BAFTA unveils its Breakthrough India participants for 2022

The British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) has unveiled ten emerging talents from across the Indian film, games and television industries that will participate in the ‘BAFTA Breakthrough India’ initiative supported by Netflix. The ten names were selected by an eminent jury consisting of industry experts including AR Rahman, Apurva Asrani, Anupam Kher, Ratna Pathak Shah and Shonali Bose. 

The talented list of BAFTA Breakthrough India participants for 2022 is below: 

• Ajitpal Singh, Director/Writer (Tabbar) 
• Alokananda Dasgupta, Music Composer/Director (Sacred Games – Music Composer) 

• Arati Kadav, Director/Writer (Cargo) 
• Leena Manimekalai, Director/Writer (Maadathy, an Unfairy Tale) 
• Mathivanan Rajendran, Producer (Nirvana Inn) 
• Nakul Verma, Game Director (In My Shadow) 
• Prateek Vats, Director/Writer (Eeb Allay Ooo!) 

• Saumyananda Sahi, Cinematographer (Eeb Allay Ooo!) 
• Shubham, Writer (Eeb Allay Ooo!) 
• Sumukhi Suresh, Performer (Pushpavalli) 

BAFTA Breakthrough India’s list of jurors for 2022 includes AR Rahman, Anupam Kher, Apurva Asrani, Charu Desodt, Gaurav Gandhi, Guneet Monga, Krishnendu Majumdar, Monika Shergill, Ratna Pathak Shah, Shonali Bose, Siddharth Roy Kapur and Vishal Gondal. Furthermore, this year’s programme has also seen an additional collaboration with Guneet Monga, Vishal Gondal and Ratna Pathak Shah as ‘Supporters’ from the Indian film, games and television industries, respectively, to enable easy navigation of the country’s robust talent network. 

During the programme, the participants will be provided with an opportunity to connect with and learn from the best British and Indian creatives, as well as share their expertise with peers from around the world. Moreover, the participants will receive one-to-one meetings, global networking opportunities, free access to BAFTA events and screenings for 12 months, and full BAFTA voting  membership. They will be promoted as BAFTA Breakthrough artists globally, gaining access to international opportunities. 

Tim Hunter, executive director of learning and new talent, BAFTA said: “Breakthrough is BAFTA’s flagship talent initiative, which has been recognising and celebrating talent for nine years, nurturing and supporting them to flourish in their chosen careers. Through our successful first cycle in India, we were delighted to introduce such a broad and diverse group of creative voices to our industry networks in the UK and beyond, helping to recognise their talent on the global stage. With our second cycle we see that this was just the tip of the iceberg and we’re so excited to be working with another crop of such world-class talent. We’re grateful to Netflix—who share our vision of inspiring, supporting and celebrating new creative talent. Congratulations to our new cohort, and welcome to the BAFTA Breakthrough family.”

AR Rahman, BAFTA Breakthrough India ambassador and jury chair, said: “Selecting just 10 participants out of the incredible applications we received was a challenging task. After a lively discussion and careful consideration, the chosen 10 Breakthroughs are a diverse mix of individuals from across various regions, professions and languages, reflecting India’s creative diversity. With BAFTA Breakthrough India providing a doorway to significant opportunities at the national and international level, I am looking forward to the 2022 cohort of ten Indian talents making the most of their experience.”

Monika Shergill, vice president of content, Netflix India said: “India is a vibrant hub of storytellers and creatives. Through BAFTA Breakthrough India we are excited to do our part to identify and empower fresh, new voices and talent that deserves a platform like this. We received many incredible applications this year. Congratulations to the ten selected Breakthroughs! We cannot wait to see how they shape and contribute to the creative wave in their industries.”

Since its launch in 2013, BAFTA Breakthrough has supported over 160 rising talents, including Florence Pugh, Letitia Wright, Tom Holland, Josh O’Connor, Gemma Langford, Jim LeBrecht, amongst many others, and aimed to facilitate a creative and cultural exchange across the film, games and television circuits. Having launched in India in 2020, the participants of its debut Indian cohort include Akshay Singh, Arun Karthick, Jay Pinak Oza, Karthikeya Murthy, Palomi Ghosh, Renu Savant, Shruti Ghosh, Sumit Purohit, Tanya Maniktala and Vikram Singh. Several of BAFTA’s previous Breakthrough alumni have gone on to thrive in their careers, many of them even becoming BAFTA winners and nominees.