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Who’s Who in Bollywood:

Transition Directors

By Ekta R. Garg

May 17, 2010 - Bollywood has undergone dramatic changes in the last 30 years, progressing from an “old school” to a “new school” approach. Many directors who tried to stay within the confines of the “old school” approach have come and gone. Many veterans of the industry, however—those who understand that to keep up with cultural and societal shifts, they must continue to challenge themselves—these directors have managed to make the transition from old to new.

What follows are directors who began their careers in the old school camp and strived to keep their movies fresh, interesting, and engaging for old and new fans alike.

The only director pair to have had long-term success in the industry, Abbas Burmawalla and Mustan Burmawalla, known as Abbas-Mustan, are brothers who have been making movies since 1990. Their first film, Agnikaal, was critically acclaimed. They released Khiladi, starring Akshay Kumar, in 1992 and started a franchise of “Khiladi” films by a variety of directors and always starring Kumar. In 1993, Abbas-Mustan released Baazigar starring Shahrukh Khan and Kajol, giving the Indian film industry one of its most successful onscreen duos of all time. The film was also the debut of actress Shilpa Shetty. In 1999, the pair directed Khan again in Baadshah, which did only moderate business at the box office but gave King Khan another moniker by which he is currently known worldwide. Some of their other successful films are: Soldier (1998), Ajnabee (2001), Humraaz (2002), Aitraaz (2004), and Race (2008). The brothers have tried other film genres, but audiences have shown they prefer Abbas-Mustan’s specialty, action-thrillers.

Abbas-Mustan also have ventured into production, financing the 2009 film Life Partner. They have cast comedian Johnny Lever in every single one of their films since Khiladi with the exception of Naqaab in 2007.

The brothers wear all white clothing whenever they appear in public, and they still share the same house and even vacation together. Currently, they are in the post-production stage of Race 2, the sequel to their hit 2008 film, Race.

A distant relative of legendary director Guru Dutt, Benegal’s deep interest in filmmaking started at age 12 when he shot his first movie with a camera his photographer father gave him. He started his professional career in 1959 writing ad copy for a Mumbai-based advertising agency. He made his first documentary in the regional Indian language of Gujarati in 1962. He taught at the prestigious Film and Television Institute of India (FTII) in Pune from 1966 to 1973 and released his first feature film that same year: Ankur, which introduced legendary actress Shabana Azmi. Ankur also kicked off the “middle cinema” movement, also known as “New India Cinema.”

Benegal made a quartet of feature films in the early years of New India Cinema—Ankur, Nishant (1975), Manthan (1976), and Bhumika (1977). Benegal’s films also launched the careers of actors Smita Patil and Naseerudin Shah.

After the release of Bhumika, actor Shashi Kapoor took an interest in Benegal’s work and financed Junoon (1978) and Kalyug (1981). Junoon recounts the tale of the Indian Mutiny against the British in 1857 with an interracial love story interwined. Kalyug was based on the Indian religious epic, Mahabharata.

Unfortunately, the New India Cinema movement collapsed in the 1980s, and Benegal turned to television. He directed a series titled Yatra for the Indian Railway system in 1986 and in 1988 made the ambitious Bharat Ek Khoj, based on Jawaharlal Nehru’s book Discovery of India.

Benegal eventually returned to films. He made Satyajit Ray, the Filmmaker in 1985 about the life and work of Bengali director Satyajit Ray. In 1996, Benegal released Sardari Begum, the true-life story of a Muslim courtesan who was killed and the journalist niece who covers the story. Zubeidaa (2001), starring Karisma Kapoor, details the life of Zubeidaa, princess of Fatehpur, her mysterious death, and the journalist son who never knew his mother. Benegal’s Welcome to Sajjanpur (2008) tracks the story of a letter writer in a village and how he uses his literacy skills for his personal amusement. The acclaimed director released two films in March 2010: Well Done, Abba and The Great Indian Butterfly.

Chopra is the producer behind 3 Idiots (2009), the highest-grossing Bollywood film of all time. He grew up in the beautiful Indian state of Kashmir (once a popular film shooting spot) and attended the Film and Television Institute of India in Pune. As a student of film directing, he enlisted fellow student and actor Naseerudin Shah to star in his first film, a thriller called Sazaa-E-Maut, in 1976. Two years later, Chopra made the documentary An Encounter with Faces about India’s poor children; the documentary was nominated for an Oscar in 1979.

