Meet Our Team

Prof. Suresh Sharma

Vice President

Documentary Filmmaker and Journalist.

Ex-Editor, Sandhya Times (TOI).

Ex-Dean and Head, Department of Film & Theatre , Mahatma Gandhi International Hindi University, Wardha.

Documentary films:

  • The king of Romance Shammi kapoor
  • Music composer Ravi & The Golden Age of Hindi Cine-Music
  • The Musical Journey of Khayyam
  • The Last Mughal Bahadur Shah Zafar.

Achieved  NATIONAL AWARD BEST FILM CRITIC (2001)

Published books:

  • Bimal Roy ka Devdas (shooting script)
  • Raghuvir Sahay Rachnavali (Complete Works in 6 volumes)

Benipuri Granthavali (Complete Works in 8 volumes)

  • Collected works of eminent journalist Prabhash Joshi

Sanskar Desai

The General Secretary

Mumbai based filmmaker, started his career in 1984 more than three and a half decades ago.

Nominated – Preview Committee- International Film Festival of India; Goa (IFFI 2019), Jury Chairperson – Third Eye Asian Film Festival 2012 & 2020, Jury Chairperson- Indian Railways Film Competition, Jury – State Awards- Government of Maharashtra 2012, Jury & Jury Chairperson – Kolhapur International Film Festival multiple occasions, Jury-BMM Degree Colleges-University of Mumbai etc…

Organizing Committees MIFF‘04 & MIFF ‘14. Nominated – Child Labour Advisory Board; Govt of Maharashtra. Selection Committee – MIFF ’04, MIFF ’06, MIFF ’08 & MIFF ’14,

Documentaries for – Govt of Gujarat, Ministry Information & Broadcasting, Ministry of Labour, & other Central & State Government organizations etc… Corporate Films – Reliance group, NRB Bearings, Choksey Chemicals Pvt Ltd {Asian Paints}, Indian Red Cross Society etc… AD-Films – Ramson Kitchenware AURO VISION etc…

‘The Mahatma’ selected in many International Film Festivals. Written Screenplay for Manpasand- The Perfect Match film selected – 22 International Film Festivals, won many awards. Narrative-poem for an animation film “Chakravyuh” – RTI; film won many awards.

Faculty – Xavier’s Institute of Communication; (XIC); Mumbai, Mahatma Gandhi International Hindi University-Wardha, Harkisan Mehta Foundation; Mumbai & Wigan & Leigh College (UK affiliated).

Film-Making – Film Appreciation Workshops at Guwahati, Jamshedpur, Dhanbad, Bhubaneshwar, Sambalpur, Jaipur, Nasik, Azamgadh, Valsad etc… Conducted Documentary workshop for M.S. University; Gujarat & National Film Archive India (NFAI) at Shimla;

Trained in Hindustani Classical Music 17 years from Pt. Dinkar Kaikini, Pt. Ajay Pohankar & Pt. Dayal Thakur.

Taught Acting-Stagecraft to nearly 2000 students. Plays & Street-Plays received many awards. Poems published in literary anthologies.

Dr. Ravindra Katyayan

The Treasurer

Dr. Ravindra Katyayan is Head, Department of  Hindi and Coordinator, Journalism and Mass Media at Maniben Nanavati Women’s College (affiliated to SNDT Women’s University) Mumbai. He worked in Indian Air Force as a RADAR Technician. Then he voluntarily took retirement and joined Goa University as a Lecturer. He taught in Goa University, Pune University and SNDT Women’s University Mumbai. Apart from being the Head of the Department of Hindi, he also coordinates Saral Hindi Course orgnised by Hindustani Prachar Sabha, Mumbai. He teaches Journalism at Symbiosis Institute of Media and Communication, Pune since 2004. He has written Tele-serials, short films and feature films. Recently, he made two documentaries and working on third one.

