Anther culture is an important in vitro culture technique for the production of double haploids. It is largely species and genotype specific. Asian-cultivated rice (Oryza sativa, ssp. indica) is recalcitrant to anther culture which limits its practical application in rice breeding. Several researchers tried to optimize the medium recipes and culture techniques for callus induction and plantlet regeneration. Negligible response to callus induction and recovery of a higher frequency of albino plants are the major hindrance for the use of the technique in crop improvement. Shortening the culture period and sexual hybridization of rice subgroups (japonica/indica) may be adopted to improve green plant regeneration from anther-derived callus in indica rice. However, genetic transformation technology using individual genes related to different aspects of anther culture could be a more direct approach. Besides, the role of genotypes, physiological status of donor plant, developmental stage of pollen, pre-treatment, culture media, phytohormones, and culture conditions for successful anther culture have been discussed.