Chopra’s films often are laden with strong doses of family and tradition. His 1989 film Parinda is hailed as a turning point in Indian cinema because of its realism in portraying the gangster life in Mumbai as well as the life of ordinary residents. Even in a film about the underworld, Chopra shows the strong bond between a pair of brothers. Parinda was a critical and commercial success and was India’s entry for the Best Foreign Film category at the Oscars.

1942: A Love Story (1994), set in British India, is a love story about a rich boy whose father staunchly supports the British and a poor girl whose father opposes them. The film was a musical success and marked another industry departure; it was the last film completed by iconic music director R.D. Burman before his death.

Mission Kashmir (2000) strikes close to Chopra’s heart, showing the India-Pakistan conflict over Kashmir and dealing with the effects of children who lose their parents due to religious and political differences. Despite the excess of violence shown, Chopra displays how the bonds of family are used or misused to guide impressionable youth.

But Chopra truly came into his own in 2003 when he launched his production company, Vinod Chopra Films, and yielded the directing chair to a new director for the wildly successful Munnabhai M.B.B.S. (2003). The film stars Sanjay Dutt as a gangster who’s tough on the outside but a softie at heart. The movie did so well that Chopra and director Rajkumar Hirani collaborated again for the 2006 sequel, Lage Raho Munnabhai, and the sequel did even better than the first installment. A third Munnabhai film is in the works, following Munna and his sidekick, Circuit, to the U.S. in Munnabhai Chale Amerika.

Chopra reportedly is working on his first Hollywood venture, Broken Horses.

Yash Chopra’s romantic films are a Bollywood gold standard. One of the last directors currently working who started his career in the 1950s, Chopra began as an assistant to director I.S. Johar and then joined his brother, B.R. Chopra, in making films. Yash Chopra’s directorial debut was Dhool Ka Phool (1959). He excelled in directing his brother’s productions, especially Waqt (1965) and Ittefaq (1969), but he eventually started his own production company.

In 1973, Chopra directed Daag, the first movie released by the Yash Raj Films banner. Then Chopra began working with Amitabh Bachchan, the “it” man of the 1970s, and joined the directors responsible for Bachchan’s mega-success. Chopra’s first two Bachchan films showed the actor in two dramatically different roles—in the 1975 hit Deewaar, his character embraces crime because of poverty, and in the 1976 blockbuster romance Kabhi Kabhie, he plays a poet who gives up his true love and meets her years later when his daughter and her son fall in love.

Chopra has always pushed boundaries. Silsila (1981) explored extramarital affairs. Silsila stars Bachchan with real-life wife, Jaya Bachchan, as husband and wife, and Rekha (rumored to have been Bachchan’s real-life mistress at that time) played his married mistress.

The film failed, but Chopra persevered with another romance and then two action movies; all three flopped. But Chandni (1989) marked a significant comeback for him. The film was classic Chopra: the lead heroine dressed in white, a song close to the movie’s beginning, and love. 

Lamhe (1991) was a disaster—although critics and Western audiences appreciated it; Indian audiences couldn’t accept the cross-generational love story. So Chopra took a risk with his next movie; he signed a young actor to play a man dangerously obsessed with a girl. Darr (1993) catapulted Shahrukh Khan to stardom, and Chopra found a new favorite actor.

Chopra’s movies aren’t candyfloss no-brainers; his characters ask one another hard questions and undergo tough circumstances. For example, Veer-Zaara (2004) shows an Indian man and a Pakistani woman who wait almost 20 years to be together.

Chopra now focuses on his production company. Thanks to his own success as well as that of his director son, Aditya Chopra, he built a state-of-the-art film studio in Mumbai and now provides new directors the prestige and stability of the Yash Raj Films name. 

Most recently, Chopra has ventured into television production, and the latest movie from Yash Raj Films is the May 2010 release, Badmaash Company, starring heartthrob Shahid Kapoor.

David Dhawan is known for making comedies—and unabashedly using slapstick and corny jokes to entertain. While many directors challenge themselves with a variety of subjects, Dhawan learned to stay true to the genre that has garnered him the most success.

A graduate of the Film and Television Institute of India in Pune, he began his career as an editor but soon turned to directing. Interestingly, his first film, Jurrat (1989), had an intense storyline about the crime kings of Mumbai. Dhawan’s first half-dozen or so films were either dramas or action thrillers, but he found his strength with his first comedic film Bol Radha Bol (1992), starring Juhi Chawla and Rishi Kapoor.

