Mohan Segal was a well-known Hindi film director, remembered best for directing the popular Kishore Kumar comedies New Delhi (1956), Apna Haath Jaganath (1960) and Karodpati (1961) besides introducing Rekha to Hindi audiences with Sawan Bhadon (1970).

Segal was born in Jullundur, Punjab in 1921 and studied Literature. He then studied dance at Uday Shankar's India Culture Centre, Almora. Among his fellow students at Almora were Guru Dutt, Satyavati Gopalan, Ali Akbar Khan and Ustad Vilayat Khan. Following his stint at Almora, he worked at Prithvi Theatres as an actor and choreographer being involved with some of their most famous plays like Deewar and Shakuntala. He joined films as an actor and assistant to Chetan Anand on Neecha Nagar (1946). But his first release was Nanabhai Bhatt's Nirmala - Yakub - Aroon starrer Chalis Karod (1945) in which he was choreographer and actor. He also acted in other films in this period like Phool aur Kaante (1948), Raaz (1949), Afsar (1950) and Humsafar (1953), the last two directed by Chetan Anand.

1954 saw Mohan Segal make it as independent director with Aulad and Adhikar. Aulad starring Usha Kiron, Balraj Sahni and Nirupa Roy was an extremely successful film. The film was, in fact, copied in Pakistan as an extremely popular film there as well, Nauker (1955) starring Swarnalata, Nazir and Ragini. Adihkar was his first film with Kishore Kumar with whom he would make his best films.

New Delhi with Kishore Kumar and Vyjayanthimala is a classic and undoubtedly Segal's best film. Before New Delhi, satire was a form not really used in Indian Cinema. Perhaps the only other earlier efforts of this form were done by Master Vinayak, father of the actress Nanda, in the late 1930s with films like Brahmachari (1938) and Brandi ki Bottle (1939). The satire in New Delhi provides plenty of laughs and amusement and at the same time effectively communicates the film's message. And since a good satire is dependent on wit and sharply razored dialogues, New Delhi excels in the departments of screenplay and dialogues. What further helps the film greatly is that laughs come naturally from characters in their normal behaviour and situations in which they are involved rather than being apparently forced. In fact the comic scenes appeart to be well thought out and nicely executed. The film, exposing the idiocy of provincialism, was a huge success at the box office proving that one could make entertaining films which are sensible and thought provoking as well.

Apna Haath Jaganath addressed middle-class attitudes to manual labour. In the film, Kishore Kumar plays the son of an impoverished aristocrat who is forced to take a labouring job much to his father's disappointment and his future in-laws' disapproval. However, he makes a success of his printing press and eventually employs his own father in the business! The film is also known for the Kishore Kumar hit song Permit Permit ke Liye Mar Mit.

Other popular films of Mohan Segal are Devar (1966), his back-to-back Asha Parekh starrers Kanyadan (1968) and Sajan (1969), Sawan Bhadon (1970), Raja Jani (1972) and Ek hi Rasta (1977). His last film was the Rekha starrer Kasam Suhaag ki (1989).

Mohan Segal passed away in 2005.