Mahesh Kaul

Mahesh Kaul (10 April 1911 – 2 July 1972) was an Indian film director, screenwriter and actor who primarily worked in bollywood film industry during his career span. Kaul was responsible for making legendary movies in the Cinema of India. He mainly worked as a director in several memorable movies such as Talaq, Jeewan Jyoti, Diwana, Sapno Ka Saudagar and more.

Biography
Mahesh was born on 10 April 1911 in Jodhpur district of Rajasthan, India. He was originally worked in films as a lyricist and dialogue-writer and made his first entry in bollywood with Naya Sansar (1941) film which was filmed at Mumbai starring Ashok Kumar and Renuka Devi.

Education
Born in 1911 in Jodhpur, Mahesh completed his education from Moni College, Nagpur.

Career
Mahesh was initially working as a Journalist and had served as a Branch manager in a Bank. He initially established his career in bollywood films as a lyricist and a dialogue writer and made an early entry when he first acted in Naya Sansar (1941) movie. During the same career span, He acted in a bilingual film-drama Apna Ghar (1942) which was directed by Debaki Bose and later, made a major impact by playing as a dialogue-writer's role in another bilingual film Mahatma Vidur (1943). While working in Hindi films as a director, His first film was Angoori (1943). As a director, his first superhit film was Gopinath (1948), starring Raj Kapoor and Tripti Mitra. When directed a popular film, His next film after Gopinath was Naujawan (1951), which also earned nationwide popularity in India.

Mahesh later decided to act as an actor and returned in Guru Dutt's Kaagaz Ke Phool (1959) film where he was seen playing Guru Dutt's westernized father-in-law. However, his scenes were among the weakest ones that returned as total failure as an actor.

After unsucceeding as an actor, Mahesh returned back to His director profession and made another popular film Pyar ki Pyaas (1961) in which Guru Dutt played the role of a star which was his best ever performance as an actor. Kaul made Rakhi Rakhi (1969) for the Film Institute of India and his last film was Agni Rekha starring Sanjeev Kumar and Sharada, released posthumously in 1973 as Kaul had passed away the previous year.

Personal life
Mahesh was married at a young age to Indira M. Kaul, also known as Indira Mahesh Kaul, in a match arranged by their families in the usual Indian manner. They were blessed with a daughter "Monika Kaul" and a son "Roopesh Kaul". Mahesh was the adopted son of "Bhola Nath Kaul" and "Kailash Rani Kaul" and He was the biological son of "Bishambhar Nath Kaul" and "Chando Kaul". The popular filmmaker, Mehesh was the brother of "Jainath Kaul", "Iqbal Nath Kaul", "Munishwar Nath" and "Rameshwar Nath Kaul"

Filmography
Angoori (1943)
Paristan (1944)
Gopinath (1948)
Naujawan (1951)
Abhimaan (1957)
Aakhri Dao (1958/I)
Miya Bibi Razi (1960)
Pyar Ki Pyas (1961)
Sautela Bhai (1962)
Palki (1967)
Diwana (1967)
Sapnon Ka Saudagar (1968)
Rakhi Rakhi (1969)
Agni Rekha (1973)
Kaagaz Ke Phool (1985)
Awards
6th Filmfare Awards - Best director - Talaaq (1958)
10th National Film Awards – Best director – Sautela Bhai (19622)
National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Hindi – Best director – Pyar Ki Pyaas (1961)