The Most Famous

FILM DIRECTORS from India

This page contains a list of the greatest Indian Film Directors. The pantheon dataset contains 2,041 Film Directors, 55 of which were born in India. This makes India the birth place of the 7th most number of Film Directors behind Germany, and Russia.

Top 10

The following people are considered by Pantheon to be the top 10 most legendary Indian Film Directors of all time. This list of famous Indian Film Directors is sorted by HPI (Historical Popularity Index), a metric that aggregates information on a biography’s online popularity. Visit the rankings page to view the entire list of Indian Film Directors.

1. Satyajit Ray (1921 - 1992)

With an HPI of 65.72, Satyajit Ray is the most famous Indian Film Director. His biography has been translated into 119 different languages on wikipedia.

Satyajit Ray (Bengali pronunciation: [ˈʃotːodʒit ˈrae̯] ; 2 May 1921 – 23 April 1992) was an Indian film director, screenwriter, author, lyricist, magazine editor, illustrator, calligrapher, and composer. Ray is widely considered one of the greatest and most influential film directors in the history of cinema. He is celebrated for works including The Apu Trilogy (1955–1959), The Music Room (1958), The Big City (1963), Charulata (1964), and the Goopy–Bagha trilogy (1969–1992).[a] Ray was born in Calcutta to author Sukumar Ray and Suprabha Ray. Starting his career as a commercial artist, Ray was drawn into independent film-making after meeting French filmmaker Jean Renoir and viewing Vittorio De Sica's Italian neorealist film Bicycle Thieves (1948) during a visit to London. Ray directed 36 films, including feature films, documentaries, and shorts. Ray's first film, Pather Panchali (1955), won eleven international prizes, including the inaugural Best Human Document award at the 1956 Cannes Film Festival. This film, along with Aparajito (1956) and Apur Sansar (The World of Apu) (1959), form The Apu Trilogy. Ray did the scripting, casting, scoring, and editing for the movie and designed his own credit titles and publicity material. He also authored several short stories and novels, primarily for young children and teenagers. Popular characters created by Ray include Feluda the sleuth, Professor Shonku the scientist, Tarini Khuro the storyteller, and Lalmohan Ganguly the novelist. Ray received many major awards in his career, including a record thirty-seven Indian National Film Awards which includes Dadasaheb Phalke Award, a Golden Lion, a Golden Bear, two Silver Bears, many additional awards at international film festivals and ceremonies, and an Academy Honorary Award in 1992. In 1978, he was awarded an honorary degree by Oxford University. The Government of India honoured him with the Bharat Ratna, its highest civilian award, in 1992. On the occasion of the birth centenary of Ray, the International Film Festival of India, in recognition of the auteur's legacy, rechristened in 2021 its annual Lifetime Achievement award to the "Satyajit Ray Lifetime Achievement Award". In April 2024, Forbes ranked Ray as the 8th greatest director of all time.

2. Mahesh Bhatt (b. 1948)

With an HPI of 60.20, Mahesh Bhatt is the 2nd most famous Indian Film Director. His biography has been translated into 25 different languages.

Mahesh Bhatt (born 20 September 1948) is an Indian film director, producer and screenwriter known for his works in Hindi cinema. He has received a number of accolades, including four National Film Award and three Filmfare Awards. A notable film from his earlier period is Saaransh (1984), screened at the 14th Moscow International Film Festival. It became India's official entry for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film for that year. The 1986 film Naam was his first piece of commercial cinema. In 1987, he turned producer with the film Kabzaa under the banner, "Vishesh Films", with his brother Mukesh Bhatt. Mahesh went on to become one of the most recognized directors of the Indian film industry in the next decade, giving both art-house works such as Daddy (1989) and Swayam (1991), as well as commercial romantic hits, such as Aashiqui (1990) and Dil Hai Ki Manta Nahin (1991), in which he cast Pooja Bhatt with actor Aamir Khan. He next directed Sadak (1991) which was a hit and it remains his highest grossing either directed or produced by Vishesh Films. During the 1990s Mahesh won critical acclaim for Sir (1993), along with other hits such as Gumraah (1993) and Criminal (1994). In 1994 he won the National Film Award – Special Jury Award for directing Hum Hain Rahi Pyar Ke (1993). In 1996, he directed Tamanna, which won the National Film Award for Best Film on Other Social Issues. In 1999, he directed the autobiographical Zakhm, which has garnered the Nargis Dutt Award for Best Feature Film on National Integration. Thereafter, Bhatt and his brother joined hands to establish Vishesh Films and then provided stories and screenplays for over twenty films, many of which were box-office successes. Bhatt has produced multiple contemporary films such as Raaz (2002), Jism (2003), Murder (2004), Gangster (2006), Woh Lamhe (2006), Jannat (2008), Murder 2 (2011), and Aashiqui 2 (2013). Owing to differences between the brothers, Mukesh took over Vishesh Films and, in May 2021, it was publicly announced that Mahesh was no longer associated with the firm.

