Director

Sooni Taraporevala

Sooni Taraporevala is one of those rare filmmakers who's equally brilliant behind the camera and with a pen in hand. Born in Mumbai in 1957, she's been crafting compelling stories since the late '80s, starting as a screenwriter for some truly iconic films. She penned the Oscar-nominated *Salaam Bombay!*, the beautifully layered *Mississippi Masala*, and *The Namesake*—all collaborations with visionary director Mira Nair that helped shape modern Indian cinema. Her adaptation of Rohinton Mistry's *Such A Long Journey* and *Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar* further cemented her reputation as a writer who handles complex narratives with nuance. The Indian government recognized her contributions with the prestigious Padma Shri in 2014, and she's also a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. What makes Taraporevala special is her unflinching ability to explore identity, displacement, and community—particularly the Parsi experience that's so close to her heart. Her directorial debut, *Little Zizou* (2008), was an ensemble love letter to the Parsi community, winning the National Film Awards' Silver Lotus for Best Film on Family Values. More recently, she helmed *Yeh Ballet* (2020) for Netflix, a film about young dancers in India that showcased her talent for finding humanity in unexpected stories. Beyond cinema, she's also an accomplished photographer whose work sits in the permanent collections of both the Metropolitan Museum of Art and Delhi's National Gallery of Modern Art—proving she's an artist across multiple mediums.