MPW Repeat Winners: How Zoya Akhtar has ensured Indian cinema maintains its spirit of innovation

Zoya Akhtar wears many hats. She is a writer, director, producer, and Co-founder of production house Tiger Baby along with Director Reema Kagti. The duo also launched an audio label last year, Tiger Baby Records, in partnership with musician Ankur Tewari. She is among the most sought after directors in India thanks to hits like Gully Boy (2019). After producing critically acclaimed TV series, like Made In Heaven, and the popular documentary Angry Young Men, she now wants to go off script with unscripted storytelling, including a nature documentary Turtle Walker and In Transit, a series that follows the lives of nine transgender individuals. That desire to innovate constantly has ensured that Akhtar stays on BT’s MPW list for this year.