Top Ten Bollywood Directors of All Time

A director is a person who works behind the camera. The work of director is to direct the actors and film crew in filmmaking. They have to play the most important role for making the film successful. Their perfect director can make a film successful or much attractive to the audience.

It is not possible to make a film without a director. Besides actors and actresses, directors’ name also attracts audience to come and watch the film on a big screen.

Here, I have made a list of top ten Bollywood directors of all time. I have tried my best to make a perfect list based on their work behind camera, direction skill etc. Some famous directors’ name has not been included in this list. In that case, I have nothing to say except sorry.

Guru Dutt:

Having named initially Vasanth Kumar Shivashankar Padukone, he is well-known as Guru Dutt to his fans and followers. He will be remembered for his versatile geniuses. He was an Indian film actor, director and producer. However, he will always be immortalized for his directorial skill.

Guru Dutt had great contribution in the development of Hindi cinema. This talented director introduced the use of close-up shots with a 100 mm lens in Indian films. Later, it became known as the "Guru Dutt shot" in Indian movie-making.

He also showed the use of songs to advance the story in the movie. He also discovered Zohra Sehgal as the choreographer in the movie. Most popular Indian actress, Waheeda Rehman, was also his discovery. He introduced this beautiful and charming actress in his one of the most successful films C.I.D. where he cast his friend Dev Anand.

He worked under many famous film directors as an assistant director. His first directorial film was Navketan's Baazi, which was released in 1951. Since then, he went on to produce, direct and act in many hit films.

He is most famous for making lyrical and artistic films within the setting of popular Hindi cinema of the 1950s. Some of his most popular films are- C.I.D., Pyaasa, Kaagaz Ke Phool, Sahib Bibi Aur Ghulam, Chaudhvin Ka Chand. Out of these films, Pyaasa and Kaagaz Ke Phool, have been selected among the greatest films of all time, both by Time magazine's "All-TIME" 100 best movies and by the Sight & Sound critics' and directors' poll.

He is sometimes mentioned as "India's Orson Welles". In 2010, he was selected in the list of "top 25 Asian actors of all time" organized by CNN.

He died on 10th October 1964 at the age of 39. He is rumored to have
committed suicide.

Raj Kapoor:

Raj Kapoor is mainly known as one of the greatest Bollywood actors of all time. As an actor, he gave many hit films. Besides acting, he also was popular for his skill of film making. When he established his own studio, R. K. Films, he was just twenty-four. During his time, he was the youngest director. He made his directorial debut with the film Aag. Since then, he continued directing films.

Some of his most notable directorial films are- Barsaat (1949), Awaara (1951), Shree 420 (1955), Sangam, Mera Naam Joker etc.

Raj Kapoor directed Sangam won the Filmfare Best Movie Award. He also won the Filmfare Best Director Award for his directorial films, Mera Naam Joker (1970) and Ram Teri Ganga Maili (1985). He was also nominated many times for the same category.

In his film, Ram Teri Ganga Maili, he introduced actress, Mandakini. There is no doubt that, he has great contribution in the development of Hindi cinema. This legend actor and well-known director died in 1988 at the age of 63.

Sanjay Leela Bhansali:

Sanjay Leela Bhansali is one of the most popular names in the Bollywood film industry. This veteran director is an alumnus of the Film and Television Institute of India. He is gifted with versatile geniuses. He is a film director, producer, writer, and music director.

He started working as an assistant director under Vidhu Vinod Chopra. His first directorial movie was Khamoshi: The Musical. It was not a commercially successful but was praised. The story of this film is about a girl who struggle to communicate with her deaf and mute parents.

As a director, he gave many hit films to his fans. His next directorial film was Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam, which was a blockbuster hit. However, he will be remembered for his film, Devdas, which was taken from a popular Bengali novel of the same name.

Sanjay Leela Bhansali directed Black, which won 11 Filmfare Awards in different categories. For Devdas and Black, he also won two National Awards.

Yash Chopra:

Yash Chopra is one of the oldest film directors in the Hindi film industry. He is also called a veteran filmmaker and film director. For his film making skill, he is regarded as one of the greatest film directors of all time. He is the founder of Yash Raj Films.

He has also kept great contribution in the advancement of Bollywood movie industry. For this reason, he will always be remembered in the mind of Hindi movie lovers.

He worked under I. S. Johar and B.R. Chopra as an assistant director. With the film, Dhool Ka Phool in (1959), he made his directorial debut. His elder brother Chopra gave him the opportunity.

Some of his most popular films are- Waqt, Deewar, Kabhi Kabhie, Silsila, Lamhe, Chandni, Darr, Dil To Pagal Hai, and Veer-Zaara.

Mani Ratnam:

Mani Ratnam is a popular name in both Tamilnadu and Hindi film industry. This veteran film director has been dominating both the film industries for more than two decades. He is considered to be one of the greatest Indian directors of all time. He will be remembered to the hearts of millions of fans for his unique style of filmmaking with beautifully photographed songs and extraordinary back lighting.

He has introduced the Academy Award winner music composer, A. R. Rahman, who made his debut as a music director in Roja. His first Hindi film was Dil Se (1996) which starred Shah Rukh Khan and Preity Zinta. It was the debut film for Preity Zinta. He made his directorial debut with the Kannada film Pallavi Anu Pallavi starring Anil Kapoor in 1983.

