SOFIA COPPOLA

Unlike her father (Francis Ford Coppola) who made a splash with gunshots, she speaks through the silences. Her muted brush strokes work as magically in a karaoke bar in Japan as they do in Versailles during the French Revolution.

Also because: What a stunner herself!

Fave: Lost in Translation

WONG KAR-WAI

Frames you can make love to. Actors who are breathtakingly beautiful. Pure, unadulterated passion. His films are almost like feelings. And like feelings, they don’t always find their closure.

Also because: How cool he looks in those shades!

Fave: In the Mood for Love

WES ANDERSON

You can try to do a Wes Anderson film but you can never really do a Wes Anderson film like Wes Anderson can. Almost a genre of his own, the quirky humour, the crazy characters and the absurd situations make for such arresting cinema.

Also because: He always casts Bill Murray!!

Fave: The Royal Tenenbaums

pedro almodovar

No one can bend genres like Pedro. In the middle of a movie, a comedy can turn into a tragedy, a thriller into a romance. Whatever be the mood, the Spanish director makes it layered and rich and sometimes deliciously sinful.

Also because: He frequently casts Penelope Cruz!

Fave: Talk To Her

RICHARD LINKLATER

For any man to have written and directed the three Before movies — Before Sunrise, Before Sunset and Before Midnight — he can march into any list he wishes to. Plus Slacker, Dazed and Confused and School of Rock... that’s one strong filmography!

Also because: He gave us Julie Delpy at 26, at 35 and now at 44!

Fave: Before Sunset

ANG LEE

Whether it’s about two men passionately in love or Chinese warriors fighting over treetops or a boy lost at sea with a tiger, he can bring alive just about any premise. And add so much heart to it.

Also because: The story of his rise is so inspirational.

Fave: Brokeback Mountain

alfonso cuAron

Not just because of his Gravity pull. It all started with that sexy Y Tu Mama Tambien and then he made the little switch from Mexico to Hollywood serving up the best Harry Potter film, The Prisoner of Azkaban. That was followed by the apocalyptic Children of Men and now comes the groundbreaking Gravity.

Also because: How brilliantly he does those long, single-shot scenes.

Fave: Y Tu Mama Tambien

christopher nolan

The man who makes dreams come true on screen. Literally so. From obscure indie projects like Following to big studio superhero films like The Dark Knight, Nolan’s worked his magic on everything. A modern master at this game called moviemaking.

Also because: How he suits up for his shoots!

Fave: Inception

JOEL & ETHAN COEN

Like Wes, they are a genre themselves. Things happen in the Coen’s world that happen nowhere else. Characters walk and talk in the Coen world like they do nowhere else. And these brothers give you a cinematic experience like no one else can.

Also because: They are so matter-of-fact about it all!

Fave: The Big Lebowski

FARHAN AKHTAR

When he made Dil Chahta Hai at 27, he not only created some of the best buddy moments in cinema, he gave wings to so many young dreamers. Today he might have made a successful switch to acting, but his style and verve as a filmmaker is still right up there as he continues to be the most exciting voice around.

Also because: He is the man behind MARD.

Fave: Dil Chahta Hai

MANI RATNAM

Barring a Rituparno Ghosh, no one in Indian cinema can depict human relationships better than him. His movies boast of superior frames and unforgettable songs and terrific performances, but at the core it’s his understanding of relationships that makes his films so moving, so warm. He is due for much more.

Also because: He gave us A.R. Rahman.

Fave: Iruvar

Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu

His death trilogy (more like one-incident-multiple-lives trilogy) — Amores Perros, 21 Grams and Babel — changed the way cinema perceived time, space and perspective. It took the Pulp Fiction narrative style to the next level.

Also because: After Babel, he went back to his Mexican roots and made Biutiful.

Fave: Amores Perros

MIRA NAIR

For anybody to have made a Salaam Bombay!, a Monsoon Wedding and a Namesake is enough to put that maker in the top drawer of the director closet. But what makes her special is the handcrafted feel she brings to her films. You can always sense she is right there to the left of the frame making the scene her very own.

Also because: She always sends her salaams to Ray and Ghatak.

Fave: The Namesake

quentin tarantino

That crazy genius! His impact on filmmakers across the world in the last decade has been so deep that scenes and scenarios have become B.T. and A.T. (Before Tarantino and After Tarantino). But no one can write dialogues like him. But no one can reference classics like him. But no one can make a Quentin Tarantino film.

Also because: He is still a movie geek.

Fave: Kill Bill (the two volumes together)

PAUL THOMAS ANDERSON

He’s made just six films in 17 years and each one of them has packed a wallop. From the “big bright shining star” in Boogie Nights to the raining frogs in Magnolia to “I drink your milkshake” in There Will Be Blood to the sheer mastery in The Master, PTA is one of the few true auteurs left in cinema.

Also because: He attended film school for two days and learnt the craft by watching movies!

Fave: Magnolia

tim burton

Adding beauty to the bizarre and gorging on the grotesque, all his life has been spent in celebrating madness. And what madness! His films are like crazy rides through hidden museums in lost periods, a helluva visceral trip every time.

Also because: He is Mr Helena Bonham Carter!

Fave: Ed Wood

CLINT EASTWOOD

Like great whisky, he keeps getting better with age. His directorial career has been a more studied approach than his acting blitz and he’s crafted some of the best screen dramas in the last couple of decades. His greatest strength is the humanity he brings to his films.

Also because: He’s still the coolest guy in the business.

Fave: Mystic River

WOODY ALLEN

If Clinty got better with age, this little big man has been in electric form in his 70s, dishing out one classic after the other. His humour remains as witty as ever and his characters continue to speak like him. And he’s moved his delicious frames from Manhattan to Barcelona and Paris and Rome.

Also because: He refused to release his film in India because of the smoking disclaimer.

Fave: Annie Hall

JASON REITMAN

He’s made four films and all four are terrific in their own way. Juno and Up in the Air are the popular ones but Thank You For Smoking and Young Adult are equally well crafted. He’s just 36 and set for a great innings at the movies; worth putting your money on.

Also because: He’s really cool on Twitter.

Fave: Juno

david fincher

The guy who made Se7en is the same guy who made Fight Club is the same guy who made Zodiac is the same guy who made Benjamin Button is the same guy who made The Social Network is the same guy who made The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. Love this same guy!

Also because: He directed Madonna’s Vogue video.

Fave: Se7en