10 new Bollywood directors enter Rs 100 crore club in quick succession; ‘Good Newwz’ enters Rs 200 crore club

'Good Newwz' film poster (Image: Twitter/@akshaykumar)

2019 went down as a record-setting year for Bollywood with 17 films either entering the Rs 100 crore, Rs 200 crore or Rs 300 crore clubs.

What is even more remarkable is the fact that 10 directors made their debut in one of these clubs — something that is truly unprecedented. Let's take a look:

Sandeep Reddy Venga (Kabir Singh): Rs 278.2 crore

He may have been panned by a segment of media and audience for his approach towards telling Kabir Singh’s tale. However, he is the one laughing loudest at the end of the year, with his debut Bollywood flick turning out to be a Rs 200 crore club all-time blockbuster. In fact, with some luck, he could have entered the Rs 300 crore club.

Aditya Dhar (Uri - The Surgical Strike): Rs 244.2 crore

With his very first film, Dhar hit it out of the park. Uri - The Surgical Strike was a very well made patriotic action drama and audience, as well as critics, gave it huge thumbs up. There was no stopping for the Vicky Kaushal starrer after the first day itself and results were there for everyone to see as it ended up going past the lifetime score of even Simmba.

Jagan Shakti (Mission Mangal): Rs 203 crore

A long standing assistant of director R Balki, Jagan Shakti went ambitious with his very first film, Mission Mangal. He made sure that he got the grammar of the film correct as he successfully amalgamated sci-fi with humour, politics and drama. Rest was taken care of by Akshay Kumar, Vidya Balan and team. The result was a Rs 200 crore club blockbuster.

Raj Mehta (Good Newwz): Rs 200 crore (still running)

A long standing assistant in quite a few Dharma affairs, Raj Mehta got his big break as a director when Karan Johar and Akshay Kumar entrusted him to make Good Newwz. The film enjoyed a very good stint to begin with and then did steady business even after the holiday season. The film has already gone past the Rs 200 crore-mark and could be challenging the lifetime total of Akshay Kumar's own Mission Mangal.

Anurag Singh (Kesari): Rs 154.4 crore

Though he had made a Bollywood thriller Raqeeb over a decade ago, Anurag Singh soon moved to Punjabi cinema and delivered quite a few blockbusters there, the Jatt & Juliet series being the most notable of them. However, with Akshay Kumar, he returned to mainstream Bollywood cinema and impressed the audience with his well-crafted period battle drama Kesari.

Sujeeth (Saaho): Rs 150 crore

For his much ambitious film, straight after the release of Baahubali series, Prabhas was looking at a director who had it in him to helm a big budget action affair. Sujeeth fitted in the bill and even though the film did not quite meet the mammoth expectations that one had from it, it still did particularly well in the Hindi version to ultimately touch the Rs 150 crore milestone.

Vikas Behl (Super 30): Rs 147.3 crore

Earlier this year, it had seemed that Behl may not even get credit for his work on Super 30. However, with a turn in tide, he was acknowledged as the man who helmed Super 30 — a well deserved recognition that came his way. After making a well-received Queen, he went way ahead with Hrithik Roshan in Super 30 and hit a big century in quick time.

Raaj Shaandilyaa (Dream Girl): Rs 142.2 crore

An acclaimed writer over the years, Shaandilyaa got his big break with Ekta Kapoor when she chose to bankroll Dream Girl with Ayushmann Khurrana. The unique subject caught fancy of many a cine-goer and the results were there to be seen as audiences rolled over laughter with the funny antics and dialogues that were on display. Result? A huge commercial success.

Zoya Akhtar (Gully Boy): Rs 140 crore

She barely missed out by a whisker when her Zindagi Naa Milegi Dobara could not enter the Rs 100 crore club. After making Dil Dhadakne Do, Zoya Akhtar decided to take a gritty route with Gully Boy. What worked in her favour was perfect casting and Ranveer Singh along with Siddhant Chaturvedi and Alia Bhatt shone bright to ensure that her name entered the Rs 100 crore club.

Akiv Ali (De De Pyaar De): Rs 103.5 crore

Editor turned director Akiv Ali got his chance to call the shots when Ajay Devgn decided to back him up for De De Pyaar De. With a unique subject to boast, the filmmaker did well to mix entertainment quotient with the right message. While he was walking a tight rope, Akiv made sure that his years of experience behind the scenes counted well to result in a good success.

(Joginder Tuteja is a trade expert and film critic. Views are personal)