3. M. Night Shyamalan (b. 1970)

With an HPI of 55.82, M. Night Shyamalan is the 3rd most famous Indian Film Director. His biography has been translated into 58 different languages.

Manoj Nelliyattu "M. Night" Shyamalan ( SHAH-mə-lahn; born August 6, 1970) is an American filmmaker. His films often employ supernatural plots and twist endings. The cumulative gross of his films exceeds $3.3 billion globally. Shyamalan has received various accolades, including nominations for two Academy Awards, two BAFTA Awards and a Golden Globe. Shyamalan was born in Mahé, India, and raised in Penn Valley, Pennsylvania. His early films include Praying with Anger (1992) and Wide Awake (1998) before his breakthrough film The Sixth Sense (1999), which earned him Academy Award nominations for Best Director and Best Original Screenplay. He then released Unbreakable (2000), Signs (2002) and The Village (2004). Followed by a string of poorly received films—Lady in the Water (2006), The Happening (2008), The Last Airbender (2010), and After Earth (2013)—he experienced a critical and commercial career resurgence with The Visit (2015), Split (2016), Glass (2019), Old (2021), Knock at the Cabin (2023), and Trap (2024). Shyamalan was also one of the executive producers and occasional director of the 20th Television science fiction series Wayward Pines (2015–2016) and the Apple TV+ psychological horror series Servant (2019–2023), for which he also served as showrunner.

4. Michael Radford (b. 1946)

With an HPI of 54.88, Michael Radford is the 4th most famous Indian Film Director. His biography has been translated into 25 different languages.

Michael James Radford (born 24 February 1946) is an English film director and screenwriter. He began his career as a documentary director and television comedy writer before transitioning into features in the early 1980s. His best-known credits include the 1984 film adaptation of George Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four starring John Hurt and Richard Burton (in his final role), the Shakespeare adaptation The Merchant of Venice, the true crime drama White Mischief, and the 1994 Italian-language comedy drama Il Postino: The Postman, for which he won the BAFTA Awards for Best Direction and Best Film Not in the English Language, and earned Academy Award nominations for Best Director and Best Adapted Screenplay.

5. Dadasaheb Phalke (1870 - 1944)

With an HPI of 53.84, Dadasaheb Phalke is the 5th most famous Indian Film Director. His biography has been translated into 35 different languages.

Dhundiraj Govind Phalke (Pronunciation: [d̪ʱuɳɖiɾaːd͡ʒ pʰaːɭke]), popularly known as Dadasaheb Phalke (30 April 1870 – 16 February 1944), was an Indian producer-director-screenwriter, known as "the Father of Indian cinema". His debut film, Raja Harishchandra, was the first Indian movie released in 1913, and is now known as India's first full-length mythological feature film. He made 94 feature-length films and 27 short films in his career, spanning 19 years, until 1937, including his most noted works: Mohini Bhasmasur (1913), Satyavan Savitri (1914), Lanka Dahan (1917), Shri Krishna Janma (1918) and Kaliya Mardan (1919). In his honor, the Dadasaheb Phalke Award was instituted as highest honorary award under the National Film Awards by the Government of India.

6. Lindsay Anderson (1923 - 1994)

With an HPI of 53.82, Lindsay Anderson is the 6th most famous Indian Film Director. His biography has been translated into 36 different languages.

Lindsay Gordon Anderson (17 April 1923 – 30 August 1994) was a British feature-film, theatre and documentary director, film critic, and leading light of the Free Cinema movement and of the British New Wave. He is most widely remembered for his 1968 film if...., which won the Palme d'Or at Cannes Film Festival in 1969 and marked Malcolm McDowell's cinematic debut. He is also notable, though not a professional actor, for playing a minor role in the Academy Award-winning 1981 film Chariots of Fire. McDowell produced a 2007 documentary about his experiences with Anderson, Never Apologize.

