To name five favorite directors alone is very difficult. Also, one cannot rank them because everyone is equal and I would have learnt something new from each one of them. But I talk about the names that come to my mind now.
Stanley Kubrick. I love all of his films especially Eyes Wide Shut. I learnt how important thesis is for a script of his. Also, I learnt how to stand on the thesis and create your characters and dialogues.
David Lean who directed Lawrence of Arabia and Doctor Zhivago. I learnt how to use landscapes as a metaphor. I learnt landscapes using David Lean's films.
Roman Polanski's debut Knife In The Water is my favorite film. He is an extraordinary director who shows the intimacy between a man and a woman and also in a spy's point of view. I learnt to look for conflicts between characters and others from him.
And of course my director, Balu Mahendra sir. V
And Bharathiraja sir. I saw rural areas only through his films as I was raised in a city. His films gave me confidence and lessons that those types of people or characters can be brought to screen through films.
I can keep naming a lot of young directors as well. But these five directors will always be the ones who guide, inspire and control me when I write scripts.