Rahul Rawail is the son of film director Harnam Singh Rawail (often credited as
H. S. Rawail) who is known for his films
Mere Mehboob (1963),
Sunghursh (1968),
Mehboob Ki Mehndi (1971) and
Laila Majnu (1976). Rawail paid tribute to his father's 1968 film
Sunghursh by titling one of his films as
Jeevan Ek Sanghursh (1990). Rahul's son Bharat Rawail is an up-and-coming director, who had assisted
Yash Chopra for the film
Jab Tak Hai Jaan (2012). Rawail began his career as assistant to
Raj Kapoor and debuted as director with 1980 Bollywood film
Gunehgaar starring
Parveen Babi,
Rishi Kapoor,
Rajendra Kumar, and
Asha Parekh. His first two films were not successful but his third film
Love Story (1981) starring débutante
Kumar Gaurav and
Vijeta Pandit was a turning point for his career. The film was a musical love story and was a commercial success. Since then, Rawail has directed seventeen films and two television series. He has often collaborated with actor
Sunny Deol who worked with Rawail on six of his films, including his debut film
Betaab (1983) with
Amrita Singh. The film was appreciated for Rawail's "breezy treatment" of the débutantes. Rawail launched two successful actresses of
Bollywood,
Kajol and
Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, through his films
Bekhudi (1992) and
Aur Pyaar Ho Gaya (1997) respectively. Both the films did not do well commercially. He received nominations for the
Filmfare Award for Best Director for his films
Betaab (1983) and
Arjun (1985). In 2010, Rawail started an acting school in collaboration with the
Stella Adler Studio of Acting,
New York City. In spite of famous Bollywood personalities like Sunny Deol enrolling their children to the academy, it was shut down after 2 years in 2012. Rawail released his book "Master at Work" a biographical work written on his mentor
Raj Kapoor at the
52nd International Film Festival of India in
Goa in 2021. He has been appointed as Jury at the
Moscow International Film Festival 2023. ==Filmography==