So Dhawan kept going with more, casting Govinda and the late Divya Bharti in Shola aur Shabnam (1992). Govinda had acted in two of Dhawan’s earlier films, but when he and Dhawan began making comedies together, each found their lucky mascot in one another. Both experienced some of their biggest box office successes in the movies they’ve done together. Dhawan capitalized on Govinda’s superb dancing skills and his ability to deliver comedy or drama on the turn of a dime. Soon it became an assumption that if David Dhawan was making a movie, Govinda would be starring in it. Dhawan enlisted other actors through the years to work in his films, but he has always come back to Govinda and the two have done almost 20 movies together.

Aside from Govinda, Dhawan also has made several successful movies with Salman Khan, and the real coup for Dhawan was in casting both of his favorite leading men together in Partner (2007), which marked a comeback of sorts for Govinda after a career lull. Dhawan reportedly is working on a sequel to Partner to be released in 2011.

Some of his best-known films are: Aankhen (1993), Raja Babu (1994), Coolie No. 1 (1995), Judwaa (1997), Hero No. 1 (1998), and Biwi No. 1 (1999). Along with Partner 2, he is working on Hook Ya Crook, expected to release in December 2010.

For many years, Subhash Ghai was synonymous with grandeur. Often his movies have been lavish portraits of characters living in luxury. Even the “downtrodden” characters are rich.

Ghai began his career as an actor, earning a diploma from the Film and Television Institute of India in Pune. He acted in a half-dozen movies in the 1960s and 70s, but when friend and then-hit actor Shatrughan Sinha recommended him as a director for Kalicharan (1976), Ghai’s association with Bollywood changed.

Kalicharan was a blockbuster success, one of the biggest of its time, and Ghai continued directing. In 1980, he released Karz, a cult favorite today. The movie featured two of Hindi cinema’s most memorable songs—“Om Shanti Om” and “Dard-e-Dil.”

In 1982, Ghai began his own production company, Mukta Arts Private Limited, and he released several successful films: Vidhaata (1982), Hero (1983), Karma (1986), and Ram Lakhan (1989). He often cast Jackie Shroff and Anil Kapoor—and sometimes both if the scripts Ghai wrote (which he did for most of his movies) required two leading men.

The 1990s were also important for Ghai. In 1991, he released Saudagar, which starred two film legends—Dilip Kumar and Raaj Kumar—who play opponents in a bitter feud. Saudagar was a success, setting the tone for Ghai’s next release: Khalnayak (1993). Khalnayak was released amidst controversy; leading man Sanjay Dutt was in jail when the film came out, and one of the songs, “Choli Ke Peeche Kya Hai” was considered overtly sexual. The controversy, along with Dutt’s astounding performance, helped make Khalnayak more successful.

Ghai’s next two films—Pardes (1997), starring Shahrukh Khan, and Taal (1999), starring Aishwarya Rai—were his last two successful ventures. Since then, all of Ghai’s films have failed miserably: Yaadein (2001), Kisna (2005), Black and White (2008), and Yuvvraaj (2008). Fans and Bollywood insiders alike say Ghai’s storytelling techniques have become outdated.

The films he’s lately produced have fared better. Aitraaz (2004), 36 China Town (2006), and Apna Sapna Money Money (2006) were average hits, and Iqbal (2005) was a financial success.

Two points of trivia: 1) Like legendary director Alfred Hitchcock, Ghai makes cameos in his films, and 2) A.R. Rahman wrote the Oscar-winning song, “Jai Ho,” for Yuvvraaj, but Ghai rejected the song. It became a part of the British film Slumdog Millionaire instead.

Prakash Jha began his college career pursuing a degree in physics at Delhi University before deciding that field wasn’t for him. He decided to become a painter and went to Mumbai to enroll in the J.J. School of Arts when he attended a film shoot. Then, he jumped into filmmaking at the Film and Television Institute of India in Pune and began his film career making documentaries. His first was Under the Blue in 1975, and for the next eight years, he made documentaries on social issues. Faces After Storm (1982) denounced the communal riots regarding the Bihar Sharif; May I Think Sir (1983) examined intellectual slavery in India. In each of his documentaries, Jha strived to put the spotlight on the problems of the day.