Arun Shekhar

The Joint – General Secretary

Arun Kumar Singh , working in creative field as a Arun Shekhar, born and brought up in Uttar Pradesh. He completed his Diploma in dramatics from BNA( Bharatendu Natya Akademi) and his post-graduation from Mumbai University in Hindi Literature.
Arun Shekhar is an actor, producer, director and playwright, with a long experience of more than 2 decades in the film Industry. He has acted in films like Kaagaz, Tarpan, Pustak, Veer Savarkar, Shamitabh, Sab Kuchh Hai, Kuchh Bhi Nahin, Kuchh Khatta, Kuchh Meetha and many more.
He has made a few documentaries on various subjects & is currently working on a biographical documentary on the veteran & wellknown filmmaker Shri Rajdutt (Shri Dattaji Mayalu)
He has acted and directed several stage plays.
He has also worked with acclaimed film Directors like A. R. Murgadoss, Reema Kagti, R. Balki, Sagar Sarhadi, Basu Chaterjee, Ved Rahi, Satish Kaushik and others in various technical roles.
He was associated as a dialogue writer for Hollyday starring Akshay kumar, Govinda, Sonakshi Sinha.
A cinema – student by heart, he does not miss an opportunity to interact with students and has conducted many workshops on various facets of film making and acting. He has also been invited as a Jury member to many campus film festivals as well as Rashtriya Kala Manch film festival.
He was invited to be on the selection committee for MIFF’22.
Multi talented, Aruun Shekhar
has written many books like Hindi Poetry play ‘mera or na chhor’ and Hindi satirical play ‘aa se aam par charcha’.
He has also interviewed many film personalities as an RJ.

Aditya Seth

EC Member

Aditya Seth is an internationally acclaimed independent award winning Documentary, Short & Corporate Film Maker & Academic with a sound grounding in Theatre & Music and has been involved in the making of Short Films, Documentaries & TV programmes in all genres for national as well as international audiences. He is an Academic & Professor of Film & teaches Filmmaking & related media at the Under Graduate & Post Graduate level. He is a Certified Master Trainer for Media & Entertainment Skills Council, Skill India. Aditya is a founder member of Vikalp: Films For Freedom, he was the Treasurer of the Indian Documentary Producers Association (IDPA) from 2004 -’08 & is currently it’s Vice President. Having trained under the guidance of Internationally acclaimed Film maker Shri. Prakash Jha Aditya’s versatility of talent is clearly visible in the over 500 projects he has designed and shaped as Producer/ Writer/ Director / Editor/ Consultant/ Film Critic/ Voice Over artist. His portfolio is defined by Documentaries, Corporate Films, News Magazines, TV shows, Tele- Serials, Public Service  Announcements, Audio Visuals, Television Commercials, Live Events, CD Roms & Radio Production. He is an Academic Consultant for University of South Wales, Cardiff, Wales, (UK)

Anjolie Purat

EC Member 

Anjolie Purat – Film Maker

DOCUMENTARY / SHORT FILMS:

The Burning Story’ – Documentary on Skin Donation Films Division Ministry of Information & Broadcasting, Govt. of India. Roll: Direction, Camera and Editing

Laadli’ – A project on girl child Award as the best film. Roll: Direction, Camera and Editing

Friends of Trees’ – History & work of FOT. Roll: Research, Script, Camera and Editing

MOTION’ – Short Animation film. Roll: Direction, Camera and Editing

Aadarsh Gaon’ – Salaam Bombay Academy of Arts. Roll: Stills & Making of Documentary film

Ganapati Bappa Moraya’ (30 stories) For Ruturang Creation. Roll: Research, Script & Co-Direction for Serial

RESEARCH, RECORDINGs Avs of Events and Workshops for Dr. Ashok Ranade, Musicologist

Mrs. Vijaya Mehta, Internationally known Theatre person

 NCPA, Podar International, Taj Group & Many Corporate Bodies

NCPA Official Photographer – Four Theatres 6 years

 Photographic Documentation (B/W) of Live Programmes 365 Days

MMRDA Official Photographer & Videographer 3 years

 PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE – Ad Agencies as Visualiser, Team Leader 12 years.

