Indian Cinema has been ever growing since “Raja Harish Chandra”; the First Indian Feature Film was released in 1913. Cinema’s growth has been nurtured well by experimenting with various genres’ aided by development in technology. It will be a herculean effort to make a cinema as it requires cooperation among different artists and technical aspects such as Music, Editing, Cinematography, Dance, etc. but it has been possible today and we are in a period where cinema being classified as an entertainment has even lot to learn for us through it, as synonymously said by Danny Boyle ‘When audience watch a cinema, they should learn something about life’. It’s time for us to remember some of the notable directors in the Indian film fraternity.
1. Dadasaheb Phalke:
Dadasaheb Phalke was the one who shot the first Indian feature film ‘Raja Harish Chandra’; he is the father of Indian cinema. He is also known for his works such as Satyavan Savitri and Sri Krishna Janma. He is greatly acclaimed because he transformed theatre plays into feature films and even developed a film education institute for training artists, he started something new and also devoted his career for it and Indian government has even honored him by presenting awards named after him, for excellence in cinema.
2. Satyajit Ray:
Satyajit Ray was a prominent Bengali film director who brought international acclaim to Indian cinema. His works such as pather panchali and aparaijtho have done a lot of talking, he introduced a lot of technicians who went on be critically acclaimed. What Satyajit ray did was he introduced contemporary subjects in Indian cinemas which were earlier celebrating mythologies, he filmed the happiness, sorrows, traditions and society of modern India which became a ‘cult’ at that time and lot of directors followed. He devoted his life towards modernizing cinema and was rightly honored with the Bharat Ratna.
3. Mani Ratnam:
Mani Ratnam is an Indian director who made world class films since the cult hit Nayagan, which entered into list of best ever cinemas made created by ‘Forbes’ survey. Mani sir brought a lot of meaning to screenplay in his movies and filmed reality, day –to-day issues that pester people. His notable works are Bombay, Roja, Thalapathy, Dil Se and Yuva. His depth in portraying emotions such as love, friendship, and grief make him a class apart. He has his own style of film making which till date makes people more fascinated about making films, his association with A.R.Rahman has given us beautiful numbers, and he always has his space in Indian cinema.
4. Yash Chopra:
Yash Chopra can be considered as the ‘king of romance’ in Indian cinema. He creates such beautiful love stories that really make you test the waters of cupid. His Dilwale Duniya le Jayenge is one of the best love stories ever made which shot Shah Rukh Khan to fame, what is so interesting about yash ji is that he makes a lot of love stories, but each have a different yet meaningful plot, contemporary and which can be accepted by adults of all ages. Some of his notable works are Veer zara, Deewar, Rab ne Bana De Jodi, Dhoom and Dil to Pagal Hai. Besides being a notable director he has funded a lot of films and instrumental in the success of his son Aditya chopra, but he breathed his last few months ago, but is remembered all over Bollywood.
5. Shankar:
Shankar is known to make big and grand films in Indian Cinema, he is considered to have a higher hit rate for his movies compared to other directors, he spends lavishly on films and ends up making blockbusters, what Shankar does is he takes up all genres and his films are so fascinating and delivers back-to-back hits, it is really tough to earn a lot of belief from a producer to invest ransoms. His notable works are Gentleman, Nayak, Indian, Anniyan and Endhiran. His last released movie was made on a whopping 100 crore budget starring superstar which was the costliest made movie ever in Indian cinema, Shankar is one of those directors who will be responsible for making Indian films noticed for savvy style of making and people, he isn’t finished yet.
This is an analysis of the successful directors in India based on working style, popularity, success rate and their creativity. They have certainly increased the standards of cinema and are pivotal in accounting for attracting viewers. The directors who narrowly missed the ‘BUS’ were, K.Balachander, Ashutosh Gowarikor, Kunchako Boban, Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra and Bharati Raja. They have also contributed immensely to this art.
Pen ultimately, it can be stated that cinema has ceased to be just entertainment and started to be a ‘Simulation of Life’, artists have started competing globally in all aspects, we have already been treated to some world class films, it is just a sign of things to come, healthy competition will be followed by some classics being made here, so that we can start boasting of globally renown talent in the Indian film Industry, this art will surely deliver to pleasure and preach lessons in it own style to the people of INDIA.
