In the big, bad world of Bollywood, there have been few directors of the fairer sex who have managed to swim against the tide, follow their dreams and make a mark for themselves in this majorly male-dominated industry.

While names like Deepa Mehta, Mira Nair and Gurinder Chaddha have carved a niche for themselves in the West, there are many of our own female folk who have given us some entertaining and some meaningful cinema.

On occasion of Women's Day, we bring to you some of the most well-known Women directors of the present generation who are calling the shots in B-town.

Farah Khan
Farah started out as a choreographer in Bollywood and over the years has made the biggest of stars dance to her tunes (literally). However, even as she was choreographing hits like 'Chaiyya Chaiyya', 'Dhol Bajne Laga', 'Woh Ladki Hai Kahan', there was always a secret filmmaker hidden inside her.

Farah has been an avid movie-buff and it was as early as 21 when she decided that she would one day direct a film. She fulfilled her long-time desire with the smash-hit Main Hoon Naa starring good friend Shah Rukh Khan in the lead.

The two paired up once again to deliver one of the biggest hits ever Om Shanti Om and since then Farah has been a name to reckon with.

Farah surely must be having a tough time considering she is the mother of triplets. However, she does manage it all with a smile on her face which indeed makes us salute the lady.

Meghna Gulzar
Meghna Gulzar is yet another example of a female director who has made a name for herself in Bollywood.

Daughter of veteran lyricist Gulzar, Meghna aka Bosky made her directorial debut with the sensitive tale of surrogate motherhood - Filhaal.

The movie won her critical acclaim but didn't set the cash registers ringing. For her next venture, she chose a light romantic entertainer Just Married which had some wonderful performances from its lead cast of Fardeen Khan and Esha Deol.

Meghna's most recent flick was Dus Kahaniyaan where she directed one of the short stories.

Zoya Akhtar
Coming from a filmy family, films were a natural progression for Zoya Akhtar (daughter of veteran lyricist and writer Javed Akhtar).

So it came as no surprise that the young and talented girl decided to make films her vocation. She had been nursing dreams of turning director since the age of 18 and her role-models include a diverse range of filmmakers from Mani Ratnam to Martin Scorcese and from Satyajit Ray to Farah Khan.

Zoya made an impressive debut with Luck By Chance this year. The film gave an inside view of the happenings in the film industry and Zoya's debut venture was praised by one and all.

She however doesn't believe in the concept of celebrating Women's Day? "Do you celebrate Men's day?" she snaps back, when we asked her views on Women's Day.

"What difference does it make if I am a female director? For me all that matters is whether I am a good director or a bad one".

Indeed, if her debut flick is any indication of things to come, Zoya Akhtar certainly is one lady to watch out for in the future.

Kalpana Lajmi
Kalpana Lajmi debuted as a costume director with Shyam Benegal's Bhumika starring Smita Patil. She made her directorial debut with the Shabana Azmi- Naseeruddin Shah starrer Ek Pal.

After a hiatus, Kalpana made a comeback with Rudaali which fetched its lead actress Dimple Kapadia the National Award for Best Actress.

Few years later, history repeated itself again when Raveena Tandon also bagged the National Award for Best Actress for Kalpana's socially relevant film Daman.

This talented director certainly has a penchant for giving her leading ladies award winning roles.

Pooja Bhatt
Pooja Bhatt made an impressive debut as a teenager in papa Mahesh Bhatt's flick Daddy. After impressing one and all with her acting prowess in films like Dil Hai Ki Manta Nahin, Sadak, Sir, Tamanna and Zakhm, Pooja took everyone by surprise when she decided to take an indefinite break from acting.

However, just as Pooja the actor called it a day, Pooja the filmmaker was unleashed.

She first started out producing films like Dushman, Jism etc. and then took the giant leap to direction with the John Abraham- Udita Goswami starrer Paap.

Her first two directorial ventures Paap and Holiday didn't exactly set the B.O. on fire but her third venture Dhokha did fetch a lot of critical acclaim. Now Pooja is busy directing the Himesh Reshammiya starrer Kajraa Re.

Reema Kagti
Reema Kagti decided to fulfill her ambitions of becoming a director through the conventional way.

She first assisted Farhan Akhtar on Dil Chahta Hai and Lakshya and her loyalties paid off when Farhan's company Excel Entertainment offered her a chance to direct her first film Honeymoon Travels Pvt. Ltd.

The story of six couples on a honeymoon to Goa struck a chord with the masses and the critics and Reema all of a sudden became a name to reckon with.

If the buzz is to be believed, then Reema's next will be a thriller in all probability. We can't wait for that one.

Nandita Das
The dusky beauty Nandita Das created a niche for herself in the world of parallel cinema through sensitive performances in films like Fire, 1947: Earth, Bawandar, and Ramchand Pakistani.

In fact Nandita is only the second Indian celebrity to be invited (after Aishwarya Rai in 2003) to be a part of the jury at the world famous Cannes International Film Festival in 2005.

Having achieved a fair amount of acclaim for her acting prowess, Nandita decided to don the director's hat with Firaaq - a story set one month after the ghastly Gujarat riots.

While the film is yet to release in India, it has made the rounds of several prestigious international film festivals. In fact those who have seen the film are pretty confident that Nandita would make for an equally promising director too.

Besides the above mentioned names, there are some more female directors who are slowly but surely managing to create a niche for themselves namely Shona Urvashi, Leena Yadav and Madhureeta Anand. Here's saluting these lovely ladies who have managed to hold their own in this male dominated industry.