Jugal Hansraj is an Indian film actor and director, who works mainly for the Hindi film industry. Born on 26th July 1972, he began his cinematic career at a tender age as a child artist. As a director his name is associated with the first animation film of India, Roadside Romeo. Jugal Hansraj is also credited for giving the tune and first few lines of the song `Kuch Kuch Hota Hai` to his friend and director Karan Johar at a night out in Mumbai. The song became a huge hit and till date remains one of the most popular romantic songs. Hansraj got married on 5th July 2014.
Career of Jugal Hansraj
Jugal Hansraj began his film career as a child artist in the year 1983 with the Bollywood flick Masoom starring Shabana Azmi and Naseeruddin Shah. In the movie he portrayed the role of a 9 year old boy whom his stepmother was not willing to accept as he was born out of an extramarital relationship. The film was based on the novel of Erich Segal titled Man, Woman and Child. The film met positive reviews. Subsequently Hansraj featured as a child artist in movies Karma and Sultanat. As a child he also worked as a model for Indian television and print. He was seen in several ad campaigns.
As an adult, Jugal Hansraj began acting with the movie Aa Gale Lag Jaa in the year 1994. In the movie he starred alongside Urmila Matondkar who incidentally essayed the role of his sister in his debut movie Masoom. His second venture Papa Kehte Hai was in 1995 in which he appeared along with Mayuri Kango and Anupam Kher.
His 2000 release was Mohabbatein in which he acted alongside Amitabh Bachchan and Shahrukh Khan. The movie was a breakthrough in his career. Following this, Jugal Hansraj played minor roles in successful films like Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham, Salaam Namaste and Aaja Nachle which marked the comeback of Bollywood actress Madhuri Dixit.
In the year 2008, Hansraj wrote and directed the computer-animated film Roadside Romeo under the joint production of Yash Raj Films and Walt Disney Studios. Saif Ali Khan, Javed Jaffrey and Kareena Kapoor lent their voices for the film. The film won National Film Award from the President of India for Best Director (Animation Film), Best Film (Animation Film) and Technical Award for Best Animation. At the Cairo International Film Festival it won Best Animation Film through the judgement of an international jury of children. A song sequence of the movie also received nomination for the Visual Effects Society Awards in Los Angeles for Best Animated Sequence alongside sequences from Wall-E and Kung Fu Panda. At Frames FICCI and the Screen Awards, the film won awards for Best Animation Film and Best Director (Animation Film). In the year 2012 Hansraj received invitation by Film Victoria to host a Master Class session at the Indian Film Festival Melbourne. The session focussed on the subject of animation in India where he shared his experiences in making the first animation feature in India. The session also discussed the co-production possibilities between India and Victoria State for animation features. Jugal Hansraj`s second directional venture was a romantic comedy Pyaar Impossible under the production of Yash Raj Films. The movie featured Uday Chopra and Priyanka Chopra.
