Directors in Bollywood

Bollywood – The place every Indian wannabe haunts to realize his or her dream. Bollywood comprises Hindi films which contribute to the Indian cine Industry, the largest of its kind in the world. And there is quite a list of legend story tellers that have set standards for bollywood and have the rest following.

Ramesh Sippy of Sholay fame is also one of the noteworthy directors of Bollywood. His other films have also been quite successful. His excellent rapport with Amitabh brought him a string of successes which largely appealed to the masses.

Guru Dutt was the versatile producer, director and actor and is one spoken of along the lines of the golden era making brilliant lyrical and artistic films. Pyaasa was rated as one of the best 100 films of all time by the Time Magazine. His movies are said to have the perfect blend of artistic and commercial elements.

Hrishikesh Mukherji was acknowledged as one of greatest filmmakers of Indian cinema by directing films like Anand, Chupke Chupke, Golmaal and Jhoot bole kauwa kaate which failed to make it big. Anand Golmal, Chupke Chupke, Guddi, Abhimaan and Bawarchi are some of his prominent films. The secret of his success mantra was realistic films lacking crime, violence. The simple plots have deeper meaning, but are straightforward in form, theme and treatment with heart- warming irony.

One of the directors that stand at the top is Mani Ratnam. He revolutionized Tamil Cinema, before entering Bollywood where he became much famous. His films are said to have a personal tough in the sense of lightings and songs. All his movie songs have become super hits and topping the charts. Substance plus style is his success mantra. Roja (1992) was the first feather to his cap that gave him national recognition though it was a dub from Tamil. Starting from Roja, the Mani Ratnam – A.R Rahman duo have never failed to create magic in music. This includes movies like Dil Se (Hindi) and Bombay (Tamil 1995),Alaipayuthey (Tamil) Yuva (Hindi 2004) with its tamil version Aayutha Ezhuthu and Guru (2007). His movie Nayakan was included in Time Magazine’s All Time 100 Movies. His style is marked by an orbit of practical and real time themes; immense research is done on all his movies ranging from familial and marital hardships, class and religious conflicts, to terrorism, war, and politics. He has noteworthy for maintaining sentimental values intact when depicting important issues.

Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s debut film Khamoshi which won several awards is a highly praised musical. His next movie, Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam was bagged an award for best film. Devdas, was well received at Cannes premier and was also India’s entry at the Oscars. Black followed which was again a huge success being positioned as number 5 of the Ten Best Movies of the 2005. Sanjay’s films as Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam Black and Devdas have won him the Filmfare Best Director. S. Bhansali has also been awarded National Awards twice – Devdas for Wholesome Entertainment (2003) and Black for Best Feature Film in Hindi. . The highly honored director is a product of the Film and Television Institute of India. His stories have been family based subjects where often deep and silent emotions play a great role. Music has always been the soul of his movies in delivering untold feelings. It is said that he expresses his personal anguish in his movies.

1993 was the starting of  Ashutosh Gowariker’s  career with his first movie Pehla Nasha. His second movie Baazi (1995) starred Amir Khan. In 2001, Ashutosh directed the period epic Lagaan which was critically acclaimed in 2001 and also nominated for an Oscar Academy Award for the Best Foreign Language Film category. Swades with Shah Rukh Khan was another success. Ashutosh’s latest directorial work Jodha Akbar is one the recent famous and blockbusters to hit the screens.  Ashutosh is known as an ‘actor’s director’ for all of his male actors have won the Filmfare or the Critics’ Best Actor Award. Ashutosh Gowariker is one of those rare directors who take the path less taken and he is one of India’s top of the cream directors. He has also forayed into Marathi films, ad films and TV serials

Karan Johar can also be called the golden man on Bollywood producing blockbuster films. He made his debut in 1998 with Kuch Kuch Hota hai and is the son of late Yash Johar. His debut won him eight Filmfare awards including Best Film, Best Director and all four Best Actor awards for both leading and supporting roles. His second directorial venture, Kabhi Khushi Kabhi Gham won five Filmfare awards. His following movie was Kal Ho Na Ho he produced and wrote the script for. This was again no less a hit. 2005 saw him direct Kabhi Alvida Na Kehna which needless to say again was a huge success not only in India but also in U.S. and U.K. His movies are emotional melodramas which glorifies Indian traditions. It focuses on the urban population of India as is said to be inspired by Yash Chopra’s style of filmmaking. Karan Johar movies contain material luxuries and often exhibit extensive sets, fine costumes and great music.

Madhur Bhandarkar’s film career started  with directing Trishakhi in 1999.Two years later , he directed Chandni Bar starring Tabu which was a critically acclaimed success winning him his first National Award. It also made Bhandarkar into the elite of filmmakers in Bollywood. This was followed by Satta (2003) and Page 3 (2005) both of which did very good business at the box office, with the later winning him yet another National Award. His films Corporate (2006) and Traffic Signal (2007) were also widely appreciated by the critics and audiences. Bhandarkar is always known for his socially relevant and hard hitting films with most having a female as the main protagonist – Tabu in Chandni Bar, Ravina Tandon in Satta, Konkona Sen Sharma in Page 3 and Bipasha Basu in Corporate. His films are ensured to have realistic streaks.

Nagesh Kukunoor’s directorial style can be claimed as fresh and unique. Aimed at post- marital blues this film belongs to the comedy genre. His Dor film deals with human triumph in a simplistic and endearing manner. 3 Deewarein, Iqbal and Dor are good cinema worth a watch. But his film Bombay to Bangkok seems to have been a confusing approach. Those that have gone expecting for an entertainer have been confused with everything from the movie starting from the genre. Some of Nagesh’s films do well at the box office but not all. What seems to be lacking is the consistency of his style in story telling not only form film to film but between the different halves of the film.

Thus, Indian cinema does seem to have its own list of directors that promise nothing but the best in their own way. If its commercial hits, artistic ones, plain realism or melodramatics, there are those directors that have made their mark and those that are in the making. So, one thing is for sure. Bollywood has never and will never be in a shortage of good directors or films.