Mr. Ashutosh Gowariker is an Indian film director, actor, writer and producer. He is known for directing the films Lagaan (2001), Swades (2004), Jodhaa Akbar (2008), What's Your Raashee (2009) and Khelein Hum Jee Jaan Sey (2010). His 2001 film Lagaan was nominated for an Academy Award and European Film Award, and has won a number of other awards, including a National Film Award, five Filmfare Awards, and seven international film festival awards. He also became a voting member for the Academy Awards in 2005. Mr. Gowariker started his career as an actor, making his debut in 1984 in director Ketan Mehta's movie, Holi. After that, he acted in several television serials, including Circus (1989), C.I.D. (1998) and several films, including Naam (1986), Chamatkar (1992), and Kabhi Haan Kabhi Naa (1993).

The 1993 movie, Pehla Nasha marked Mr. Gowariker's directorial debut. In 2001, He wrote and directed the period epic movie, Lagaan, produced by and starring Aamir Khan. In 2004, He directed Swades, starring Shahrukh Khan. He is known as an "actor's director". At the time of writing (2008), all of his male stars have won either the Filmfare Best Actor Award or the Critics' Best Actor Award.

As a filmmaker he shows his own civility through his films. Jodhaa Akbar swept awards at all the major awards, including the 10th International Indian Film Academy (IIFA) awards in Macau, China, on 15 June 2009, taking home trophies for best picture, best director and best actor.

His latest release has been Khelein Hum Jee Jaan Sey, about the Chittagong Uprising set in undivided Bengal of 1930, starring Abhishek Bachchan and Deepika Padukone.

Mr. John started his career as an assistant director on the epic movie Gandhi, directed by Sir Richard Attenborough. Also working on Gandhi was Govind Nihlani, who Matthan would later assist for several films before shifting to directing advertisements.

In the early 1990s, Matthan started his own production company in Mumbai called Cinematt Pictures Pvt Ltd. The company released its first feature film entitled Sarfarosh in 1999. Seven years were spent on the research, pre-production, and production of the film until it was finally released to both critical and commercial success.

After proving his mettle in Sarfarosh, he moved on to another idea that germinated in the form of Shikhar (2005).

Mr. Matthan has begun work on a new film written by Mr. Vipul K. Rawal that is ready to be shot. The film is both a political and historical thriller based on the writer's experience in the Indian Navy and true classified events. It took Mr. Rawal more than five years for research. The story spans 40 years and may cost upwards of Rs. 100 Crores.

Chandraprakash Dwivedi is an Indian film director and script writer, who is best known for directing the 1991 television epic Chanakya in which he also played the title role of the political strategist Chanakya. His other major work is the 2003 film Pinjar, a tragic love story set amidst the Hindu-Muslim tensions during the Partition of India, based on Amrita Pritam's novel of the same name. He has also directed the 1996 television series Mrityunjay which is based on the life of Karna, a major character from the epic Mahabharata, and he won a Screen Videocon Best Director award for the same.

In 2009, the South Asian Cinema Foundation honored Dwivedi with its Cultural Catalyst Award "in recognition of his commitment to exploring India’s ancient culture and history in television and popular cinema.

He is presently working on The Legend Of Kunal, a film based on the life of Kunal, the son of Emperor Asoka and Mohalla Assi set around Assi Ghat of Varanasi.

A chemical engineer by profession, Nagesh Kukunoor gave up his lucrative career as an environmental consultant in Atlanta and using his personal savings wrote, produced, acted and directed his immensely successful debut film, Hyderabad Blues, which went on to become the largest grossing low budget Indian film in English. The film has been to several international festivals winning audience awards at the Peachtree International Film Festival in Atlanta and the Rhode Island Film Festival .

Rockford, a coming of age story of any boarding school going kid, his second film also written and directed by him. Besides its tour of several film festivals, beginning with the Austin Film Festival in 1999, the film was also commercially successful, doing over 16 weeks of business in India.

Bollywood Calling, the filmmaker’s third film, stars Om Puri and Naveen Nischol in the lead. This film also had a very successful commercial run in India and other countries with Indian Diaspora. His next film 3 Deewarein is another ‘genre bender’ on the Indian movie. The film won the writer-director, Nagesh, a premier Indian award, Film Fare award, in the best original story category.

