SS Rajamouli, Aditya Dhar, Rohit Shetty: Directors Who Rule The Indian Box Office

While box-office success is generally measured by actors’ stardom and pull in theaters, there are a few directors who have earned huge fan bases and insane collections due to their craft and storytelling.  

While some have been carrying their legacy because of their larger-than-life visual spectacles and aesthetics, some garnered audience appreciation for their raw and gritty narrative skills blending with commercial elements.  

SS Rajamouli
TOTAL COLLECTIONS: ₹2,559.48 crore
Rajamouli is currently the biggest filmmaker of India. He placed the country on the global map with his last movie “RRR.” The epic period action drama won the Best Original Song at the Academy Awards for “Naatu Naatu.” In his illustrious career, the filmmaker has delivered global blockbusters like “RRR” (₹782.20 crore), “Baahubali: The Beginning” (₹421 crore) and “Baahubali: The Conclusion” (₹1,030.42 crore).

Aditya Dhar
TOTAL COLLECTIONS: ₹2,233.64 crore
In his filmmaking career of just seven years, Dhar has directed three films — “Uri: The Surgical Strike” (₹244.14 crore), “Dhurandhar”( ₹840.20 crore) and “Dhurandhar: The Revenge” (₹1,149.30 crore), and all have emerged as all-time blockbusters.

Rohit Shetty
TOTAL COLLECTIONS: ₹1,867.40 crore
One of the most box office-friendly filmmakers, Rohit is known for delivering massy actioners and comedy films. In his filmography, his biggest grossers include “Singham Again” (₹247.86 crore), “Simmba” (₹240.30 crore) and “Chennai Express” (₹227.13 crore).

Sukumar
TOTAL COLLECTIONS: ₹1,830.49 crore
The director, known for conveying rooted stories along with commercial scale, garnered attention across the country after giving a countrywide hit “Pushpa: The Rise” (₹267.55 crore), followed by its sequel “Pushpa: The Rule” (₹1,234.10 crore), which emerged as a monstrous blockbuster. 

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Prashanth Neel
TOTAL COLLECTIONS: ₹1,456.39 crore
Prashanth Neel is responsible for giving Kannada cinema a pan-India status with “KGF” (₹185.24 crore) and “KGF 2” (₹859.70 crore). After delivering these two giant hits, the filmmaker again hit the bullseye with his Telugu flick “Salaar” (₹406.45 crore) starring Prabhas.

Siddharth Anand
TOTAL COLLECTIONS: ₹1,396.01 crore
Siddharth is one of the rare filmmakers who switched effortlessly from the rom-com genre to action-spectacles. After directing films like “Salaam Namaste,” “Ta Ra Rum Pum,” “Bachna Ae Haseeno” and “Anjaana Anjaani,” Anand changed to making big-screen entertainers like “Bang Bang!” (₹181.04 crore), “War” (₹318.01 crore), “Pathaan” (₹543.09 crore) and “Fighter” (₹212.79 crore).

Rajkumar Hirani
TOTAL COLLECTIONS: ₹1,210.46 crore
One of the rare filmmakers who has attracted audiences with slice-of-life storytelling blended with socially relevant themes, unlike larger-than-life spectacles by other directors. His signature films like “Munna Bhai M.B.B.S” (₹22.97 crore), “3 Idiots” (₹202.47 crore), “Sanju” (₹342.57 crore) and “PK” (₹340.80 crore) still hold a special place among cinegoers.

Ali Abbas Zafar
TOTAL COLLECTIONS: ₹1,054.62 crore
While Ali’s last film, “Bade Miyan Chote Miyan” tanked at the ticket windows, he has delivered monstrous hits like “Tiger Zinda Hai” (₹339.16 crore), “Sultan” (₹300.45 crore) and “Bharat” (₹212.03 crore), as a director. Interestingly, all three of his biggest grossers feature Salman Khan as the lead protagonist.

Rishab Shetty
TOTAL COLLECTIONS: ₹957.12 crore
The actor-director is another personality from the Kannada industry who took regional and rooted cinema to another level with “Kantara” (₹309.64 crore) and “Kantara: A Legend Chapter-1” (₹622.48 crore).

Amar Kaushik
TOTAL COLLECTIONS: ₹913.19 crore
The filmmaker is known for his rooted characters amalgamating with entertainment elements. His biggest hits include “Stree 2” (₹597.99 crore) and “Stree” (₹129.83 crore).

Sanjay Leela Bhansali
TOTAL COLLECTIONS: ₹883.73 crore
Known for his grandeur, aesthetics and intense storytelling with rich music, SLB’s iconic box-office hits include “Padmaavat” (₹302.15 crore), “Bajirao Mastani” (₹184.30 crore) and “Gangubai Kathiawadi” (₹132.01 crore).

Sandeep Reddy Vanga
TOTAL COLLECTIONS: ₹883.11 crore
The director, who often sparks debate for his provocative characters, always hits the right note among audiences and at the box office. All three films of the filmmaker, “Arjun Reddy” (₹51 crore), “Kabir Singh” (₹278.24 crore) and “Animal” (₹553.87 crore) are certified hits in the domestic market.