Top 13 Director Duos Of Bollywood Who Made It Count
Posted On: 13 Sep 2021 | Last Updated : 29 Jul 2022 | Views : 4.k
Bollywood is a place where connections and experiments matter a lot and if it works successfully then a sort of trend follows. With every Friday fates changing at the box-office and filmmakers coming up with various combinations to get the cash registers ringing one such combination is that of director duos or should we say director jodi’s who directed films together. Yes, this may sound pretty chaotic but the entertainment film industry has seen some Bollywood director duos who created special bonding with each other that spelled success for the film as well as its makers. Though there have been many lovely actor-director pairs in the industry who share a special bond, but let’s get into a rare territory of top Bollywood director duos who not only made a successful collaboration but also made it count by delivering some amazing, memorable, and hit films.
(Note: The criteria set for the list comprises of Bollywood director pairs who collaborated to two or more than two films.)
1. Abbas - Mustan
Bollywood director, producer & writer duo brothers Abbas Alibhai Burmawalla and Mustan Alibhai Burmawalla, popularly known as Abbas – Mustan are famous for their stylish suspense, action, and romantic thrillers flick in Bollywood. The duo who made their directorial debut in 1990 with Agneekaal, starring Raj Babbar, Jeetendra, Madhavi, and Sonu Walia didn’t fare well at the box-office but their next crime-thriller Khiladi (1992) starring Akshay Kumar and Ayesha Jhulka hit the bullseye and the rest as they say is history. One of Bollywood’s top director jodi’s of all time, Abbas – Mustan are also known for making Baazigar, Soldier, Ajnabee, Baadshah, Aitraaz, Humraaz, 36 China Town, Race, Race 2, Players, Kis Kisko Pyaar Karoon and Machine.
2. Raj Nidimoru – Krishna D.K.
Rated among the top 10 director duos of Bollywood, Raj Nidimoru and Krishna D.K. who are collectively known as Raj & D.K., quit their lucrative IT jobs in the US to pursue their career in filmmaking. The duo who primarily work in Hindi films write, produce, and direct feature as well as original web series under their banner D2R Films. Raj & D.K. made their directorial debut with the crime comedy 99 (2009) starring Kunal Khemu, Soha Ali Khan, Cyrus Broacha, Vinod Khanna, and Boman Irani. Thereafter they directed Shor In The City (2011), Go Goa Gone (2013), Happy Ending (2014), and A Gentleman (2017). They wrote and produced the Rajkummar Rao starrer Stree (2018) while directed The Family Man on OTT starring Manoj Bajpayee.
3. Shyam Ramsay - Tulsi Ramsay
A part of the famous Ramsay brothers - Shyam Ramsay - Tulsi Ramsay were well-known directors in the horror films genre. The Bollywood director jodi of Tulsi – Shyam made their directorial debut in 1975 with the horror flick Andheraa starring Sameer Khan, Vani Ganpati, and Imtiaz Khan. The director jodi later made over 20 films together of which some notable hits were Darwaza (1978), Saboot (1980), Dahshat (1981), Purana Mandir (1984), Saamri (1985), Veerana (1988) and Bandh Darwaza (1990). Shyam Ramsay also edited most of their films which included Guest House, Saboot, Dahshat, Purana Mandir, Veerana, etc.
4. Umesh Mehra - Latif Faiziyev
Son of producer F.C. Mehra, Umesh Mehra who was one of the top Bollywood directors of the 80s and 90s formed a formidable pair with famous Soviet filmmaker Latif Faiziyev who collaborated for three Indo-Soviet Co-Productions which included Alibaba Aur 40 Chor (1980), Sohni Mahiwal (1984) and Shikari (1991). All three films were made in Hindi as well as Russian languages with Umesh Mehra directing the Hindi version while Latif handling the Russian version. The first two films met with success at the box-office while Shikari starring Mithun Chakraborty and Naseeruddin Shah met with moderate success. Besides these films, Umesh Mehra is known for his solo directorial like Ashanti, Jaal, Kasam, Mujrim, Aashik Aawara, Sabse Bada Khiladi and Khiladiyon Ka Khiladi, etc.
5. Sajid - Farhad
Brothers Sajid Samji and Farhad Samji who were known as Farhad – Sajid are writers, actors, and directors and famous for delivering hits like the Golmaal series, Singham, Housefull series, Bol Bachchan, Himmatwala, Chashme Baddoor, Chennai Express, etc. Farhad – Sajid turned directors by collaborating for two films - It’s Entertainment and Housefull 3. Both comedy-dramas were successful at the box-office but the brother director duo split after 2017 with Farhad going solo as a director for Housefull 4 and Bachchan Pandey while Sajid Samji sticking to scriptwriting.
