Female Hindi Film Directors and their achievements

Reema Kagti is a well-known Indian movie director who made her debut with the 2006 film, ‘Honeymoon Travels Pvt Limited’. As a child she had the aspiration of being someone like Amitabh Bachchan.

She completed her Bachelor of Arts in Literature from the reputed Sophia College in Mumbai. Apart from this, Reema also did a post graduate diploma course in the field of Social Communications Media at Sophia Polytechnic.
part of the Excel Entertainment camp (how many times have we mentioned we’re Farhan Akhtar fans?) made her impressive debut in 2007 with the quirky Honeymoon Travels Pvt Ltd. Now she’s back in the news for her Aamir-Rani-Kareena blockbuster Talaash, which has a big buzz and made for even bigger box office returns. Known for her creativity and surprise twists, we can’t wait to see what Reema does next.

Rajshree Ojha is an Indian film director and story writer.
She made her commercial mark with the Sonam Kapoor starrer Aisha, but tends toward a more honest, authentic type of story-telling, which we saw in her latest release Chaurahen. Rajshree’s work displays her passion for portraying real characters and relationships onscreen.

Kiran Rao is an Indian film producer, screenwriter, and director
Kiran’s directorial debut set the stage for her husband, Aamir Khan, to portray a vastly different type of role than we’ve ever seen him in before. In a fiercely independent style, Kiran wrote and directed a film showing Mumbai and her protagonists in such a gentle, genuine way – although not a commercial blockbuster, Dhobi Ghat was a big festival favorite and much loved among the indie crowd

Farah Khan was born on 9 January 1965 Farah and Sajid were shuttled between different homes.[3] Film personalities Farhan Akhtar and Zoya Akhtar are Farah's cousins.
As one of Bollywood’s most well known choreographers of all time, Farah’s directorial style is very similar to the elaborate item numbers that have stolen our hearts for years. Relying on simple screenplays, lavish sets and lots of fun, fans have adored Farah films for years.

Zoya started her career as an actress in Kamasutra movie, where she played one of the disciples of Rekha. Zoya has worked on a number of commercials including Pepsi and Finolex. She has co-directed a music video called "Price of Bullets" for a rock band. She has worked as a casting director for films including Dil Chahta Hai, Kamasutra: A Tale of Love and Split Wide Open, and as an assistant director for her brother Farhan's films, Lakshya and Dil Chahta Hai. She then worked as an executive producer for her longtime friend Reema Kagti's Honeymoon Travels Pvt. Ltd., also produced by Excel

Cleverly starring her famous director/brother Farhan in both of her films, Zoya’s impressive debut Luck By Chance showcased the industry we all love and hate in equal measure, and provided a very poignant look behind the scenes of Bollywood. Her follow-up, the star-laden Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara, was the biggest hit of Summer 2011. Zoya (who also co-wrote Talaash with Reema Kagti) is a force in the industry to be watched.

Mehta was born in Amritsar, Punjab, India,[2] though her family moved to New Delhi while she was still a child, and her father worked as a film distributor.[1] Subsequently, Mehta attended Welham Girls High School, a boarding school for girls in Dehradun[3] and graduated from the Lady Shri Ram College for Women, University of Delhi with a degree in philosophy.
Though Deepa Mehta doesn’t quite classify as “Bollywood”, we still felt she needed to be included on our list. This talented (and sometimes controversial) filmmaker caused a huge ruckus when she released Fire in India in 1998, setting off a wave of protests as people objected to the themes of homosexuality in the film. Her film Water also set off a wave of protests in Sri Lanka which conflicted with filming, but the film was later nominated for an Oscar. A prominent figure on the Canadian film scene, Deepa’s brand of cinema holds no bounds when it comes to her desire to tell a story – this director has impressed the world with her films, and her latest, an epic adaptation of Salman Rushdie’s novel Midnight’s Children, is well worth the watch.

Aparna Sen was born in Calcutta to a Bengali family, originally from East Bengal (now Bangladesh). Her father is the veteran critic and filmmaker Chidananda Dasgupta. Her mother Supriya Dasgupta is the cousin of renowned Bengali poet Jibanananda Das. She spent her childhood in Hazaribagh and Kolkata and had her schooling in Modern High School for Girls, Kolkata, India.
Aparna Sen, famous Bengali actress, writer and filmmaker, has been directing films for more than 30 years. We can’t quite classify her as “Bollywood” either, but she’s been a serious force in India’s art cinema for a long time, with well known films like 36 Chowringhee Lane and Paroma. Our personal fave: Mr. and Mrs. Iyer, which starred her daughter Konkona Sen Sharma alongside Rahul Bose in a story about Hindu-Muslim sectarian violence.

Mira Nair was born on 15 October 1957 in Rourkela, Odisha.[19] Nair lives in New York City near Columbia University, where she is an adjunct professor in the Film Division of the School of Arts, and where her second husband, Professor Mahmood Mamdani, also teaches
Another director with an Oscar nominated film (Salaam Bombay!), Mira may be the most internationally renowned director on our list. A true story teller, Mira has showcased films on a wide variety of topics, some representing India and some very mainstream Hollywood stories. We can’t choose a favorite, so we recommend watching all her films!

Anusha Rizvi (born 13 March 1978) is an Indian film director and Screenwriter.Anusha burst onto the film scene in 2010 with the satirical Peepli Live, which boldly dealt with the subject of farmer suicides in India. We love to see a director take on a subject they’re truly passionate about, and Anusha proved herself to be a fearless first-time filmmaker. Her next project (which we’re quite excited for): an adaptation of Amitav Ghosh’s epic novel Sea of Poppies.

Leena Yadav is a Bollywood filmmaker – director, editor, producer, and writer.Although her debut film, Shabd, failed to make a box office impact, her second film Teen Patti was a high profile multi-starrer with Amitabh Bachchan and Ben Kingsley, among others. Just like her gambling characters in Teen Patti, Leena isn’t afraid to take risks in cinema – an admirable quality for any filmmaker to possess. We’ll be eagerly looking out for her next project.
That’s all for this week – we know there are many more talented female directors to add to the above list, so please let us know who your favorites are, and what your favorite films have been!