In 1983, he released his first feature film, Hip Hip Hooray, a story of athletic underdogs who comprise a ragtag school team and who, with the help of a dedicated sports director, learn to win.

Two years later, Jha directed Damul, a film on bonded labor in Bihar; Jha highlighted the crooked methods used by landowners to keep laborers in debt. The film earned him both the 1985 National Film Award and also the Filmfare Critics Award for Best Film.

In the late 1980s, Jha turned to television, an emerging medium for Indian audiences, and directed four television serials, including the famous Indian comedy Mungerilal Ke Haseen Sapne.

Jha moved back to Bihar in 1989 and formed two organizations—Anubhooti, designed to provide instruction for young people of that region who want to become filmmakers, and Samvedan, which promotes small and micro industries. Eventually, however, Jha came back to Bollywood and made Bandish (1996), starring Jackie Shroff and Juhi Chawla.

For his next film, Mrityudand (1997), about the struggles of three women in their caste-bound, orthodox Bihari village homes, Jha assembled a powerhouse cast of leading ladies: Madhuri Dixit, Shabana Azmi, and Shilpa Shirodkar played three women stuck in a paternalistic society. Most of Jha’s films, be it Gangaajal (2003), Apaharan (2005) or Dil, Dosti, Etc. (2007) have a strong social message. His latest film, Rajneeti, about the hotbed of Indian politics, is scheduled to be released in June 2010 and stars Ranbir Kapoor and Katrina Kaif, among others.

Jha also handles the matters of his production company, Prakash Jha Productions.

Raj Kanwar introduced one of the biggest Bollywood stars of all in time in his very first movie. Deewana, released in 1992 and starred veteran actor Rishi Kapoor, Divya Bharti (the “it” girl of that time), and a young actor very eager to make a name for himself. That actor was Shahrukh Khan, and the film was a blockbuster hit.

Kanwar’s second film, Laadla (1994), received critical acclaim for the performance he extracted from Sridevi, and Kanwar continued to work with some of the biggest actors in the industry. He cast Karisma Kapoor, Salman Khan, and Sunny Deol in Jeet (1996); Anil Kapoor, Sridevi, and Urmila Matondkar in Judaai (1997); and Sanjay Dutt and Mahima Chaudhry in Daag: The Fire (1999).

In 2000, he directed Abhishek Bachchan and Aishwarya Rai in the film Dhai Akshar Prem Ke. While the film bombed at the box office, some say it was on the sets of this film that Abhishek and Aishwarya first became romantically interested in one another in real life.

While he began his career with a bang, Kanwar’s last few films have not done well, despite the appearance of big-name actors in them. Kanwar’s latest film, Sadiyaan, starring Luv Sinha, the son of yesteryear actor Shatrughan Sinha, was released in April 2010 and failed to excite audiences, despite the presence of some respected older actors such as Rishi Kapoor, Rekha, and Hema Malini. 

Priyadarshan’s career in filmmaking began by chance. He wanted to play cricket professionally, but an injury to his left eye after he was hit by a ball ended those hopes. At the urging of his close friend and South Indian film superstar, Mohanlal, Priyadarshan began making films in Kerala’s language of Malayalam. His first movie was released in 1984 and was a huge success. For eight years, he exclusively made Malayalam movies, and then he tried his hand at Bollywood movies.

His first Hindi film, Muskurahat (1992), was a remake of one of his own Malayalam films released the previous year. Muskurahat flopped, but Priyadarshan didn’t let the failure deter him. He continued remaking his own films in other Indian languages, including Hindi and Tamil.

In 1997, Priyadarshan finally achieved success in Bollywood. Virasat, starring Anil Kapoor and Tabu, made Priyadarshan a popular director with critics and fans alike.  His next two Hindi remakes, Saat Rang Ke Sapne and Doli Sajaa Ke Rakna (both released in 1998), weren’t very successful at the box office, but in 2000, Priyadarshan struck gold. 

He remade one of his Malayalam films in Hindi, and the storyline charmed audiences right away. Akshay Kumar, Sunil Shetty, and Paresh Rawal (in one of his most acclaimed roles ever) star as two tenants and a landlord, respectively, who get tangled in a hostage/ransom scheme when kidnappers dial the wrong number by accident. Hera Pheri established Priyadarshan as a director with comedic flair, and the film also gave Kumar’s career a second lease.

