Best Hindi Movie Directors of Decade

Hindi cinema has been witnessing a fresh slot of talents for the past decade compared to the olden days. With new generation filmmakers trying to make their mark with their work, Bollywood has seen a lot of growth in terms of filmmaking style, script presentation and exploring unique concepts. Now, we bring you the list of Best Hindi Movie Directors in the past Decade.

List of Top 10 Best Hindi Movie Directors of Decade

• Farhan Akhtar

Farhan Akhtar is the son of noted Bollywood star screenwriters Javed Akhtar and Honey Irani. Being a star kid, Farhan Akhtar made his directorial debut with the 2001 film, Dil Chahta Hai. He even started producing the movies with same film. Eventually, Farhan Akhtar turned as an actor with the 2008 film, Rock On for which he worked as the scriptwriter and produced it. Since then Farhan Akhtar is frequently acting, directing and producing movies. He is also a reputed playback singer and has even sung a song in Mahesh Babu’s Telugu film, Bharat Ane Nenu. Currently, Farhan Akhtar is busy with his directorial film, Jee Le Zaraa. As the director, Farhan Akhtar won many regional awards and Filmfare awards. Later, he won multiple awards both as a director, actor and filmmaker.

• Imtiaz Ali

Made his directorial debut with the 2005 film, Socha Na Tha, Imtiaz Ali later got good appreciation for the 2007 film, Jab We Met and the 2009 film, Love Aaj Kal. Though his recent films like Love Aaj Kal 2, Jab Harry Met Sejal, Tamasha failed to click at the box office, Imtiaz Ali has a separate fan base for his style of narration and concepts. Currently, he working on a biopic on Amar Singh Chamkila. For films like Jab We Met, Love Aaj Kal, Rockstar and Highway, Imtiaz Ali was nominated in the ‘Best Director’ category. He won an award for Jab We Met in the best dialogue writer category.

• Karan Johar

Owing to one of the reputed production companies named Dharma Productions, Karan Johar introduced many star kids to the film industry. Apart from producing movies, Karan Johar is known for directing movies. He won the National Film Award and six Filmfare awards for various films. Karan Johar is also a popular Television presenter and is familiar with talk shows such as Koffee with Karan. He is even hosting the OTT version of Bigg Boss current season for digital platform Voot. Karan Johar made his directorial debut with the 1998 film, Kuch Kuch Hota Hai. He even directed two web series’ such as Lust Stories and Ghost Stories for digital giant Netflix. He is currently working on two projects as the director. Both the films Rocky Aur Rani Ki Prem Kahani and Yodha as the director will hit the screens in 2023.

• Rohit Shetty

Rohit Shetty is a noted director, producer and Television presenter in Hindi cinema. Made his directorial debut with the 2003 film, Zameen, Rohit Shetty has been directed some big-ticket films in Bollywood with the leading stars. His recent released Bollywood film, Sooryavanshi with Akshay Kumar turned into a blockbuster and revived the Bollywood movie market. He was nominated for the best director category for many films. His next film, Cirkus with Ranveer Singh and Pooja Hegde is expected to be out in the first half of 2022.

• Rajkumar Hirani

Rajkumar Hirani is one of the best Indian directors. He is also a screenwriter, editor, distributor, producer who prominently work for Hindi films. He made his directorial debut with the 2003 film, Munna Bhai MBBS. To date, Rajkumar Hirani directed five films and all of them are super hit at the box office. He won a total of 11 Filmfare awards and owns his own production house named Rajkumar Hirani Films. Currently, Rajkumar Hirani is working on a script and planning to make it with Bollywood Baadshah Shah Rukh Khan.

• Rakesh Roshan

Being one of the senior-most filmmakers from Bollywood, Rakesh Roshan in the early 70s started his acting career. Later, he turned into producer with a film titled, Aap Ke Deewane. Eventually, Rakesh Roshan turned into an active member in filmmaking and did direction supervision for his son Hrithik Roshan’s debut film, Koi Mil Gaya. Later, Rakesh Roshan did direction supervision for Hrithik Roshan’s superhits like Krish, Krish3 and Krish4. Reportedly, the senior filmmaker is busy preparing script for the highly-anticipated sequel of the Krish series. Rakesh Roshan won IIFA Awards, National Awards, Filmfare Awards, Apsara Awards and many Bollywood Movie Awards in his long career.

• Sanjay Leela Bhansali

Sanjay Leela Bhansali is an Indian director, producer, screenwriter and music director who is known for making grandeur films. He is honoured with Padma Shri, the fourth highest civilian award in 2015 by the Indian government. Sanjay Leela Bhansali made his directorial debut with the 1996 film, Khamoshi: The Musical. He won National and Filmfare awards for his work in films like Devdas, Black, Goliyon Ki Raasleela: Ram-Leela, Bajirao Mastani, Padmaavat. Currently, Sanjay Leela Bhansali has completed the work for his new film, Gangubhai Kathiawadi with Alia Bhatt. The film is gearing up for a February 2022 release.

• Nitesh Tiwari

Nitesh Tiwari is the noted director, screenwriter and lyricist from Bollywood. He made his directorial debut with the 2011 film, Chillar Party( Children film) along with star hero Aamir Khan. The film won the Best Children’s Film for that year and brought Nitesh Tiwari recognition among the audience. But the 2016 film, Dangal brought him much fame and name as the full-fledged director. He later delivered hits like Chhichhore which has late actor Sushant Singh Rajput’s in the lead role. The film was released in 2019. Currently, Nitesh Tiwari is working on a project titled, BreakPoint which is expected to hit the screens sometime in 2022. Nitesh won National Award as the Best Director Awards for films like Chillar Party and Dangal. Chhichhore won the National Award for Best Feature Film in Hindi. For Chillar Party, Nitesh Tiwari won the National Best Screenplay writer award.

• Siddharth Anand

Siddharth Anand is a famous writer turned director in Bollywood. After providing script for films like Hum Tum, Salaam Namaste, Ta Ra Rum Pum among others, Siddharth Anand turned director with the 2014 film, Bang Bang!. As the film brought a good name to Siddharth Anand as an action director, Hrithik Roshan and Yash Raj Films banner made 2019 released, WAR with the director. Currently, Siddharth Anand is making a Pathan movie with Shah Rukh Khan. Later, the talented director has film’s with Hrithik Roshan and Prabhas in the pipeline.

• Sandeep Reddy Vanga

Sandeep Reddy being a Telugu director made a clever choice by remaking his 2017 cult hit, Arjun Reddy as Kabir Singh in Bollywood. Remade with Shahid Kapoor in the lead role, Kabir Singh was released in 2019 and went on the become a staggering hit at the box office. Later, Sandeep Reddy Vanga’s name became famous among Bollywood circles. He is currently making a film titled, Animal with Ranbir Kapoor. Later Sandeep Reddy Vanga has Spirit movie with pan-India star Prabhas in the pipeline. For Kabir Singh, Sandeep Reddy Vanga won the 26th Screen Award for the Best Director. He also won the 21st IIFA Award as the Best Director for Kabir Singh in the year 2019.