loader

Season 1 Hall of Fame

  • Aditi Sharma

    HOME

    Aditi Sharma

    HOME

    Aditi is an India based filmmaker. She has shot three critically acclaimed indie films as a Director of Photography and started her directorial journey with Home, a short film for Take Ten. In 2023, she was supported by the International Emerging Film Talent Association for a spot at INTRO:DOX at CPH:DOX and is a fellow at this year’s Interaction Doc Workshop at Serbia.

  • Barkha Naik

    SALT

    Barkha Naik

    SALT

    Barkha started making films at the age of seven with her cousins, when her aunt bought a cellphone with an inbuilt camera. Many years later, with a bachelors in political science, she decided to try her hand at filmmaking and went to FAMU to pursue a Masters in Film Writing and Direction. Currently she lives in Mumbai, working on films with the same passion that she had as a child of seven.

  • Hitarth Desai

    CHHOTI SI BAAT

    Hitarth Desai

    CHHOTI SI BAAT

    TakeTen gave Hitarth the confidence to start his journey as a filmmaker. Apart from writing & pitching his own feature length story, he is currently working as an associate director on a feature film. He directed a short documentary on '25 years of Satya' for HT Media Labs & is now directing a short film for LXL ideas.

  • Manasvini Boovarahan

    BIJLI

    Manasvini Boovarahan

    BIJLI

    Manasvini, from a young age, had an interest in stories as they enabled her to create visual worlds in her mind. Being an absolute movie buff, her path eventually led her to take up filmmaking as a career. After graduating with a degree in Visual Communication in 2019, she was given an opportunity to work in a Tamil feature film Boomika produced by Stone Bench, as the 2nd Assistant Director. Working in the field taught her a lot and made her confident about her career decision. She enjoyed the process thoroughly from the pre-production stages till the release. The movie was released on Netflix. After Boomika, she also worked on the episode "Inmai" in the series Navarasa, produced by Mr. Mani Ratnam and Netflix, in its pre-production and post-production. Following this, she got to direct a few smaller projects. At the beginning of 2022, she applied for Netflix and Film Companion's TakeTen initiative and was funded to direct her short film, Bijli. Following that, she directed the B-roll footages for the documentary Modern Masters: SS Rajamouli in Chennai and Rajahmundry, a documentary on director SS Rajamouli, produced by Film Companion and Applause Entertainment. At the same time, her feature story was also selected by the Writers Ink Institute to be part of their screenwriters' lab, where she finished writing her first feature film. She is currently working as an Associate Director in the project produced by Lyca Productions, Directed by TJ Gnanavel, starring Mr Rajnikanth. Her goal is to create entertaining, impactful and meaningful content.

  • Murali Krishnan

    STOCKHOLM

    Murali Krishnan

    STOCKHOLM

    Murali Krishnan is a Filmmaker, who is a winner of the "TakeTen Competition, conducted by Netflix and Film Companion. He has co-written a Screenplay for the Malayalam Movie "Sthaanarthi Sreekuttan" (Candidate Sreekuttan), which is releasing soon. He is also a published Author in Malayalam with his maiden book titled, "Soviet Stationkadavu", was a long-listed entry for "Kerala Sahithya Academy Endowment Award-2023"

  • Ria Nalavade

    HOME-2

    Ria Nalavade

    HOME-2

    Having begun her career in front of the camera as an actor, Ria transitioned into the world behind the camera as a writer-director with her debut short film which won her the India Film Project 2021. Soon she began writing, directing and producing ads which is how she made her Netflix short ‘HOME-2’. Her 2 minute iPhone short ‘Magic eraser’ was chosen to represent India at Sony Future Filmmakers LA. Since then Ria is pitching her own series and films, and her original Webshow has also made it to the finals of SWA script lab 2023. Ria is inspired by technology, love, culture and surrealism and aspires to tell stories from the heartland which have an international appeal.

  • Rohan Shyam Chowdhury

    LOKKHON REKHA

    Rohan Shyam Chowdhury

    LOKKHON REKHA

    Rohan is a filmmaker based in Kolkata and Mumbai. He holds a degree in Engineering, and the Young India Fellowship in Liberal Arts from Ashoka University. He began his filmmaking journey with his TakeTen short, 'Lokkhon Rekha'. Shortly after, Rohan began working as an AD and Screenwriter in the industry, and was also selected as part of the Writers Ink Screenwriting Lab where he developed his feature-length screenplay titled, 'A Little Warmth'. Going forward, he wishes to hone his craft further by writing and directing more short films.