Since Hera Pheri, Priyadarshan has experienced steady success in Bollywood; he has a wildly successful career as a director in South India and continues to make movies in Hindi, Tamil, and Malayalam. Some of his other Hindi hits (all remade from other languages) include: Hungama (2003), Hulchul (2004), Garam Masala (2005), Chup Chup Ke (2006), Bhool Bhulaiyaa (2007), Bhagam Bhag (2008), and Billu (2009).

Priyadarshan hasn’t been afraid to make movies in other genres, but he leans towards comedy. He’s reportedly preparing three Hindi films for release: Bumm Bumm Bole, Khatta Meetha, and Aakrosh.

Mani Ratnam also is from South India. His late brother was a film producer and gave Ratnam his first film in 1983 in the regional language of Kannada. The film failed, but Ratnam kept going and he made films in several South Indian languages. His Tamil film, Nayagan (1987), about an orphan who climbs the hierarchy of Mumbai’s crime world, was critically acclaimed.

In 1992, Ratnam released the first of his “terrorism trilogy.” The Tamil film, Roja, was dubbed in several languages, including Hindi, for audiences worldwide. It tells the story of a young couple who experience terrorism in Kashmir and featured the music of first-time music director A.R. Rahman. The second Tamil movie in the series, Bombay (1995), starred Bollywood actors Manisha Koirala and Arvind Swamy, who play a Hindu-Muslim couple involved in the dramatic events of the 1993 Mumbai religious riots and bombings.

Taking a break from his trilogy, Ratnam made Iruvar (1997), based on the life of the late Tamil film star and politician MG Ramachandran and current Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi. Iruvar was hailed by critics, and also it provided Aishwarya Rai with her first foray into the film world.

The third film in the terrorism trilogy, Dil Se (1998) marked Ratnam’s formal Bollywood entry. Dil Se starred Shahrukh Khan and Manisha Koirala; against the backdrop of terrorism in India’s northeastern states, Khan plays a radio journalist pursuing Koirala’s mysterious character.

Despite only a handful of Hindi films, Ratnam is well-respected in Bollywood. He makes films with mettle; fans know they will be treated to an exercise in realism. His 2004 film, Yuva, shows three young men connected with politics; a fateful incident on Kolkata’s Howrah Bridge unites them. The film starred, among others, Abhishek Bachchan, whom Ratnam signed for his third Hindi film, Guru (2007,) which some say was based on the life of Indian business tycoon, Dhirubai Ambani. The film was a commercial and critical success and starred Bachchan with his real-life wife, Aishwarya Rai.

Unlike most Bollywood directors, Ratnam rarely shoots in foreign locations, choosing instead to highlight India’s beauty. He makes films in multiple languages, often making one film in two languages simultaneously. His latest project is the Tamil-Hindi bilingual venture, Raavan, to be released in June 2010.

Unlike many of his contemporary directors who also started as actors, Rakesh Roshan had a long career in front of the camera before deciding to work behind it. Roshan’s association with Bollywood was a familial one—his father was a music director in the industry and his brother Rajesh followed in their father’s footsteps. Rakesh opted for an acting/directing career.

He made his debut in front of the camera in Ghar Ghar Ki Kahani (1970) and acted well into the 1990s. While he may have never been considered a top-tier star, Roshan was a dependable actor in many movies and did experience quite a bit of success.

He set up his own production company in 1980 called Filmkraft; the company’s first production was released later that year, and in 1987, Roshan finally directed his first film, Khudgarz. Relying on the advice of an Indian astrologer, Roshan was told the letter “K” was very lucky for him, so every movie he has ever directed has begun with the letter “K.”

As a director, he’s only made about a dozen films, but many of them went on to become blockbusters including Kishen Kanhaiya (1990) and Karan Arjun (1995). In 2000, Roshan experienced a defining moment for his production house—he decided to give his son, actor Hrithik Roshan, a well-prepared and well-advertised debut. Kaho Na…Pyaar Hai was the biggest movie of that year in terms of popularity and financial success, and a new Bollywood star was born. In 2003, Roshan directed Hrithik again in the E.T.-inspired Koi…Mil Gaya and again had an incredible success on his hands, thanks to his son’s incredible portrayal of a mentally challenged boy who encounters an alien. Roshan followed up with the 2006 sequel, Krrish, and is working on a third installment in the film franchise called Krrish 2.

