Punit Malhotra – Bollywood director of ‘I hate love stories’ fame

Punit Malhotra is a Bollywood director who shot to instant fame with his debut flick, I hate love stories in 2013. He is known for light-hearted comedy and romantic movies. Gori Tere Pyaar Mein in 2013 and Student of the Year 2 in 2019 are his directorial ventures later. Best known for his association with Dharma Productions, all these three movies have been co-produced by Karan Johar. He has also worked as an assistant director of Karan Johar and Amol Palekar earlier.

Punit Malhotra was born in Mumbai in 1982. He has many family members and relatives closely linked to Bollywood; Suneel and Dharmesh Darshan, David Dhawan and his family, Manish Malhotra etc to mention a few. In fact his maternal grandfather Ram Dayal Sabarwal was a producer, who launched actress Rekha in Bollywood. Punit worked as an assistant director for a while, before he made his impressive debut through I hate love stories. His second flick – Gori Tere Pyaar Mein was a flop while his latest outing for Dharma productions, Student of the Year 2 received negative reviews. The film launched two heroines – Tara Sutaria and Ananya Panday.

Punit Malhotra – Some interesting and less-known facts

Bahara – The very popular song from ‘I Hate Love Stories’

1. He is the nephew of famous designer Manish Malhotra. Though many of his close relatives are associated with Bollywood, Manish Malhotra remains his first influence. He is so close to his uncle.

2. Famous film director David Dhawan and actor Anil Dhawan are his father’s first cousins. Thus actor Varun Dhawan and director Rohit Dhawan are his cousins.

3. Filmmakers Suneel Darshan and Dharmesh Darshan are his maternal grandfather’s first cousin.

4. He gave the first hit to Sonam Kapoor’s career through I hate love stories. In fact there were rumours that they were dating when the film shooting was going on.

5. His romantic comedy I hate love stories include some of the best songs like Bahara and Sadka kiya, and Bahara song was noticed for its lovely filming too.

6. Two of his first films starred Imran Khan in the lead role.

7. His movie – Gutka got shelved in 2014, and in a career spanning to about 1 decade, he has directed only three movies.

8. He has worked as the creative director of Shah Rukh Khan starrer Paheli.

9. Kabhi Khushi Kabhi Gum was his first venture as an assistant director with Dharma Productions and he was 19 then.

10. Initially he wanted to become an actor, and may not hesitate to accept good roles if come in his way.

11. He is an atheist, and hates those who believe in god.