7. Dara Singh (1928 - 2012)

With an HPI of 50.05, Dara Singh is the 7th most famous Indian Film Director. His biography has been translated into 27 different languages.

Dara Singh Randhawa (born Deedar Singh Randhawa; 19 November 1928 – 12 July 2012) was an Indian professional wrestler, actor, director and politician. He started acting in 1952 and was the first sportsman to be nominated to the Rajya Sabha (upper house) of India. He worked as Hindi and Punjabi film producer, director and writer, and he acted in films and television. His role of Hanuman in the film Bajrangbali (1976) and in Ramanand Sagar's Ramayan made him popular. Singh was inducted into the Legacy wing of the WWE Hall of Fame Class of 2018.

8. Guru Dutt (1925 - 1964)

With an HPI of 47.01, Guru Dutt is the 8th most famous Indian Film Director. His biography has been translated into 37 different languages.

Guru Dutt (born Vasanth Kumar Shivashankar Padukone; 9 July 1925 – 10 October 1964) was an Indian film actor, director, producer, choreographer, and writer. He is regarded as one of the greatest filmmakers of Indian cinema. Dutt was lauded for his artistry, notably his usage of close-up shots, lighting, and depictions of melancholia. He directed a total of 8 Hindi films, several of which have gained a cult following internationally. This includes Pyaasa (1957), which made its way onto Time magazine's 100 Greatest Movies list, as well as Kaagaz Ke Phool (1959), all of which are frequently listed among the greatest films in Hindi cinema. He was included among CNN's "Top 25 Asian Actors" in 2012.

9. Ardeshir Irani (1886 - 1969)

With an HPI of 46.59, Ardeshir Irani is the 9th most famous Indian Film Director. His biography has been translated into 15 different languages.

Khan Bahadur Ardeshir Irani (5 December 1886 – 14 October 1969) was a writer, director, producer, actor, film distributor, film showman and cinematographer in the silent and sound eras of early Indian cinema. He is considered one of the greatest personalities in recent Indian Cinema. He was the director of India's first sound film Alam Ara. He was the producer of India's first colour film Kisan Kanya. He was renowned for making films in Hindi, Telugu, English, German, Indonesian, Persian, Urdu and Tamil. He was a successful entrepreneur who owned film theatres, a gramophone agency, and a car agency.

10. Shyam Benegal (b. 1934)

With an HPI of 45.69, Shyam Benegal is the 10th most famous Indian Film Director. His biography has been translated into 30 different languages.

Shyam Benegal (born 14 December 1934) is an Indian film director, screenwriter and documentary filmmaker. Often regarded as the pioneer of parallel cinema, he is widely considered as one of the greatest filmmakers post 1970s. He has received several accolades, including eighteen National Film Awards, a Filmfare Award and a Nandi Award. In 2005, he was honoured with the Dadasaheb Phalke Award, India's highest award in the field of cinema. In 1976, he was honoured by the Government of India with the Padma Shri, the fourth-highest civilian honour of the country, and in 1991, he was awarded Padma Bhushan, the third-highest civilian honour for his contributions in the field of arts. Benegal was born in Hyderabad to Sridhar B. Benegal who was prominent in the field of photography. Starting his career as a copywriter, he made his first Documentary film in Gujarati, Gher Betha Ganga (Ganges at the Doorstep) in 1962. Benegal's first four feature films Ankur (1973), Nishant (1975), Manthan (1976) and Bhumika (1977) made him a pioneer of the new wave film movement of that period. Benegal's films, Mammo (1994), along with Sardari Begum (1996) and Zubeidaa (2001) all of which won National Film Awards for Best Feature Film in Hindi, form the Muslim women Trilogy. Benegal has won the National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Hindi seven times. He was awarded the V. Shantaram Lifetime Achievement Award in 2018.

People

Pantheon has 71 people classified as Indian film directors born between 1870 and 1982. Of these 71, 50 (70.42%) of them are still alive today. The most famous living Indian film directors include Mahesh Bhatt, M. Night Shyamalan, and Michael Radford. The most famous deceased Indian film directors include Satyajit Ray, Dadasaheb Phalke, and Lindsay Anderson. As of April 2024, 16 new Indian film directors have been added to Pantheon including Nasir Hussain, Tariq Anwar, and Deepak Tijori.