Second time lucky directors

Second time lucky directors
2007 seems to have created a record when it comes to second time directors bringing their films to the silver screen. For most of the film makers, their second outing turned out to be better than their debut effort, both critically and commercially.

Shimit Amin - Chak De India (First film - Ab Tak Chappan)
Shimit Amin has inarguably given one of the best reviewed, appreciated and loved films of 2007. As a narrator, Shimit struck an excellent balance while interspersing his Ab Tak Chappan style of shot-taking in a Yash Raj Films setup. What could well have been a humongous task came across quite convincingly with coming together of entertainment and real emotions! For cynics, Shimit can take a bow as a director who finally made Shahrukh Khan act!

Farah Khan - Om Shanti Om (First film - Main Hoon Naa)
Main Hoon Naa was termed as shameless entertainment in spite of being a big success. Did the allegation make any difference to Farah Khan's style of film making? Yes, it did. Her Om Shanti Om only took giant leaps to be an even more unabashed manner of pushing entertainment down your throat. Status of biggest box office grosser ever notwithstanding, Om Shanti Om presented dozen odd item sequences that tied the script together for creating a circus that was amusing as well as entertaining.

Imtiaz Ali - Jab We Met (First film - Socha Na Tha)
His first film Socha Na Tha was good and his second film is fast gaining cult status! As a writer-director Imtiaz Ali was always special, as seen in Socha Na Tha. But what one got to witness in Jab We Met was a complete feel-good riot that was an amalgamation of dozens of short but effective scenes. Spicy and imaginative dialogues which were out of real life only made you grin from ear to ear.

Sriram Raghavan - Johnny Gaddaar (First film - Ek Haseena Thi)
Sriram loves thrillers. If he created a new genre with Ek Haseena Thi, he went leaps and bounds to make sure that Johnny Gaddaar was an entirely new experience for a viewer. So much was the control behind the wheel for Raghavan that he cared least about bringing his gears down even as his protagonists faced obstacles in form of speed breakers like double cross, counterfeit, death, a gambling gone wrong, petty fights, loss of moolah and last but not the least, infidelity.

Siddharth Anand - Ta Ra Rum Pum (First film - Salaam Namaste)
Ok, so the film and it's director has been a favorite punching bag this year. However, the fact is that this was Yash Raj Films' only success outside Chak De India. After a mushy Salaam Namaste, Siddharth Anand decided to go the family way while delivering a sermon on judicious spending. Banks and credit card companies may not be too happy with him though since Siddharth termed the trend of 'buy-now-pay-later' as bad! Moral of the story - "Installments are bad, going down heavy on credit cards is bad, saving is cool and spending lavishly is not so cool!"

Vivek Agnihotri - Dhan Dhana Dhan Goal (First film - Chocolate)
Director Vivek Agnihotri was panned for his first film Chocolate as critics felt that the film's narrative was too complex. With Dhan Dhana Dhan Goal, it was a Catch-22 situation for him as this time around he was accused of coming up with an overtly simplistic treatment. All said and done, audience didn't quite mind drooling over John. Coming together of the theme of sports, self-respect and international integration further added up to make Dhan Dhana Dhan Goal a decent watch.

Rahul Dholakia - Parzania (First film - Kehta Hai Dil Baar Baar)
From mushy popcorn romcom -Kehta Hai Dil Baar Baar, Rahul Dholakia took a 180 degrees turn and brought nation's attention to social and communal issues. His Parzania faced quite some problems during it's filming and even struggled to reach the theaters. Poor marketing and lack of promotion meant that only a select few eventually got an opportunity to watch the film. And those who did were left stunned. The film is now making it's presence felt in the DVD circuits.

Meghna Gulzar - Just Married (First film - Filhaal)
Her first film Filhaal was too heavy and serious for most. With Just Married, she decided to take a light hearted route though with her genetic sensibilities in place. Even though Just Married too didn't quite hit the bull's eye, it turned out to be pretty likeable with some endearing moments that stayed on with the audience. If only, the film's culmination would have been exciting and the pace a little faster, Just Married may have been the first breezy box office success for Fardeen-Esha combo!

Raksha Mistry, Hasnain Hyderabadwala - The Train (First film - The Killer)
Director duo of Raksha and Hasnain may be left wondering what went wrong with their second outing The Train. Ok, so the film had major portions of the script coming right from the English film Derailed but what mattered in the end was the entertainment qoutient that it brought along with. This Emraan Hashmi, Geeta Basra and Sayali Bhagat starrer wasn't bad and only showed an improved storytelling from the director duo who had made their debut with The Killer.

Robby Grewal - MP3 - Mera Pehla Pehla Pyaar (Samay - When Time Strikes)
Robby's first film Samay - When Time Strikes, a thriller, was all good till the last 10 minutes when the climax turned out to be a damp squib. He kept this in mind in his second outing MP3 - Mera Pehla Pehla Pyaar, a romantic comedy, and made sure that the culmination held it's ground. He extracted decent performances from newcomers Ruslaan and Hazel and made a polished product too. Sadly, the film's promotion and marketing left a lot to be desired and hardly anyone even got a chance to see this fun flick.