 | « Back to article | Print this article |
Meet the YOUNG directors of Bollywood
Creativity isn't limited to age.
Raj Kapoor was barely 24 when he turned director with his critically-acclaimed Aag before he went on to become one of the greatest showmen of his times.
The current crop of Indian filmmakers, too, is young, imaginative and raring to go with their ambitious ideas and unstoppable enthusiasm.
We take a look at this eclectic brigade of young filmmakers.
Ayan Mukerji
After assisting the likes of Ashutosh Gowariker and Karan Johar, Deb Mukerji's son and Kajol/Rani Mukerji's cousin Ayan made everyone sit up and take notice with his fresh coming-of-age movie, Wake Up Sid featuring the unusual pair of Ranbir Kapoor and Konkona Sen Sharma.
The 29-year-old Ayan is now busy generating buzz for his upcoming rom-com musical, Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani with ex-couple Ranbir-Deepika Padukone in the lead.
Sonam Nair
While completing her film studies in the US, Sonam Nair got the opportunity to work as casting assistant on a few American projects.
She came back to India and signed up for assistant duties with Ayan on Wake Up Sid and Vishal Bhardwaj's 7 Khoon Maaf.
The experiences made her confident to direct her own film about a school girl, Gippi and her adventurous teenage years, which met with rave reviews.
At 27, she's the only girl who's ever made a film for Karan Johar's banner.
Punit Malhotra
The good-looking nephew of an equally dapper fashion designer Manish Malhotra, Punit began assisting his uncle's buddy Karan Johar on Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham in his teens.
Eventually, the shy director got his big break with a romance about two Bollywood technicians starring Imran Khan and Sonam Kapoor, I Hate Luv Storys.
The mush caper did fairly well at the box office and now PM -- who turned 31 just a few days ago -- is back with two Khans, Imran and Kareena Kapoor, in his upcoming love story, Gori Tere Pyaar Mein.
Karthik Subbaraj
Madurai-born Tamil filmmaker Karthik Subbaraj gave up a comfortable career of an engineer to pursue his true passion -- making movies.
Last October, the 30-year-old made his debut with the Tamil film Pizza, a novel horror movie around a pizza delivery boy, which impressed both critics and audience, and has already sold it remake rights to filmmakers across the Kannada, Hindi and Telugu film industry.
Shakun Batra
First, he assisted on Farhan Akhtar productions like Don and Rock On!! followed by Abbas Tyrewala's hit romance, Jaane Tu...Yaa Jaane Na in which he had a small role of a bumbling nerd.
But the true revelation of 30-year-old Shakun Batra's talents happened only after Ek Main Aur Ek Tu came out, a refreshingly new take on the boy-meets-girl equation emphasising on subtle narrative and believable performances from its first-time jodi, Imran and Kareena.
Bejoy Nambiar
After garnering compliments for his engaging short films like Reflections and picking some solid tips on filmmaking by assisting Mani Ratnam, Bejoy Nambiar aimed to amaze with his creativity as a feature filmmaker.
His super stylish first film Shaitan underscored the 34-year-old's aspirations as does his quest to keep things visually stunning and original as seen in this year's bilingual thriller, David.
Up next, he's planning a film with Shahid Kapoor. Colour us curious.
Anand Gandhi
From writing popular soaps and acclaimed plays to making his big screen vision come alive with Ship of Theseus, 32-year-old Anand Gandhi has made quite a journey.
After receiving glowing reviews from the various festivals it was screened in -- Toronto, New York, Tokyo, Mumbai, Dubai -- his labour of love has found an admirer and presenter in filmmaker Kiran Rao, who's all set to release Ship of Theseus on July 19.
Mrigdeep Singh Lamba
Another aspiring filmmaker on the block who's making news at the moment is Mrigdeep Singh Lamba.
Though the 30-something director's Teen Thay Bhai didn't quite make expected impact, the positive response to his new film Fukrey's teaser looks most reassuring.
Vishesh Bhatt
Following in the footsteps of his famous uncle, Mahesh Bhatt, producer Mukesh Bhatt's son Vishesh made his debut behind the camera with Murder 3.
Prior to that the 28-year-old, who's done a filmmaking course from New York, worked as assistant to Vikram Bhatt on Raaz while he was in his early teens, co-produced Gangster and wrote Jannat 2.
Soundarya R Ashwin
Like her elder sister Aishwarya Dhanush, Soundarya too is bitten by the filmmaking bug.
The 28-year-old daughter of superstar Rajnikanth, who previously worked as a graphic designer in films, is all set to make her directorial debut with the keenly-anticipated 3D motion-capture drama, Kochadaiyaan, starring her dad in a double role along with R Sarathkumar, Aadhi and Deepika Padukone.
Maneesh Sharma
After completing his post-grad degree from California, Delhi boy Maneesh Sharma found his calling at Yash Raj Films where he worked as assistant on films like Fanaa and Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi.
The 32-year-old then rocked the big screen with his breezy first film featuring the sizzling Anushka Sharma-Ranveer Singh chemistry in Band Baaja Baarat.
His follow-up featuring the same cast including a sprightly addition in the form of Parineeti Chopra, Ladies Vs Ricky Bahl didn't quite live to the promise but Sharma is already on to his next.