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Who’s Who in Bollywood:

Directors of Yesteryear

By Ekta R. Garg

March 3, 2010 - In Bollywood, the director of a film is almost as important as the stars in it, and Bollywood moviegoers are often ardent fans of certain directors who represent particular movie-making styles. Bollywood has been populated by some immense talent, both in years gone by and in current times. In order to fully enjoy the Bollywood experience, it helps to know from where today’s directors derive their inspiration.

To that end, The Bollywood Ticket presents a three-part series on some of Bollywood’s most notable directors. In this first part, we focus on the directors of yesteryear, those who have unfortunately passed on but who have left the foundation on which the Indian film industry is built. Movie lovers still enjoy these directors’ films today and revere them, most appropriately, as “the classics.”

Guru Dutt’s film career lasted only 20 years, but he’s remembered as one of Bollywood’s greatest. He began in the industry with a bit part as an actor in the 1944 film Chand. Dutt continued to make connections, working steadily as an actor, a choreographer, and even as an assistant director. During his early years in Bollywood, he met rising star Dev Anand after a local laundry service mixed up their shirts.

When Anand started his own film production company, Navketan, he invited Dutt to direct the 1951 film Baazi. The movie was commercially successful and also broke technological ground. For the first time in Bollywood, Dutt used tight close-up shots on his actors with a 100 mm lens. This shot became known as the “Guru Dutt” shot. Dutt also believed in using the music of his films to further the plot.

As director Dutt handled less then 10 movies: Baazi, Jaal (1952), Baaz (1953), Aar Paar (1954), Mr. & Mrs. ’55 (1955), Sailaab (1956), Pyaasa (1957), and Kaagaz Ke Phool (1959). Kaagaz Ke Phool, a cult classic today, flopped miserably upon release, and while he continued to produce films, Dutt refused to direct one ever again.

Dutt was married to singer Geeta Dutt and is credited with introducing Zohra Sehgal, Waheeda Rahman, and Johnny Walker to the Hindi film industry. He died from an overdose of sleeping pills and alcohol in 1964.

Raj Kapoor is known as the showman of the Hindi film industry, and his legacy continues with the fourth generation of Kapoor actors today. The son of Prithiviraj Kapoor (himself an acting legend,) Raj Kapoor began his film career at the age of 11 with a small role in Inquilab (1935). He continued to act, and in 1947, Kapoor and Madhubala starred together in Neel Kamal, a first for both as lead players. But acting wasn’t enough for Kapoor; he established R.K. Studios in 1948. During the next 40 years he acted in, produced, and directed movies now considered classics.

His first movie as actor, producer, and director was Aag (1948) with Nargis, a favorite co-star. Kapoor and Nargis starred in 16 movies together, six of which were his own productions. Kapoor also shared a close relationship with music composers Shankar and Jaikishan, doing 18 movies with them.

Kapoor believed in giving his audiences everything: a social message, memorable music, relatable characters—in essence, a complete entertainment package. He was a big fan of Charlie Chaplin and, like Chaplin, often made films about (and played the character of) a hobo. His films include Barsaat (1949), Awaara (1951), Shree 420 (1955), Chori Chori (1956), Jis Desh Men Ganga Behti Hai (1960), Mera Naam Joke (1970), Bobby (1973), Satyam Shivam Sundaram (1978), Prem Rog (1982), and Ram Teri Ganga Maili (1985).

Kapoor is also part of the “first family” of Bollywood. His father was Prithviraj Kapoor. His younger brothers, Shammi and Shashi, were also highly successful actors as were his sons, Randhir and Rishi Kapoor. Randhir’s former wife, Babita, and Rishi’s wife, Neetu Singh, were successful actresses from the 1960s to the 1980s. One of Kapoor’s grandsons is married to actor Amitabh Bachchan’s daughter, and Kapoor’s granddaughter, actress Karisma, almost married Bachchan’s son, actor Abhishek Bachchan, before the two called it off in 2003. Karisma and her younger sister, Kareena Kapoor, are both successful actresses, and their younger cousin, Ranbir Kapoor, is a rising star.

Kapoor died on June 2, 1988.

