The most discernible trend of 2005 by far was the emergence of a new breed of directors who exuded confidence in their style of filmmaking and made their mark too.

From Mohit Suri ("Zeher" and "Kalyug") to Pradeep Sarkar ("Parineeta") to Siddharth Anand ("Salaam Namaste") to Soham Shah ("Kaal") and Ruchi Narayan ("Kal"), they all had their say at the box-office, giving a new dimension to filmmaking.

Anand, who's consolidated his place in the Yash Raj camp after his directorial debut "Salaam Namaste", says: "It was a year that saw the audiences welcoming the new sensibilities of a new range of directors. Moreover, what was encouraging was the fact that even an unconventional story like mine found its way into the hearts of the audiences."

However, the director who got a thumbs-up from the industry and the audiences alike was Mohit Suri, with both his films proving to be box-office successes.

Rajesh Thadani, a Mumbai distributor, who released both his films in Mumbai, says he is the most promising debut-making director of the year.

"He's got us distributors to endorse the new breed of directors. In fact, it won't be wrong to say that the work of new directors can guarantee better returns than that of established directors who tend to repeat themselves," says Thadani.