Before Rohit Shetty, there was Kuku Kohli: The filmmaker behind Ajay Devgn's debut and Bollywood's mass-market era

When news broke that filmmaker Kuku Kohli had died after suffering a heart attack, most headlines reached for the same description: the director who launched Ajay Devgn.

They're not wrong.

But they may also be underselling him.

Because Kuku Kohli wasn't just the man who gave Bollywood one future superstar. He was part of the generation that helped define what mainstream Hindi cinema looked like in the 1990s — a decade of action heroes, family entertainers, larger-than-life villains and single-screen blockbusters. Kohli died at 77 in Mumbai after suffering a cardiac arrest, according to reports confirmed by his family and industry colleagues.

So who exactly was Kuku Kohli, and why are so many in Bollywood calling his death the end of an era?

Why Is Kuku Kohli's Death Making Headlines?

Kuku Kohli passed away on August 25 after suffering a massive heart attack. He had reportedly been admitted to Mumbai's Kokilaben Dhirubhai Ambani Hospital after experiencing health complications and later suffered a fatal cardiac arrest.

Tributes poured in from across the film industry.

Actor Ajay Devgn, whose career began under Kohli's direction, described him as one of the people who changed the course of his life. Industry figures including Ashoke Pandit, Anupam Kher and several other filmmakers remembered him not only as a director but also as a mentor and institution-builder.

Was Kuku Kohli Only the Director of Phool Aur Kaante?

That's the role most people remember.

In 1991, Kohli directed Phool Aur Kaante, the film that introduced Ajay Devgn to Hindi cinema. The image of Devgn balancing on two moving motorcycles became one of the defining visuals of Bollywood's action era. The film emerged as a major commercial success and turned both its leading man and its director into industry names.

But reducing Kohli's career to one film misses the bigger picture.

Over the following decade, he directed a string of mainstream entertainers including Suhaag, Haqeeqat, Kohraam, Zulmi, Anari No. 1 and Yeh Dil Aashiqanaa.

These weren't niche films.

They were the kind of movies that filled single-screen theatres, generated repeat audiences and helped shape the commercial grammar of Hindi cinema during the 1990s.

How Did Kuku Kohli Enter Bollywood?

Long before he became a director, Kohli learned filmmaking from some of the industry's biggest names.

According to industry accounts, he began his journey under the influence of legendary filmmaker Raj Kapoor before working with director Rahul Rawail. He assisted on projects including Betaab and Arjun, two films that helped define 1980s commercial cinema.

That apprenticeship would later show up in his own films, which blended action, emotion, family drama and crowd-pleasing spectacle.

Why Are Filmmakers Calling Him a 'Hitmaker'?

Because Kohli belonged to a generation of directors whose names were often less famous than their stars, yet whose fingerprints were all over Bollywood.

His films arrived before the multiplex era transformed audience tastes. They were built for packed theatres, whistles, interval twists and larger-than-life heroes.

In many ways, they represent a chapter of Hindi cinema that is becoming increasingly rare.

That's why the grief around his death is not just about one filmmaker.

It's also about the gradual fading of an entire era of commercial Bollywood.

What Is Kuku Kohli's Legacy?

The simplest answer is Ajay Devgn.

Without Phool Aur Kaante, one of Bollywood's most enduring stars might have entered the industry very differently.

But the larger answer is harder to fit into a headline.

Kuku Kohli helped build the bridge between the action-driven cinema of the 1980s and the mass entertainers of the 1990s. He directed films that defined the viewing habits of a generation and helped shape the careers of actors who would go on to dominate Hindi cinema.

That's why, even as the industry remembers the man who launched Ajay Devgn, many are really mourning something bigger.

The passing of a filmmaker whose work survives in the DNA of Bollywood itself.