Gulshan Rai


Gulshan Rai was an Indian film producer and distributor. He produced successful films in the 1970s directed by Yash Chopra and in the 1990s directed by his son Rajiv Rai.
Rai was born in Lahore, Punjab, British India in 1924. Following the partition of India he moved to Bombay in 1947. He started off his career in the Hindi film industry as a distributor. In 1970, he started his production company Trimurti Films and the first film produced was Johny Mera Naam which was a success.
In the 1970s, his Yash Chopra-directed films made Amitabh Bachchan a superstar and launched successful careers for script writers Salim-Javed. The notable films were Deewaar and Trishul .
In the 1980s and 90s, he produced films in the action genre directed by his son Rajiv Rai, and were notable for their music. They were Tridev, Vishwatma, Mohra and Gupt.
He released more than 180 films in Bombay territory, 40 of which have celebrated silver jubilees. Besides Mumbai, he also opened distribution offices in West Bengal, Punjab, Delhi and Uttar Pradesh.
However, Trimurti Films suffered failures with Rajiv's movies in 2000s, Pyaar Ishq Aur Mohabbat and Asambhav, both were attempts to launch Arjun Rampal as a hero but flopped and were unable to make Rampal, a successful hero.
Rai died in Mumbai on 11 October 2004 after a prolonged illness, aged 80. He was a recipient of Padma Shri.