International Women’s Day: The very best filmmakers in Indian cinema

On International Women’s Day 2025, let’s celebrating visionary women filmmakers reshaping Indian cinema with bold, culturally rich stories

For far too long, Indian cinema has predominantly been defined by the male gaze, but a new wave of women filmmakers have been rewriting that narrative with some of the boldest, most personal, and culturally rich stories to grace screens in the country. Across languages and industries, these women have pushed boundaries, challenged conventions, and given voice to characters, themes and socio-cultural issues that might have otherwise remained in the shadows or usurped and captured through the eyes of men.

On International Women’s Day 2025, we celebrate these visionary storytellers and their landmark work, that have continued to reshape the possibilities of Indian cinema with their talent, craft, and unrelenting spirit.

Zoya Akhtar’s Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara was a road trip movie that doubled as a cultural reset for Hindi cinema. With its picturesque Spanish landscapes, heart-thumping adventure sports, and a soundtrack that boasted Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy’s generational anthems, Akhtar infused each of her three male protagonists with vulnerabilities and insecurities rarely explored in mainstream Bollywood, that were unpacked through travel and some evocative lines penned by Javed Akhtar. Akhtar’s storytelling was personal yet universal, marking her as one of the most astute chroniclers of modern urban India, a distinction she continues to hold today.

Roopa Rao’s Gantumoote was a quiet revolution in Kannada cinema — an unfiltered coming-of-age drama set in the pre-internet era of the 1990s. The film followed Meera, a studious high schooler who falls in love, only to learn that life’s greatest lessons often come with heartbreak. Rao, who had already carved a niche with The Other Love Story, India’s first web series on same-sex romance, brought a deeply personal perspective to Gantumoote. The film was a landmark in Kannada cinema.

Sudha Kongara made a statement with Soorarai Pottru. Inspired by the real-life journey of Captain G. R. Gopinath, the founder of India’s first low-cost airline, the Tamil biography was deeply cinematic. Kongara, who had previously explored underdog narratives in Irudhi Suttru, brought the same fire to Soorarai Pottru. Suriya’s performance gave the film its emotional core, but it was Kongara’s unflinching look at class disparity, the bureaucratic chokehold on innovation, and the sacrifices behind success, that elevated the story beyond a mere rags-to-riches arc. With multiple National Film Awards and a Golden Globe submission, Soorarai Pottru made Kongara one of Tamil cinema’s most fearless filmmakers.

Anjali Menon’s Bangalore Days remains a benchmark for ensemble storytelling in Malayalam cinema, capturing both the charm and chaos of big-city dreams through the eyes of three small-town cousins. Menon, who had already impressed with Manjadikuru and Ustad Hotel, made use of romance, comedy and drama in a story that resonated across generations. The film’s strength lay in its characters — played by Nivin Pauly, Dulquer Salmaan and Nazriya Nazim — and Menon’s ability to write layered women characters rarely seen in commercial films was widely praised. Nearly a decade later the warmth of Bangalore Days remains unmatched.

Nandini Reddy’s Ala Modalaindi was a breath of fresh air in Telugu cinema. The rom-com felt light on its feet yet boasted an unpredictable structure and crackling chemistry between Nani and Nithya Menen. Reddy crafted a conversational screenplay that felt spontaneous and redefined the modern Telugu love story. The film’s success paved the way for a new wave of rom-coms, making Reddy a trailblazer in an industry as hypermasculine as Tollywood, where women directors were, and still are, a rarity.