and Bhagyashree, which was financially successful and launched both his and the actors' careers, winning the latter two the Filmfare Best Debut awards, in addition to earning Barjatya his first nomination for the Filmfare Award for Best Director. Bengali filmmaker Tarun Majumdar was an advisor to him for Maine Pyaar Kiya. He teamed up with Salman again for Hum Aapke Hain Koun..! (1994) (alongside Madhuri Dixit) which became one of the highest-grossing films of all time and Hum Saath-Saath Hain: We Stand United (1999) which was highly commercial successful as well. Hum Aapke Hain Koun..! won him his first Filmfare Awards for Best Film and Best Director. His fourth film was Main Prem Ki Diwani Hoon (2003) starring Hrithik Roshan, Kareena Kapoor and Abhishek Bachchan which was his first critical and commercial disaster. His next film Vivah (2006) starring Shahid Kapoor and Amrita Rao proved to be one of the most successful films in that year. In all of Barjatya's films until Uunchai, the male protagonists are named 'Prem'. He had said in an interview that "Ours was a joint Marwari family and I grew up witnessing grand functions and wedding ceremonies in the family. The opulence shown in my films is based on my impressions as a child". After 9 years of hiatus, he came back in direction again in 2015 with Prem Ratan Dhan Payo, his 4th collaboration with Salman Khan, which was one of the highest grossing films of all time at that time earning almost ₹400cr worldwide. His next directorial Uunchai (2022) on friendship was released on 11th November 2022 starring Amitabh Bachchan, Anupam Kher and Boman Irani with Parineeti Chopra. The film earned him him third nomination for the Filmfare Award for Best Director. Filmography

