It’s been a long time since we saw some of our favourite directors in action. Without an option, we have to resort to watching their previous works and pine for them to get back to the hullabaloo of the film sets. A hat tip, and a wish-list of directors that we at The Quint desperately hope will make a come back, like right now.
1. Shekhar Kapur
Very few directors in India can rival Shekhar Kapur’s career as a filmmaker. He has delivered commercial hits and critical darlings in equal measure with films like Masoom (1983), Mr India (1987) and Bandit Queen (1994), and even went on to Hollywood to prove his might with Elizabeth (1998) and Elizabeth:The Golden Age (2007), two glorious historical epics on the Virgin Queen. He has been trying to mount his ambitious project Paani for several years, but to no avail. It’s high time Kapur comes out of his hibernation and makes a Hindi film again. We are even ready to forgive his acting stint which he is about to unleash in Teraa Surroor: A Lethal Love Story.
2. Shimit Amin
If Ab Tak Chappan (2004) spoke about the moral codes in the Mumbai police, Chak De! India (2007) served a story of triumphant joy with a gang of girls playing hockey, and Rocket Singh: Salesman of the Year (2009) was a leap out of the middle-of-the-road cinema of Hrishikesh Mukherjee. In all three films, the editor turned filmmaker Shimit Amin showed his dexterity with dissimilar themes, and an urge to tell a story worth our money and time. But the director has been missing in action for seven years now. He was last in the news for winning accolades for his work in advertising, and editing The Reluctant Fundamentalist (2012), Mira Nair’s adaptation of Mohsin Hamid’s novel by the same name. Last heard, he was busy developing a script with Jaideep Sahni, and we really want this script to fructify for our cinematic pleasures.
3. Mansoor Khan
When Hindi cinema was going through its worst phase in the 1980s, Mansoor Khan was one of the few directors who blazed a new path with his adaptation of Romeo & Juliet in Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak (1988). Three more films followed, Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikander (1992), Akele Hum Akele Tum (1995) and Josh (2000). In 2003, he decided to leave tinsel town, and shifted to Coonoor. Living with his family, he is now busy with cheese-making, and maintaining a farm stay spread over 22 acres, offering a close-to-nature experience for guests. He was last seen promoting his nephew Imran Khan during his debut Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na in 2008. It’s been more than one-and-a-half decades since his departure, and it doesn’t look as if Khan is returning. But what the heck, we believe in miracles, for no other director serves mainstream fun with such freshness and pop as Mr Khan.
4. Gulzar
Gulzar is one of the few doyens of Hindi cinema who are loved and admired by the young and the old unfailingly. His fame as a lyric writer is astounding for he has kept his evolution alive by fine tuning his words to the changing mores of society. He was also a terrific screenwriter and filmmaker, dealing with everything from societal woes to the political consciousness of our country. This year, he makes his comeback as a screenwriter after long with Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra’s Mirzya, in which his original nazms will fight with scenes for our attention, and needless to say, we are very excited. It would be icing on the cake if he decides to wield the megaphone one last time, and turn Hu Tu Tu (1999) into his second last film.
5. Mahesh Bhatt
When he walks inward, and churns out stories from his battered personal life, he is the autobiographical master of popular Hindi cinema. Arth (1982), Saaransh (1984) and Zakhm (1998) established him as a director who is not afraid to expose his personal demons. His range in the 90s showed us that he is equally at home in making films that are massy and brazenly populist. He has retired citing exhaustion, and is happy playing producer. But not too long ago, Bhatt ghost-directed Jism (2003) which was a very sexy Indian avatar of Body Heat (1981), and served as a reminder that he hadn’t lost his mojo. It’s time we brought the outspoken man back to the director’s chair.
6. Rajiv Rai
With musical chartbusters, and thrilling action films, Rajiv Rai ruled the 90s with back to back hits in Tridev (1989), Vishwatma (1992), Mohra (1994), and Gupt (1997). And then all of a sudden, two of his movies tanked, and he left the country following the underworld’s failed attempt to kill him. After a long hiatus, the filmmaker has finally moved back to Mumbai and is planning to revive his home banner Trimurti Films. We just hope Trimurti Films does come back to life and that we get to see some musical thrillers like the days of yore.
(The writer is a journalist and a screenwriter who believes in the insanity of words, in print or otherwise. Follow him on Twitter: @RanjibMazumder)
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