Zoya Akhtar

Zoya Akhtar (born 14 October 1972) is an Indian film director and screenwriter. After completing a diploma in filmmaking from NYU, she assisted directors such as Mira Nair, Tony Gerber and Dev Benegal, before turning writer-director in her own right. Akhtar is the recipient of several accolades, including three Filmfare Awards.

Zoya Akhtar
Akhtar at Filmfare Glamour & Style Awards in 2016
Born	(1972-10-14) 14 October 1972 Bombay, Maharashtra, India
Alma mater	St. Xavier's College, Mumbai NYU (Tisch)
Occupation	Director, screenwriter
Years active	1999—present
Notable work	Luck By Chance Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara Dil Dhadakne Do Lust Stories Gully Boy Made in Heaven
Parents	Javed Akhtar (father) Honey Irani (mother)
Relatives	See Akhtar family

She has directed movies such as Luck by Chance (2009), Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara (2011) and Sheila Ki Jawani, a segment of Bombay Talkies (2013). She has co-written Talaash (2012) alongside Reema Kagti. She then went on to direct Dil Dhadakne Do (2015) and Gully Boy (2019).

Personal life

Zoya Akhtar was born to poet, lyricist and screenwriter Javed Akhtar and screenwriter Honey Irani. Zoya's stepmother is Shabana Azmi.[1] Her younger brother, Farhan Akhtar, is an actor and director. She attended Maneckji Cooper and earned her Bachelor of Arts degree from St. Xavier's College, both from Mumbai. Later, she joined the New York University Tisch School of the Arts to learn film production.

Her great-grandfather, Fazl-e-Haq Khairabadi, a scholar of Islamic studies and theology, edited the first diwan of Mirza Ghalib on his request and later became a figure during the Indian Rebellion of 1857 in his native Khairabad.[2]

She is great-granddaughter of renowned Urdu poet Muztar Khairabadi and granddaughter of poet Jan Nisar Akhtar.

Zoya grew up in an agnostic environment and along with her brother Farhan and father Javed Akhtar, she does not believe in any religion.[3][4]

Career

Zoya started her career as co-director of a music video called Price of Bullets for a rock band called Pentagram. She has worked as a casting director for films including Dil Chahta Hai and Split Wide Open, and as an assistant director for her brother Farhan Akhtar's films Lakshya and Dil Chahta Hai. She then worked as an executive producer for her longtime partner Reema Kagti's Honeymoon Travels Pvt. Ltd., also produced by Excel Entertainment.[5]

Zoya (right) with Reema Kagti

Zoya made her directorial debut with Luck By Chance (2009), starring her brother Farhan Akhtar and Konkana Sen Sharma. It tells the story of a struggling actor who breaks into the industry. The film was well received by critics, despite not doing well at the box office.[6][7]

In 2011, she directed Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara, a multistarrer with Hrithik Roshan, Abhay Deol, Farhan Akhtar, Katrina Kaif and Kalki Koechlin.[8] It turned out to be a box office success and won her the Filmfare Award for Best Director.

In 2013, Akhtar teamed up with Anurag Kashyap, Dibakar Banerjee and Karan Johar for Bombay Talkies. It was made as a celebration of 100 years of Indian cinema.[9][10] She then went on to direct Dil Dhadakne Do (2015), a film based on a dysfunctional Punjabi family starring Anil Kapoor as an egotistical industrialist, Shefali Shah as his bitter socialite wife, and Priyanka Chopra and Ranveer Singh as their children. The film also featured Anushka Sharma and Farhan Akhtar as love interests for Singh and Chopra respectively.[11][12]

After Dil Dhadakne Do, Zoya Akhtar directed Gully Boy starring Ranveer Singh and Alia Bhatt.,[13] loosely based on the lives of Mumbai rapper Naezy.[14] Akhtar and Reema Kagti also worked on a story for a web series produced by Tiger Baby Films and Excel Entertainment for Amazon Prime called Made in Heaven, a story about two wedding planners.[15][16]

She has been invited by the Academy Awards to be a member of the Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences.[17]

As of October 2019, she is directing a segment of Ghost Stories, an Anthology film, consisting of four short film segments. Other segments are directed by Anurag Kashyap, Dibakar Banerjee, and Karan Johar.[18] Ghost Stories is to premier on Netflix on 1 January 2020.[19]

Filmography

Director

Year	Film	Note(s)
2009	Luck By Chance	Filmfare Award for Best Debut Director (shared with Ayan Mukerji)
2011	Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara	Filmfare Award for Best Director[20] IIFA Award for Best Director Zee Cine Award for Best Director Apsara Award for Best Director
2013	Bombay Talkies	An anthology film, consisting of four short film segments directed by her, Anurag Kashyap, Dibakar Banerjee, and Karan Johar
2015	Dil Dhadakne Do
2018	Lust Stories	An anthology film, consisting of four short film segments directed by her, Anurag Kashyap, Dibakar Banerjee, and Karan Johar
2019	Gully Boy	Filmfare Award for Best Director Screen Award for Best Director[21] Film was selected for screening in Berlinale special section of 69th BIFF[22]
2019	Made in Heaven	TV series 2 episodes
2020	Ghost Stories	An Anthology film, consisting of four short film segments directed by her, Anurag Kashyap, Dibakar Banerjee, and Karan Johar.[18]

