Dibakar Banerjee's birthday: 5 must-watch titles of National Award-winning director

Filmmaker Dibakar Banerjee marked his Bollywood debut with Khosla Ka Ghosla! in the year 2006. In a career spanning nearly two decades, Banerjee has helmed a total of nine films, has written the screenplay for eight, and produced five films. As he turned 54 years old on Wednesday, we take a look at films that brought him critical acclaim and fame.

'Khosla Ka Ghosla!'

Banerjee's debut movie went on to win a National Film Award for Best Feature Film. Starring Anupam Kher and Boman Irani in the lead, along with Parvin Dabas, Vinay Pathak, Ranvir Shorey, and Tara Sharma, it went on to win many accolades. A commercial success at the box office, it was remade in Tamil as Poi Solla Porom in 2008.

'Oye Lucky! Lucky Oye!'

Two years after Khosla Ka Ghosla!, Banerjee directed Oye Lucky! Lucky Oye!, starring Abhay Deol in the lead. This movie also won the National Film Award for Best Popular Film. Also starring Paresh Rawal, Neetu Chandra, and Richa Chadha, among others, it is inspired by the life of Vasant Kunj resident Devinder Singh alias Bunty, who came to be known as "super-chor."

'LSD: Love, Sex Aur Dhokha'

The anthology film directed by Banerjee is touted to be one of the best films in Nushrratt Bharuccha's career. Producer by Ektaa Kapoor, it also featured Rajkummar Rao, Anshuman Jha, Amit Sial, and others. The 2010 film premiered at the London Indian Film Festival and Munich International Film Festival, receiving rave reviews from the critics, further becoming a box office hit.

'Shanghai'

Banerjee collaborated with Deol once again, this time, for Shanghai. The 2012 political thriller is an Indian adaptation of the French film Z (1969). The original movie was reportedly based on Vassilis Vassilikos's Greek novel of the same title. It also starred Emraan Hashmi, Farooq Shaikh, Kalki Kanmani, and Prosenjit Chatterjee. Despite good reviews, it didn't fare well at the box office.

'Detective Byomkesh Bakshy!'

Starring late actor Sushant Singh Rajput, the movie was jointly produced by Banerjee and Yash Chopra. It was based on Bengali writer Saradindu Bandyopadhyay's fictional detective character Byomkesh Bakshi. Though it received critical acclaim, the movie turned out to be a box-office failure. Per reports, a sequel was to be made with Rajput but was shelved after his death.