  • Sameeha Sabnis

    Soul Kadhi

    Sameeha Sabnis

    Soul Kadhi

    Sameeha Sabnis, an Anthropology graduate with a diploma in documentary filmmaking, dived into fiction winning a global scene writing challenge that earned her a scholarship for Sundance’s feature writing lab course. During lockdown, she worked as a script-supervisor, choreographer, dubbing-supervisor, and production manager. Finally, she made two 16mm and two iPhone shorts, amassing 25+ festival screenings and 9+ awards in 2022. Her short 'Soul Kadhi' became the highest watched TakeTen film, and represented India at Netflix's first Asia Pacific community screening in Bangkok. Post TakeTen, she co-directed an 8mm camera-edited short for a global challenge, produced by Shoot At Site films. Currently, she's pitching two large short films with multiple production houses and writing a series pilot for Alakaman films. Now she works as a development associate and senior DA for Shakun Batra at Jouska films.

  • Sandip Kishan Anbuselvan

    SCREEN

    Sandip Kishan Anbuselvan

    SCREEN

    Having originally graduated as a software engineer, Sandip Kishan Anbuselvan found his true calling in cinema. Early on, his initial experience of briefly working with various direction teams paved the way for greater creative exploration. However, making a short film with TakeTen ignited his confidence to embark on his own path as an independent filmmaker. Now, Sandip works on personal feature film projects as he aims to craft compelling stories that leave a lasting impact on audiences.

  • Suyash Kamat

    SADABAHAR

    Suyash Kamat

    SADABAHAR

    Suyash Kamat is an aspiring filmmaker & photographer based out of Goa-India. He has helmed various projects under multiple roles which have been showcased & won awards at IFFI, IDSSFK, MAMI among others. He is currently pursuing a post-graduate course in Cinematography from Satyajit Ray Film & Television Institute (SRFTI).

Who doesn’t love some validation?

  • "It's always exciting to meet new filmmakers, because they carry infinite possibilities for all of us connected with films and music, within their dreams. These are the people who may well redefine how films are made, how the business is run and most crucially, 'what works'. Really looking forward to watching all their films and seeing if anything I said has translated into the way they've worked with music."

    Vishal Dadlani

    SINGER, SONGWRITER

  • “It was great fun to speak to the ten finalists, looking forward to seeing them create magic through their films!”

    Reema Kagti

    FILM director

  • “It was extremely enriching to talk to these filmmakers. Their stories are so rooted yet break conventions and traditional binaries”

    Neeraj Ghaywan

    FILM DIRECTOR

  • “It's always inspiring to see the passion and zeal within young filmmakers. These 10 finalists are dabbling with quite a lot of unknowns in this quest of film making and it is always exciting to discuss experiences, concerns, questions and how they are approaching their creative journey. We wish all 10 of them all the very best and can't wait to see their work soon!”

    Guneet Monga & Team Sikhya

    FILM PRODUCER

  • "Young bright minds who know they want to be storytellers. Something that took me years, they have figured out at this age."

    Anvitaa Dutt

    SCREENPLAY WRITER

  • “Had a terrific time talking to the TakeTen finalists. No matter how many films old you are, storytelling problems remain the same and so, as I spoke to them, talked through some of their problems as filmmakers, I also gained insight and clarity about my own work. Thank you FC for this”

    Abhishek Chaubey

    FILM director

  • “The TakeTen programme by Film Companion is a fantastic initiative for new filmmakers. It was inspiring to be a part of such enthusiastic discussions. I look forward to following the paths of these talented individuals.”

    Anish John

    film sound designer

  • "Netflix and Film Companion have done a great job with selecting these young filmmakers/finalists, it was so gratifying to see them have such a mature take on cinema. I can’t wait to see the films they will make!"