In a career lasting almost 30 years, Bimal Roy became a legend in his own lifetime. He took his first steps in the industry as a camera assistant with New Theatres Pvt. Ltd., learning how to operate a camera with finesse. He assisted P.C. Barua on the 1935 rendition of Devdas, starring K.L. Saigal.

A Bengali Indian, Roy made movies in his own language as well as in Hindi. His first film was the 1944 Bengali movie Udayer Pathey that he later adapted into Hindi for a more mainstream audience. The movie took a strong stand against class discrimination, employed sophisticated camerawork (thanks to Roy’s previous experience), and was a commercial success.

Roy is credited with ushering in India’s Golden Age of cinema. His 1953 film Do Bigha Zameen stunned audiences with its maturity and relevance. He made the film based on his own meager upbringing in East Bengal, telling the story of a poor farm family’s trials due to utter poverty and modernization. The film was one of the first Indian movies to be recognized with awards on an international level, receiving accolades from China, the U.K., the former Soviet Union, and the film festivals in Cannes, Venice, and Melbourne.

His own version of Devdas in 1955 is the one people refer to most when talking about a film adaptation of the novel by Bengali writer, Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay. But Roy didn’t stop there with using Chattopadhyay’s stories for material. He had previously adapted Parineeta (a love story with a backdrop of class differences) in 1953 and Biraj Bahu (about the oppression of women in a male-dominated society) in 1954.

His 1958 hit Yahudi explored ancient Rome and oppression of Jews, and his other film of that year, Madhumati, about reincarnation became the cornerstone for nearly every subsequent Hindi movie about the topic.

Unlike some of the other great directors, Roy enjoyed success with almost every film he made down to his last completed venture, Bandini, released in 1963. The film, starring Nutan, has been called by some as Roy’s best. This movie introduced Gulzar as a film lyricist and featured celebrated music by S.D. Burman. Roy died on Jan. 7, 1966.

Hrishikesh Mukherjee was often addressed as “Hrishi-da” out of respect. His career lasted more than four decades and he made more than 40 movies about India’s changing middle class. It is said he found a comfortable middle ground between mainstream, glamorous films, and the experimental films collectively known as “art cinema” in India.

Mukherjee began working in the industry as a cameraman in the late 1940s and then learned the fine art of editing from renowned editor Subodh Mitter. In 1951, Mukherjee joined mentor Bimal Roy, working as an editor and assistant director on two of Roy’s most-remembered movies: Do Bigha Zameen and Devdas. Mukherjee finally directed a film, helming the 1957 flop Musafir. Mukherjee persisted and won acclaim for Anari in 1959, later winning five Filmfare Awards for the movie except for Best Director, which he lost to Roy.

Mukherjee conveyed his stories in a simple, straightforward manner. His movies seldom, if ever, depicted violence or crime, and he gave his seemingly basic plots intelligent subtexts. His characters often lived in urban settings and were well-educated; audiences were able to relate to the characters’ problems and still be entertained.

Actor Amitabh Bachchan got a major break in Mukherjee’s 1970 film Anand, as a doctor to Rajesh Khanna’s characterization of terminal cancer patient. Mukherjee also cast first-time actress Jaya Bhaduri (who eventually married Bachchan) in the 1971 movie, Guddi. Bhaduri’s girl-next-door image was a stark contrast to her more glamorous contemporaries and appealed immensely to audiences.

One of Mukherjee’s most memorable films, Abhimaan (1973), cast the Bachchans as husband-and-wife singers. In the film, the wife becomes more successful than the husband, exposing the fragility of the male ego. Some speculate Mukherjee was making an indirect comment on the state of the real-life careers of the actors at that time.

Other popular Mukherjee films include: Anuradha (1960), Chupke Chupke (1975), Khubsoorat (1980), Golmaal (1979), Bawarchi (1972), Mili (1975), and Saanjh Aur Sawera (1964).

Mukherjee’s last film as director was the 1998 dud, Jhooth Bole Kauwa Kaate, starring Anil Kapoor and Juhi Chawla. He died on Aug. 27, 2006.

Born Baldev Raj Chopra, B.R. Chopra, as he’s known, believed in using films to convey messages. His directorial debut, Afsana (1951) featured Ashok Kumar in a double role for the first time. Kumar played twin brothers representing good and evil; the film was a success, and Chopra’s name was established.

