Bollywood filmmakers taking a big risk...

Rohit Shetty, Bhushan Patel and Apoorva Lakhia

In an industry that generally doesn't think twice before casting off a failure, a bunch of film-makers were fortunate enough to get producers to invest in a second film, in spite of their first film being a disaster at box office.

Bhushan Patel

Debut film: Starting out as a cameraman in Bollywood, Patel worked in the industry for nearly two decades before getting his first break with the 2012 film, 1920 Evil Returns. A flop.
Second chance: His second film, Ragini MMS2, released last week, and has done well so far at the box office. Sanjay Gupta has now signed him on to direct a film; a supernatural thriller.

Sabbir Khan

Debut film: Khan's first film was the ambitious Kambakht Ishq in 2009. It starred Akshay Kumar and Kareena Kapoor and had cameos by Hollywood stars like Sylvester Stallone and Denise Richards. The film was a big disaster.
Second chance: His upcoming film, Heropanti, stars debutant Tiger Shroff, and is slated to release in May this year.

Navdeep Singh

Debut film: An ad filmmaker, Singh's directorial debut, Manorama Six Feet Under (2007), was appreciated but it failed to make an impact at the BO.
Second chance: He is now making NH10, starring Anushka Sharma and Neil Bhoopalam. Sharma is also the film's producer.

Rensil D'Silva

Debut film: The writer of films like Rang De Basanti and Aks turned director with Kurbaan (2009) that starred Saif Ali Khan and Kareena Kapoor. The film didn't do well at the box office.
Second chance: He has been signed on to direct Ungli that has Emran Hashmi, Sanjay Dutt and Randeep Hooda in lead roles. He also directed the TV series 24 that was produced by Anil Kapoor.

Kaushik Ghatak

Debut film: He has been associated with the television industry since 1999. He has directed serials like Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi. The 2008 film, Ek Vivah Aisa Bhi, marked his directorial debut and received lukewarm response at the BO.
Second chance: His second film, Samrat &Co, stars Rajeev Khandelwal and Madalasa Sharma, and is slated to release soon.

Sai Kabir

Debut film: He made his debut with the film Chemistry, starring Soha Ali Khan and Shreyas Talpade. The film is yet to see the light of day.
Second chance: Kabir's next film is Revolver Rani that has Kangna Ranaut playing the titular role. The film is scheduled to release in April this year.

They made it
These now successful filmmakers' first films were box-office duds:
>> Rohit Shetty's first film, titled Zameen (2003), starred Ajay Devgn and Abhishek Bachchan was a flop.

>> Mumbai Se Aaya Mera Dost (2003) was Apoorva Lakhia's first film and it starred Abhishek Bachchan and Lara Dutta. A big flop.

>> Sanjay Leela Bhansali's debut, Khamoshi (1996), starring Salman Khan and Manisha Koirala, won critical acclaim but it didn't set the box office on fire.

>> Abbas Mustan's first film, Agneekaal (1990) was unsuccessful at BO.
>> David Dhawan's debut film, Jurrat (1989) was a flop.
>> Anthony D'Souza's debut film, Blue, featuring Akshay Kumar and Sanjay Dutt, was a disaster at the BO.0