5 Indian Directors We wish would make Comebacks soon
Film industry is a fickle world where few bad Fridays can swing somebody's fortunes.I know its sounds very cliched but there is no other way we can describe its unpredictable nature and how luck many a time plays more significant role than talent.We see so many examples of talented people going nowhere but lesser talents making it big.
Apart from this there are also instances where talented people have some done very shoddy work and it nowhere matches their previous body of work or reputation.This happens in every profession but since here the stakes are higher and since a products' shelf life is very short,it is more visible
I will like to discuss 5 directors who have been very successful and have had illustrious careers but from last few years they have failed to strike gold at the box office and have not managed to come even close to their earlier works:
1.David Dhawan-One of the most successful directors of 90s who I feel can still can give directors like Rohit Shetty and Sajid Khan a run for their money.90s were an interesting decade for Indian Cinema after the atrocious 80s.90s catered to every genre of movies .80s closed with romantics like Qayamat se Qayamat Tak,Maine Pyar Kiya and Chandni and the effect was visible in early 90s with movies like Dil,Sajan,Dil Hai ki Maanta nahin and Deewana which then gave away to action with the coming of trio of Akshay Kumar-Ajay Devgan-Sunil Shetty who did their own stunts along with old war horses like Sanjay Dutt and Sunny Deol
Mid 90s with Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge and Hum Aapke Hain Kaun gave rise to romantic movies again and action also co-existed but comedy was a genre which although never dominated any particular part of 90s but was present through out the decade thanks to David Dhawan.
Starting with Bol Radha Bol,he went to strength from strength from Aankhein to Coolie No 1 to Biwi No 1.He churned out superhits at a steady pace-he had 13 superhits in the decade from 1992 to 1999 which is a huge number.Agreed some of his earlier movies were little crass but he did change with times in his subsequent movies.Many people who criticize him are also secretly fond of his movies otherwise his movies would not have churned such nos only with B and C centre collections.One needs to have an audience base across all societies to churn our such numbers
All the top stars of that generation worked with him,infact Salman Khan and Anil Kapoor both got a fresh lease of life through his films with Judwa and Loafer respectively.Both had a series of duds behind before these movies happened.Even Govinda had also made comeback through his brand of movies only.Its sad that comedy movies are not taken very seriously and hence directors like him seldom get their due but even his unsuccessful movies did have some moments of fun and can give you good time on a lazy afternoon
His career dipped in early 2000s with some duds but he made a comeback with Mujhse Shaadi Karogi and did well till Partner but last few years have not been good to him.The strange part is in last few years comedy movies have been working big time but the pioneer of this brand of cinema himself is struggling.
But I am sure he will again comeback soon with his remake of Chashme Baddoor which also suits his genre of entertainment and we will get some more good movies from him
2.Ram Gopal Verma-Enough discussion have been there on him having lost his touch and his stubbornness on not improving and introspection.But he is someone who has always taken risks and most of them have paid off.One of the best technicians,he came up with Rangeela when Aamir Khan had such an urban image and Urmila was nobody and was Rehman's first original Hindi music score and followed it up with Satya with newcomers which we all know was a cult film.At that time he could have worked with any top star but he chose it to follow it with Kaun,a taut thriller which had limited release and is a very underrated film
His production house was one of the most corporate set ups true to his style of film making and he generously started giving all his assistants a chance and never shied from attempting different subjects.If we leave the underworld theme most of his movies have had different subjects form Jungle to Road to Bhoot.
