jury showcase

After a successful career in the advertisement sector, Ashwiny Iyer Tiwari decided to change tracks and became a filmmaker. Her debut film, Nil Battey Sannata (2016), which spoke about encouraging girls to take up schooling, went on to win laurels and her second venture, Bareilly Ki Barfi (2017), a lightweight comedy, was a successful film in its own right. Ashwiny is married to another powerhouse director, Nitesh Tiwari.

A director who dabbled with every form of cinema possible. Kabir Khan first burst onto the scene with documentaries. His first big foray into commercial cinema happened with Kabul Express. Ever since he teamed up with Salman Khan, his career's catapulted into the higher echelons of stardom and he has sort of become the most sought-after director of sorts after the stupendous success of Bajrangi Bhaijaan. He's currently filming '83, which is based on India's greatest triumph in cricket.

He has directed such offbeat films like Udaan (2010), Lootera (2013), Trapped (2017) and Bhavesh Joshi (2018) and has produced gems like Queen (2014), Masaan (2015), Udta Punjab (2016), Mukkabaaz (2018) and many more. He’s also produced the first Indian series titled Sacred Games which met with a huge amount of success and proved to be a game-changer as far as OTT platforms are concerned. He has successfully married art with mart and is known for his politically active views on social media.

Nikkhil Advani had a dream start to his filmmaking career with Kal Ho Naa Ho. Over the years he's compiled quite the eclectic list of films. While he's found success in ensemble casts like that of Salaam-E-Ishq, he's also tasted success with taut thrillers like D-Day. Chandni Chowk To China's experimental comedy also added a new flavour to Nikkhil slick career. He's one filmmaker who understands modern film sensibilities and knows how to tell a tall tale. He didn't restrict himself to being a director and has tried his hand at production with films like Airlift and Satyamev Jayate.

Over the years Onir has carved quite the niche for himself in both art film circuits and commercial cinema. While his deeply sensitive and authentically emotional films aren’t quite middle-of-the-road they do achieve a rare balance between artistic raves and commercial success. My Brother Nikhil, Sorry Bhai, Bas Ek Pal and I Am have won several international as well as Indian honours. Onir is also one of the pioneer filmmakers to turn to short film production.

A young and industrious filmmaker Shakun Batra has the pulse of the Indian youth. His family drama Kapoor & Sons was undoubtedly one of the best feature films of 2016. Even his first feature Ekk Main Aur Ek Tu was the perfect mix of modern values and classic romance. Shakun’s natural flair of real and authentic drama makes him one of the most promising filmmakers of the future. His finesse with storytelling makes him the right guy for the shorter version of filmmaking.