Phool Aur Kaante director Kuku Kohli, 77, dies of heart attack

Filmmaker Kuku Kohli died at the age of 77. The filmmaker, known for giving Ajay Devgn his breakthrough with Phool Aur Kaante (1991), suffered a massive heart attack on Tuesday. He was admitted at Mumbai’s Kokilaben Dhirubhai Ambani Hospital.

His brother-in-law, Balraj Irani, confirmed the news to India Today, sharing that Kohli was feeling unwell and was admitted to hospital a few days ago. He had a blockage and had a stent fitted yesterday. Irani said, "He was absolutely fine and then today evening he suffered a massive



heart attack. He was talking to us and just collapsed."

The funeral will be held tomorrow, Thursday at the Oshiwara crematorium.

The filmmaker is married to actor Aruna Irani. From his first marriage to Rita Kohli, he has two daughters: Pooja Kohli, a film producer, and Karishma Kohli, a filmmaker. Karishma served as an assistant director on Kabir Khan’s Ek Tha Tiger (2012) and Bajrangi Bhaijaan (2015) before co-directing the Netflix series The Fame Game (2022). She married actor Mikhail Yawalkar in 2025.