Significant filmmakers of the Hindi film industry
by paschalia_terzi | created - 09 Dec 2015 | updated - 30 Dec 2016 | PublicList based on the book "Bollywood: a guidebook to popular Hindi cinema" by Tejaswini Ganti
1. Mehboob Khan
Director | Mother India
Mehboob Khan was born on September 9, 1907 in Bilimora, Baroda, Bombay Presidency, British India. He was a director and producer, known for Mother India (1957), Son of India (1962) and The Savage Princess (1952). He was married to Sardar Akhtar. He died on May 28, 1964 in Bombay, Maharashtra, India.
2. Bimal Roy
Director | Bandini
Bimal Roy (July 12, 1909 - January 8, 1966) was an Indian film director. He is particularly noted for his realistic and socialistic films such as Do Bigha Zamin (1953), Bandini (1963), Biraj Bahu (1954), Madhumati (1958) which he employed to portray realism. He won a number of awards throughout his...
3. Hrishikesh Mukherjee
Director | Anand
By no means is he any glamorous director, yet Hrishikesh Mukherjee is one of the most popular and beloved filmmakers in Indian cinema. His magic lay not in the glamor or largeness so often associated with cinema, but in its simplicity and warmth.
He began his career in Bombay, 1951, as an editor and...
4. Raj Kapoor
Actor | Mera Naam Joker
Raj Kapoor was the son of well-known Indian actor Prithviraj Kapoor, who acted both in film and on stage. After apprenticing in the Bollywood production studios of the 1940's, at 24 years of age Raj Kapoor produced, directed and acted in Aag (1948), with his new company, RK Films. His next ...
5. Guru Dutt
Actor | Pyaasa
Considered to be a man ahead of his time, Guru Dutt was one of the greatest icons of commercial Indian cinema. Although he made less than ten films, they are believed to be the best to come from Bollywood's Golden Age, known both for their ability to reach out to the common man and for their ...
6. Yash Chopra
Producer | Veer-Zaara
Labeled the eternal romantic and with one of the best musical senses in the business, Yash Chopra is arguably India's most successful director of romantic films. Although he made action-oriented films like the ever-popular Deewaar (1975), it is in tackling love and its various aspects that he has ...
7. Vijay Anand
Writer | Guide
Vijay Anand was a celebrated filmmaker, writer, editor, and actor in Hindi cinema. Known as "Goldie," the younger brother of filmmaker Chetan Anand and matinée idol Dev Anand, Vijay Anand was born in Gurdaspur, Punjab, India on January 22, 1934 to a father, who was a lawyer. He lost his mother when...
8. Manmohan Desai
Director | Naseeb
Manmohan Desai was born on February 26, 1937 in Bombay, Bombay Presidency, British India. He was a director and producer, known for Naseeb (1981), Kismat (1969) and Mard (1985). He died on March 1, 1994 in Bombay, Maharashtra, India.
9. Subhash Ghai
Writer | Pardes
Ram Lakhan (1989), Khalnayak (1993), Hero (1983), Karz (1980), these are some grand films made by a grandiose director. Since 1976, Subhash has been directing films. But recently where has the fanfare and the fire has gone from Mukta arts main director? Subhash started in 1976 with the film ...
10. Ramesh Sippy
Director | Sholay
Ramesh Sippy was born on January 23, 1947 in Karachi, Sind Province, British India. He is a director and producer, known for Sholay (1975), Saagar (1985) and Shaan (1980). He is married to Kiran Juneja.
11. Mahesh Bhatt
Producer | Raaz
Mahesh Bhatt was born on September 20, 1948 in Bombay, State of Bombay, India. He is a producer and director, known for Raaz (2002), Zakhm (1998) and Saaransh (1984). He has been married to Soni Razdan since 1986. They have two children. He was previously married to Lorraine Bright "Kiran Bhatt".
12. David Dhawan
Director | Aankhen
David Dhawan was born on August 16, 1955 in Agartala, Tripura, India. He is a director and editor, known for Aankhen (1993), Mujhse Shaadi Karogi (2004) and Haseena Maan Jaayegi (1999). He is married to Karuna Chopra Dhawan. They have two children.
13. Ram Gopal Varma
Director | Rangeela
Ram Gopal Varma was born in Hyderabad, the capital city of the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. He initially was a video store owner before eventually becoming one of India's leading film directors. A film buff during his youth, Varma would watch both American and Indian cinema regularly. As a young...
14. Sooraj R. Barjatya
Producer | Hum Aapke Hain Koun..!
Sooraj Barjatya is a film director, producer, and screenwriter. He is the chairman of Rajshri Productions. All of his films are released under Rajshri Productions, which was founded by his grandfather Tarachand Barjatya in 1947.
Barjatya attended St. Mary's School in Mumbai and The Scindia School in...
15. Vishal Bhardwaj
Composer | Haider
Vishal Bhardwaj is an Indian film director, writer, composer, singer and producer. He has directed ten feature films, produced five and composed music for more than forty. His directorial work includes Makdee, The Blue Umbrella, Kaminey, 7 Khoon Maaf, Matru Ki Bijli Ka Mandola, Rangoon, Pataakha as...
16. Farah Khan
Actress | Om Shanti Om
Farah Khan Kunder is an Indian film director, choreographer, writer, film producer, and actress with an extensive career in Hindi films. Khan studied at St. Teresa's Convent School, Mumbai, and then later studied sociology at St. Xavier's College, Bombay.
Khan's first movie as a choreographer was ...
17. Dibakar Banerjee
Director | Detective Byomkesh Bakshy!
Dibakar Banerjee was born on June 21, 1969 in New Delhi, India. He is a director and writer, known for Detective Byomkesh Bakshy! (2015), Sandeep Aur Pinky Faraar (2021) and Shanghai (2012).
18. Karan Johar
Writer | Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham...
A close friend of Shahrukh Khan, he assisted Yash Chopra's Yash Raj Films during the early days of of his career, making his directorial debut with the mega-hit Kuch Kuch Hota Hai (1998). He also had a popular chat show named Koffee with Karan (2004) The success of "KKHH" made him one of the most ...
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