Iqbal, featuring Naseeruddin Shah, Girish Karnad and Shreyas Talpade released in 2005, the film was a huge box office success and has been included as mandatory reading in many middle school text books. Loosely based on a true incident, Nagesh’s next film ‘Dor’, starring Shreyas Talpade, Ayesha Takia, this film received rave reviews, was a runaway success at box office and screened at many international festivals.

His Bombay to Bangkok, again starring Shreyas Talpade and Lena Christensen, is a whacky romantic comedy released in early 2008. In 2009, shifting gears yet again, Nagesh tackled the action thriller genre about a man with the ability to see the past in 8 X 10 Tasveer starring Akshay Kumar.Nagesh’s next film Aashayein opened in August of 2010, His next release Mod, is a romantic drama, His latest film Lakshmi is based on a true story.

Mr. Sagar Ballary pursued a 3 year PG diploma in Film Direction & Screenplay Writing from the Satyajit Ray Film & Television Institute, Kolkata (1997-2001). He scripted and directed a 34 min diploma film “Kalu Ravi”, a Bengali film (35mm Colour) in his final year at SRFTI which was selected for the national competition at the Mumbai International Film Festival (MIFF 2003).

In 2002, after completing his diploma he returned to Mumbai and worked as the Chief Assistant Director on the feature “Raghu Romeo” (Director - Rajat Kapoor). Then he began the development of the script of a feature film “Ding Dong – Baby Sing a Song” which later was called as “Bheja Fry”

In the years 2005 to 2007, he worked with Rajat Kapoor in the capacity of an Associate Director for the films “Mixed Doubles” and “Mithya” between which he made his own feature film, “Bheja Fry”.

“Bheja Fry”, made on a shoe string budget went on to become the biggest hit of 2007. Shot only in 19 days, the film was appreciated equally by the critics as well as the masses. The success of Bheja Fry consolidated Mr. Sagar Ballary’s position in the Indian film industry as one of the most promising young directors with an exceptional flair to come up with extraordinary films on small budgets and tight schedules.

He also produced & directed a feature film with children, titled as “Kaccha Limboo” co-produced with Sahara One Motion Pictures banner. The film released in February 2011. Soon after Kaccha Limboo, his next film “Bheja Fry 2” released in June 2011 which did good business at the box office again!

Post “Hum Tum Shabana” which released in September 2011, he is currently working on the pre-production and scripting of a comedy titled “Guftagoo” which is a modern take on marriages and relationships.

Manishh Anand is a Serial Entrepreneur turned Investment Professional with 28 years of Business Leadership experience in the sectors of Consumer & Industrial Electronics, IT, Retail, Infrastructure Consulting, Healthcare, Wellness, Real Estate, Education, Agro, Films & Media. He has a deep passion for building businesses in varied domains, and leading them from the front. One of his Current Engagements include serving as Managing Partner & Chief Executive of Kroc Flint & Candler, which is a Sector & Stage agnostic Strategy Consulting and Capital Advisory Firm. They are Value Providers for Business Growth Solutions across Technology, Emerging Sectors, Real Estate, Social Impact Ventures, Conventional Sectors, and Clean & Green Initiatives. His other Current Engagement is serving as Director & Chief Strategy Officer of Lamb Smith & Raskob (P) Ltd. which is a "REDCAM" (Real Estate Development - Consulting & Management) Company, providing a host of Advisory Services to Real Estate Developers

His Past Assignments include being Co-Founder & Director of Anuraag Ventures (P) Ltd., which is a Multi-domain Diversified Businesses Conglomerate, with interests in Real Estate, Films & Media, Healthcare, Education & Agro. Prior to this he was the Co-Founder, Chairman & Managing Director of Inspirations Healthcare (P) Ltd., which was a Multi-location Health and Wellness Services Provider. Prior to that he was serving as the Chief Executive Officer & Country Head of Gamma Network Technologies (P) Ltd., an IT Network Infrastructure Consulting Firm.

He holds an Engineering Degree in Electrical & Electronics from Bangalore University, with Diplomas in ‘TV/VCR/Radio Manufacturing’, ‘Fashion Design’, ‘GNIIT’, and ‘Cisco Network Technologies’.