Screenplay writer

Year	Film	Director
2009	Luck By Chance	Self
2011	Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara	Self
2012	Talaash	Reema Kagti
2019	Gully Boy	Self
2019	Made in Heaven	Self, Alankrita Shrivastava, Prashant Nair, Nitya Mehra

Story writer

Year	Film	Director
2009	Luck By Chance	Self
2011	Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara
2012	Talaash	Reema Kagti
2015	Dil Dhadakne Do	Self
2019	Made in Heaven	Self, Alankrita Shrivastava, Prashant Nair, Nitya Mehra

Assistant director

Year	Film	Director	Notes
1998	Bombay Boys	Kaizad Gustad
2001	Dil Chahta Hai	Farhan Akhtar
2004	Lakshya

Executive producer

Year	Film	Producer
2007	Honeymoon Travels Pvt. Ltd.	Farhan Akhtar, Ritesh Sidhwani
2009	Luck By Chance

Other appearances

She appeared on the Valentine's Day charity show of Kaun Banega Crorepati along with her brother Farhan Akhtar.[23] She also appeared in a very brief role as Rasa Devi's Rekha's Courtesan in Kama Sutra: A Tale of Love.[24] She and Shah Rukh Khan had a 'fireside chat' with Jeff Bezos of Amazon in January 2020.[25][26][27]

References

1. "Shabana Azmi- Farhan and Zoya Akhtar - Bollywood stepmothers who share a beautiful bond with their step kids". The Times of India. Retrieved 19 September 2019.
2. Jan Nisar Akhtar Biography The Encyclopaedia of Indian Literature (Volume Two) (D -J). by Amaresh Datta. Sahitya Akademi, 2006. ISBN 81-260-1194-7. p. 1796-97.
3. "10 Self-Proclaimed Celebrity Atheists | Entertainment | iDiva.com | Page 4". iDiva.com. Retrieved 16 December 2013.
4. "Celebs who are atheist". Times of India. Retrieved 16 September 2016.
5. "Zoya Akhtar". Excel Entertainment.
6. "Zoya Akhtar". Outlook. 9 February 2009. Retrieved 28 March 2010.
7. Adarsh, Taran. "Box office Top 5". Bollywood hungama. Retrieved 2 July 2011.
8. "Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara: Cast and Crew details". Bollywood Hungama. Retrieved 2 July 2011.
9. "Bollywood directors join hands to pay homage to Indian cinema. She teamed up again with the same directorial squad, consisting of Anurag Kashyap, Dibakar Banerjee, and Karan Johar to a direct Lust Stories, a Netflix Original Indian anthology film, consisting of four short film segments". The Times of India. 7 May 2012. Retrieved 28 January 2012.
10. Dubey, Bharati (25 January 2012). "Film industry to mark Phalke centenary". The Times of India. Retrieved 28 January 2012.
11. "'Dil Dhadakne Do' - Movie Review" (Mid-day.com). Mid Day. Retrieved 4 June 2015.
12. "Zoya Akhtar's film is about a dysfunctional Punjabi family". Times of India. 23 February 2014. Retrieved 23 February 2014.
13. "Ranveer Singh to turn composer for Zoya Akhtar's Gully Boyz". Deccan Chronicle. 23 June 2017. Retrieved 30 June 2017.
14. "Ranveer Singh Met Underground Rappers- Ranveer Singh Gully Boy Movie". Desi Hip Hop. 20 December 2017. Retrieved 11 January 2018.
15. NAIRITA MUKHERJEE (18 June 2017). "After Inside Edge, is Zoya Akhtar's show next on Amazon Prime?". Retrieved 17 July 2017.
16. "Farhan Akhtar might have a cameo in Zoya Akhtar's next". 15 December 2016. Retrieved 18 July 2017.
17. "Zoya Akhtar invited to be a member of Oscar Academy". femina.in. Retrieved 10 July 2019.
18. "Karan Johar, Zoya, Dibakar and Anurag reunite for Netflix's 'Ghost Stories'". The New Indian Express. 15 April 2019. Retrieved 20 September 2019.
19. "Netflix's Ghost Stories to Premier on January 1, 2020". News18. Retrieved 20 December 2019.
20. "Zoya Announced as Best Director for ZNMD 2012".
21. "Star Screen Awards: Deepika Padukone, Ananya Panday add glam as Alia Bhatt, Ranveer Singh win top awards. Read complete winners list". Hindustan Times. 9 December 2019. Retrieved 9 December 2019.
22. "Ranveer Singh, Alia Bhatt, Zoya Akhtar take Gully Boy global. See pics from Berlin Film Festival". Hindustan Times. 9 February 2019.
23. "Discuss: A Shah Rukh Valentine". Rediff. 14 February 2007. Retrieved 28 March 2010.
24. "Zoya Akhtar". IMDb.
25. Arora, Akhil (21 January 2020). "Jeff Bezos, Shah Rukh Khan, Zoya Akhtar Talk Amazon, Storytelling, Failures, Superstitions, and More: How to Watch". India Today. Retrieved 8 February 2020.
26. "Shah Rukh Khan joins Jeff Bezos at blue carpet event, confesses he doesn't shop for 'underwear online'. See pics". Hindustan Times. 17 January 2020. Retrieved 8 February 2020.
27. "Fireside Chat with Jeff Bezos, Shah Rukh Khan, Zoya Akhtar Amazon Prime Video". 17 January 2020. Retrieved 8 February 2020.

External links

• Zoya Akhtar on IMDb