films such as Man Mandir with Sanjeev Kumar in the lead, Khel Khel Mein with Rishi Kapoor in the lead, Bullet with Dev Anand as the hero, Hatyara with Vinod Khanna in the lead, Dhongee with Randhir Kapoor, Khandaan with Jeetendra and Neeyat with Shashi Kapoor as the lead hero. He played supporting roles regularly in films with Rajesh Khanna in the lead role and of those, Chalta Purza was a failure and the other three were blockbusters - Dhanwan, Awaaz and Aakhir Kyon?. The few multi-star cast films he was part of as the lead hero that were successful between 1977 and 1986 were Devata, Shriman Shrimati and Haathkadi, all of which had Sanjeev Kumar as the main lead hero and Jaag Utha Insan and Ek Aur Sikander, which had Mithun Chakraborty in the main lead, and other hits such as Dil Aur Deewaar, Khatta Meetha, Unees-Bees (1980) and Maqaar (1986). Most of his other films as second lead hero or solo hero films between 1973 and 1990 were box office flops. Rakesh set up his own production company, Filmkraft, in 1980 and their first production was Aap Ke Deewane (1980), which was a box office flop. His next venture was Kaamchor, also produced by him, which became a hit, but the success of this film was attributed to its music and the heroine Jaya Prada. His next solo hero film Shubh Kaamna, directed by K. Vishwanath, was a hit. He tried to re-launch himself as a lead hero with Bhagwaan Dada (1986), directed by J. Om Prakash and starring Rajinikanth as the main lead and himself in the second lead. But Bhagwaan Dada was a flop. Between 1984 and 1990 he only got supporting roles, with the exception of Bahurani. The multi-star films where he was the second lead, such as Maqaar and Ek Aur Sikander were successful. His last film as a leading hero was Bahurani, which was a woman-oriented film starring Rekha in the lead, which was directed by Manik Chatterjee and released in 1989. 1990–present He made his directorial debut with Khudgarz (1987), and went on to direct box office hits such as Khoon Bhari Maang (1988), Kishen Kanhaiya (1990), Karan Arjun (1995), and the Shahrukh Khan starrer Koyla (1997). However, his other directorial ventures flopped. During this time, from 1990 to 1999 he only acted occasionally in films, making guest appearances, and focused mostly