Usha Deshpande

EC Member

After completing B.A. with English, Usha obtained a degree in Journalism and then went on to graduate from Film and Television Institute of India, Pune in a three-year course in Film Direction and Screenplay Writing.

Since then she has been making documentary films (in 35mm/16mm/HD) and television programmes in fiction and non-fiction.

Usha has also worked for E-TV, East-West Airlines and FTII (TV faculty)
She has delivered lectures in Film Appreciation courses of National Film Archives of India and continues to write film-based articles.

She was a Vice- President in the previous EC.

Satinder Mohan

EC Member

Additional Director General (Retd) from Ministry of Defence. Filmmaker and Film critic. Jury and  Preview Committee Member in many International Film Festivals of India. Has attended all IFFIs and Filmotsavs since 1983. Have attended all MIFFs since 2012 in Mumbai. Advisory Panel Member of CBFC New Delhi  for 3 terms . External Member of NFDC for the last 8 years. Preview Committee member of Doordarshan Films Committee, DD Arun Prabha and DD urdu Channels.Executive Committee member of IDPA . Member of IDPA team for Open Forums organised in IFFIs and MIFF. Preview committee member of Jagran Film Festivals. Preview committee Member of 24 th European  Union Film Festival held in India in various cities.

Bipin Choubal

Co-opted EC member 

Bachelor of Arts with Psychology and Economics from the UNIVERSITY OF BOMBAY.

Diploma in Mass media from Chetna College, affiliated to the UNIVERSITY OF BOMBAY.

Worked with M/s. KISHOR KUMAR PRODUCTION, for the film “DOOR KA RAHI” in the Editing department as Assistant.

Worked with M/s. PRAMOD FILMS of Producer-Director PRAMOD CHARVARTY,  in PRODUCTION DEPARTMENT as Assistant.

Joined FILMS DIVISION, in PRODUCTION DEPARTMENT, as Unit Manager, in 1979.

Made Documentary films on yesteryear playback singer MUBARAK BEGUM, MAHENDRA KAPOOR as Director. MOHAMED RAFFI as ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR.  Few films on “GANDHI’s preaching.

Made Radio Serial on “WOMEN EMPOWERMENT” for “MAHILA ARTHIK VIKAS MANDAL”, Government of Maharashtra, 52 Episode broadcast on ALL INDIA RADIO, MUMBAI, all over the MAHARASHTRA in 2006 – 07.

On my retirement from FILMS DIVISION,  made a film on “AMBIDIXTURE – AMAZING TALENT” as a Director – Producer, nominated for the NATIONAL SCIENCE FILM FESTIVAL in March 2020, under the banner of ‘FIRST IMPRESSION PRODUCTION”, Mumbai.

Film on XENOTRANSPLATATION – Animal organ transplant to the human body, under production, shooting in MARCH 2021.

Under production TV Serial on “WOMEN CRICKET” and INDIAN JEWELLERY (Dream project) maybe for OTT platform.

Ravi Iyer

Co-opted EC member 

Over 3 decades of work life! With over 100 odd Corporate Films. And a few hundred Audio Visuals. A few hundred Radio Shows done for over 3 radio stations. Less than 100 episodes of hosting a TV show (The Coca Cola Poppadum Show on Sony Ent. TV). Trained over 100 RJs across India.

Talkaholics Productions is a full-fledged Indie Production House. Ravi Iyer has directed and co-produced a web-series independently and also directs and co-produces the Science Of Stupid for NatGeo with Maniesh Paul. A long format documentary on the Farmers of Maharashtra (Parli and Beed)

He is also actively involved in some Corporate Collaborative Social Responsibility. “Joining the Dots” a Changemaker Initiative supported by Yes Foundation (with a modest grant) to connect professionals from various fields and skills with young minds. Helping mentor students from Municipal Schools and teens from a less privileged background.

He is a curator for Mumbai for the MegaCities ShortDocs (France). He is the President of the BNI Chapter Star Troopers.