Top 10 Most Popular Indian Directors of 2025

Mohit Suri (born 11th of April 1981, India) is a film director, as well as an assistant director and member of the Bhatt family. His uncle is director Mahesh Bhatt and his cousin is actor Emraan Hashmi who has starred in three of his films. His sister Smilie Suri has also appeared in his film Kalyug.

He made his debut as a director with the 2005 film Zeher which was a moderate success. It followed it up with Kalyug (2005) which was both a critical and commercial success. His third film Woh Lamhe (2006) did not do as well but was critically acclaimed. His recent release Awarapan (2007) has also been critically acclaimed but has not done well at the box office

Aryan Khan was born on 13th November, 1997 in New Delhi to Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan and producer Gauri Khan. His siblings are Suhana Khan & AbRam Khan. He is an Indian actor and model in the Bollywood industry. He made his debut as a child artist by playing his father's role's younger version in Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham... (2001). He also dubbed the voice of Simba in the Hindi version of Disney's live-action fantasy film The Lion King (2019). He is also known for working in The Incredibles (2004) and Flour Baby (2019).

Lokesh Kanagaraj is an Indian film director who works primarily in the Tamil film industry who started his film career with the 2016 anthology film called Aviyal.He was born in Kinathukadavu, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, India. He majored in fashion technology before pursuing his MBA. He was an ex bank employee. He pursued his passion which is towards film making by participating in a corporate short film competition. The judge of the competition was director Karthick Subbaraj. He then encouraged Lokesh to continue making films.

Anurag Singh Kashyap (born 10 September 1972) is an Indian film director, producer and screenwriter. Kashyap made his directorial debut with as yet unreleased Paanch, with Kay Kay Menon as the lead. As a filmmaker, he is known for Black Friday (2004), a controversial and award-winning Hindi film about the 1993 Mumbai bombings, followed by No Smoking (2007), Dev D (2009), Gulaal (2009), That Girl in Yellow Boots (2011) and Gangs of Wasseypur (2012). As a screenwriter, he wrote the scripts for the Filmfare Award-winning Satya (1998) and the Academy Award-nominated Canadian film Water (2005). He founded his film production company, Anurag Kashyap Films Pvt. Ltd. in 2009.

Prithviraj Sukumaran (born 16 October 1982), credited mononymously as Prithviraj, is an Indian actor, playback singer and producer best known for his work in Malayalam films. He has also acted in a number of Tamil, Telugu and Hindi films.

Prithviraj Sukumaran was born in Thiruvananthapuram to actors Sukumaran and Mallika Sukumaran. His initial schooling was at Shrine Vailankanni Senior Secondary School, T. Nagar, Chennai and St.Joseph's Boys' Hr.Sec.School, Coonoor, since the family was settled at Tamil Nadu that time. Later when the family shifted to Kerala he had his education from The NSS Public School Perunthanni, St.Mary's Residential Central School, Poojappura (which was near his home at Chengallur) where he acted in various plays and skits for the school's Annual Day Celebrations. He completed the rest of his school education at Sainik School Kazhakoottam and Bharathiya Vidya Bhavan, Thiruvananthapuram. Prithviraj, along with his brother Indrajith Sukumaran. He also participated in debates and elocution competitions while in school. Prithviraj won the title of "Mr LA Fest" in the Annual Inter-School arts festival hosted by Loyola School, Thiruvananthapuram in successive years and is the only person to date to win that title twice.

While pursuing his bachelor's degree in Information Technology at the University of Tasmania, Australia, he was called for a shot in the movies by film director Ranjith Balakrishnan to play the lead role in his film Nandanam. It was Fazil, a well known Malayalam film director, who introduced him to Ranjith. After his performance in Nandanam, he decided to take a break from studies to concentrate on his film career.

Prithviraj Sukumaran's elder brother Indrajith Sukumaran and sister-in-law Poornima Indrajith are also film actors.

