How did Tollywood's directors fare this year? The likes of Vamsi Paidipally and Surender Reddy gave us big-ticket outings like 'Maharshi' and 'Sye Raa', but they were hardly surprising packages. There were, on the other hand, the likes of Puri Jagannadh whose resuscitation was noteworthy.

IndiaGlitz brings you a list of five directors who took us by surprise in different ways, either with talent or BO success or both.

Anil Ravipudi:

If you want to rank a director purely from the standpoint of generating maximum comedy in a film, then Anil Ravipudi ranks high on the list. The first half of 'F2' was downright hilarious. The second half did disappoint, though. On balance, however, this Venkatesh-Varun Tej-Mehreen-Tamannaah film came as a Sankranthi relief of sorts. After a humongous box-office success like this one, Anil had to do a superstar film. Hope Mahesh Babu gives the best laughs in 'Sarileru Neekevvaru', Anil's next and biggest film ever.

Gowtam Tinnanuri:

This young director has shown the power of risk-taking. 'Jersey' was a daredevil story, in our view. Purely judging a director by his ability to sell a struggling hero who is terminally ill and also dies tragically, Gowtam Tinnanuri has to be the best guy of the year. Trivikram Srinivas once said that the greatness of 'Sagarasangamam' lied in how K Viswanath made the audience sit and enjoy a film after daringly introducing Kamal Haasan's character as a failure right in the beginning. 'Jersey' did much the same, almost. No, we are not saying it's a classic like the Viswanath masterpiece. You get the context, right?

RSJ Swaroop:

Unlike the other four in the list, Swaroop is a debutant. 'Agent Sai Srinivas Athreya', a detective-comedy thriller, made many heads turn. Having made short films before venturing into Telugu cinema, Swaroop had no option but to hit the bull's eye in the very first attempt. And he did that with a newcomer like actor-writer Naveen Polishetty. The treatment and narration in the film look so seasoned that it's difficult to believe Swaroop had never worked as an assistant director. No, he didn't. The second half was a let down (compared to the first half). But that's okay.

Vivek Athreya:

After 'Mental Madhilo', Vivek Athreya got it right with 'Brochevarevarura'. This crime comedy was not a huge box-office hit by any standard. What makes it special is that it pushed the envelope. The director should have ensured clear-cut story-telling in the second half. May his next film be flawless!

Puri Jagannadh:

No, we didn't really endorse 'iSmart Shankar'. But the audience did. If a director has to be judged on the parameter of managing to bounce back with the same kind of BS his films have offered for too many years, Puri deserves a special mention. This film not only had too many loose ends but had a shoddy investigation track. The rom-com tracks were low-end. But then, Puri gave us Version 2.0 of Ram Pothineni. And Mani Sharma gave some of the best songs of the year. Puri, for one, has nailed it despite offering more of the same.