Sujoy Ghosh
Sujoy Ghosh recently returned to the filmmaking fold with a sequel of his critical and commercial darling, Kahaani (2012), after a hiatus of four years. The sequel went through casting changes and script alterations before gaining its present form with Vidya Balan again at the centre of a suspense-filled drama.
Ghosh hasn’t been alone. Chopra junior – the man who helmed the world’s longest-running film, Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge (1995) – is usually busy running the show at India’s premiere production house, Yash Raj Films. He oversees multiple films by multiple directors, and in between all this, he directs one film. In two decades, this is the fourth time he has taken to the director’s chair for Befikre (2016), his first directorial venture in eight years after Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi (2008).
With Kahaani 2 : Durga Rani Singh and Befikre luring audiences to the theatre this year, we look at some other big-ticket directors who are making a comeback, some after a short pause and others after a really long sabbatical of sorts.
Shimit Amin
When Chak De! India released in 2007, Shimit Amin became a name to reckon with. Not only did he give Shah Rukh Khan his career’s best role in the form of Kabir Khan’s journey to redemption, he also gave Hindi cinema one of its best sports films with women characters to hoot for.
But after his understated brilliance in Rocket Singh: Salesman of the Year went completely unnoticed in 2009, Amin went through a long directorial drought. His last film assignment was editing Mira Nair’s adaptation of Mohsin Hamid’s The Reluctant Fundamentalist in 2012. Now the growing murmur suggests that Amin is gearing up for his next film under Yash Raj Films, and in all probability, it will star Ranveer Singh in the lead.
Rahul Dholakia
Dholkia’s career highlight was Parzania that created a storm in 2005 specially when theatres in Gujarat refused to screen it. Based on the infamous 2002 Gujarat riots, the film, about a family’s struggle to find their lost son, bagged two National Awards.
His next release in 2010, Lamhaa , however, was both a critical and commercial failure. Dholakia’s forthcoming Raees , is one of the most anticipated films of 2017, because it features Shah Rukh Khan as a bootlegger who thrives in the dry state of Gujarat. Is this going to be the next ‘Kabir Khan’ character that SRK has been waiting for? Only time will tell. The film also features Nawazuddin Siddiqui who never disappoints, and Pakistani star Mahira Khan. Expect fireworks.
Tarun Mansukhani
Dostana (2008), Tarun Mansukhani’s debut vehicle, had a lot of potential to be a landmark in the mainstream Hindi cinema in its dealing with gender roles and homosexuality.
But it took two steps back for one foot forward. This critique apart the film was a hit what with several well-toned bodies on display. Mansukhani had a bright career ahead, until godfather Karan Johar asked him to come up with a sequel. Dostana 2 kept hitting headlines as a much-anticipated announcement but never saw the light of the day thanks to a non-satisfactory script. After a long period of eight years, Mansukhani is finally ready to direct his second. The untitled action film will have top-line acts by Jacqueline Fernandez and Sushant Singh Rajput.
Ramesh Sippy
No other film has captured India’s collective consciousness like Ramesh Sippy’s Sholay (1975), a benchmark for Bollywood potboilers and a treasure trove of memorable characters and mouth-delighting dialogues.
Though Sippy has directed many big memorable hits, Sholay continues to be his calling card. His directorial career came to halt after the release of Zamaana Deewana in 1995, a critical and financial debacle, which made Sippy quit directing for good. After two decades, he is finally making a comeback with a romantic comedy titled Shimla Mirchi which will reunite him with his lucky mascot Hema Malini after many decades. The film also features Rajkummar Rao.
Anusha Rizvi
Peepli Live (2010), the directorial debut of Anusha Rizvi was a smart Indianisation of Billy Wilder’s cynical masterpiece Ace in the Hole (1951).
Rizvi, who has also been a journalist herself, brought attention to Indian hinterland with wry humour and a sharp commentary on socio-economic impoverishment. Reports suggest that her second film will be the official adaptation of Amitav Ghosh’s novel Sea of Poppies , and will be set against the backdrop of opium trade during the British rule in India in the 19th century. Tentatively titled Opium , it will be shot in Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal.
JP Dutta
After the stupendous success of Border (1997), JP Dutta became synonymous with war films and chest-thumping patriotism, but he could never repeat its success. After a misjudged adaptation of Umrao Jaan (2006) almost a decade ago, he took a long break only to announce last year that he was gearing up for not one but two mega-budget war films.
The first one is based on the 1962 Indo-China War, and the second one on the Battle of Saragarhi which was fought more than a century ago between the British Indian Army and the Afghan Orakzai tribesmen in the North-West Frontier Province (now Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan). Dutta wants to make the latter into an international project, and is already in talks with actor Hugh Dancy, cinematographer Remi Adefarasin besides figuring out the massive logistical challenges. Interestingly, Ajay Devgn’s sequel to SOS: Son of Sardar (2012) is also based on the Battle of Saragarhi.
Nandita Das
She has always been part of films that are off-the-beaten-track, so when Nandita Das chose to make her debut as a director, it was no surprise that her cherry-picked subject wasn’t a Bollywood melodrama.
Featuring an array of characters in the aftermath of the 2002 Gujarat riots, Firaaq (2008), inspired by true accounts, was praised for a sharp-eyed look at the enormous human tragedy. After eight years, Das is now working on her second film on the celebrated writer Saadat Hassan Manto, with a focus on the Partition of India and Pakistan.
The writer is a journalist and a screenwriter who believes in the insanity of words, in print or otherwise; he tweets @RanjibMazumder
