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