Chopra used his films to address important issues. Sadhana (1958) dealt with prostitution; Gumrah (1963) and Humraaz (1967) showed the complications of adultery. (Chopra was the recipient of the very first Indian National Award for Humraaz.) Insaaf Ka Taraazu (1980) dealt with rape. Naya Daur (1957), starring Dilip Kumar and Vyjayantimala, is considered Chopra’s signature piece. The movie tackles the evils of industrialization in a post-partition India and depicts the collective efforts of India’s people as more successful than modern conveniences that make those very people obsolete.

In 1959, Chopra assigned his brother, Yash, the director’s chair for Dhool Ka Phool. While Chopra wanted to continue working with his brother, Yash eventually set up his own production company. This reportedly upset B.R., but it didn’t prevent him from working. He expanded his success to television by producing the 1980s TV version of the “Mahabharat,” the Indian epic; the series set a Guinness world record for being seen by the highest number of viewers.

Chopra died on November 5, 2008.

Manmohan Desai is heralded as the creator of the “masala” film (a movie with everything—song and dance, romance, familial relationships, fight sequences, and a happy ending). Desai began his career at the age of 24 with Chhalia (1960), starring Raj Kapoor and Nutan. Despite the legendary leading stars, Chhalia flopped. But he didn’t stop; Desai continued directing movies such as Bluffmaster (1963) and Kismet (1968), which was a major hit.

The 1970 Rajesh Khanna blockbuster, Sachcha Jhootha, established Desai as a director with mettle. He cast Khanna in a double role and used a well-known Bollywood formula—that of siblings separated in the beginning of the movie and reunited by tale’s end. In the late 1970s, Desai began working with Amitabh Bachchan, and it was a long, successful association for both.

Desai made eight films with Bachchan: Amar Akbar Anthony (1977), Parvarish (1977), Suhaag (1979), Naseeb (1981), Desh Premee (1982), Coolie (1983), Mard (1985), and Ganga Jamuna Saraswati (1988.) All but the last were major hits. In Bachchan, Desai found his ideal leading man: tall, dark and handsome, able to fight villains with authority and also able to romance his heroines with charm. Bachchan starred as one of three brothers in the movie considered Desai’s signature piece, Amar, Akbar, Anthony.

Desai directed 20 films, and more than a dozen were commercial successes. But his career (mirroring Bachchan’s) began to decline in the late 1980s as Bollywood went through major transitions of style and story. He committed suicide in 1994.

In the 1970s, two of Bollywood’s biggest directors—Manmohan Desai and Prakash Mehra—had one thing in common: they both experienced repeated success with leading man Amitabh Bachchan.

Along with Desai, Mehra is credited with making Bachchan a household name. But he wasn’t always a director; Mehra began as a production controller in the late 1950s. He finally worked his way up to directing. He released the successful Haseena Maan Jayegi in 1968, which starred starred Shashi Kapoor. His next few films (including the 1971 movie, Mela, starring real-life brothers Feroz and Sanjay Khan and the 1972 Dharmendra starrer Samadhi) gave him some modicum of stability, but when Mehra directed Bachchan in the 1973 movie, Zanjeer, both hit the jackpot.

Mehra was a no-frills director; he used ordinary dialogues and camera angles. Zanjeer created the character of the “angry young man,” and Mehra took a gamble in casting Bachchan (who hadn’t yet established himself as a major star) as a brooding cop looking for his parents’ murderer. Zanjeer marked a new period of films departing from the romantic tale, and Mehra (like Desai) found the ideal leading man.

Mehra and Bachchan made seven movies together; six of them were box office successes—Zanjeer, Hera Pheri (1976), Muqaddar Ka Sikander (1978), Laawaris (1981), Namak Halaal (1982), and Sharaabi (1984). The 1989 flop Jaadugar prompted Mehra’s quiet retreat from the limelight. While he directed three more films after Jaadugar, it was clear Mehra’s career (like Bachchan’s at that time) was declining. His last cinematic association was as producer of the 2001 failure, Mujhe Mere Biwi Se Bachao. Toward the end of his life, Mehra became a recluse, nursing his wife who was in a coma and taking care of his own illnesses. He died on May 17, 2009.

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