Adil Hussain

"I would much rather have you believe in something I don’t agree with than to accept everything blindly."

Working in both mainstream and arthouse cinema, Adil Hussain has performed in films across the globe in a plethora of languages. His internationally acclaimed performance as Othello in Roysten Abel's production of Othello- A play in Black and White (1999) was awarded a Fringe First. Starting out in the Indian film industry with roles in Ishqiya (2010) and Agent Vinod (2012), it was his performance in the Indo-Italian production of Gangor (2010) which brought him international recognition from the likes of the Hollywood Reporter. Debuting in Hollywood, Adil played Pi's father in the epic survival drama Life of Pi (2012), directed by Ang Lee. Most recently, Adil received special mentions at the Indian National Awards for his compelling role in Hotel Salvation (2016).

Anupama Kumar

Having starred in more than 300 television advertisements, Anupama Kumar, is a Tamilian actress with over thirteen years of experience in the film industry. After beginning her career mainly working as an anchor, visualizer, and journalist, she later ventured into modelling and acting, appearing in several Hindi television series like ‘Kabhi Aaye Na Judaai’, ‘Mission Fateh’, and ‘Shaka Laka Boom Boom’. Recently, Anupama has starred in director Lokesh Kumar’s dramatic musical ‘My Son is Gay’.

Ashish Bisht

Ashish Bisht , an Indian model and a film actor born in Delhi, is the latest fresh face to break into Bollywood. With a successful commercial modelling career under his belt, Ashish caught the eye of Shab (2017) director Onir. Leading opposite Arpita Pal and Raveena Tandon, the story is about human connection. Ashish has completed over 200 television commercials and print adverts with leading brands such as Pepsi, Nokia, FedEx, etc. Ashish has also bagged the lead role for Onir’s next movie Veda.

Konkona Sen Sharma

Her discerning taste for Indian independent and arthouse cinema has established Konkona Sen Sharma as one of India’s leading artists of contemporary parallel cinema. With actor filmmaker Aparna Sen as her mother, Konkona has filmmaking in her blood. Starring in an even spread of roles through English, Hindi and Bengali films, Konkona delivers a diverse performance with a plethora of accolades under her belt. Recognised for her daring choices, Konkona was awarded best actor at recently released Lipstick Under My Burkha, her directorial debut in A Death In the Gunj scooped up best director at the New York Indian Film Festival.

Nitesh Tiwari

"You need to be a good observer to be able to tell stories."

Nitesh headed the operations for international advertising agency Leo burnett before becoming an acclaimed Indian writer, producer, and filmmaker. Nitesh Tiwari made his directorial debut with the light-hearted drama Chillar Party (2011), winning the Indian National Film Award for Best Children's Film. Following this, Nitesh was both writer and director for Amitabh Bachchan - starrer Bhootnath Returns (2014). In 2015, he wrote and produced Nil Battey Sannata (2016), his wife Ashwiny Iyer Tiwari's directorial debut. Nitesh's next project was the biopic drama Dangal (2016), welcomed as Bollywood’s best film for the last decade. Winning the 62nd Filmfare Best Director Award, Nitesh Tiwari is regarded as one of the most talented and respectable members of the Indian film industry.

Rahul Bose

Described as the ‘Indian art house icon’, by TIME magazine, Rahul Bose won the Best Actor award at the Singapore Film Festival in 2000 for his performance in ‘Split Wide Open’. In 2002, at the Palm Springs Festival, he was awarded the runner-up prize of the John Schlesinger award for Best Debut Director for ‘Everybody Says I’m Fine!’. Formed in 2006, his NGO, ‘The Foundation’, works with children from underserved areas of India, and his second NGO, HEAL works with survivors of child sexual abuse. In 2009 he was voted the Indian Youth Icon of the Year - Social Justice. In 2010, he was awarded the Green Globe award for his work onclimate change. In 2012 he was awarded NDTV’s Celebrity Sports Activist of the Year. In the same year, on India’s Independence Day, Rahul was conferred the Lt. Governor’s Commendation Award for Services to the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. In 2013 he was awarded the Hakim Khan Sur award for his work towards National Integration by the Maharana of Mewar Foundation. In 2014 , Rahul was named on the prestigious Executive Council of the Union Ministry of Home Affairs' National Foundation for Communal Harmony. In 2015 he was named GQ's Philanthropist of the Year. A former international rugby player, Rahul represented India for eleven years, retiring from the Indian team in 2009. A prolific speaker, he has lectured on leadership, gender equality and Indian cinema at Harvard, Oxford, Cambridge, Yale, MIT, Columbia and Cornell University amongst others.

