From Sanjay Leela Bhansali, Nitesh Tiwari to Karan D Kapadia – Directors Who Are Putting Women at the Heart of Their Stories

The time is here! Hindi cinema is seeing a game-changing shift with actresses headlining spectacles that are far from predictable. Defining this promising arc in Hindi cinema are directors who are placing these actresses at the centre, letting them shine in novel plotlines that are away from the space of rom-coms. Take a look:

Sanjay Leela Bhansali – Gangubai Kathiawadi, Padmaavat
National Award-winning filmmaker Sanjay Leela Bhansali has served a string of iconic cinematic creations, two of which include the Deepika Padukone starrer Padmaavat and Alia Bhatt starrer Gangubai Kathiawadi. Exploring agencies of womanhood across eras and period, the common factor that made both spectacles standout were female power and the sheer audacity to be undefeated.

Karan D Kapadia – Hunkkaar: The Roar
Director Karan D Kapadia recently joined this list with the upcoming, Hunkkaar – The Roar, bringing together Fatima Sana Shaikh and Aneet Padda in a world of crime, justice and fighting for what’s right and true. In a drama where Shaikh plays a determined cop against Padda who plays an assaulted victim, Hunkkaar promises to bring a story of pure grit and the unrelenting power of never giving up!

Nitya Mehra – Big Girls Don’t Cry
Nitya Mehra served Big Girls Don’t Cry alongside producer and director Karan D Kapadia, a series on Amazon Prime Video that brought together Pooja Bhatt, Aneet Padda, Mukul Chadda, Raima Sen, Zoya Hussain, Avatika Tenzin Lhakyila, and others in a coming-of-age drama that revolved around reunions and college adventures.

Amar Kaushik — Stree
Amar Kaushik placed Shraddha Kapoor in the middle of an out-of-the-box creation ever made by Hindi cinema, Stree, such that Kapoor has become synonymous with the title as well as the face of it. Through Stree, Kaushik tapped into the space of horror-comedy to display the absolute will-power of a woman to be equally deserving of respect and dignity.

Suresh Triveni — Tumhari Sulu, Jalsa
Whether Vidya Balan is playing an ambitious housewife-turned-radio jockey in Tumhari Sulu or she’s playing a renowned journalist in the thriller, Jalsa, the common link between these two worlds is Suresh Triveni, who placed the versatile powerhouse in distinct worlds that are equally impactful as they are riveting.

Nitesh Tiwari – Dangal
Nitesh Tiwari served a phenomenal creation with Dangal, headlined by Fatima Sana Shaikh and Sanya Malhotra in what marked their Bollywood big-screen debut. Through Dangal, Tiwari displayed the potential of a father to go beyond social stigmas and train his daughters in the assumed-to-be male dominated field, wrestling, to win gold medals for the country.

Vikas Bahl – Queen
Vikas Bahl’s Queen continues to remain a standout in Hindi cinema, a celebratory creation that hails women and their ability to stand for themselves despite whatever life throws at them. Kangana Ranaut headlined the world of Queen, proving that every female is an absolute Queen, with or without a King, if we may say!

Big screens or OTT, these directors are changing the game of Hindi cinema by letting actresses take charge of the evolution, and honestly, it’s working!