Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra is a cherished Indian film director, producer and screenwriter who works primarily for the Hindi film industry. His works especially as a director have received immense critical appreciations along with a number of prestigious accolades. His tryst with the entertainment world occurred as an ad film maker; however he gradually turned towards filmmaking, establishing himself amongst the successful directors of Bollywood.

Early Life of Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra
Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra was born on 7th July 1963 in New Delhi to a Punjabi family. His father worked for the Claridges hotel situated in New Delhi. Rakeysh, as a swimmer, was in the selection camp of the 1982 Asian Games held at New Delhi. However he could not get selected in the final round. He did his schooling from Air Force Bal Bharti School, Lodi Road, New Delhi.

Career of Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra
Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra began his career with Eureka Forbes by selling vacuum cleaners for the company. In 1986 he founded Flicks Motion Picture Company Private Limited and started working as an advertisement film maker. A number of television shows have been directed by him for national as well as international clients including BPL, American Express, Toyota, Pepsi and Coke. A few music videos have also been directed by him like `Aby Baby` starring Amitabh Bachchan. Subsequently he shifted his focus from ad film making to feature film making.

The first full-length feature film directed by Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra was Aks, released in June 2001, featuring Amitabh Bachchan. Although the film achieved moderate success, Bachchan?s performance in the film was praised critically. His next directional venture was 2006 Bollywood flick Rang De Basanti starring Aamir Khan and Soha Ali Khan. The film received overwhelming response in India as well as overseas and won several prestigious awards. This critically acclaimed film was also chosen officially as India`s entry to the Oscars. His next release was Delhi-6 in 2009 featuring Abhishek Bachchan, Waheeda Rehman, Sonam Kapoor, Atul Kulkarni and Om Puri. This film however did not perform well at the box office. In the year 2011 he produced the film Teen They Bhai, directed by Mrighdeep Lamba, which depicted the tale of three brothers who kept fighting among themselves. The film performed well neither critically nor commercially. His next directional venture was the biopic Bhaag Milkha Bhaag in 2013. The film featured Farhan Akhtar and portrayed the story of Milkha Singh, the legendary Indian athlete. Once again Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra succeeded in garnering immense critical and commercial appreciations for the movie.

Achievements of Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra
In 2006 Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra won Filmfare Best Movie Award and Filmfare Best Director Award for the movie Rang De Basanti. In the following year he received Nargis Dutt Award for Best Feature Film on National Integration for his film Delhi-6. In 2014, for the movie Bhaag Milkha Bhaag, he won National Film Award for Best Popular Film Providing Wholesome Entertainment, Star Guild Awards for Best Director, Filmfare Best Movie Award, Filmfare Best Director Award, Zee Cine Award for Best Director and IIFA Best Director Award.

Personal Life of Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra
Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra is married to P. S. Bharathi since the year 1992 and the couple is blessed with a daughter and a son. He also possesses a special interest in culinary.

Filmography of Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra