Kuku Kohli dies at 77: Ajay Devgn mourns director who launched him, Vicky Kaushal, Katrina Kaif attend funeral

Long before Ajay Devgn became one of Hindi cinema's most bankable leading men, he was an untested face with no industry pedigree to speak of, and one filmmaker was willing to stake his directorial debut on him. That filmmaker, Kuku Kohli, died on Tuesday, August 25, at the age of 77, after suffering a massive cardiac arrest at Kokilaben Dhirubhai Ambani Hospital in Mumbai.

Kohli had handed Devgn his first leading role in 1991's Phool Aur Kaante — a gamble that paid off spectacularly and effectively launched Devgn's career as an action star.

Taking to X on Wednesday, Devgn wrote a brief but heartfelt message marking the loss of the man he considered a mentor: "Some people change the course of your life forever. Kuku ji was one of those people for me. Forever grateful for the faith you had in me. You will be deeply missed, Kuku ji. Om Shanti."

Kuku Kohli, born Avtar Kohli, did not start out behind the camera as a director. He cut his teeth as an assistant director, notably working under Raj Kapoor on 1971's Mera Naam Joker, before eventually striking out on his own.

When he finally got his shot at directing, Kohli chose to build his debut film around a newcomer rather than an established name. Phool Aur Kaante cast Devgn opposite Madhoo, with Amrish Puri, Aruna Irani and Jagdeep rounding out the ensemble. The film was a commercial hit, and it announced Devgn as a new kind of action hero on the Hindi film landscape, a reputation that would define much of his career going forward. The performance also earned him the Filmfare Award for Best Male Debut that year.

The collaboration didn't end there. Kohli and Devgn reunited a few years later for Suhaag (1994), a film that also brought Devgn and Akshay Kumar together on screen for the first time, alongside Karisma Kapoor and Nagma. That film, too, found box-office success, cementing Kohli's run as one of the go-to commercial directors of the era. He continued directing through the 1990s and early 2000s, with Woh Tera Naam Tha (2004) marking his last film behind the camera.

According to Balraj Irani, brother of Kohli's wife Aruna Irani, the filmmaker had seemed in normal health right up until the attack struck. Speaking to India Today, he recounted: "He (Kuku) was absolutely fine, and then this evening he suffered a massive heart attack. He was talking to us and just collapsed." Kohli had been admitted to Kokilaben Hospital a day earlier, on Monday, August 24, after he began feeling unwell. Doctors attempted to revive him, but he was declared dead at around 5 pm on Tuesday.

Kohli's last rites were conducted on Wednesday, August 26, at Oshiwara Crematorium in Mumbai. Family and friends gathered for a final darshan at the Kohli residence at 9:30 am, according to details shared by filmmaker and family friend Ashoke Pandit. The funeral procession set out from the family's Green Acres home in Andheri West around 10 am, with the cremation taking place close to noon.

Aruna Irani, needed support to walk through parts of the ceremony as she said goodbye to her husband, flanked by relatives from both the Irani and Kohli families. A number of familiar faces from the industry turned up to pay their respects, including Rohit Shetty, Katrina Kaif, Vicky Kaushal, Sham Kaushal and Ashoke Pandit.

Kohli is survived by Aruna Irani, along with two daughters, Pooja and Karishma, from his earlier marriage to Rita Kohli.