Rahul Rawail was born on 7 April 1951 in Bombay, State of Bombay, India.

Rahul Rawail is the son of film director Harnam Singh Rawail (often credited as H. S. Rawail) who is known for his films Mere Mehboob (1963), Sunghursh (1968), Mehboob Ki Mehndi (1971) and Laila Majnu (1976).[citation needed] Rawail paid tribute to his father's 1968 film Sunghursh by titling one of his films as Jeevan Ek Sanghursh (1990). Rahul's son Bharat Rawail is an up-and-coming director, who had assisted Yash Chopra for the film Jab Tak Hai Jaan (2012).

Rawail began his career as assistant to Raj Kapoor and debuted as director with 1980 Bollywood film Gunehgaar starring Parveen Babi, Rishi Kapoor, Rajendra Kumar, and Asha Parekh. His first two films were not successful but his third film Love Story (1981) starring débutante Kumar Gaurav and Vijeta Pandit was a turning point for his career. The film was a musical love story and was a commercial success. Since then, Rawail has directed seventeen films and two television series. He has often collaborated with actor Sunny Deol who worked with Rawail on six of his films, including his debut film Betaab (1983) with Amrita Singh.