Vinta Nanda

Ready to drop out ever since the day I stepped into school, I rebelled against everything which did not flow naturally. I read fiction and non fiction, biographies and history and drama and literature, none of which was in syllabus, till I fell apart and started to write myself. Soon after graduating in Political Science, I got immersed in theater and also worked as an Assistant Director to some of the best Film Directors in India. I started my first Production Company, Tracinema, at the age of 24 with the trailblazing serial Tara, which captivated viewership and topped the ratings for 5 years and then I produced, wrote and/or directed serials V3 Plus, Shatranj, Umeed, Raahat, 10 Civil Lines, Cafe 18, Raahein, Agnichakra, Sansaar and Miilee besides many short films, documentaries, tele films and talk shows etc. I co produced Aur Phir Ek Din and wrote and directed Kabhie Kabhie. I also co-founded the NGO, Project Smita; the idea was to harness popular media and use its power for social change, and went on to produce some of the most moving content for Television and Theatre. We also researched and documented the impact of all the content produced. Project Smita was the first organization to make popular stars from films and television commit to social change and endorse women's, children and health issues on all media. Sheila and Kasbah were two of the serials produced by the NGO, and Nazariya, Paigham and Anant were some of the tele films whi. The NGO also touched issues in sensitively created documentaries on socio political issues like womens rights and rumblings of discontent in the North Eastern States of India in films like Vaastav and The Distant Thunder. I worked at Zee Network, at the time it went from a single channel to sixteen channels as the Director Ideation, and developed content strategy for the network along with the marketing team, between 2000 to 2002. I co produced, wrote and directed White Noise, a feature film starring Rahul Bose & Koel Purie, curated the Kala Ghoda Festivals film section for two years, 2009/10 and co-founded Asian Centre for Entertainment Education where I am now the Managing Director and where we work with networks, studios, producers and creative communities to enrich content with accuracy of information on key health and social issues, and realism.