Directing

Ashim Ahluwalia

Ashim Ahluwalia is a Mumbai-based filmmaker whose provocative, genre-bending films have helped define a new wave of Indian cinema. His directorial debut, JOHN & JANE, premiered at the Toronto and Berlin film festivals in 2006 and became the first Indian film to receive a theatrical release from HBO Films. His second feature, MISS LOVELY (2012), premiered in Un Certain Regard at the Cannes Film Festival and unearthed India’s underground sex horror cinema, while also reviving forgotten figures like disco singer Rupa. In 2017, he directed DADDY, an unorthodox biopic based on the true story of Arun Gawli, a feared underworld don still alive and serving time in a maximum-security prison. The film marked a bold break from formula, with critics calling Ahluwalia “the new-age godfather that Indian gangster films desperately need” (Poulomi Das, Arre).