From Ranveer Singh’s Dhurandhar franchise to Shah Rukh Khan’s Jawan and Ranbir Kapoor’s Animal, Bollywood’s biggest theatrical successes highlight the growing influence of filmmakers in creating box-office spectacles.
Swati Bhat
Bollywood has long celebrated its superstars as the driving force behind record-breaking box-office collections. Yet, behind every blockbuster opening lies another crucial creative force: the director who transforms a star-led film into a theatrical event.
From high-octane action spectacles to emotionally charged dramas and gripping thrillers, filmmakers such as Aditya Dhar, Atlee, Sandeep Reddy Vanga, Abhishek Pathak and Ali Abbas Zafar represent distinct approaches to mainstream Indian cinema. Their films demonstrate that while star power can generate enormous anticipation, storytelling, presentation, music, marketing and the director's cinematic vision help determine how that anticipation translates into ticket sales.
The conversation also reflects a changing Bollywood landscape, where audiences increasingly respond to the complete cinematic experience rather than a leading actor's presence alone.
Aditya Dhar: Building the Dhurandhar Phenomenon
With Dhurandhar and its sequel, Dhurandhar: The Revenge, filmmaker Aditya Dhar has expanded his reputation as a director of large-scale, action-driven cinema. Dhar first attracted widespread attention with Uri: The Surgical Strike, starring Vicky Kaushal. His filmmaking combines military and intelligence themes with tightly constructed action sequences and dramatic storytelling.
The Ranveer Singh-led Dhurandhar franchise represents a significant step up in scale, positioning Dhar among the filmmakers capable of delivering ambitious Hindi-language theatrical productions. Beyond the box-office conversation, Dhar's trajectory reflects the commercial potential of films that combine established stars with a clearly identifiable directorial vision.
Atlee: Bringing Mass Entertainment to a National Audience
When Atlee joined forces with Shah Rukh Khan for Jawan, the collaboration brought together two powerful elements: one of Hindi cinema's biggest superstars and a filmmaker known for emotionally charged, larger-than-life entertainers.
Jawan reportedly collected ₹286.16 crore in its opening weekend in India, across languages, establishing itself as one of the major theatrical successes of 2023.
For Atlee, already an established name in Tamil cinema, the film marked a successful Hindi directorial debut. Its blend of elaborate action, emotional storytelling, social themes and Shah Rukh Khan's multiple appearances created an entertainment package designed for a broad audience.
The success of Jawan also reinforced the increasing creative exchange between Hindi and South Indian commercial cinema.
Sandeep Reddy Vanga: Turning a Polarising Narrative into a Box-Office Event
Few contemporary Hindi films have generated the combination of commercial success and intense public debate associated with Animal.
Directed by Sandeep Reddy Vanga and starring Ranbir Kapoor, the A-rated action drama reportedly earned ₹201.76 crore during its opening weekend in India.
Rather than following a conventional crowd-pleasing formula, Vanga built the film around a deeply troubled protagonist, turbulent family relationships and extreme violence. The narrative attracted criticism and sparked conversations about the portrayal of masculinity, even as the film achieved substantial commercial success.
Animal demonstrated that a director's distinctive style can become a major selling point, particularly when supported by a star willing to take on an unconventional screen persona. Its commercial performance, however, does not diminish the debate surrounding its content. Instead, it illustrates how audience curiosity, controversy and strong pre-release awareness can intersect in the theatrical marketplace.
Abhishek Pathak: The Commercial Strength of the Drishyam Franchise
Filmmaker Abhishek Pathak established his credentials in mainstream suspense cinema with Drishyam 2, starring Ajay Devgn.
The film capitalised on the audience's familiarity with Vijay Salgaonkar and the unresolved consequences of his family's past, while building fresh tension around a story rooted in secrecy, guilt and survival.
Unlike spectacle-driven action films, the Drishyam franchise relies on narrative twists, psychological tension and the emotional investment audiences have developed in its central characters. Pathak's work underlines an important commercial lesson: suspense can be as compelling a theatrical proposition as large-scale action when the story and audience expectations are handled effectively. The franchise also illustrates the long-term value of recognisable intellectual property in Hindi cinema, where an established storyline can sustain audience interest across multiple instalments.
Ali Abbas Zafar: When Salman Khan's Stardom Met Emotional Storytelling
Long before the present wave of pan-Indian action spectacles, Ali Abbas Zafar delivered a major commercial success with Salman Khan's Sultan.
Released during the Eid holiday period in 2016, Sultan combined Salman Khan's established mass appeal with the story of a wrestler confronting personal loss, professional setbacks and the possibility of redemption.The film reportedly collected ₹180.36 crore during its extended five-day opening weekend in India. What distinguished Sultan was its ability to balance the expectations associated with a Salman Khan release against the emotional structure of a sports drama. The wrestling sequences provided spectacle, but the protagonist's personal journey gave the film its dramatic foundation.
For Zafar, the success reinforced the value of pairing superstar appeal with accessible, emotionally engaging storytelling.
Beyond the Numbers: Why Directors Matter More Than Ever
The films associated with these directors belong to different genres and cinematic traditions, yet they share an important characteristic: each offers audiences a distinct reason to experience the story on the big screen.
Atlee's mass entertainment, Vanga's provocative character-driven drama, Dhar's large-scale action storytelling, Pathak's suspense and Zafar's emotional sports narrative demonstrate the diversity of filmmaking approaches capable of attracting theatrical audiences. Their achievements also challenge the idea that opening-weekend success can be explained by star power alone. Release timing, ticket pricing, screen availability, franchise familiarity, promotional campaigns and audience anticipation all influence opening collections. A filmmaker's contribution lies in shaping these elements into a cinematic proposition that audiences find compelling. As Hindi cinema continues to compete for attention in an increasingly crowded entertainment market, the relationship between directors and stars is becoming central to the business of theatrical filmmaking.
The superstar may command the spotlight, but the director gives the spectacle its identity. And in Bollywood's evolving box-office landscape, that creative partnership remains one of the most powerful ingredients of a blockbuster.
