Before advertising, there was this: longer, slower, and paid at a rate the tax office would call a hobby. It’s also where I learned to write, so I’ve been told I’m not allowed to complain.
EXPLORE THE WORK
My first feature. I wrote the screenplay and dialogues, and it released on Disney+ Hotstar in 2021. I had spent years learning the rules of screenwriting. This was the first time anyone let me use them.
Sudhir Mishra takes Devdas, that most devoted of drunks, and drops him into modern politics, where the temptations are better funded. Dev, Paro and Chandni find love, ambition and power pulling in different directions, but this time Dev heads towards liberation rather than the bottle. My contribution was the brand positioning, which is a polite way of saying I was asked to say all of this in a sentence.
We shot this entirely remotely during the 2020 lockdown, back when nobody knew how, and half of us were still saying “can you hear me?” to each other. It won at the ZEE5 2021 Global OTT Content Festival, and it did that with all of us in different rooms.
I wrote it and I played the lead, which saved us the awkward conversation about who gets the best scenes. It’s a psychological short drama that won Best Short Film at RIFF Jaipur in 2015 and was an Official Selection at the San Francisco Global Movie Fest the same year. People tell me I should act more. Those people are me.
I researched and wrote this entire series for Zee Living, sending Chef Kunal Kapur across the country on a quest for the ultimate achar. My core takeaway from decoding hundreds of regional recipes: behind every grandmother's secret pickle recipe is a woman entirely ready to fight anyone who touches her barni with wet hands.
Pickle Nation — Trailer · Watch on YouTube ↗
I wrote this entire non-fiction series for Sugar Free, produced by Pitch Black Entertainment. The setup was unhinged: sending Kunal Kapur, Rocky & Mayur, and guest chef Sanjeev Kapoor across the country to convince sweet-obsessed uncles to replace real chashni with powder. My main creative responsibility was making sure our national culinary heroes didn’t get beaten up on camera by angry mithai shop owners.
After Ranveer Singh trashed our agency's first draft, my founder swapped out the writer and gave me half a day to save us. I knew zero cricket, but after a six-hour, panic-fueled crash course on IPL rivalries, I wrote a brand-new script. Ranveer praised the detail and requested that I direct his segment myself - suddenly making me the agency’s most overqualified fake cricket expert.
I served as the writer-director’s right hand across the companion web content for Star Plus’s landmark 2013 show. Juggling scripts, casting calls, and floor logistics on a production this massive taught me how to stay calm inside any creative whirlwind.
A companion web series exploring the epic’s rich philosophy and human choices. Helping research and shape conversations that connected ancient wisdom to modern everyday life was pure craft.
My role: Assistant Director & Writing Assistant
A dedicated debate show centered on the moral complexities of the epic. I handled casting and on-floor direction, which meant managing strong personalities and making sure nobody spoke over the moderator.
My role: Assistant Director and Casting
The view from behind the lens, capturing the massive technical scale and sleepless nights it took to put an ancient universe on television.
My role: Assistant Director
A music video for Arthjam, about the choices that shape us and the paradox of opposing perspectives. I worked as First Assistant Director to Anshu Sharma, the director and founder of Arthjam Indie India.
WATCH MUSIC VIDEO ↗These samples are around 10 years old, and I’m only putting them up because people ask. They’re older than my current work, so please don’t hold them against me. Fresh samples are available on request.