Raj Kanwar

Raj Kanwar, born way back in 1961 somewhere in India, carved out a pretty solid name for himself as a director and writer in Bollywood. Not everyone outside film-nerd circles knows his face, but anyone who grew up on late ‘90s and early 2000s Indian cinema? Yeah, they've definitely caught one of his movies on TV at 2 am when sleep was for quitters. He’s the guy behind “Daag: The Fire” (1999)—a movie that honestly came packed with all the melodrama, revenge, and over-the-top emotions you’d expect from that era. It’s the sort of film you watch with your family and end up yelling at the screen, wondering how people in movies never learn from their mistakes. But Raj Kanwar didn’t just stick to dark, twisty stories. He also gave us “Itihaas” (1997), another flick full of family drama, betrayal, and the impossible choices that make you want to call your mom and thank her for not being a movie character. And then there’s “Humko Deewana Kar Gaye” (2006), which took the whole star-crossed lovers thing and cranked it up to eleven. Not exactly subtle, but that’s kind of the point—he knew what people wanted: big feels, bigger plot twists, and a soundtrack that would haunt wedding playlists for years. On the personal side, he was married to Anita Kanwar. Sadly, Raj Kanwar’s story wrapped up too soon. He passed away on February 3, 2012, in Singapore. Even though he’s gone, his movies keep popping up on TV, like ghosts of Bollywood’s wild, dramatic past refusing to let go.