Dr. Jabbar Patel (born 23 June 1942) is a former paediatrician and a Marathi-language theatre and film director of India.

[1] His production of Vijay Tendulkar's play Ghashiram Kotwal, in 1973 is considered a classic in Modern Indian Theatre.

[5] He is the maker of classics films in Marathi cinema, like, Samna, Jait Re Jait (Mohan Agashe, Smita Patil), Umbartha (Smita Patil, Girish Karnad), Sinhasan (Nana Patekar, Shriram Lagoo, Reema Lagoo) Some of his other films are, Mukta, Ek Hota Vidushak, and Musafir (Hindi).

Patel started his career with the Marathi experimental theatre group, Progressive Dramatic association (PDA) founded by Bhalba Kelkar.

In 1972, Patel and colleagues such as Mohan Agashe, and Satish Alekar broke away from PDA over differences on staging their new production, Ghashiram Kotwal written by Vijay Tendulkar.

After Ghashiram Kotwal, the group produced Teen Paishacha Tamasha, an adaptation of Brecht's Threepenny Opera in 1974.

[15] One of Patel’s most acclaimed works is Umbartha (1981), a film featuring Smita Patil as the superintendent of a woman’s reform home.