Director

Alankrita Shrivastava

Alankrita Shrivastava is one of Bollywood's boldest contemporary voices, a director and screenwriter who's built her career on telling stories that refuse to play it safe. After studying filmmaking at Jamia Milia Islamia and cutting her teeth as an associate director under Prakash Jha on films like Apharan and Rajneeti, she made her directorial debut with Turning 30 in 2011. But it was Lipstick Under My Burkha that announced her as a filmmaker with something important to say—a darkly comic exploration of female desire that earned her a Filmfare nomination and the Grand Prix at the Créteil International Women's Film Festival, cementing her reputation for creating challenging, conversation-starting cinema. What sets Shrivastava apart is her unflinching commitment to centering women's stories and sexuality in Indian cinema, tackling themes that mainstream Bollywood often sidesteps or sanitizes. Her films blend sharp social commentary with humor and depth, refusing easy answers or neat resolutions. Beyond Lipstick Under My Burkha, she's continued to push boundaries with projects that challenge conventional narratives, proving that there's an audience hungry for cinema that interrogates societal norms and celebrates complexity. In a film industry sometimes accused of playing it too safe, Shrivastava remains a fiercely independent voice proving that bold storytelling and commercial appeal aren't mutually exclusive.