Kunal Kohli

Some Lesser Known Facts About Kunal Kohli

• Kunal Kohli was born and raised in Mumbai, Maharashtra; his mother is the sister of David Dhawan.

• Once he said his mother Yash Kohli was a huge fan of Shashi Kapoor, that’s why she named him after Shashi Kapoor’s son Kunal.

• Before moving into filmmaking and direction, Kunal Kohli began his career as a film critic in the late 1990s.

• He hosted a show titled Chalo Cinema (1990), in which he reviewed films and shared his insights about films, their stories and their casts.

• Kunal directed almost 24 music videos before moving to TV and film directions.

• Kunal’s wife is also a film director and a film producer. She is the director of Karan Johar‘s famous show “Koffee With Karan”.

• In an interview, Kunal Kohli said he started his career in film direction under the mentorship of Yash Raj Chopra. 

• In 2001, Kunal Kohli signed a three-film contract with Yash Raj Films (YRF). He directed Mujhse Dosti Karoge (2002), Hum Tum (2004), and Fanaa (2006) for YRF in a row.

• He also mentioned he never read the contract pages before signing with Yash Raj Films.

• It was Karan Johar who made Kunal meet with Yash Chopra’s son Aditya Chopra.

• Kunal once said, Yash Chopra had given a budget of Rs 7.5 Crore only for the film Hum Tum (2004). It was also the first film with animation along with real characters.

• In 2002, Kunal Kohli’s debut directorial film “Mujhse Dosti Karoge!” struggled at the box office despite casting well-known stars. However, it ranked as the sixth highest-grossing Hindi film of the year in 2003 globally. ^[2]Box Office India

• Kunal’s next directional film Hum Tum (2004) was a romantic comedy film which did very well at the box office. The film won and was nominated for many awards in different categories. He also won Filmfare Awards (2005) as Best Director of the Year for this film. He won this award against his mentor Yash Raj Chopra.

  

• In an interview, Kunal once said he loves classic Indian romantic cinema and loves to make films like that.

• In 2003, Kunal and his wife started their own production house named “Kunal Kohli Productions”.

• Thoda Pyaar Thoda Magic (2008), was the first film of his own production house. Yash Raj Chopra was the co-producer of the film. But unfortunately, the film didn’t do well at the box office.

  

• After 12 years of marriage in 2012, Kunal and his wife Ravina Kohli adopted a girl and named her “Radha Kohli”. ^[3]Times of India

• Kunal is very close to her daughter.

  

• In the TV industry, Kunal judged many reality shows like Nach Baliye 2 (2005), Chota Packet Bada Dhamaka (2005), and Ticket to Bollywood (2014).

• Kunal once said that for his debut film as an actor “Phir se…” (2018) he did a strict workout regimen to look young and fit.

• In the same year, Kohli debuted in Telugu cinema as a film director in the romantic comedy Next Enti? (2018), which starred Sundeep Kishan and Tamannaah Bhatia in the lead roles.

• In a recent interview, Kunal said after the huge success of his film Fanna (2006), a lot of politics were played against him to put him down, and the film after so much success worldwide only got one nomination and one award.

• He learnt traditional film editing skills from David Dhawan.

• Kunal has not had a successful career as a film producer. He once said that he had spent a significant amount of money on his directorial and production film, “Teri Meri Kahaani” (2012), but after the film’s failure at the box office, he fell into a huge debt.

• In an interview, Kunal Kohli said he is coming with his two to three film projects in 2025.

• Kunal Kohli is an occasional drinker.

• He is an avid dog and cat lover.
• Kunal loves travelling and exploring places with his family.