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).