RS Prasanna is an acclaimed Indian filmmaker who made his debut in 2013 with a rather unconventional Tamil romantic comedy Kalyana Samayal Saadham, a story about a man suffering from erectile dysfunction. The film was well-received by the audience and critics, making it critically and commercially successful. In 2017, Kalyana Samayal Saadham was adapted and remade in Hindi as Shubh Mangal Saavdhan, also directed by Prasanna. The Hindi remake, which was produced by Anand L Rai's Color Yellow Productions, broke barriers and emerged as a blockbuster. Prasanna was recognised for his technical and creative prowess, which got him nominated for the Best Debut Director award in Zee Cine Awards. Rajeev Masand selected Shubh Mangal Saavdhan as one of the Top 5 films in 2017 and Prasanna was featured in Rajeev Masand's Directors' Roundtable alongside SS Rajamouli of Bahubali fame. Prasanna also produced and directed, On A Quest, a biopic on Swami Chinmayananda Saraswathi, the teacher who inspired the formation of the Chinmaya Mission. The film used amateur actors from Chinmaya Mission and was released on Swami Chinmayananda Saraswathi's 100th birth anniversary in 2015.

Anurag Basu, a Bollywood director and writer explores relationships and adversity on reel. He had his share of tough times when he was diagnosed with leukemia.

Basu directed television serials among which is Tara (1993), which became one of the first soap operas on Indian television. He also directed Balaji Telefilms' Koshish Ek Aasha (1997) and Miit (2002), which was based on Rabindranath Tagore's Noukadubi.

He made his debut in movies with Kucch Toh Hai (2003). It starred Tusshar Kapoor and Esha Deol. The movie wasn't anywhere near a major success. He made movies under the Vishesh Films banner. Saaya (2003) belonged to the supernatural genre about a doctor who communicates with his dead wife through his patients. It starred John Abraham and Tara Sharma.

Murder (2004) was based on Hollywood's hit Unfaithful. It starred Emraan Hashmi and Mallika Sherawat. The movie along with it's soundtrack became a big success. During the filming of his next movie Tumsa Nahin Dekhan (2004), Basu was diagnosed with blood cancer. The movie was later completed by Mohit Suri and Mahesh Bhatt.

In 2006, Anurag Basu came back to make Gangster with Emraan Hashmi, Kangana Ranaut and Shiney Ahuja. It was supposed to be based on Abu Salem's real life affair with actress Monica Bedi. The movie did well.

It was followed by the critically acclaimed Life in a Metro.

He wrote the screenplays for Gangster, Life in a Metro and Kites and won the Filmfare Best Screenplay Award for Life in a Metro.

Dominic Arun is known for Tharangam (2017), Mrithyumjayam (2016) and Credo (2014).

Laxman Utekar was born in India. He is known for Mimi (2021), Chhaava (2025) and Hindi Medium (2017).

Neeraj Ghaywan is an award-winning Indian filmmaker whose work has been recognised globally for its emotional fervour and powerful socio-political themes. His debut feature, Masaan, premiered at the 2015 Cannes Film Festival in the Un Certain Regard section, where it won both the FIPRESCI Prize and the Promising Future Award. The film went on to play at over 30 international festivals and is considered a modern Indian classic. Since then, Neeraj has built a distinct body of work across film and long-form streaming, often centering his narratives around caste, class, gender, and identity. In 2022, he was featured in Variety's 'International Directors to Watch' and continues to be one of the few Indian filmmakers whose work has both critical acclaim and cultural impact across borders. He is also among the most visible voices in Indian cinema speaking about identity and the politics of representation in mainstream media. With Homebound, Executive Produced by Martin Scorsese, Neeraj made a long-awaited return to the Cannes Film Festival in 2025, resenting a deeply personal and emotionally resonant film in the Un Certain Regard category. Marked by his trademark use of performance and silence, the film offers a quiet reckoning that has become distinctly his. Following its Cannes premiere, Homebound also screened at the 2025 Toronto International Film Festival, where it was voted the second runner-up for the International People's Choice Awards. Homebound is India's official entry to the 2026 Academy Awards.