1. Ashutosh Gowariker who made a name for himself with“Lagaan” and “Swades” started off with a couple of movies which were rip offs of Hollywood flicks. Baazi had shades of Die Hard, but his first movie PehlaNasha was a total lift of which Brian De Palma thriller.
BODY DOUBLE
.2. He did his Masters in Chemical Tech from Atlanta and worked as an environmental consultant till his return to India in 1997. He had done an acting course at Warehouse Actor’s Theater in Atlanta and in 1995 co-produced and directed a short movie One Culture at atime. He produced and directed his first movie withthe money he made from his career in US on a shoestring budget of 40,000 $.
NAGESH KUKUNOOR
3. Born in Panipat, he graduated from AMU in 1933.From 1935-47 he worked as film critic for BombayChronicle. From 1941-86, he is famous for “The LastPage” the longest running political column in India.He made his directorial debut with Dharti Ke Lal in1946.
K.A.ABBAS
4. Born in Ajmer, he started his career as acartoonist with Blitz magazine. He was the asst director for Teesri Kasam and Saraswati Chandra. His first movie as a director Sara Akash(1970) was aserious off beat movie. But his later movies were mostly frothy, light comedies. He is also famous for his TV serials Kakaji Kahin and Byomkesh Bakshi.
BASU CHATERJEE
5. His first directorial venture was a short movie inGujarati Gher Betha Ganga(1962). His first two movies were a damning criticism of India’s feudal village society. He is also related to Guru Dutt. Initially from advertising industry, he produced over 900 ads and is the founder of the Hyderabad Film Society.
SHYAM BENEGAL
6. He graduated in Physics from Delhi University in1970 and his first movie as a director was a short documentary Rhythms of the Land and its People. His first two movies were diametrically opposite, one was a feel good movie about a football coach, and the other one was an expose of the brutal feudalism inBihar. He also made a TV series which was based on“The Life of Walter Mitty”.
PRAKASH JHA
7. Born in Lahore, he did his MA in English Lit fromLahore University. He started his movie career writing reviews for Cine Herald. He migrated to Mumbai after partition and his first movie as a producer Karwat in1949 was a flop. He hit success with his 1951 movie Afsana starring Ashok Kumar, and in 1955 he started his own production firm with release of Ek Hi Raasta.
B.R.CHOPRA
8. Ketan Mehta started out as a director with this landmark movie in 1980, which he dedicated to BertoltBrecht, Goscinny and Underzog, and Asait Thakore. The movie is in form of a group of Harijans who migrate to a city for a night. Name the movie.
BHAVNI BHAVAI
9. He is an alumnus of BITS Pilani and he runs his own production house called Bhairav Productions. Heprefers to work from his Banjara Hills Studio. He started off as a director for Telugu serials onDoordarshan. His first Hindi movie was a thriller set against Indo Pak backdrop and did moderately well. His second movie a supernatural thriller, was however a major turkey at the Box office.
MANI SHANKAR
10. Born on Dec 29.1917 at Asal Guru Ke near Lahore,he was adopted by his maternal grandmother who changedhis real name Chandramauli. .In 1933 he published Pritam Pariksha a piece of prose poetry when he was just 16. He won the title of Munshi Fazal in Persian from Lahore University. In the 1940’s he wrote Diaryof a TB patient based on his experiences as a TBpatient in a Srinagar sanatorium. And he finally made his screen debut writing the story and screenplay forRaj Kapoor’s Barsaat in 1951.
RAMANAND SAGAR
