Nainital
Literature
Festival

A chemical engineer by profession, Nagesh Kukunoor gave up his lucrative career as an environmental consultant in Atlanta to follow his passion for storytelling. Using his personal savings, he wrote, produced, acted in, and directed his immensely successful debut film Hyderabad Blues, which went on to spark the independent film movement in India.

Since then, he has established himself as one of India’s leading independent filmmakers, with 16 films across diverse genres. A two-time National Award winner for Iqbal and Dhanak, the latter also won the Grand Prix at the Berlinale in 2015. He is also a prominent voice in the OTT space, having created and directed acclaimed projects like City of Dreams (Seasons 1–3), Modern Love Hyderabad, The Hunt: The Rajiv Gandhi Assassination Case, and Mrs. Deshpande.