While we often lay emphasis on the overall success of a movie and the praise and appreciation its content achieves, we overlook the ‘captain of the ship’, the film’s director, who seamlessly brings all the elements of filmmaking together in creating a successful project and 2022 brought to the front a lot of new talents that deserve a shout-out
Here’s taking a look at the directors who made a mark in 2022 and stood out for some breakthrough work:
Harshavardhan Kulkarni
Praised for bringing an actual and relatable representation of the queer community to Indian screens, Harshavardhan Kulkarni with 'Badhaai Do', produced by Junglee Pictures, gave us an entertainer that also addressed an issue that continues to remain a sad reality in the country. The filmmaker was also the first to highlight the concept of a lavender marriage between closeted individuals who make a compromise to please their families. The film was praised for normalising the subject for the average Indian family and acted as a conversation starter all while keeping the audiences entertained. In just his second film, Harshavardhan has shown tremendous maturity in handling such a complex subject and has received accolades worldwide with this Rajkummar Rao & Bhumi Pednekar starrer.
Jai Basantu Singh
The maiden venture of Bhanushali Productions ‘Janhit Mein Jaari’ directed by Jai Basantu Singh took audiences through a woman’s struggle in a man’s world while highlighting the importance of safe sex and the use of condoms. A popular name in the television world and three-time winner of the International Promax Award, Singh chose a brave subject for his Hindi film debut and took an even braver call of headlining the film with Nushratt Bharucha.
Jasmeet K Reen
Who better than a female director to understand and beautifully capture the plight of domestic abuse and that’s exactly what Jasmeet K Reen did like a pro in her dark-comedy Darlings produced by Red Chillies Entertainment and Alia Bhatt’s debut production venture Eternal Sunshine Productions. The director stayed true to her vision, undaunted by the enormity attached to the project with the names headlining it. Jasmeet made a confident debut by getting career-best performances from Alia Bhatt, Shefali Shah, Vijay Verma & Roshan Matthews.
Anirudh Iyer
An intriguing narrative of the toxic relationship of film stars with media and fans, T-Series & Colour Yellow Productions’ ‘An Action Hero’ was one of the many tales scribbled in Anirudh Iyer’s notebook. Interestingly, while crafting the narrative, the director who earlier worked as an AD on ‘Zero’ and ‘Tanu Weds Manu’ ensured he didn’t pick any sides in An Action Hero, leaving it to the audience to introspect in this David vs Goliath battle between Ayushmann Khurrana and Jaideep Ahlawat. Aniruddh handled the complex narrative with much aplomb and gave one of the best action comedy thrillers which wowed the critics. If his first film is anything to go by then this director is here to stay.
Anubhuti Kashyap
Having assisted her much-acclaimed brother Anurag Kashyap in his films, Anubhuti Kashyap learnt the ropes of filmmaking and chose to tread a different way of storytelling unlike whatever films she had worked on with Junglee Pictures ‘Doctor G’ starring Ayushmann Khurrana, Shefali Shah & Rakulpreet Singh. One of the first medical-campus comedy drama was a tale of an aspiring orthopaedic who becomes a male gyanecologist. Anubhuti was appreciated by the audience and critics alike for coming up with a well-researched story and weaving it with humour and emotions in the right balance. This debutante director is surely to watch out for what she does next.
Abhishek Pathak
What happens when a director whose debut film has gone unnoticed and in just his second film is given the reigns to direct one of the most anticipated sequels and with veteran actors like Ajay Devgn, Akshaye Khanna, Tabu & many others? You keep your calm, be self-assured and deliver one of the biggest blockbusters at the box-office in Drishyam 2. Abhishek has been in the industry from a very young age and has worked as a writer, and assistant director and also produced films with his father Kumar Mangat Pathak in Panorama Studios and ventured as a director with the 2019 film 'Ujda Chaman' and the way he has made Drishyam 2 his own has made audience & film industry to take notice of his talent and makes him a director to watch out for.