    Tisca Chopra

    Film Director and Actor

  • “I am so thrilled that TakeTen finalists got to learn from the best in the business and so grateful to all the artists who made time to inspire a new generation of filmmaking voices,”

    Anupama Chopra

    film critic, television anchor and book author

Season 1 Workshop Speakers

Seen as one of Hindi cinema's gifted contemporary filmmakers, Abhishek made his directorial debut with the Vidya Balan, Naseeruddin Shah, and Arshad Warsi starrer Ishqiya (2010). He followed it up with Dedh Ishqiya (2014), a sequel that had Madhuri Dixit in the cast, and then Udta Punjab, a highly lauded film on drug abuse in Punjab. Sonchiriya, was his next. A brooding tale of redemption set in the 1970s based on the dacoits of the Chambal ravines, starring Manoj Bajpayee, Sushant Singh Rajput, and Bhumi Pednekar. He is currently shooting a series set in South India for an OTT platform. Starting off as an associate to Vishal Bhardwaj on Makdee, Abhishek went on to co-write films like The Blue Umbrella, Omkara and Kaminey. Abhishek is also the co-founder of MacGuffin Pictures that has produced A Death in the Gunj (2016), Raat Akeli Hai (2020), and Sharmaji Namkeen (2022) starring the late Rishi Kapoor. His upcoming series Soup is all set to launch on Netflix.
Amrita Mahal is one of India's premier Production Designers who started her career by assisting one of the finest production designers in India - Sharmishta Roy. Under her guidance, over three years, she learned almost everything she knows. After that, she spent the best years of her life working with amazing directors. She started with Dostana in 2008 before moving on to Wake up Sid, 2 States, Yeh Jawani Hai Deewani, Student of the Year, Ae Dil Hai Mushkil, Kalank, Brahmastra, and more recently, Rocky aur Rani ki Prem Kahaani.
Anish John is an acclaimed Indian movie sound designer and mixer. A graduate of FTII Pune, he started his career as a sound recordist and editor for various shorts, narrative features and documentaries before shifting to sound-designing and mixing. Having contributed to films like The Sky is Pink, Trapped, Bulbbul, Sherni, Bell Bottom and the acclaimed web-series Sacred Games, Anish won the National Award for Best Sound Design (Best Audiography) Award for his work in the wordless Labour of Love. He has worked in English, Hindi, Bengali, Tamil, Malayalam, and Marathi films, besides having worked on numerous documentaries and creative advertisement projects.
Anvitaa Dutt is an acclaimed writer and director, composing chiefly the dialogues, screenplay, and lyrics for films. After 14 years in advertising, she has contributed to films such as Bachna Ae Haseeno, Dostana, Patiala House, Queen, Shaandaar, Phillauri, and Lipstick Under My Burkha. In 2020, she made her directorial debut with the critically acclaimed film Bulbbul and more recently wrote and directed Qala. She has been an avid reader since childhood, with a keen interest in the fantasy genre.
Guneet Monga is an Indian film producer, a BAFTA nominee and amongst the first producers from India to be invited to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. She has been a recipient of the second highest civilian honor of France, the Chevalier dans l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres. She is the founder of Sikhya Entertainment, a Mumbai based production house. Under her able leadership, Sikhya Entertainment has carved an unprecedented space in the Indian film industry by producing films that are focused on heartland stories and also travel globally. The Lunchbox, Masaan, Pagglait and Oscar Winning Short Documentaries - Period End Of Sentence and The Elephant Whisperers are few of the many titles from her awe inspiring filmography. She recently founded a cinema collective called Indian Women Rising aimed at discovering, amplifying & distributing the work of Indian women filmmakers across the globe.
Hansal Mehta is an Indian film director, writer, and producer who works in Hindi cinema. He is known for Shahid (2013) for which he won the National Film Award for Best Direction. He then went on to direct City Lights (2014), Aligarh (2016), Simran (2017), Omerta (2018), Scam 1992 (2020) and Faraaz (2022). His recent series is Scam 2003 - The Telgi Story.
Harshil Karia is an entrepreneur and musician. He is the Founder of Schbang and Co Founder at Level with a team of 800+ of some of India's smartest young talent working across both these companies. Schbang is a creative & technology transformation company that has been featured in LinkedIn's Top Startups India for 2021. Harshil spends his time and energies on building Level. Level, is a real life ethical game with a technology that aims to change the negative connotation around phones. Harshil, through Level, wants people to view smartphones as a contributor to personal growth rather than the object of addiction. He is an aspiring musician as well with singles, namely 'Udd Jaa Bandeya' and 'Uthh Jaa Rey' that he has launched drawing inspiration from his entrepreneurial journey. As an artist, Harshil seeks to inspire listeners to raise their level of consciousness with inspiration and awareness being a big theme with his music. It is what drives him to create.