6. Radhika Rao- Vinay Sapru
The director duo of Radhika Rao and Vinay Sapru has come a long way since making their Bollywood directorial debut in 2005 with Lucky: No Time For Love starring Salman Khan and Sneha Ullal. The duo initially started their career by directing music videos like Kinna Sona (Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan), Gur Naal Ishq Mitha (Malkit Singh), Yaad Piya Ki Aane Lagi (Falguni Pathak), etc. before hitting the big screen. Besides directing songs for films like Dabangg, Jai Ho & Prem Ratan Dhan Payo, etc., the duo together has also directed I Love NY (2015) and Sanam Teri Kasam (2016).
7. Hasnain Hyderabadwala - Raksha Mistry
The director duo of Hasnain Hyderabadwala and Raksha Mistry formed a formidable director’s pair of Bollywood. After assisting directors Dharmesh Darshan and Vikram Bhatt, they got their first directorial break in 2006 with The Killer starring Irrfan Khan, Emraan Hashmi and Priyanka Kothari. The following year saw another thriller coming out of their baton which was The Train: Some Lines Should Never Be Crossed...(2007) starring Emraan Hashmi, Geeta Basra, and Sayali Bhagat. The third film they collaborated together was Jashnn: The Music Within, starring Adhyayan Suman, Anjana Sukhani, and Shahana Goswami. The dismal show of Jashnn made the duo split with Hasnain going solo with Ya Rab (2014) and Sweetiee Weds NRI (2017).
8. Aruna Raje - Vikas Desai
The director - duo of Aruna Raje and Vikas Desai doesn’t just feature in the list of Bollywood’s husband-wife director jodi’s but also the top 10 Bollywood director duos. The husband-wife director jodi is one of the rare husband-wife director pairs who not just directed but also edited their films competently. Some of their well-known works have been Shaque (1976), Gehrayee (1980) and Sitam (1982), etc. After the duo’s separation, Aruna Raje directed and edited films individually which included Rihaee (1988), Bhairavi (1996) and Tum: A Dangerous Obsession (2004).
9. Sheershak Anand - Shantanu Ray Chhibber
Many of us may have not noticed this director duo in Bollywood namely - Sheershak Anand and Shantanu Ray Chhibber who had directed two films together so far, one being the Kunal Khemu starrer Guddu Ki Gun (2015) and the other being sci-fi mystery thriller 3G: A Killer Connection (2013) starring Neil Nitin Mukesh and Sonal Chauhan. The duo has also written their directorial films besides Table No. 21 (2013) and Alone (2015).
10. R. Krishnan – S. Panju
R. Krishnan and S. Panju who was famous as the Krishnan – Panju director duo were well known for their family dramas in Hindi, Tamil and Telugu cinema in the 50s, 60s and 70s. S. Panju along with R. Krishnan churned out some unforgettable Hindi social family dramas like Bhabhi (1957), Barkha (1959), Bindiya (1960), Man-Mauji (1962), Mera Qasoor Kya Hai (1964), Laadla (1966), Do Kaliyan (1968), Shaandaar (1974), etc. S. Panju who was also, a well-known editor edited most of their own films and went by the name of S. Punjabi.
11. Ved – Madan
The lesser-known producer-director duo of Bollywood – Ved and Madan who was known as Ved – Madan had also collaborated together to make films like Kala Aadmi (1960), First Love (1961), Neeli Aankhen (1962), Haye Mera Dil (1968), and Sau Saal Beet Gaye (1970). Though not many know about their full names but they had worked with some well-known stars of the 50s and 60s. The duo was also prominent in Punjabi films.
12. Dinesh – Ramnesh
One of the top director jodi's of Bollywood was H. Dinesh and Ramnesh Puri who was commonly known as Dinesh – Ramnesh had collaborated together to make some decent action flicks in the 70s which include Raftaar (1975), Bhookh (1978), Aakhri Kasam (1979), Zulm Ki Pukar (1979), Lakhan (1979), and Ladaaku (1981). The director duo split thereafter to go solo where Ramnesh Puri directed Madadgaar (1987), Tejaa (1990), and Tum Jiyo Hazaron Saal (2002) while H. Dinesh directed the Shashi Kapoor, Zeenat Aman and Shatrughan Sinha starrer Bhavani Junction (1985).
13. Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh - Honey Preet Singh
The director duo of the so-called father and daughter Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh - Honey Preet Singh was jointly credited for directing two movies which included Jattu Engineer (2017) and Hind Ka Napak Ko Jawab (2017). Though the self-acclaimed godman Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh was credited with more than 40 departments of movie-making had earlier directed solo films like MSG the Warrior: Lion Heart, MSG 2 the Messenger, and MSG: The Messenger of God which was released in 2015.
