Zoya Akhtar Is Becoming The Bold Face Of The New Age Bollywood Here's How

Indian film director and screenwriter Zoya Akhtar is one of the most celebrated directors of the present time. Starting her career as a co-director for the music video Price of Bullets of a rock band Pentagram, Zoya has started a new trend in the world of film direction. Her career from working as a casting director for films like ‘Dil Chahta Hai’ to assistant director for her brother Farhan Akhtar’s films like ‘Lakshya’ and also as an executive producer, saw another dimension with her directional debut with ‘Luck By Chance’ in 2009. The film starred Farhan Akhtar and Konkana Sen Sharma. Although the film was not well received at the box office but it was well received by critics.

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‘Luck By Chance’ caters the story which others usually would not like to speak about. The film shows the story of how struggling actors try and make it into the film industry and also somewhat the inner look into how the industry works. Well, people, of course, would not like to reveal what actually goes in the field that they work but Zoya did. The film also has a feminist angle attached to it which somehow works out very well throughout the story line.

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Zoya’s understanding of each of her film’s character and her visual sense gives marvelous pieces of work. Her film ‘Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara’ won her the Filmfare Award for Best Director. Although people often make remarks on  Zoya’s movies being for rich people. The film features multiple stars: Hrithik Roshan, Abhay Deol, Farhan Akhtar, Katrina Kaif and Kalki Koechlin. The characters in the film go on a road trip to Spain. The film was filmed in many international locations showing kind of a rich life class. So, maybe its not wrong to call her films featuring rich people.

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Zoya Akhtar often says that her films come out from her personal experiences. There’s a depth in her writing which comes from her observations. Each of her characters has a unique aspect to them which does not let one shadow another.

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‘Dil Dhadakne Do’ again has international shooting locations and yeah, some elements like family relations that many would associate to. Even though the multi-location shooting is used by other directors too, but how Zoya uses the element of travel is commendable. She is not one them who show the location in bits and pieces which one might just search online but she takes her audience along with it, be it the ‘La Tomatina’ festival or the ‘Running of the Bulls’ in Pamplona in ‘Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara’.

Zoya is someone who packages her films with multiple stars and still each of them have their own shine in the role they are associated with. The way the character are shown to deal with different situations in the film is quite acceptable as it’s something that is a more natural way of reacting to any problem rather than pushing a melodramatic angle to the story. Like in ‘Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara’, the scenes with Arjun overcoming his water phobia and Imraan confronting his acrophobia are not stretched or overly dramatic. This is something that is actually required to come out of all the melodrama that Bollywood features like emotionally loaded scenes over small incidents, typical Bollywood style.

Farhan Khan revealed in one of his interview with a daily that it is his sister, Zoya that motivated him towards acting. Farhan says that Zoya saw his potential in acting and made him an actor.Working with so many actors, Zoya knows what she can get out of the actors and how she can do it. Farhan’s humour, wittiness can be clearly seen in the characters he played in ‘Luck By Chance’, ‘Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara’.

Zoya has excellent directorial skills. She believes in always trying something new. The song ‘Gallan Goodiyan’ was shot by Zoya in one take. The song, turning out to be an awesome track, compliments her direction.

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Her films with the spark of life, contemporary twists than mainstream Bollywood makes her work have a freshness inculcated in them. Zoya’s films have the tinge of romance, friendship, family relations, twist and turns and several other elements that one needs to complete a film.

From ‘Luck By Chance’ showcasing the film industry’s truth and struggles of the actors to ‘ZNMD’ catering friendship, love and a lift to life, ‘Dil Dhadakne Do’ telling the story of a dysfunctional Punjabi family and also in ‘Bombay Talkies’ (along with other directors) directing ‘Sheila ki Jawani’, Zoya has proved herself to be an incredible director. With Bollywood majorly dominated with male directors, Zoya Akhtar’s way of working with different cinematic edges makes her stand out and shine.