'Art' permeates the life of the young and versatile Jay Oza. Hailing from Baroda, Gujarat, Jay was majoring in art history and aesthetics (MSU, Baroda) when he decided to take a stab at filmmaking by interning as a set PA over his summer breaks. He ended up being a part of 'Rang de Basanti' shot by the veteran cinematographer Binod Pradhan, Isc and 'Jodhaa Akbar’ shot by ace lensman Kiran Deohans. After honing his craft at Prague Film School, his stint on a short-film for Anurag Kashyap led to him being offered 'Raman Raghav 2.0'. He continued his visual avant-garde into his next works' Blackmail', 'Ghoul', 'Gully Boy' and 'Made in Heaven', the last two being monumental for his career. He has continued his mastery with the TV series 'unpaused' and has helmed the camera for Rakesh Omprakash Mehra in 'Toofan'. Jay is also among the 10 selected participants for the talent initiative BAFTA Breakthrough India in the year 2021.
Jaideep Ahlawat, is a renowned Indian actor who’s known for his multifaceted characters in films and web series. A graduate of FTII, Pune, Jaideep started his career with a small role in a short film called "Narmeen" in 2008. After laudable appearances in Khatta Meetha, Chittagong and Rockstar, Jaideep received wide recognition for his turn as Shahid Khan in Gangs of Wasseypur, and the villain, AK 74, in Commando: A One Man Army. Jaideep was highly praised for his award-winning performance as Delhi Police Inspector Hathiram Chaudhary, in the Amazon Prime web series Paatal Lok. Since then he has headlined a number of web series and films including Raazi, Ajeeb Daastaans, Bloody Brothers, The Broken News and An Action Hero.
K Hariharan graduated from FTII in 1976, since then he has made 8 feature length films and over 350 short films and documentaries. Besides winning national awards and international recognition for his films, he has served on several important film juries such as the Indian National Awards and at international venues such as Manila, Jeonju, Warsaw and Trivandrum. He is a regular contributor to various newspapers and magazines while also conducting film workshops in India and overseas. He has served as adjunct faculty at the Asian College of Journalism, Chennai and the FTII. He also taught at the University of Pennsylvania for almost ten years and then went on to be the founder director of LV Prasad Film & TV Academy. Thereafter, he designed and took charge of the media labs at Ashoka and Krea Universities.
Kabir Khan is an Indian director, screenwriter and cinematographer, who works across fiction and documentary. He is a two-time National Award recipient for his debut fiction feature Kabul Express and the highly-acclaimed Bajrangi Bhaijaan. His second feature New York was the opening film at the Cairo International Film Festival and was screened at film festivals in Busan and Krakow. Since then he has made numerous critically-acclaimed and wildly popular films like Ek Tha Tiger, Phantom, Bajrangi Bhaijaan, Tubelight and 83. His work in documentary includes the award-winning films The Forgotten Army, Two Assassinations and an Accident, The Taliban Years and Beyond, and The Titanic Sinks in Kabul. His photographs have won awards at the 50th anniversary of the Geneva Convention in Switzerland in 1999, and the Nikon International Photo of the Year in 2003.
DATES, MANAGING YOUR CREW, BEING A PROBLEM SOLVER Karishma Dev Dube is a filmmaker currently based in New York. Born and raised in New Delhi, Karishma went to the States to attend the Graduate Film Program at NYU with a full scholarship. Her award-winning short film Devi (Goddess) has played 54 festivals worldwide, including BFI London Film Festival, Edinburgh FF, and Outfest LA, where it won the Grand Jury Award for Best Narrative Short. Her short film Bittu was shortlisted for the 93rd Academy Awards in the Live Action Short category. Karishma is in development for her debut feature film as a writer/director.
Kanika Dhillon is a critically acclaimed author, screenwriter and producer who creates and curates engaging stories for the visual medium in the Hindi Film Industry. She is known for her distinct voice with female driven narratives and aims to empower the place of women in cinema.
Back in the 1990s, Navin started his career with ADLABS Films Pvt. Ltd. & thereon worked with illustrious post-production houses before launching his studio in 2015. The inception of Nube Studio began with an elevated vision; to create a hub for excellence. With over 10000 TV commercials to his credit along with widely successful Bollywood films such as Omkara, Kaminay, Kahani 2, Force, RAW, Badhai Ho, along with web series like Aarya (both seasons), Ray to name a few, the Founder of Nube Studio, Colourist Navin Shetty has collaborated with a colossal array of Production Houses, Cinematographers, and Directors across Asia. He firmly believes that post-production has an integral role in pre-production activities too. He thinks of both as cohesive units that must work in harmony to create something truly magnificent.
