Sooraj Barjatya

Some Lesser Known Facts About Sooraj Barjatya

• His family belongs to Kuchaman, Rajasthan.

• He is famous for his films such as Maine Pyar Kiya (1989), Hum Aapke Hain Koun..! (1994), Vivah (2006), and Prem Ratan Dhan Payo (2015) which were box-office hits.

• Chanda Barjatya, Sooraj’s sister is trained in Kathak and Odissi dance forms. She founded the information-sharing app, TellaTina, in 2022.

• Sooraj Barjatya is the Chairman and Managing Director of Rajshri Productions, a company founded by his grandfather, Tarachand Barjatya, in 1947.

  

• The production house has produced some of the most commercially successful films and TV shows such as ‘Dosti’ (1964), ‘Maine Pyar Kiya’ (1989), ‘Prem Ratan Dhan Payo’ (2015), ‘Paying Guest’ (1985), ‘Woh Rehne Waali Mehlon Ki’ (2005-2011), and ‘Yahan Main Ghar Ghar Kheli’ (2009-2012).

• Sooraj doesn’t smoke or drink alcohol.

• He considers the films made by Raj Kapoor and the camera angles used in the films to be his inspiration.

• In an interview, he said that he worked as a clapboy for Mahesh Bhatt. He further claimed that Mahesh Bhatt inspired him to become a writer and said,
  

  I approached Bhatt saab and said I wanted to be his assistant. I was given odd jobs and was even a clapboy. Bhatt saab told me that to be a good movie-maker, I needed to be a good scriptwriter. I took to writing and read numerous magazines to broaden my perspective.”

• In an interview, Sooraj Barjatya talked about being inspired by the grand weddings he witnessed while growing up and said,
  

  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.”

• During a media interaction, Sooraj Barjatya talked about how his films are influenced by the situations in his life and said,
  

  When I did ‘Maine Pyaar Kiya’ I was out of college, 21 or 22 years of age and then got married and had two kids and you learn the value of friendship and you make ‘Hum Aapke Hain Koun..!’. And then you lose a mother and you make ‘Hum Saath Saath Hain’, when you realise the value of marriage you make ‘Vivah’ and then with ‘Prem Ratan Dhan Payo’ you realise that every family has problems, you cannot deny (it).”

• His film, ‘Maine Pyaar Kiya’ (1989) earned him a nomination at the Filmfare Award for Best Director.

  

• Sooraj has talked about making ‘Maine Pyaar Kiya’ during the height of video piracy in an interview.  To fight the piracy, he wanted to make the film so grand that viewers would be forced to watch it in the theatres.

• Rajshri Productions was on the verge of bankruptcy when the success of ‘Maine Pyaar Kiya’ saved them.

• His film ‘Hum Aapke Hain Koun..!’ (1994) earned Rs. 100 crores worldwide, making a Guinness World Record for becoming the ‘Highest-grossing Indian film.’ It was released only in a few selected theatres to combat video piracy.

• He also put a condition on theatres that they had to upgrade themselves to get the prints of ‘Hum Aapke Hain Koun..!’ Theatres were forced to accept his condition as the film opened to a positive response from the audience.

• Upgrading the theatres proved to be a reason for the film’s massive success as it brought a huge audience back to theatres.

• Karan Johar and Aditya Chopra consider ‘Hum Aapke Hain Koun..!’ to be their inspiration.

• ‘Hum Aapke Hain Koun..!’ is also considered to be an inspiration behind the cinematic and real-life trend of ‘big-fat-weddings’ that are considered incomplete without the songs and games inspired by the film.

• The film ‘Hum Saath-Saath Hain,’ directed by him in 1999, was the highest-grossing film of the year.

  

• The film, ‘Main Prem Ki Diwani Hoon,’ was written and directed by him in 2003.

• He is the writer, director, and producer of the film, ‘Vivah,’ which was released in 2006.

• He is the producer of the TV show, ‘Do Hanson Ka Jodaa’ (2010).

  

• He created the TV show, ‘Jhilmil Sitaaron Ka Aangan Hoga’ (2012-2013).

• He is the producer of the TV show, ‘Pyaar Ka Dard Hai Meetha Meetha Pyaara Pyaara’ (2012-2014)

• Sooraj is the creator, producer, and director of the TV show, ‘Ek Shringaar-Swabhiman’ (2016-2017).

  

• He wrote and produced the TV show, ‘Dadi Amma Dadi Amma Maan Jaao!’ (2020).

• ‘Prem Ratan Dhan Payo,’ written and directed by Sooraj, was released in 2015 and became the second-highest-grossing film of the year.