Profiling Women Directors who are calling the shots in Bollywood


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    In the big, bad world of Bollywood, there have been few directors of the fairer sex who have managed to swim against the tide, follow their dreams and make a mark for themselves in this majorly male-dominated industry. While names like Deepa Mehta, Read More">Mira Nair and Gurinder Chaddha have carved a niche for themselves inRead More

    In the big, bad world of Bollywood, there have been few directors of the fairer sex who have managed to swim against the tide, follow their dreams and make a mark for themselves in this majorly male-dominated industry. While names like Deepa Mehta, Mira Nair and Gurinder Chaddha have carved a niche for themselves in the West, there are many of our own female folk who have given us some entertaining and some meaningful cinema. On occasion of Women's Day, we at Bollywood Hungama bring to you some of the most well-known Women directors of the present generation who are calling the shots in B-town.

    Farah Khan

    Farah started out as a choreographer in Bollywood and over the years has made the biggest of stars dance to her tunes (literally). However, even as she was choreographing hits like 'Chaiyya Chaiyya', 'Dhol Bajne Laga', 'Woh Ladki Hai Kahan', there was always a secret filmmaker hidden inside her. Farah has been an avid movie-buff and it was as early as 21 when she decided that she would one day direct a film. She fulfilled her long-time desire with the smash-hit Main Hoon Naa starring good friend Shah Rukh Khan in the lead. The two paired up once again to deliver one of the biggest hits ever Om Shanti Om and since then Farah has been a name to reckon with.

    When we asked her what was the most challenging thing about being a female director in Bollywood, Farah replied, "To leave your babies at home and go shoot for a film." Farah surely must be having a tough time considering she is the mother of triplets. However, she does manage it all with a smile on her face which indeed makes us salute the lady.


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    Zoya Akhtar Coming from a filmy family, Read More">films were a natural progression for Zoya Akhtar (daughter of veteran lyricist and writer Javed Akhtar). So it came as no surprise that the young and talented girl decided to make films her vocation. She had been nursing dreams of turning director since the age of 18 andRead More

    Zoya Akhtar

    Coming from a filmy family, films were a natural progression for Zoya Akhtar (daughter of veteran lyricist and writer Javed Akhtar). So it came as no surprise that the young and talented girl decided to make films her vocation. She had been nursing dreams of turning director since the age of 18 and her role-models include a diverse range of filmmakers from Mani Ratnam to Martin Scorcese and from Satyajit Ray to Farah Khan.

    Zoya made an impressive debut with Luck By Chance this year. The film gave an inside view of the happenings in the film industry and Zoya's debut venture was praised by one and all.

    She however doesn't believe in the concept of celebrating Women's Day? "Do you celebrate Men's day?" she snaps back, when we asked her views on Women's Day. "What difference does it make if I am a female director? For me all that matters is whether I am a good director or a bad one". Indeed, if her debut flick is any indication of things to come, Zoya Akhtar certainly is one lady to watch out for in the future.


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    Meghna Gulzar Meghna Gulzar is yet another example of a female director who has made a name for herself in Bollywood. Daughter of veteran lyricist Gulzar, Read More">Meghna aka Bosky made her directorial debut with the sensitive tale of surrogate motherhood – Filhaal. The movie won her critical acclaim but didn’t set the cash registers ringing.Read More

    Meghna Gulzar

    Meghna Gulzar is yet another example of a female director who has made a name for herself in Bollywood. Daughter of veteran lyricist Gulzar, Meghna aka Bosky made her directorial debut with the sensitive tale of surrogate motherhood - Filhaal. The movie won her critical acclaim but didn't set the cash registers ringing. For her next venture, she chose a light romantic entertainer Just Married which had some wonderful performances from its lead cast of Fardeen Khan and Esha Deol. Meghna's most recent flick was Dus Kahaniyaan where she directed one of the short stories.


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    Kalpana Lajmi Kalpana Lajmi debuted as a costume director with Shyam Benegal’s Bhumika starring Smita Patil. She made her directorial debut with the Shabana Azmi- Naseeruddin Shah starrer Ek Pal. After a hiatus, Kalpana made a comeback with Rudaali which fetched its lead actress Dimple Kapadia the National Award for Best Actress. Few years later, Read More">Read More

    Kalpana Lajmi

    Kalpana Lajmi debuted as a costume director with Shyam Benegal's Bhumika starring Smita Patil. She made her directorial debut with the Shabana Azmi- Naseeruddin Shah starrer Ek Pal. After a hiatus, Kalpana made a comeback with Rudaali which fetched its lead actress Dimple Kapadia the National Award for Best Actress. Few years later, history repeated itself again when Raveena Tandon also bagged the National Award for Best Actress for Kalpana's socially relevant film Daman. This talented director certainly has a penchant for giving her leading ladies award winning roles.


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    Pooja Bhatt Pooja Bhatt made an impressive debut as a teenager in papa Mahesh Bhatt’s flick Daddy. After impressing one and all with her acting prowess in films like Dil Hai Ki Manta Nahin, Sadak, Sir, Tamanna and Zakhm, Pooja took everyone by surprise when she decided to take an indefinite break from acting. However, Read More">Read More

    Pooja Bhatt

    Pooja Bhatt made an impressive debut as a teenager in papa Mahesh Bhatt's flick Daddy. After impressing one and all with her acting prowess in films like Dil Hai Ki Manta Nahin, Sadak, Sir, Tamanna and Zakhm, Pooja took everyone by surprise when she decided to take an indefinite break from acting. However, just as Pooja the actor called it a day, Pooja the filmmaker was unleashed. She first started out producing films like Dushman, Jism etc. and then took the giant leap to direction with the John Abraham- Udita Goswami starrer Paap. Her first two directorial ventures Paap and Holiday didn't exactly set the B.O. on fire but her third venture Dhokha did fetch a lot of critical acclaim. Now Pooja is busy directing the Himesh Reshammiya starrer Kajraa Re.



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