Debutant directors, with fresh, engaging stories, master-minded 2017's most successful films

This article is part of our 2017: A Year In Review series It was a year of the small big hits. With the exception of SS Rajamouli and Rohit Shetty, the big-ticket Bollywood filmmakers skidded past the marquee in 2017. Kabir Khan’s Tubelight and Vishal Bharadwaj’s Rangoon were indulgent epics that went on for several minutes too long and got terribly boring at various points of time. Anurag Basu’s Jagga Jasoos and Imtiaz Ali’s Jab Harry Met Sejal, though whimsical and likeable in parts, didn’t make the cut, additionally suffering from terrible press. And then there was the very strange Raabta, which made one wish debutant director Dinesh Vijan stuck to producing swish, urbane films. To the manor-bred A Kolkata-born Marwari boy brought up in Nasik, Shashank Khaitan has possibly the most pan-Indian outlook at Dharma, making him the cleverest choice to helm realistic commercial films from the banner while KJo’s pampered characters continue to slum it out like overgrown teenagers in Vienna and Paris. Amazingly, Khaitan followed up the success of his debut Humpty Sharma Ki Dulhania (2014) with a smashing sequel in 2017. Badrinath Ki Dulhania was no DDLJ hangover in Singapore, but a modern Indian love story with a man-child and a feminist, replete with naach gaana and Manish Malhotra costumes, but not limited to just that. Casting Dharma’s designer kids, Alia Bhatt and Varun Dhawan as a Jhansi-Kota couple may have been a bit of a stretch, but Khaitan milked their off-screen chemistry, and successful dodged the curse of the second half. Though he’s already on to the third of his Dulhania franchise, Khaitan’s acid test will be 2018’s Dhadak, the Hindi remake (cringe aplenty) of Sairat, with Jhanvi Kapoor and Ishaan Khattar. Whether his easy-breezy brand of cinema can manage to zing-zing-zingaat gracefully past the comparison to Sairat’s gargantuan cult status and convey class conflict with the latter’s whiplash intensity should be one of the most interesting things to look forward to next year. [caption id=“attachment_4281705” align=“alignnone” width=“825”]  Shashank Khaitan’s Badrinath Ki Dulhania (left) and Abhay Chopra’s Ittefaq (right). Images from Facebook[/caption] Khaitan may be an outsider who has worked his way into Bollywood’s golden circle, but the year saw a directorial debut of one of that much maligned species of ‘industry kids’, who snuck in quietly and efficiently. Chip off the illustrious Chopra block, Abhay Chopra’s deft handling of Ittefaq was much appreciated. The Tamil invasion Two of the year’s most adored little big hits were helmed by (gratifyingly) under-the-radar directors who’re bridging the Chennai- Mumbai-Delhi-Bareilly-Haridwar gap with hitherto unseen ease. Both RS Prasanna and Ashwiny Iyer Tiwari co-exist in a mini ecosystem that’s snapping up audience, critical and box office love right under the big fat Bollywood umbrella. Their films have plenty in common, including Ayushmann Khurrana, who seemed incapable of pulling off a single flop this year. Engineer-turned-film school gold medalist, RS Prasanna remade his own 2013 romcom Kalyana Samayal Saadham into 2017’s smash hit and universally beloved, Shubh Mangal Saavdhaan. He didn’t just translate his Tamil multiplex money spinner into a très urbane Bandra sort of film, but jumped right into the Hindi heartland and nailed the culture and nuances. It helped that he was assisted by a sterling cast and crew; from producer Aanand L Rai and debutant writer Hitesh Kewaliya to the new desi sweethearts, Khurrana and Bhumi Pednekar. Without Prasanna’s vision guiding these talents, a romcom on erectile dysfunction could have gone horribly wrong. The Chennai boy not just keeps it on track but elevates it to a heart-warming, super funny relationship in modern India. [caption id=“attachment_4281709” align=“alignnone” width=“825”]  RS Prasanna’s Shubh Mangal Saavdhaan (left) and Ashwiny Iyer Tiwari’s Bareilly Ki Barfi (right). Facebook[/caption] Adwoman Ashwiny Tiwari’s Iyer’s sophomore outing Bareily ki Barfi trod on less delicate grounds, but carried forth the promise of a fine talent evinced in her lovely 2016 debut Nil Battey Sannata. While BKB’s characters weren’t as endearing and relatable as Mudit and Sugandha (in an interview, Prasanna said Mudit is basically him, minus the ‘gent’s problem’) and Kriti Sanon in the lead was a bit of a dodgy casting, Tiwary infused a certain je ne sais quoi effervescence to the proceedings. Wild card While there were other two-three-films-old directors who made an impact this year – Saket Chaudhary helmed the delightful Hindi Medium, but it’s debatable how much of its charm should be thrown Irrfan’s way – the wild card of the year was another sophomore effort – Amit Masurkar’s Newton. Like the other standouts of the year, Newton was a true-blue collaborative effort, resting primarily on an impeccable script co-penned by Masurkar and Mayank Tewari who did double duty as actor in the former’s first film, 2014’s low-key slacker comedy Sulemani Keeda. [caption id=“attachment_4281711” align=“alignnone” width=“825”]  Amit V Masurkar’s Netwon (left) and Saket Chaudhary’s Hindi Medium (right). Facebook[/caption] An engineering dropout – all the best ones are — the Mumbai boy held together an extremely unusual (for India) political dramedy with a light, humorous touch. From potting around the jungles of Chattisgarh to prepping his film for the Oscar marathon, Masurkar’s gone places B-town’s glitziest names don’t get to go.