Neeraj is among India's leading contemporary filmmakers and is a National Award-winning director of the critically acclaimed Indo-French drama Masaan. Neeraj has also directed the award-winning short film, Juice and co-directed the second season of Netflix's original series Sacred Games. He wrote and directed the highly praised short 'Geeli Pucchi' of the Netflix anthology film Ajeeb Daastaans from Dharmatic Entertainment and most recently directed two episodes for Made In Heaven Season 2.
Raj Nidimoru is one half of the director-producer-writers duo Raj and DK, known for his quirky and uniquely original content. Their production company, D2R Films, produces films, premium shows and more. Their hit Amazon show The Family Man has won multiple accolades and awards, proving them a trailblazer in OTT content. His filmography includes popular cult films like Go Goa Gone, Shor In The City, 99 and his most recent series Guns & Gulaabs. Currently, he is helming a new initiative, D2R Indie, to encourage new formats and new filmmakers, while also producing multiple shows and feature films.
Reema Kagti is predominantly considered one of the best working talents in Indian cinema, with a singular voice as an artist, screenwriter, and filmmaker. Reema's directorial ventures, Honeymoon Travels Private Limited, the neo-noir Talaash, and the historic sports drama Gold were well-received by audiences and were critically acclaimed. Her long-time partnership with Zoya Akhtar has brought audiences genre-bending belters such as Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara, Dil Dhadakne Do, Made in Heaven for Amazon Prime, and India's official entry in the Academy Awards - Gully Boy. More recently, the complemented collaborators are enjoying the success of Made in Heaven Season 2, and awaiting their next feature film The Archies for Netflix, under their film and series production company Tiger Baby founded in October 2015. Her recent directorial project Dahaad, a gripping crime-thriller web series for Amazon Prime has been widely acclaimed.
Sanyukta Kaza is an Indian film editor. Her first feature film Ship of Theseus (2012) won the National Award for best film and was selected as one of the '15 life changing films of all time' by British Film Institute to celebrate their 100th anniversary. Sanyukta is also the editor and creative producer of the cult classic, Tumbbad (2018) which opened at Venice International Critic's Week. She is also the editor of Pataal Lok, Mismatched, Abhishek Chaubey's Madhyantar, Avinash Arun's Vishanu and Amar Kaushik’s Bhediya. Her films have won accolades at multiple festivals such as Cannes, Venice, Sundance, Toronto, Sitges, Screamfest and Palm springs.
Hailed as one of India's perceptive filmmakers, Shakun Batra is the director/co- writer of the widely acclaimed and award-winning family drama - Kapoor & Sons (since 1921). A graduate of Vancouver Film School, he has assisted academy award winner Errol Morris and Emmy award winner Christopher Wilcha during their stints in India. He proved his versatility when he directed the hilarious low budget mockumentary 'Alia Bhatt - Genius of the Year' in 2014, which went viral and became the second most-watched YouTube video in India that year. At 39, he's already made two successful feature films, and is about to release his much anticipated third feature film called Gehraiyaan. He was the executive producer on a documentary for Netflix on Ma Anand Sheela called Searching for Sheela. Currently, he is developing a mini TV Series for Fox Searchlight.
Tisca's insistence on excellence and passion have not only won her acclaim and fame but also two Filmfare Awards, as well as recognition on the international stage in both, films and on stage, at the New York International Film Festival and the Toronto Film Festival. She recently turned filmmaker, writing and producing award-winning and critically acclaimed short films like Chutney, and her directorial debut, Rubaru. Tisca has created a singular path to showcase the idea of rising above barriers and sparking conversation around socially sensitive topics through filmmaking and writing. Her short films have been about breaking traditional perceptions of female characters and roles and creating a distinct, authentic narrative. She carries this unique voice to her writing and offscreen persona as well.
Vishal Dadlani is a Vocalist and songwriter with acclaimed Indian alt-rock pioneers "Pentagram", and one half of renowned Indian composer/producer duo "Vishal & Shekhar". Acknowledged to be amongst the architects of the modern sound of Indian film soundtracks, Vishal Dadlani is the rare genre-busting success story that leaves a mark on every style he explores. He has been nominated for and won several of India's most prestigious awards across both the alternative/ indie scene as well as the mainstream. Vishal (along with composing collaborator Shekhar Ravjiani) has also spearheaded some of the most commercially and critically successful international collaborations with artists such as Imogen Heap and Akon.
Apply Here!