In his role as producer, Roshan released Hrithik’s latest film, Kites, in May 2010.

Keeping a low profile in the industry, Rajkumar Santoshi has steadily made films that get people talking. Whether it was the Sunny Deol classic hit, Ghayal (1990), the hard-hitting Anil Kapoor award winner, Pukar (2000), or a rollicking Ranbir Kapoor comedy like Ajab Prem Ki Ghazab Kahani (2009), Santoshi has shown time and again that his versatility is his strength.

He began his career in the industry in the early 1980s as an assistant director on movies like Vijeta (1982) and Ardh Satya (1983). It wasn’t until 1990 that he emerged as the captain of his own ship, directing Sunny Deol in Ghayal, which he also co-wrote. Ghayal earned seven Filmfare awards, including Best Film, Best Director, and Best Actor for Sunny Deol, at the peak of his career at the time. 

But Santoshi took his time making his next film, enlisting the same Ghayal pair of Sunny Deol and Meenakshi Sheshadri to work in Damini (1993), a movie about a woman standing up to the injustice of a society obsessed with class and paternalism. His third film was a flop at the time but has since become a major cult classic. Santoshi released Andaz Apna Apna starring Aamir Khan, Salman Khan, Karisma Kapoor, and Raveena Tandon in 1994. The film had all the hallmarks of a classic—slapstick, mistaken identities, clueless heroines, and a lot of mischief.

In 1995, Santoshi released one of the most highly anticipated films of the year because of its lead pair; Barsaat was the debut film of Dharmendra’s son, Bobby Deol, and Rajesh Khanna’s daughter, Twinkle Khanna.  Barsaat was supposed to launch its young pair to stardom; instead the movie flopped (indicating the eventual outcome of the careers of both Twinkle and Bobby), but the music still is enjoyed today.

Following Barsaat, Santoshi released a string of serious films; some succeeded, others failed, but the majority of them were appreciated by critics and many fans. Among these films were: Ghatak (1996), China Gate (1998), Pukar (2000), Lajja (2001), The Legend of Bhagat Singh (2002), Khakee (2004), Family: Ties of Blood (2006), and Halla Bol (2008).

In 2009, Santoshi returned to comedy with Ajab Prem Ki Ghazab Kahani, starring current acting sensations Ranbir Kapoor and Katrina Kaif. The film established Kapoor and Kaif as a new onscreen pair. Santoshi reportedly is working on a venture called The Outsider with Amitabh Bachchan, and Santoshi already has confirmed Ranbir Kapoor for his next film after The Outsider is complete.

He gave India one of its biggest blockbuster films—Sholay—and made Bollywood history by doing so, but Ramesh Sippy also directed other films that are just as well-known and loved.

His father, G.P. Sippy, was a film producer, and Ramesh grew up visiting his father’s sets and getting to see film-making first-hand. At the age of 9, he played Achala Sachdev’s son in Shahenshah, and he also worked in the production and direction departments of his father’s productions. After seven years as an assistant, Sippy released his directorial debut, Andaz (1969), which had a decent box office run. His second film, Seeta Aur Geeta (1972), was a major success; the film starred then-hit actress, Hema Malini, in one of her most well-known roles, or two roles rather—Malini plays twin sisters separated at birth who each grow up in vastly different economic circumstances, similar to The Prince and the Pauper.

And then, in 1975, came the movie that changed the Hindi film industry—Sippy released Sholay, his ode to the American Western. Sholay received commercial success unprecedented for its time; the initial reports by critics panned the movie, but word of mouth helped its run and kept it going for five consecutive years. Sholay has become a cult classic, and numerous imitations, spinoffs, and spoofs have followed.

Sippy couldn’t outdo his own achievement, but his next three films also brought him success. They were Shaan (1980), Shakti (1982), and Saagar (1985).

Sippy’s next project was a highly-successful television series in 1987 called Buniyaad, which dealt with the partition of India and Pakistan. He directed three more films in the late 1980s and early 1990s, but all three were flops and he hasn’t directed a film since 1995. Instead, Sippy has ventured exclusively into producing, including financing the films of his director son, Rohan Sippy.

Ramesh Sippy’s latest production will be his son’s next film, Dum Maaro Dum, starring Abhishek Bachchan. Rohan previously directed Abhishek in Kuch Na Kaho (2003) and Bluffmaster (2005).

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