Zoya Akhtar

Biography

Zoya Akhtar (born 14 October 1972) is an Indian film director and screenwriter. Born to to poet, lyricist and screenwriter Javed Akhtar and screenwriter Honey Irani, she completed a diploma in filmmaking from NYU, where she assisted directors such as Mira Nair, Tony Gerber and Dev Benegal, before turning writer-director in her own right. She achieved her breakthrough with the comedy-drama Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara (2011), which won her the Filmfare Award for Best Director. She has since directed the comedy-drama Dil Dhadakne Do (2015), segments in the anthology films Lust Stories (2018) and Ghost Stories (2020), and the musical drama Gully Boy (2019), which won her a second Filmfare Award for Best Director.