International Women's Day falls on March 8 every year,for this occasion we look at the Women power behind the camera specially as a Director. The credit of becoming the first woman director goes to Fatma Begum.She launched her own production house, Fatma Films, and Directed" Bulbul-e-Paristan" in 1926 .She became a pioneer for fantasy cinema where she used trick photography to have early special effects. Since then the Hindi Film industry has seen the emergence of some critically and commercially appreciated female directors.
Devika Rani
The next woman comes in mind is Devika Rani who is acknowledged as the first lady of Indian cinema,she married Himanshu Rai who started his studio Bombay Talkies.Following Rai's death in 1940, Devika Rani took control of the studio and produced some more films in partnership with her late husband's associates, namely Sashadhar Mukherjee and Ashok Kumar.
Shobhana Samarth
She was an Indian film actress, director and producer of Marathi ethnicity, who began her career in the early days of talkie movies in the Hindi film industry, and continued in lead roles into the 1950s.She is best remembered for her portrayal of Sita in Ram Rajya (1943). She later produced and directed a pair of movies that launched the careers of her daughters, Nutan and Tanuja.She produced and directed a film Hamari Beti to launch her eldest daughter Nutan in 1950.
Leela Chitnis
She was an actress in the Hindi Film Industry, active from 1930s to 1980s. Leela played the lead role in a series of comedies and tragedies and even founded her own repertory. For 22 years, Chitnis played the mother of the later leading men including Dilip Kumar, often playing an ailing mother or a mother going through hardships and struggling to bring up her offspring. In 1955 she produced and directed a film Aaj Ki Baat.
Aparna Sen
She is an Indian filmmaker, screenwriter and actress who is known for her work in Bengali cinema. She is the winner of three National Film Awards and nine international film festival awards for her direction in films.She has also been directing films since 1981, starting with 36 Chowringhee Lane for which she won National Film Award (India) for Best Director. She went on to achieve further success in direction with films Paroma, Sati, Yugant, Paromitar Ek Din, Mr. and Mrs. Iyer, 15 Park Avenue, The Japanese Wife, Iti Mrinalini, Goynar Baksho. She won her second National Film Award as a director for Mr. and Mrs. Iyer.
Sai Pranjape
She is the director of the award-winning movies Sparsh, Katha, Chasme Buddoor and Disha. She has written and directed many Marathi plays such as Jaswandi, Sakkhe Shejari, and Albel.Paranjpye worked for many years as a director or a producer with Doordarshan Television in Delhi. Her first made-for-TV movie – The Little Tea Shop (1972), won the Asian Broadcasting Union Award at Teheran,
Tanuja Chandra
Chandra began her career in 1995 and made her directorial debut with the TV series Zameen Aasmaan.In 1997, she wrote the screenplay for Yash Chopra's Dil To Pagal Hai, which was a commercial success.She went on to collaborate often with Mahesh Bhatt and wrote the screenplay for his critically acclaimed picture, Zakhm (1998). She also made her cinematic directorial debut with his Dushman in the same year. The movie, starring Kajol in the lead role, received critical praise and performed moderately well at the box office.Her next film, Sangharsh (1999), was also produced by Mahesh Bhatt and starred Akshay Kumar and Preity Zinta in pivotal roles.Tanuja's latest released film is Qarib Qarib Singlle starring Irrfan Khan and Parvathy.
Kalpna Lajmi
Lajmi is an independent filmmaker working more on realistic, low-budget films, which are known in India as parallel cinema. Her films are often woman-oriented films. She is a niece of filmmaker Guru Dutt, debuted as an assistant director under the veteran film director Shyam Benegal who was also her relative of the Padukone family. She later went on to work as an assistant costume designer in Shyam Benegal's Bhumika: The Role. She made her directorial début with the documentary film D.G. Movie Pioneer in 1978 and went on to direct more documentaries like A Work Study in Tea Plucking (1979) and Along the Brahmaputra (1981). She debuted as a feature film director in 1986 with Ek Pal (A Moment), starring Shabana Azmi and Naseeruddin Shah. She produced the film, took part in the film writing and had written the screenplay for the film along with Gulzar.She made Rudaali in 1993 starring Dimple Kapadia. Kapadia won the National Film Award for Best Actress for her performance and Lajmi also won accolades for directing the film.