Rajeev Masand

Rajeev has hosted two of India’s popular eponymous film industry talk shows in a distinguished career as a film critic and journalist. Both shows were enormously successful and game-changers in their own right, shaping the relationship between the audience and film critic on Indian television. Rajeev was the Assistant Editor at The Indian Express, Special Correspondent and Film Critic at Star News and additionally Entertainment Editor and Film Critic at CNN-IBN. Interviewing big international talent such as Martin Scorsese, James Cameron, Guy Ritchie, M. Night Shylaman and Robert Downey Jr. to name a few. Rajeev was awarded Best Entertainment Critic by the National Television Awards in India and is currently a contributing editor of GQ India. Rajeev will be covering the 2017 Indian Film Festival of Melbourne on his show Rajeev Masand Ki Pasand, currently airing on IBN7.

Raveena Tandon

Raveena Tandon is a critically acclaimed actress, producer and model. Reveena attained recognition early in her career, however it was when she ventured into more serious roles within arthouse and parallel cinema that her success flourished. Winning the Best Actress Indian National Film Award for her performance in Kalpana Lamji’s Daman: A Victim of Marital Violence (2001), Reveena’s characterization has been met with widespread acclaim. Raveena will be joining IFFM 2017 to celebrate the release of her recent film Shab (2017), which is garnering similar amiable attention for its poignant exploration of human relationships.

Shobu Yarlagadda

An Indian-American environmental engineer turned film producer, Shobhu Yarlagadda is the co-founder and CEO of Arka Mediaworks, an acclaimed film production company renowned for it Telugu cinema focus. Shobu’s recent two-part film series Baahubali was released to an immense success, each part the highest grossing film in their years of release and, cumulatively, the highest grossing film series in India. No stranger to accolades, Shobu has scooped up a National Film Award as well as two state Nandi Awards and Filmfare South Awards for his work.

Shoojit Sircar

“We don’t belong to any political party, but we feel democratic inside and our only weapon is cinema.”

Shoojit Sircar is a well respected Indian director, highly regarded within the industry for his independent films and unique characterisation, diverting from typical Bollywood. Hailing from a theatre and documentary background, Shoojit has illustrated his diversity and creativity through his cinematic endeavours. His more recent films Madras Café (2013), Piku (2015) and Pink (2016) were received with critical acclaim, each scooping an Indian National Film Prize in various categories. Shootjit’s Piku received Best Film and a nomination for Best Director at the Filmfare Awards.

Tannishtha Chatterjee

"Actors love to be cast against type, that's when you get the most interesting performance out of them."

Tannishtha Chatterjee’s career is marked by a long list of accolades in Indian and international cinema. A respected actress, Tannishtha was on the jury of the 2010 Asia Pacific Screen Awards. Tannishtha’s international credits include Joe Wright's Anna Karenina (2012) and Garth Davies's recent critically acclaimed Lion (2016). Her film Dekh Indian Circus (2011) won Best Children’s Film with a Special Mention at the Indian National Film Award and the Audience's Choice Award in Busan International Film Festival, while Monsoon Shootout (2013) was in official selection at the 66th Cannes film festival. In 2016 Tannishtha was honoured with a Special Award at the BAFTA and London Asian Film festival for her contribution to Asian Cinema. Recently, Tannishtha won Best Actress at the 2017 Pune International Film festival for her biographical role in Dr. Rakhmabai (2017).

Vikram Phadnis

"The journey has been beautiful, and lucky too."

One of India's leading fashion designers, Vikram Phadnis’ pieces have been adored by big names within Indian fashion and cinema for years. With a unique and classic synthesis of popular and avant-garde styles, Vikram has forged an enduring 25-year career in fashion. This year Vikram makes his directorial debut in the emotional family drama Hrudayantar (2017). Vikram’s bold and versatile creativity reaches a wide and established audience, adorning the likes of Salman Khan, Vidya Balan, Priyanka Chopra and Anil Kapoor.