He is the director with the magic letter. Meet Rakesh Roshan.

As an actor, his career never really took off. But as a filmmaker, Roshan’s career graph is impressive indeed.

Of the 11 films, Roshan helmed, six are major hits. Koi... Mil Gaya, which released this year is the latest in his lineup of successes and the biggest hit of 2003 so far. rediff.com readers have voted Rakesh Roshan as the second best director of 2003. Kal Ho Naa Ho’s Nikhil Advani occupies the top spot.

Rediff.com takes a look at the six biggest hits of Roshan’s career as a filmmaker:

A desi version of Jeffrey Archer’s Kane And Abel starring Shatrughan Sinha and Jeetendra as best friends turned foes, this was a runaway success at the box-office.

Govinda and Neelam’s hot, young jodi was another plus in this musical melodrama, which marked the beginning of Roshan’s career as a director.

Inspired by the Australian miniseries Return To Eden, Khoon Bhari Maang was a revenge saga with a difference.

The film saw Rekha in two drastically different avatars -- gullible and simple Aarti and the glamorous avenging angel Jyoti.

Khoon Bhari Maang won Rekha the Filmfare Best Actress Award.

Bollywood loves double trouble. Roshan successfully recreated the aura of Ram Aur Shyam, Seeta Aur Geeta and Chaalbaaz in Kishen Kanhaiya.

Anil Kapoor’s twin act, Madhuri Dixit’s nubile charm and Shilpa Shirodkar’s sex appeal coupled with Rajesh Roshan’s catchy music made Kishen Kanhaiya an instant hit.

Roshan seems to know the pulse of the masses rather well. All his films are 100 per cent commercial and have one goal: entertainment.

After playing with themes like friendship, vengeance, twins, Roshan came up with the reincarnation drama, Karan Arjun.

Karan Arjun featured the two Khans -- Shah Rukh and Salman -- coming face to face for the first time on big screen. Raakhee’s maternal cries, ‘Mere Karan Arjun aayenge’, Amrish Puri’s creepy turn, Kajol and Mamta Kulkarni’s pretty presence and, once again, Rajesh Roshan’s clever tunes hit the box-office jackpot.

Karan Arjun went on to become one of the biggest hits in Bollywood history.

Roshan saw failures in big-budget films like Khel, King Uncle and Koyla, but the grandeur and larger-than-life quality about his films and characters has always been a constant.

For his son Hrithik’s debut, Kaho Naa... Pyaar Hai, Roshan did not leave any stone unturned.

He set his script in the gorgeous locales of Thailand and New Zealand, and wrote the character of Raj and Rohit in such a way that it highlighted his talented son.

Obviously Roshan knew what he was doing. Kaho Naa... turned Hrithik Roshan into a overnight celebrity.

By the time Koi... Mil Gaya happened, Hrithik was going through a lean patch. Roshan’s alien feature changed all that.

To realise his vision, Roshan employed the best of technicians from Australia and USA.

Besides the alien Jaadoo, Roshan also extracted Hrithik’s career best performance as a boy in a man’s body.