Bollywood Directors: The Men Behind The Magic

While most cinema buffs know their Bollywood actors inside out, few know the people behind the camera. Here we take you on a ride through some of the best interviews of the new generation of Bollywood directors who have ushered in Bollywood 2.0.

Ayan Mukherjee

Ayan Mukherjee broke through as the voice of young India with ‘Wake up Sid’, and followed it up with the smash hit ‘Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani’. Watch this interview to find out his filmy lineage and influences.

Vikas Bahl

Bahl is a director, writer and producer most famous for his second movie Queen, which took the country’s cinemas by storm. He has worked with Anurag Kashyap and Vishal Bharadwaj before he made his first film Chillar Party, which was also lauded by the critics.

Dibakar Banerjee

Dibakar’s films are noted for their portrayal of middle-class India and their nuanced understanding of Indian values and comedy. He is the director of Khosla Ka Ghosla (2006), Oye Lucky! Lucky Oye!, (both of which won the national award for best film) Shanghai and most recently, Detective Byomkesh Bakshy!

Vikramaditya Motwane

Mentored by Sanjay Leela Bhansali and Anurag Kashyap, Motwane’s genius was first revealed in Udaan, which went on to compete at the 2010 Cannes festival. He then made Lootera and went on to be a producer in many big films like Queen, NH10, Hunter and Bombay Velvet.

Shoojit Sircar

Besides having a prolific series of films to his name already (Yahaan, Vicky Donor, Madras Cafe), Shoojit Sircar recently cemented his status as a director to watch out for with this years sleeper hit Piku.

Abhinay Deo

Abhinay Deo previously directed commercials until the movie bug finally bit him. He has a degree in architecture and comes from a family of Marathi actors. Watch his interview if you’d like to find out more from the man that made quirky comedy, ‘Delhi Belly’.

Anand L.Rai

Best known as the director behind the crazy Tanu Weds Manu franchise, Rai has also made the nuanced political drama/romance film Raanjhana. Kudos to him for abandoning an engineering career and taking a chance on the movie business.

About the author

Gayatri Sapru

As Director Of Culture for Culture Trip's first Indian hub, Gayatri's job and passion overlap to a great extent. She completed her undergrad at St.Xavier's in Mumbai with an English Lit (hons) degree, while also writing papers in religious studies, anthropology, Pscychology, Law and Human rights. She then went up to the University of Oxford to do an MSc in Social Anthropology. She dreams of being a renaissance woman - She loves writing about travel, history and culture, and spends her free time experimenting with food and watching bad reality TV.