Ruchi Narain
Ruchi Narain (born 1976) is an Indian film director, screenwriter, and Producer widely known as the writer for the critically acclaimed film Hazaaron Khwaishein Aisi (2003). She has also directed films like Kal: Yesterday and Tomorrow (2005), Hanuman: Da' Damdaar (2017) and Netflix original film Guilty (2020).
Early life and education
Her family is originally from New Delhi, however, she has never lived there. She spent her early years in Calcutta, Dubai, Sri Lanka, Muscat, Oman where she attended the Sultan's School, The Woodstock School in Mussoorie, and Qatar. She moved to Mumbai for College and has lived there ever since.
Career
She started her career as an assistant director to Sudhir Mishra in Is Raat Ki Subah Nahin (1996). Subsequently, she was Associate director, Second Unit Director and Screenplay writer and edited the film Hazaaron Khwaishein Aisi for which she won the Best Story Filmfare Award, Zee Cine Award and Star Screen Award. It was a love story set against the political backdrop of India in the 1970s. She was the writer-director of the contemporary urban thriller Kal: Yesterday and Tomorrow (2005), which also won her the Osian's Cinefan Film Festival Critics Award.[1] She raised the financing for this film by making a business plan and bringing together a consortium of 14 investors'. Subsequently, she started the production company R.A.T Films with two partners Ashutosh Shah and Taher Shabbir which has done over a hundred commercials for a variety of products as well as produced the animation film Hanuman: Da' Damdaar (2017) which she wrote and directed. It was the biggest animation film release in India ever, voiced by the superstar Salman Khan and featuring a litany of Bollywood stars; Raveena Tandon, Javed Akhtar, Kunal Khemu, Vinay Pathak, Chunky Pandey, Saurabh Shukla and Makrand Deshpande. Her film Guilty(2020) on Netflix starring Kiara Advani has met with a lot of success and acclaim. It is set in an elite Delhi College and centers around an allegation of rape during the #MeToo Movement in India. She has also Showrun and been the lead Director for the recent web series 'Hundred'(2020) on the platform Disney+Hotstar which she and her partners have Created, written and Produced. The show is a light irreverent take on two very different women who struggle to do what they want to do in the city of Mumbai. One of them played by Lara Dutta is a Police woman who feels she can't break the glass ceiling and the other is a young girl, played by Rinku Rajguru who finds she has only a hundred days to live. Together, they try and make themselves count.
Filmography
Writing credits
- Snip! (2000) (story)
- Calcutta Mail (2003) (screenplay)
- Hazaaron Khwaishein Aisi (2003)
- Kal: Yesterday and Tomorrow (2005)
- Hanuman Da' Damdaar (2017)
- Guilty(2020)
- Hundred (2020)
Director
- Kal: Yesterday and Tomorrow (2005)
- Hanuman: Da' Damdaar (2017)
- Guilty (2020)
- Hundred (2020 )
Producer
- In The Pink (wildlife documentary) (2006)
- The Last Dance(wildlife dicumentary) (2007)
- Hanuman: Da' Damdaar (2017)
- Hundred (web series) (2020)
Awards
- Filmfare Award
- Osian's Cinefan Film Festival of Asian and Arab Cinema Critics' Award
- In the Pink Finalist at Wildscreen Awards 2008
- The Last Dance Finalist at Wildscreen Awards 2008
References
- "Tomorrow full of promise". Business Line. 30 September 2005.
- Awards IMDb.
External links
- Ruchi Narain on IMDb