Deepa Mehta
She is an Indo-Canadian film director and screenwriter, most known for her Elements Trilogy, Fire(1996), Earth (1998), and Water (2005).Mehta directed several English-language films set in Canada, including The Republic of Love (2003) and Heaven on Earth (2008) which deals with domestic violence and has Preity Zinta playing the female lead. It premiered at the 2008 Toronto International Film Festival.In 2015, Mehta wrote and directed the crime thriller Beeba Boys (2015), a film starring Randeep Hooda as Jeet Johar, a proud observant Sikh and a ruthless gangster.
Mira Nair
An Indian American filmmaker based in New York City. Her production company, Mirabai Films, specializes in films for international audiences on Indian society, whether in the economic, social or cultural spheres. Among her best known films are Mississippi Masala, The Namesake, the Golden Lion-winning Monsoon Wedding and Salaam Bombay!, which was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film.In 2007, Nair was asked to direct Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, but turned it down to work on The Namesake.
Pooja Bhatt
She is the eldest child of Indian film director, Mahesh Bhatt.and elder sister of actress Alia Bhatt.She made her acting debut at age 17, in 1989 with Daddy, a TV film directed by her father Mahesh Bhatt.Her biggest solo hit and her big screen debut came with the musical hit Dil Hai Ke Manta Nahin (1991),Her most well-known films in the 1990s included Sadak opposite Sanjay Dutt (1991), Junoon opposite Rahul Roy She entered into production with the 1998 film Dushman,since then she produced 8 films and directed 5 films."Jism 2 "released in 2012 was directed by her.
Farah Khan
She is best known for her choreographic dance work in numerous Bollywood films. She has choreographed dance routines for more than a hundred songs in over 80 Hindi films, winning six Filmfare Awards for Best Choreography and the National Film Award for Best Choreography. She then went on to direct her first film Main Hoon Na Starring Shah Rukh Khan which was produced by Red Chillies Entertainment. Khan became the second female director to be nominated for Filmfare Best Director Award.As a director, her second movie Om Shanti Om Starring Shah Rukh Khan and debutant Deepika Padukone became the highest grossing Hindi film of all time at its time of release. Tees Maar Khan was her next directorial release. In 2012 after that she directed Happy New Year in 2014.
Zoya Akhtar
She has directed movies such as Luck by Chance (2009), Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara (2011) and Sheila Ki Jawani, a segment of Bombay Talkies (2013). She has co-written Talaash (2012) alongside Reema Kagti. She then went on to direct Dil Dhadakne Do (2015).She is the daughter of legendry poet screen play writer Javed Akhtar and sister of Farhan Akhtar.
Gauri Shinde
Shinde has made her directional debut with the highly acclaimed English Vinglish (2012), which marked the comeback of actress Sridevi.Her second film was Hello Zindagi starring Shahrukh khan and Alia Bhatt.She is married to R Balki.
Reema Kagti
She is an Indian film director and screenwriter, who works in Bollywood. She made her debut as director with critically acclaimed Honeymoon Travels Pvt. Ltd. (2007), which was followed by neo-noir, Talaash (2012).She has worked as an assistant director with many leading directors including Farhan Akhtar (Dil Chahta Hai, Lakshya), Ashutosh Gowariker (Lagaan), Honey Irani (Armaan), and Mira Nair (Vanity Fair).Corrently she is Directing Gold, a film about India's first Olympic gold medal after its independence. The film stars Akshay Kumar, Farhan Akhtar and Kunal Kapoor.
Kiran Rao
She is the second wife of Bollywood actor Aamir Khan.She started her career as an assistant director in the epic film Lagaan directed by Ashutosh Gowariker, whom she also assisted later on Swades: We, the People.She scripted and directed the film Dhobi Ghat, which was released in January 2011 under Aamir Khan Productions.She ha been a producer of Delhi Belly,Talaash,Dangal and recently released Secret Super Star (2017)
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