Physical vapor deposition (PVD) coatings are generally applied on surgical implants and cutting tools to increase their service life. The TiN, TiCN, TiC, TiO and TiAlN coatings were made by Cathodic Arc Evaporation technique on AISI 420 surgical steel. Various coating parameters i.e. gaseous media, deposition rate and time were studied. Coatings were characterized in terms of surface roughness, adhesion, wear resistance, hardness and corrosion resistance by Surface profilometer, Light optical microscopy, Rockwell nano hardness tester and Gamry potentiostat respectively. Corrosion resistance and bio-compatibility of the PVD coatings was determined by cyclic polarization technique in Ringer Lactate media. Surface profile data showed that TiN coating had the lowest value of surface roughness (Ra) while TiO coating showed the highest value of surface roughness. It was revealed from the corrosion test data that TiO coating showed the highest corrosion resistance among all other coatings.