A renowned producer and director of Hindi films, Manmohan Desai died on 1 March 1994 at the age of 57. Hailing from a Gujarati family, Desai’s father Kikubhai Desai was also an Indian film producer and the owner of Paramount Studios from 1931 to 1941. Some of the best productions of Manmohan Desai include stunt films like Golden Gang, Circus Queen and Sheikh Challi. His films defined a brand new genre called Masala films and he was best known for his super-hit movies like Dharam Veer and Amar Akbar Anthony.
It was Desai’s string of hits with superstar Amitabh Bachchan in the 70s and early 80s that helped him in becoming a mind-blowing director. Sharing a special working relationship with Amitabh Bachchan, Yash Chopra, Prakash Mehra, Ramesh Sippy and Hrishikesh Mukherjee, Manmohan Desai worked with some leading male stars like Raj Kapoor, Rajesh Khanna, Roti, Shashi Kapoor and Dharmendra.