From acting to calling shots: Actresses who donned the director's hat

Throughout its history the film industry can boast of women who carved out their domain in an essentially male bastion However when it comes to wielding the megaphone itrsquos the men who have led from the frontHowever there have been actresses who eased into the directors muchcoveted chair like never before With Revathi turning a year older today heres looking at her work and her compatriots accomplished actresses from present and past who went on to direct filmsRevathiActing debutMann Vasanai 1983Directorial debutMitr My Friend 2002Behind the cameraThis threetime National Award winner has been part of five projects mdash including a short film mdash in her capacity as a director Revathi has been active in South cinema as well as BollywoodBhanumathi Acting debutVaravikrayam 1939 Directorial debutChandirani 1953 Behind the camera One of the earliest female filmmakers in the country Bhanumathi ended up with 14 films to her credit as a director A majority of her work was either in Tamil or TeluguPooja BhattActing debutDaddy 1989Directorial debutPaap 2003Behind the cameraItrsquos been more than a decade since she has worked as an actor in a film Meanwhile she has shelled out five films as a director More into production nowadays Jism 2 was her last directorial outing She has been roped in to direct Jism 3Arundhati Devi Acting debutMahaprasthaner Pathey 1952 Directorial debutChhuti 1967 Behind the camera One of the earliest female directors she appeared in about 17 films and directed five with her debut effort winning a Certificate of Merit at the 1967 National AwardsSavitri Acting debut Samsaram 1950 Directorial debutKuzhandai Ullam 1969 Behind the camera After establishing herself in Telugu Tamil and Kannada films she moved to direction Before passing away at the age of 46 the legendary actress directed four films in Telugu and two in TamilVijaya Nirmala Acting debut Macha Rekai 1950 Directorial debut Meena 1973 Behind the camera At the onset of the new millennium Guinness Book of Records named her as the female director with the highest number of films Apparently she has helmed 47 movies in Tamil Telugu and MalayalamAparna Sen Acting debutTeen Kanya 1961 Directorial debut36 Chowringhee Lane Behind the camera Winner of three National Awards the Bengali actressdirector is known for her films like Paroma Sati Yugant Mr and Mrs Iyer 15 Park Avenue and Iti MrinaliniHema Malini Acting debutSapnon Ka Saudagar 1968 Directorial debut Dil Aashna Hai 1992 Behind the camera So far the Dreamgirl has yielded the megaphone only twice with both the films leaving very little to remember critically as well as commerically Her last venture was Tell Me O KkhudaNandita Das Acting debutLaawaris 1981 Directorial debutFiraaq 2008 Behind the camera Itrsquos been seven years since her last directorial and there has been no sign whatsoever of her returning to direction After all Nandita is currently occupied with theatre with husband Subodh MaskaraThe pioneer Fatma Begum Acting debut Veer Abhimanyu 1922 Directorial debut Bulbule Paristan 1926Behind the camera One of the early superstars in Indian cinema and the countryrsquos first female film director she directed eight films in allMissed callSushmita Senrsquos debut directorial venture based on Rani Laxmibairsquos life was eventually shelved due to budgetary issuesThe Westside story Actresses in Hollywood too have tried their skills behind the camerahellip gtgt Jodie Fosterrsquos last directorial film venture was Mel Gibsonstarrer The Beaver in 2011 She has also directed few episodes of TV shows House of Cards and Orange Is The New Blackgtgt Angelina Jolie made her directorial debut with In the drama Land of Blood and Honey 2011 gtgt So far Drew Barrymore has directed one feature film one short and one documentary gtgt After dabbling in TV shows Courteney Cox of the Friends fame made her film directorial debut with Just Before I Go