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Top 50 Best Bollywood Directors of All time

Greatest Bollywood Directors of All Time

If you think directing an Indian film is easy task then think again. It doesn’t matter if you’ve seen one bollywood film or if you’re a “First Day First Show” fan One thing that every Bollywood lover knows is that most Hindi films are plain masala films. We might criticize the producers or directors for making films with poor scripts but only such films are hit in Indian cinema. Making biopics or movies on serious topics is very tough task. As a director knows that such films will hardly get any audience so they tend to avoid taking risks and keep on feeding us stupid illogical films.

Best Bollywood Directors

Indian audience are very demanding and they ask for action, drama, romance and comedy from the same film. Plus unlike hollywood movies, Hindi films have 3 to 6 songs that may or may not go with the theme of the film. A Director tries to satisfy all these needs and this is where he/she comes to know that Directing Hindi film isn’t easy at all. Luckily we have directors who dared to do something different and they were successful in it. I have listed here 50 Such wonderful Indian directors who not only entertained us but also made India proud at many International film festivals. Please note that several of the directors listed here are not only chosen for their work in Hindi cinema but also for giving significant Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam, Bengali and Punjabi films too.

Check out the list of 50 Great Bollywood Directors whose films you should not miss:

50. Tigmanshu Dhulia (Sahib Biwi aur Gangster)
best bollywood directors
49. Anurag Basu (Barfi, Gangster, Kites)
best bollywood directors
48. Abbas-Mustan (Baadshah, Khiladi, Baazigar, Soldier)
best bollywood directors
47. Rohit Shetty (Golmaal)
best bollywood directors
46. Imtiaz Ali (Jab We Met, Rockstar)
best bollywood directors
45. Shakti Samanta (Aradhna, Kati Patang)
best bollywood directors
44. B.R. Chopra (Waqt, Dhool Ke Phool)
best bollywood directors
43. Ram Gopal Verma (Satya, Sarkaar)
best bollywood directors
42. Prakash Jha (rajneeti, Arakshan, Satyagraha)
best bollywood directors
41. Ramesh Sippy (Sholay)
best bollywood directors
40. Rakesh Omprakash Mehra (Bhag Milkha Bhaag, Rang De Basanti)
best bollywood directors
39. Aditya Chopra (Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge)
best bollywood directors
38. Shyam Benegal (Nishant, Ankur)
best bollywood directors
37. Rituparno Ghosh (Chokher Bali, The Last Lear, Raincoat)
best bollywood directors
36. Aparna Sen (Parama, Mr and Mrs Iyer)
best bollywood directors
35. Vishal Bhardwaj (Ishqiya, Omkara)
best bollywood directors
34. Indra Kumar (Dil, Dhamaal, Masti)
best bollywood directors
33. Sooraj Barjatya (Hum Aapke Hai Kaun, Vivah)
best bollywood directors
32. Nassir Hussain (Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak, Yadon Ki Barat, Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikander)
best bollywood directors
31. J.P. Dutta (Border)
best bollywood directors
30. Basu Chatterjee (Baton Baton Mein, Choti Si Baat)
best bollywood directors
29. Ramanand Sagar (Ramayan, Mahabharat)
best bollywood directors
28. Rajkumar Santoshi (Ajab Prem Ki ghajam Kahaani, Ghataak, Ghayal, Andaaj Apna Apna)
best bollywood directors
27. Karan Johar (Kuch Kuch Hota Hai, My Name is Khan)
best bollywood directors
26. Farhan Akhtar (Dil Chahta Hai, Lakshya)
best bollywood directors
25. Manmohan Desai (Amar Akbar Anthony, Dharma)
best bollywood directors
24. Madhur Bhandarkar (Page 3, Fashion)
best bollywood directors
23. K. Asif (Mughal-E-Azam)
best bollywood directors
22. Mehboob Khan (Mother India)
best bollywood directors
21. V. Shantaram (Do Aankhen Barah Hath)
best bollywood directors
20. Priyadarshan (Hera Pheri, Hungama, Hulchul)
best bollywood directors
19. Prakash Mehra (Zanjeer, Sharaabi, Namak Halal)
best bollywood directors
18. Sanjay Leela Bhansali (Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam, Black)
best bollywood directors
17. Yash Johar(Agneepath)
best bollywood directors
16. Rakesh Roshan (Koi Mil Gaya, Kaho Naa Pyaar Hai, Koyla, Karan Arjun)
best bollywood directors
15. Raj Kapoor (Awara, Mera Naam Joker, Sangam)
best bollywood directors
14. Subhash Ghai (Karma, Taal, Khalnayak, Ram Lakhan)
best bollywood directors
13. Ashutosh Gowariker (Lagaan, Jodha Akbar)
best bollywood directors
12. Mahesh Bhatt (Arth, Saaransh, Dil hai Ke Manta Nahin)
best bollywood directors
11. Rajkumar Hirani (3 Idiots, MunnaBhai MBBS)
best bollywood directors
10. Anurag Kashyap (Gangs of Wasseypur, Dev D, Black Friday)
best bollywood directors
9. Deepa Mehta (Earth, Water, Fire)
best bollywood directors
8. Mira Nair (Monsoon Wedding, Salaam Bombay)
best bollywood directors
7. Guru Dutt (Pyaasa, Sahib Biwi aur Ghulam)
best bollywood directors
6. Bimal Roy (Do Bigha Jameen, Devdas, Madhumati, Bandini)
best bollywood directors
5. Yash Chopra (Deewar, Dil to Pagaal Hai, Darr)
best bollywood directors
4. Shekhar Kapoor (Mr. India, Elizabeth, Bandit Queen)
best bollywood directors
3. Hrishikesh Mukherjee (Anand, Chupke Chupke, Gol Maal)
best bollywood directors
2. Mani Ratnam (Roja, Bombay)
best bollywood directors
1. Satyajit Ray (The Apu Trilogy, Shatranj Ke Khiladi)
best bollywood directors

So who is your favorite Hindi film director from the above list?