This mild-mannered director polarises audiences like no other: You either love or hate an Imtiaz Ali film. Ali can be credited with the return of the love story in Bollywood, when his Jab We Met (2007) drew parallels with cult movies like Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge. This year he directed Highway, which is an extension of a telefilm he had made for a TV channel 15 years ago, and earned critical acclaim.
Fast Fact: He set up Ibtida, the dramatics society of Delhi's Hindu College, in the mid-90s. It's still a well-known theatre group in Delhi's college circuit.