The critically acclaimed film Agent Vinod, by replacing the

The critically acclaimed film Agent Vinod, by replacing the tack from Bollywood capers with story and spectacle, became the first Hindi film on modern day espionage, and it was only the second that came to be known for the ambition of an Indian director.

A) it was only the second that came to be known for the ambition of an Indian director
B) it was only the second that an ambitious Indian director produced
C) the second one only that an ambitious Indian director produced
D) the second one only produced by an ambitious Indian director
E) only the second to be known for the ambition of an Indian director

B has an issue of meaning — the original sentence tells us that Agent Vinod was the second Hindi film to be known for its ambitious Indian director. B instead tells us that it was the second Hindi film to have an ambitious Indian director. This is a totally different meaning. According to the original sentence, there could have been many Hindi films with ambitious Indian directors prior to Agent Vinod, but there was only one previously that was recognized. B indicates that at the time of Agent Vinod, only two Hindi films *ever* had ambitious Indian directors. We can eliminate B.

D also has an issue of meaning. The original sentence tells us that Agent Vinod was only the second Hindi film to be known for its ambitious Indian director. D instead tells us that Agent Vinod was the second Hindi film that only had an an ambitious Indian director. The placement of "only" makes a huge difference here. Rather than saying only two films had been recognized for the ambition of their Indian directors, D says that Agent Vinod was the second film to have only an ambitious Indian director — in other words, for only two films was 1) only one director working on the film and 2) that director both ambitious and Indian. So according to this answer, many other films could have had ambitious Indian directors, as long as there were also other directors working on the films. We can eliminate D.

E is the correct answer because it has the same meaning as the original expressed more concisely and clearly.