The director, who launched Ajay Devgn with Phool Aur Kaante, is survived by Aruna Irani and two daughters.

Updated on: Aug 25, 2026, 22:23:27 IST

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Veteran director Kuku Kohli has died at the age of 77. As per the latest update from news agency ANI, he suffered a heart attack and breathed his last at Mumbai's Kokilaben Dhirubhai Ambani Hospital on Tuesday.

About Kuku Kohli

Kuku Kohli made his directorial debut with Phool Aur Kaante, which emerged as a commercial success and also marked Ajay Devgn's debut. The film also starred Madhoo, Amrish Puri, Aruna Irani and Jagdeep. Some of his other films include Haqeeqat, Zulmi, Anari No. 1 and Yeh Dil Aashiqanaa. His last directorial venture was Woh Tera Naam Tha, which hit the theatres in 2004.

About his relationship with Aruna Irani

He is survived by his wife, actor Aruna Irani, and two daughters, Pooja and Karishma, from his first marriage to Rita Kohli.

In 2022, Aruna said that their relationship kicked off with a lot of fights on the sets of their movie but blossomed into a romance soon. Speaking to The , Aruna said in an interview, “We met each other during one of the films that we worked on together. During that film, he used to make all the other actors wait till Dharmendra ji arrived on sets to start the shoot. And I used to get very angry at him as I was too working on some other films at that time. So we started with a love and hate relationship. I used to get very upset with him and he used to console me. Uss chakkar mein kaise lafda ho gaya samajh nahi aya (Don't know how we fell for each other due to that).”

In an earlier interview to Filmfare, Aruna spoke about Kuku and how she made peace with him not divorcing his first wife despite marrying Aruna. She also decided never to have any kids. “When I see my nephews and nieces today, I’m glad I have no children. If a visitor comes to the house and my child didn’t greet them or kept lolling on the sofa, as today’s children do, I would be upset. Their attitude is, ‘So what?’ God is great. A dear friend Dr Ajay Kothari made me see reason and helped me make up my mind. He said, ‘It’s fine that you got married, you need companionship but the generation gap between a child and you would be too much to handle’. I believe he was right. My child and I would have suffocated each other," she had said.

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