30+ years of experience across finance, commercial strategy and business development functions

Spearheaded Pfizer Ltd as Managing Director (MD) from 2005 to 2012

Served as Managing Director of Wyeth from 2009 to 2012

Other companies: HLL, Vidyut, SICOM and Schrader Scovill

Industry associations: Organization of Pharmaceutical Producers of India, Confederation of Indian Industry , Pharmaceutical Committee of ASSOCHAM and Past President of AIMA among others

Awards: ‘India CFO 2004 – Excellence in Finance in an MNC’ by International Market Assessment Group; The Bharat Shiromani Award in 2007; and the Pharma Leaders - Pharma Professional of the year 2010

Education: Management Accountant and Company Secretary, Master’s Degree in Commerce, Senior MDP from IIM Ahmedabad, Pfizer leadership development program from Harvard University and Marketing Strategy from Columbia Business School

Over 23 years of strong track record in Media & Entertainment and Advertising industries

As CEO of Network18, started the motion picture business, Studio18, that focused on production, co-production, acquisition and distribution of films

Instrumental in creating and managing a USD 110 Mn film fund, The Indian Film Company, and listing it on the London AIM Exchange

The fund released 15 films worldwide, including Jab We Met, Welcome, Singh Is King, Golmaal Returns, Ghajini, and Honeymoon Travels

Other achievements: Built a library of over 300 films for global distribution across platforms; forged partnership with world’s leading international sales agents like Fortissimo Films and Hanway Films; three international co-productions

Other companies: Chief Operating Officer at UTV and Sahara One

Education: MBA in Marketing & International Business from University of Akron, US

Seventeen years experience in media, entertainment & telecommunication

Companies: Viacom 18, Zee Group, Radio MidDay Broadcasting and Airtel

Developed/produced/released films such as Abbas Mustan’s Players, David Dhawan’s Chashme Buddoor, Chandan Arora’s Striker and Dev Benegal’s Road Movie at Viacom 18

In 2011, started Trigno Media, a marketing and sales venture providing independent film producers business and marketing strategies for their films. Trigno has marketed & released over 15 films, including I am Kalam, Love Breakups Zindagi, John Day, Shortcut Romeo, and the forthcoming Vidya Balan starrer Bobby Jasoos. Currently, he is producing a satirical comedy film on religion titled “Dharam Sankat Mein”

Education: MBA from NMIMS Mumbai

Nine years experience in the financial services industry

Companies: Kotak Securities, Aditya Birla Money, BNP Paribas and Standard Chartered

Advised HNIs on financial planning and wealth management across asset classes like equities, mutual funds, insurance, commodities and private equity funds along with managing team of relationship managers

Managed and executed corporate access and communication for institutional equity investors in India and worldwide for BNP Paribas and Standard Chartered

Education: MBA from Chetana Institute of Management & Research, Master’s and Bachelor’s degrees in Commerce from Mumbai University and Investment Management course from IIM Bangalore

Seven years of consulting experience in real estate, logistics, aviation & shipping

Companies: Boston Consulting Group, KPMG and Air India

Consulted PSUs, MNCs, government organization and ministries

Consulted companies on market feasibility and financial stability fit with core business. Also worked on remodeling and rebuilding of companies’ processes

Advised companies in the areas of risk assessment and corporate governance

Advised various entities for specialized strategies such as cost optimization, process re-engineering, technical and financial capabilities and also strategy & business development

Education: MBA from IESE, Spain; and Aeronautical & Astronautical Engineering, Purdue University, US

Ten years experience in wealth management business

Companies: Anand Rathi Securities, Standard Chartered Bank

Founded Myvu Capital Services Pvt. Ltd., an online portal providing research and analysis on mutual funds

Managed investment corpus of INR 250 crore, largely belonging to high net-worth individuals. The investment portfolio consisted of mutual funds, private equity funds such as India REIT, IL&FS TARA PE Fund, ICICI Ventures PE Fund, CIG Real Estate Fund, HDFC Real Estate Fund, and structured products offered by Benchmark AMC

Education: MBA in Finance from Chetana Institute of Management and Research; and Master’s and Bachelor’s degrees in Commerce from Mumbai University