I think it's perhaps difficult for stateside audiences to fully appreciate Indian films, because the cultures are so different. Every culture has individual directors that tell timeless and borderless stories that are appreciated everywhere, such as Life of Pi, but the mainstreamers in each culture typically find their works lacking in portability to other markets.
Japanese anime for example seems, stupid, childish, and weird to me, but simultaneously there are certain directors in that genre that transcend the default tropes and elevate their specific version of the artform to a level people from all over the world can appreciate. Studio Ghibli and others have accomplished this, but just like in India, 98% of Japanese filmmakers will never find an audience outside of their own culture. Korean films trend toward shallow, commercialized, soap opera fare, but there are films like Memories of Murder that stand toe to toe with Kurasawa or Spielberg.
In short, I think a director from anywhere can transcend boundaries and create something of universal appeal, but it doesn't happen very often.
Since up front money has such a major effect on the quality of a film, I think the US gets a disproportionate amount of credit for having the best film directors, since many of the best from other countries simply come here to make films with more financial support. In example Guillermo Del Toro, Peter Jackson, Dennis Villanueve are all directors from other cultures, who got funded by Hollywood, and are now widely perceived as American filmmakers, even though they represent various regions.
That said, Son of Sardar was a film that I feel needed to exist, (jk, lol). I did consider Life of Pi to be a great film. As far as the director you mentioned, I'm surprised to say I've never heard of them. I'll have to check out some of his films.