Technically also his films were brilliant and not only the camerawork but also editing and background score,add to it the fact that he rarely made movies with stars and gave chance to so many newcomers.Not only actors but he introduced so many other technicians too.Infact,one of the most talked about film makers of todays' times,Anurag Kashyap is also his protegee
His later movies have been ridiculed by many and rightly so but even his harshest critics would also agree that he still is one of the most accomplished directors of our industry and is just short of one movie to make his mark again
3.Rajiv Rai-He seems to be a little odd name in the list and some may not remember his name too.He has made only three successful movies and may not be a very worthy contender to this list but all of those three movies are cult classics-Tridev,Mohra and Gupt
Gupt is one of the best suspense movies ever and Mohra is amongst the best action thrillers of all time.Tridev may seem to be a little kiddish at times if we see it today but nevertheless it was great movie given the commerical parameters and the era
He shot his film stylishly and his movies dont' look dated and in terms of looks they were ahead of their time and larger than life without being foolish.His technical brilliance was exemplary.His movies are a big hit on DVD and satellite too and their re-runs still fetch good TRPs.He worked all top stars of his genereation from Anil Kapoor to Sunny Deol to Akshay Kumar and actresses like Madhuri Dixit,Kajol and Manish Koirala
After his super successful Gupt he attempted to change his genre by doing a romantic movie in form of Pyar,Ishq aur Mohabbat which unfortunately didnt' work and he returned to his original genre with Asambahav which again was a flop.
Post that there is no news of him although there were some rumours sometime back that he might make a movie again and his fans would surely hope so,especially since our industry has made giant strides in terms of technique his genre of movies will benefit the most
4.Ashutosh Gowariker-Similar to Ramgopal Verma there has been a lot of jokes on Ashutosh Gowariker for his last two movies-Whats you Rashee and Khelenge Hum Jee Jaan Se especially the length of his movies.
The man who got Oscar recognition for us had horribly gone wrong with his last two movies.In fact,not only the length but content wise too his last two movies have been very boring and at times a little amateurish too.In fact,Swadesh would have been also a success had he kept the pace of the movie in check and Jodha Akbar would also have fetched more monies.These two least made good money especially Jodha Akbar.
Also he should atempt a ligher or different genre now apart from social drama or a period film.Agreed a good film always works despite the trends.In fact,these days one of the two most successful serials on television are also periodicals but he should definately take a break form his genre and try something new and given the talent he has he will surely give us some good movies the same way he gave us Lagaan after pure masala potboilers like Pehla Nasha and Baazi
5.Subhash Ghai-His is the biggest name in this list.What happened to the man who still is regarded as one of the greatest producer-directors of all time.He has had the longest gold spell on box office.From 1982's Vidhaata to Taal in 1999 for twenty years he didnt, give a flop(if we discount Trimurti which he only produced) and most of his movies were blockbuster with humongous collections.
All stalwarts from Yash Chopra to Raj Kapoor have had a few unsucessful movies in between their careers but not Subhah Ghai during his dream run which lasted almost two decades.His movies didnt have great subjects but screenplay used to be very taut and even the cliched scenes looked believable along with some great music.
One of the best traits of any great film maker apart from his box office collections is his contribution to the industry in form of newcomers and in that Subhash Ghai has been way ahead of his contemporaries.The list runs long-Jackie Shroff,Meenakshi Sheshadri,Javed Jaffri,Manisha Koirala,Mahima Chaudhary and Madhuri Dixit(although she was not launched by him).Dilip Kumar also after is 5 year hibernation did most of his better movies with him only-Vidhata,Karma and Saudagar
In 1991,he managed a casting coup in Saudagar with getting together Dilip Kumar and Raj Kumar and this movie I feel is his best movie till date and made a monster hit with two ageing superstars.
