Nitya Mehra is an Indian

film director A film director or filmmaker is a person who controls a film's artistic and dramatic aspects and visualizes the screenplay (or script) while guiding the film crew and actors in the fulfillment of that Goal, vision. The director has a key role ...

and screenwriter based in

Mumbai Mumbai ( ; ), also known as Bombay ( ; its official name until 1995), is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra. Mumbai is the financial capital and the most populous city proper of India with an estimated population of 12 ...

. She is best known for her work on the romantic drama film '' Baar Baar Dekho'' (2016), and the Prime Video series ''Made in Heaven'' (2019–present) and ''Big Girls Don't Cry'' (2024).

Early life and education

Mehra was born in

Amritsar Amritsar, also known as Ambarsar, is the second-List of cities in Punjab, India by population, largest city in the India, Indian state of Punjab, India, Punjab, after Ludhiana. Located in the Majha region, it is a major cultural, transportatio ...

into a

Punjabi Hindu Punjabi Hindus are adherents of Hinduism who identify ethnically, linguistically, culturally, and genealogically as Punjabis and are natives of the Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent. Punjabi Hindus are the third-largest religious g ...

family. Her mother was a fashion designer. She studied at

Welham Girls' School Welham Girls' School is a private boarding school for girls located in Dehradun, Uttarakhand, India. History The school was founded by Hersilia Susie Oliphant, who had previously set up Welham Boys' School. She named the schools after her ...

, a boarding school in

Dehradun Dehradun (), also known as Dehra Doon, is the winter capital and the List of cities in Uttarakhand by population, most populous city of the Indian state of Uttarakhand. It is the administrative headquarters of the eponymous Dehradun district, d ...

. After completing her schooling she went on to study literature at

Delhi University The Delhi University (DU, ISO 15919, ISO: ), also and officially known as the University of Delhi, is a collegiate university, collegiate research university, research Central university (India), central university located in Delhi, India. It ...

, after which she pursued a film production and direction program at

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private university, private research university in New York City, New York, United States. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded in 1832 by Albert Gallatin as a Nondenominational ...

Career

Mehra started her film making journey in 2001 as a Production Assistant in New York, on a

Spike Lee Shelton Jackson "Spike" Lee (born March 20, 1957) is an American film director, producer, screenwriter, actor, and author. His work has continually explored race relations, issues within the black community, the role of media in contemporary ...

production called '' 3 am''. Eager to return to India, she began assisting film makers in India and learning the ropes. As an assistant director she worked on various Indian and international projects such as ''Lakshya'', ''The Namesake'', '' Don'', ''

Little Zizou ''Little Zizou'' is a 2008 Indian drama film written and directed by Sooni Taraporevala. ''Little Zizou'' is a comedy about how two battling Mumbai families finally come to terms. ''Little Zizou'' won the "Rajat Kamal" of 'National Film Award ...

'', ''

The Reluctant Fundamentalist ''The Reluctant Fundamentalist'' is a "metafictional"Madiou, Mohamed Salah Eddine. "Mohsin Hamid Engages the World in The Reluctant Fundamentalist: 'An Island on an Island,’ Worlds in Miniature and 'Fiction' in the Making". Arab Studies Quart ...

,'' and ''Life of Pi''. Mehra directed the

Star One Star One was an Indian pay television channel based in Mumbai and owned by Star TV, with worldwide distribution handled by Fox International Channels. Launched on 1 November 2004, Star One was launched in the UK on Sky in November 2006. Sta ...

teen comedy sitcom ''Happy Go Lucky'' in 2005. Mehra's directorial breakthrough came in 2013 with the first season of Indian remake of the hit TV show ''24'', which aired on

Colors TV Colors TV is an Indian general entertainment pay television channel owned by JioStar, a joint venture between Viacom18 and Disney India. Its programming consists of Soap opera, family dramas, Comedy, comedies, fantasy shows, youth-oriented Rea ...

. In 2016, Mehra directed her first feature film '' Baar Baar Dekho'' starring

Sidharth Malhotra Sidharth Malhotra (; born 16 January 1985) is an Indian actor who works in Hindi films. He began his career as a fashion model, but left it to pursue acting as an assistant director to Karan Johar in ''My Name Is Khan'' (2010). He had his fir ...

and

Katrina Kaif Katrina Kaif (; born Katrina Rosemary Turcotte, 16 July 1983) is a British actress who works in Hindi-language films. One of the highest-paid actresses in India, she has received numerous accolades, including four Screen Awards and four Zee C ...

, co-produced by

Excel Entertainment Excel Entertainment is an Indian production company, founded by Ritesh Sidhwani and Farhan Akhtar in Mumbai in 1999. They mainly produce Hindi films. Their debut production, ''Dil Chahta Hai'', received critical acclaim and was a huge rage f ...

and

Dharma Productions Dharma Productions Pvt. Ltd. is an Indian film production and distribution company established by Yash Johar in 1979. It was taken over in 2004, after his death, by his son, Karan Johar. Based in Mumbai, it mainly produces and distributes H ...

. In 2019, Mehra worked on the critically acclaimed drama series ''Made in Heaven'' for

Amazon Prime Video Amazon Prime Video, known simply as Prime Video, is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming television service owned by Amazon. The service primarily distributes films and television series produced or co-produced by ...

, where she served as the Director, Showrunner, and Executive Producer for Season 1. The show and its ensemble cast starring Arjun Mathur,

Sobhita Dhulipala Sobhita Dhulipala (; born 31 May 1992) is an Indian actress and beauty pageant titleholder. She won runner-up title Femina Miss India Earth 2013 at Femina Miss India 2013 pageant and represented India at Miss Earth 2013. Dhulipala made her ac ...

Jim Sarbh Jim Sarbh (born 27 August 1987) is an Indian actor known for his work in films and stage productions. He has received several awards including a Filmfare OTT Award, and an IIFA Award with a nomination for an International Emmy Award. Addition ...

, and

Kalki Koechlin Kalki Koechlin (; born 10 January 1984) is a French actress and writer who works in films and stage. Known for her unconventional body of work, particularly in Hindi films, she is the recipient of several accolades, including a National Film ...

received universal positive reviews, and features in IMDb's '''50 Most Popular Indian Web-Shows of All Time list. She wrote and directed the segment ''Chand Mubarak'' as part of '' Unpaused'' (2020)'','' an Indian Hindi-language anthology film, released on

. The story, focusing on the unusual friendship between an auto-rickshaw driver, played by Abhishek Bannerjee and a reclusive older woman, played

Ratna Pathak Ratna Pathak Shah (born 7 August 1957) is an Indian actress and director known for her work in Hindi theatre, television, and films. Her extensive work in theatre includes a series of plays in both English and Hindi. She rose to prominence when ...

, received favourable reviews and was praised for its poignant writing and direction. In 2023, Mehra returned as a Director for the second season of ''Made in Heaven''. She created and directed the coming-of-age drama ''Big Girls Don't Cry'' (2024) for Amazon Prime Video. The young-adult show following the lives of students at an all-girls boarding school, dealt with the themes of identity, class, and growing up.

Filmography

Films

Television

Awards and nominations

*Winner of the Best Director for ''Made in Heaven'', at the Indian Television Academy Awards 2019

Personal life

Nitya Mehra is married to Karan D. Kapadia and they have a son.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Mehra, Nitya Living people Hindi-language film directors Indian women film directors Indian women screenwriters Indian women television directors Indian television directors English-language film directors Artists from Amritsar Film directors from Punjab, India 21st-century Indian people Screenwriters from Punjab, India Women artists from Punjab, India Welham Girls' School alumni 1980 births