Film making is an uphill task and it requires cooperation among different artists and technical aspects such as music, editing, cinematography, dance, etc but it’s the director who is sole responsible for nurturing and shaping it. Indian cinema is very fortunate and blessed to produce some of the extremely talented, rarest and exceptional directors of all times.
Dadasaheb Phalke also known as the father of the Indian cinema gave the first full length motion cinema “Raja Harish Chandra” back in 1913 which proved to be a historic benchmark in Indian cinema. His other notable works include likes of “Satyavan Savitri” and “Sri Krishna Janma”. Indian government has honored him by presenting awards named after him for his outstanding contribution to Indian cinema.
Raj Kapoor is mainly known as one of the greatest Bollywood actors of all time, but his skills in fim making is worth mentioning. Some of his most notable directorial films are- Aag , Barsaat, Awaara, Shree 420, Sangam, Mera Naam Joker etc. He bagged the Filmfare Best Director Award for his directorial films, Mera Naam Joker and Ram Teri Ganga Maili.
Satyajit Ray, a prominent Bengali director who introduced contemporary subjects in Indian cinema through “Pather Panchali” and “Aparaijth”. For his contributions towards modernizing Indian cinema, he was honored with Bharat Ratna.
Then we had directors like Manmohan Desai, Hrishikesh Mukherjee, Bimal Roy and Guru Dutt. Manmohan Desai’s notable works include Coolie, Mard, Suhaag and Amar Akbar Anthony. Bimal Roy’s Do Bigha Zamin bagged prestigious International prize at Cannes Film Festival. Hrishikesh Mukherjee entertained masses with movies like Satyakam, Chupke Chupke, Anupama, Anand, Abhimaan, Guddi, Gol Maal, Aashirwad, Bawarchi and Namak Haram. Guru Dutt’s directorial ventures include likes of Pyaasa, Kagaz Ka Phool, Shaheb Bibi Aur Ghulam and Chaudhvin Ka Chand. Guru Dutt was not only a director but also an actor and a choreographer. He was considered to be a man ahead of his time. CNN has voted Guru Dutt as one of the top 25 Asian actors of all time in 2010.
Mani Ratnam’s Nayagan entered into list of best ever cinemas made created by ‘Forbes’ survey. Mani Ratnam is recipient of several awards such as Padma Shree, National Film Awards and Filmfare Awards for his works. His movies were mostly reality and day to day issue based. He left a mark with movies like Roja, Bombay, Dil Se and Guru. Yash Chopra known for his eternal romantic nature and best musical sense gave movies like Deewar, Silsila, Kala Patthar, DDLJ, Veer Zara, etc. His films delved into human relationships and although he faced a setback in his career at one point, he never gave up on his love for film making. Shayam Banegal’s hard hittings includes Ankur, Nishant, Bhumika and Dev. Sanjay Leela Bhansali is worth mentioning for his beautiful movies like Khamoshi: The Musical, Devdas, Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam and Black. His art of storytelling, the deep intense emotions and classy sets makes him a par excellent director.