He probably went wrong with his judgement of catering to both Indian and Overseas audience and got lost somewhere.He hade made an infamous statement after Taal's success that he intends to make movies for NRIs and that probably backfired where he made a stupid movie in form of Yaadein which went nowhere and followed it up with more silly Kisna and completed his hattrick of flops with Yuvraj.He also made Black and White in between which undoubtedly was a fine movie and showed his old spark but since the movie was not commercial it didnt' do much for him
His production house has indeed produced some successful movies in between like Aetraaj and Iqbal and some other stuff too and he also built Whistling Woods which is on par with some good international acting schools but Subhash Ghai `the director' is still missing
He has recently made a grand announcement of his upcoming project Kaanchi starring Rishi Kapoor and Mithun Chakrabarthy and newcomers and this movie I am sure will probably bring him back in the saddle
Apart from this there are also instances where talented people have some done very shoddy work and it nowhere matches their previous body of work or reputation.This happens in every profession but since here the stakes are higher and since a products' shelf life is very short,it is more visible
I will like to discuss 5 directors who have been very successful and have had illustrious careers but from last few years they have failed to strike gold at the box office and have not managed to come even close to their earlier works:
1.David Dhawan-One of the most successful directors of 90s who I feel can still can give directors like Rohit Shetty and Sajid Khan a run for their money.90s were an interesting decade for Indian Cinema after the atrocious 80s.90s catered to every genre of movies .80s closed with romantics like Qayamat se Qayamat Tak,Maine Pyar Kiya and Chandni and the effect was visible in early 90s with movies like Dil,Sajan,Dil Hai ki Maanta nahin and Deewana which then gave away to action with the coming of trio of Akshay Kumar-Ajay Devgan-Sunil Shetty who did their own stunts along with old war horses like Sanjay Dutt and Sunny Deol
Mid 90s with Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge and Hum Aapke Hain Kaun gave rise to romantic movies again and action also co-existed but comedy was a genre which although never dominated any particular part of 90s but was present through out the decade thanks to David Dhawan.
Starting with Bol Radha Bol,he went to strength from strength from Aankhein to Coolie No 1 to Biwi No 1.He churned out superhits at a steady pace-he had 13 superhits in the decade from 1992 to 1999 which is a huge number.Agreed some of his earlier movies were little crass but he did change with times in his subsequent movies.Many people who criticize him are also secretly fond of his movies otherwise his movies would not have churned such nos only with B and C centre collections.One needs to have an audience base across all societies to churn our such numbers
All the top stars of that generation worked with him,infact Salman Khan and Anil Kapoor both got a fresh lease of life through his films with Judwa and Loafer respectively.Both had a series of duds behind before these movies happened.Even Govinda had also made comeback through his brand of movies only.Its sad that comedy movies are not taken very seriously and hence directors like him seldom get their due but even his unsuccessful movies did have some moments of fun and can give you good time on a lazy afternoon
His career dipped in early 2000s with some duds but he made a comeback with Mujhse Shaadi Karogi and did well till Partner but last few years have not been good to him.The strange part is in last few years comedy movies have been working big time but the pioneer of this brand of cinema himself is struggling.
But I am sure he will again comeback soon with his remake of Chashme Baddoor which also suits his genre of entertainment and we will get some more good movies from him
2.Ram Gopal Verma-Enough discussion have been there on him having lost his touch and his stubbornness on not improving and introspection.But he is someone who has always taken risks and most of them have paid off.One of the best technicians,he came up with Rangeela when Aamir Khan had such an urban image and Urmila was nobody and was Rehman's first original Hindi music score and followed it up with Satya with newcomers which we all know was a cult film.At that time he could have worked with any top star but he chose it to follow it with Kaun,a taut thriller which had limited release and is a very underrated film
His production house was one of the most corporate set ups true to his style of film making and he generously started giving all his assistants a chance and never shied from attempting different subjects.If we leave the underworld theme most of his movies have had different subjects form Jungle to Road to Bhoot.