However, fans will remember him for his films- Mouna Raagam (1986), Nayagan (1987), Anjali (1990), Thalapathi (1991), Iruvar (1997), Alaipayuthey (2000), Kannathil Muthamittal (2002), Yuva (2004), Guru (2007), and his terrorism trilogy consisting of Roja (1992), Bombay (1995) and Dil Se (1998).

Nayakan was included in the All-Time 100 Greatest Movies organized by TIME Magazine. "Rakkamma Kaiya Thattu" from his 1991 film Thalapathi was voted as fourth in the world's top 10 most popular songs of all time.

Ram Gopal Varma:

Ram Gopal Varma is regarded as one of the leading film directors of Bollywood. He is also a well reputed film director in both Telugu and Hindi cinema industries. Without having any degree about filmmaking, he became one of the most popular directors in the film industry. To his fans, he is also known as RGV.

He is an Indian film director, screenwriter and producer. He has made films in different genres, including psychological thrillers, underworld gang warfare, politician-criminal nexus, and musicals in multiple languages.

He made his directorial debut with the Telugu Shiva (1989), which brought huge success for him. For his technical expertise and story-telling skills, this film also became a landmark for the Telugu industry.

His Telugu-language film, Shiva was translated into Hindi in 1990. But he came under spotlight with the film Rangeela (1995) starring Amir Khan, Jackie Shroff and Urmila Mantondkar. It was his first successful Hindi film. Rahman and Shroff won Filmfare Awards for this film.

He received many national as well as Filmfare Awards for his contribution in the film industry.

Ashutosh Gowariker:

Actor turned director, Ashutosh Gowariker, is one of the most famous directors in India. He is also one of India’s elite directors too. He is perhaps the only Indian director who got nomination for Academy Award and European Film Award. He also won many Filmfare Awards as well as National Film Awards. In 2005, he was selected as one of the voting members for the Academy Awards.

Ketan Mehta's Holi movie gave him the opportunity to start his career as an actor. After that, he appeared in a number of television serials, including Kachchi Dhoop (1987), Circus (1989), C.I.D. (1998) etc. He also acted in several films, including Naam (1986), Chamatkar (1992), and Kabhi Haan Kabhi Naa (1993).

However, his first directorial film was Pehla Nasha in 1993. It was not a commercially successful movie in the box office. He got huge success with his second movie, Baazi (1995), starring Aamir Khan and Mamta Kulkarni.

Some of his most successful films are- Lagaan (2001), Swades (2004), Jodhaa Akbar (2008), What's Your Raashee (2009) and Khelein Hum Jee Jaan Sey (2010). Lagaan was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film.

Subhash Ghai:

It is hard to see any Hindi movie lover who hasn’t heard the name of Subhash Ghai. This veteran director is very popular among Hindi movie lovers. He is also well known as a grandiose director for making grand films, such as Ram Lakhan (1989), Khalnayak (1993), Hero (1983), and Karz (1980).

Besides directing films, he is also known as a producer and screenwriter. However, this talented director started his career as an actor. He made his appearance in a small role in six films. He also got chance to act in a male lead role in the 1970 film Umang opposite Reena Roy and Gumraah (1976) with Danny. These films did not do well in the box office.

He made his directorial debut with the 1976 film Kalicharan. After that, he has written and directed 15 movies out of which 13 were highly successful.

He established his own company, Mukta Arts Private Limited, in 1982. It was named after his wife Mukta Ghai. In 2000, it became a public limited company with Subhash Ghai as its chairman and managing director.

Subhash Ghai and Mukta Ghai couple has two daughters. His elder daughter, Meghna, looks after his dream project Whistling Woods International Institute for Films, Media, Animation and Media Arts.

Prakash Jha:

Prakash Jha is one of the few popular names in the Indian film industry. He is most famous for his political, socio-political and multi-starrer films. Faces After The Storm (1984) and Sonal (2002) are his two National Film Award winning documentaries.

Prakash Jha is also producer and screenwriter. He has a production company, 'Prakash Jha Productions'.

His first directorial film was Hip Hip Hurray in 1983 scripted by Gulzar and starring, Raj Kiran and Deepti Naval as leads. But he got much recognition with the film Damul (1984). This film won the National Film Award for Best Film and the Filmfare Critics Award for Best Movie in 1985. After that, he gave many hit films.

Some of his most popular films are- Damul (1984), Mrityudand (1997), Gangaajal (2003), Apaharan (2005) and multistarrer hit movie Rajneeti (2010).

Karan Johar:

Karan Johar is one of the most successful filmmakers in Bollywood at his time. He is the director of many hit films. He started his career as an actor in Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge (1995). Here, he acted as Raj's (Shahrukh Khan) close friend. He was also an assistant director of this film.

His first directorial film was Kuch Kuch Hota Hai (1998). It was a box office hit film. After that, he gave many successful films to Hindi movie lovers. It also helped him to get eight Filmfare Awards in 1998 including Best Movie, Best Director and all four Best Actor awards for both leading and supporting roles.

However, fans will remember him for- Kuch Kuch Hota Hai, Kabhi Khushi Kabhi Gham, Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna and My Name Is Khan.

He is also an anchor of a very popular chat show called Koffee with Karan. In this show, he takes interview of renowned Bollywood celebrities.