Raj Kanwar

Raj Kanwar (28 June 1961 – 3 February 2012) was an Indian film director, writer, and producer who worked in Hindi films. He is known for directing Deewana (1992), Jeet (1996) and Farz (2001).

Kanwar was educated at Col. Brown Cambridge School in Dehradun. He has two sons, with his wife Anita Kanwar, Karan Raj Kanwar and Abhay Kanwar, who have both worked as film directors and producers. Filmmaker K. Pappu is his elder brother. On 3 February 2012, Kanwar died in Singapore from a kidney disease at the age of 50.

Kanwar began his career directing plays in Delhi. He then moved to Mumbai, where he worked as an assistant to directors like Shekhar Kapur and Raj Kumar Santoshi. His directorial debut was Deewana. Released in 1992, the film was a box office Blockbuster and marked the screen debut of Shahrukh Khan. He directed several other box office hits like Laadla (1994), Jaan (1996), Jeet (1996), Judaai (1997), Daag: The Fire (1999) and Badal (2000). Kanwar discovered actors like Lara Dutta and Priyanka Chopra, whom he cast in his film Andaaz in 2003. His last film was Sadiyaan (2010). Anurag Singh was a Chief Assistant with him for most of the films. Most of the lead characters in his films are named Karan and Kajal.