Technically also his films were brilliant and not only the camerawork but also editing and background score,add to it the fact that he rarely made movies with stars and gave chance to so many newcomers.Not only actors but he introduced so many other technicians too.Infact,one of the most talked about film makers of todays' times,Anurag Kashyap is also his protegee
His later movies have been ridiculed by many and rightly so but even his harshest critics would also agree that he still is one of the most accomplished directors of our industry and is just short of one movie to make his mark again
3.Rajiv Rai-He seems to be a little odd name in the list and some may not remember his name too.He has made only three successful movies and may not be a very worthy contender to this list but all of those three movies are cult classics-Tridev,Mohra and Gupt
Gupt is one of the best suspense movies ever and Mohra is amongst the best action thrillers of all time.Tridev may seem to be a little kiddish at times if we see it today but nevertheless it was great movie given the commerical parameters and the era
He shot his film stylishly and his movies dont' look dated and in terms of looks they were ahead of their time and larger than life without being foolish.His technical brilliance was exemplary.His movies are a big hit on DVD and satellite too and their re-runs still fetch good TRPs.He worked all top stars of his genereation from Anil Kapoor to Sunny Deol to Akshay Kumar and actresses like Madhuri Dixit,Kajol and Manish Koirala
After his super successful Gupt he attempted to change his genre by doing a romantic movie in form of Pyar,Ishq aur Mohabbat which unfortunately didnt' work and he returned to his original genre with Asambahav which again was a flop.
Post that there is no news of him although there were some rumours sometime back that he might make a movie again and his fans would surely hope so,especially since our industry has made giant strides in terms of technique his genre of movies will benefit the most
4.Ashutosh Gowariker-Similar to Ramgopal Verma there has been a lot of jokes on Ashutosh Gowariker for his last two movies-Whats you Rashee and Khelenge Hum Jee Jaan Se especially the length of his movies.
The man who got Oscar recognition for us had horribly gone wrong with his last two movies.In fact,not only the length but content wise too his last two movies have been very boring and at times a little amateurish too.In fact,Swadesh would have been also a success had he kept the pace of the movie in check and Jodha Akbar would also have fetched more monies.These two least made good money especially Jodha Akbar.
Also he should atempt a ligher or different genre now apart from social drama or a period film.Agreed a good film always works despite the trends.In fact,these days one of the two most successful serials on television are also periodicals but he should definately take a break form his genre and try something new and given the talent he has he will surely give us some good movies the same way he gave us Lagaan after pure masala potboilers like Pehla Nasha and Baazi
5.Subhash Ghai-His is the biggest name in this list.What happened to the man who still is regarded as one of the greatest producer-directors of all time.He has had the longest gold spell on box office.From 1982's Vidhaata to Taal in 1999 for twenty years he didnt, give a flop(if we discount Trimurti which he only produced) and most of his movies were blockbuster with humongous collections.
All stalwarts from Yash Chopra to Raj Kapoor have had a few unsucessful movies in between their careers but not Subhah Ghai during his dream run which lasted almost two decades.His movies didnt have great subjects but screenplay used to be very taut and even the cliched scenes looked believable along with some great music.
One of the best traits of any great film maker apart from his box office collections is his contribution to the industry in form of newcomers and in that Subhash Ghai has been way ahead of his contemporaries.The list runs long-Jackie Shroff,Meenakshi Sheshadri,Javed Jaffri,Manisha Koirala,Mahima Chaudhary and Madhuri Dixit(although she was not launched by him).Dilip Kumar also after is 5 year hibernation did most of his better movies with him only-Vidhata,Karma and Saudagar
In 1991,he managed a casting coup in Saudagar with getting together Dilip Kumar and Raj Kumar and this movie I feel is his best movie till date and made a monster hit with two ageing superstars.
He probably went wrong with his judgement of catering to both Indian and Overseas audience and got lost somewhere.He hade made an infamous statement after Taal's success that he intends to make movies for NRIs and that probably backfired where he made a stupid movie in form of Yaadein which went nowhere and followed it up with more silly Kisna and completed his hattrick of flops with Yuvraj.He also made Black and White in between which undoubtedly was a fine movie and showed his old spark but since the movie was not commercial it didnt' do much for him
His production house has indeed produced some successful movies in between like Aetraaj and Iqbal and some other stuff too and he also built Whistling Woods which is on par with some good international acting schools but Subhash Ghai `the director' is still missing
He has recently made a grand announcement of his upcoming project Kaanchi starring Rishi Kapoor and Mithun Chakrabarthy and newcomers and this movie I am sure will probably bring him back in the saddle
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