MUMBAI: Rohit Shetty is one of the most acclaimed directors of Bollywood. In an impressive career span of almost 16 years, most of his films have been blockbuster hit.

He made his directorial debut with Ajay Devgn-starrer Zameen in 2003. In his sophomore directorial effort- Golmaal: Fun Unlimited, Shetty mystified audiences with some of the wittiest, funniest and simply crackling dialogues. Soon, he went on to helm Golmaal Returns (2008), All The Best: Fun Begins (2009), Singham (2011) and Bol Bachchan (2012), which made him one of the most successful directors in the Hindi mainstream cinema.

Then he made Chennai Express starring Shah Rukh Khan and Deepika Padukone, and the film went on to break all box office records. The film became the highest-grossing Bollywood film of that year. It also became the fastest film to reach Rs 100 crore in India. Chennai Express opened to mixed response, but Deepika's performance in the film was highly appreciated by the audience.

However, the director has drawn a lot of criticism owing to Sara Ali Khan's minimal role in his latest release Simmba, which in actor Ranveer Singh's own words, is about "women empowerment.”

In an interview with a leading entertainment portal, Rohit Shetty was asked if he would ever have a strong woman character in his film, to which, he said that according to him, Chennai Express was a Deepika Padukone movie and not a SRK movie.

The director also feels that Golmaal 3 was not an Ajay Devgn film. It was a Kareena Kapoor, Ratna Pathak and Mithun Chakraborty film as that’s how he writes his movies, and since it is a commercial film people don’t go for that theory.