The British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) on Thursday revealed the names of honourees of its inaugural  

Breakthrough India initiative. 10 artists from the world of cinema, television, and games have been chosen for the initiative. They will receive mentoring and global networking opportunities.

The honourees include writer-producer Akshay Singh, writer-director Arun Karthick, cinematographer Jay Pinak Oza, composer Karthikeya Murthy, actor Palomi Ghosh, writer-director Renu Savant, game developer and art director Shruti Ghosh, writer-director-editor Sumit Purohit, actor Tanya Maniktala, and director Vikram Singh.

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Arun Karthick (filmmaker)

Filmmaker Arun Karthick’s ‘Sivapuranam’ that released in 2015 premiered at the International Film Festival Rotterdam and his critically acclaimed film ‘Nasir’ (2020) received the NETPAC award for Best Asian Film at the International Film Festival last year.

According to The Hindu, Arun is currently filming his third feature ‘Aasai Mugam’ in Tamil Nadu.

Karthikeya Murthy (music composer)

Kartikeya Murthy, who comes from a background of Carnatic musicians, is an Indian composer and songwriter. His grandfather, TK Murthy, was an established Mridangam player.

Murthy set foot in the cinema world with a Tamil/Telugu bilingual movie ‘Moone Moonu Varthai’/’Moodu Mukkallo Cheppalante’.

Before entering the film industry, Murthy ventured into short films, ad films, documentaries and also worked as an independent composer. He also won the band hunt contest ‘Oh la la la’ conducted by eminent musician AR Rahman.

Tanya Maniktala (actor)

Known for her brilliant work in Netflix‘s Indo-British collaborative project ‘A Suitable Boy’ and Timeliners’ ‘Flames’, Tanya Maniktala is an emerging Indian actor. 

Tanya will soon be seen in a feature film ‘Mumbaikar’, directed by Santosh Sivan and Netflix series ‘Feels like Ishq’.

Palomi Ghosh (actor)

Palomi Ghosh has featured in International movies like ‘The Waiting City’ (2009) and ‘Gandhi of the Month’ (2014). She won the Best Actress award at the Washington DC South Asian Film Festival Awards for Konkani movie ‘Nachom-ia Kumpasar’ (2015). She has also acted in Shubhashish Bhutiani`s directorial debut ‘Mukti Bhawan’.

Palomi Ghosh was born in Vadodara and she spent her teens and early adulthood in the US. She has a degree in Applied Mathematics from the North Carolina State University.

Akshay Singh (writer)

Akshay Singh has been associated as a writer with projects such as The Gold-Laden Sheep and The Sacred Mountain, Istifa, First Light and Fishing with Popo. He was also the producer of The Gold-Laden Sheep and The Sacred Mountain. He studied at the United Kingdom’s National Film and Television School. He was awarded the Mohamed S. Farsi Foundation Scholarship for the Arts in 2012. Singh has written several short films, including Mehsampur (2018), which premiered at the Sydney Film Festival.

Jay Pinak Oza (Cinematographer)

Jay Pinak Oza is known for his cinematography in highly-acclaimed projects like Gully Boy, Ghoul, Raman Raghav 2.0. He worked as a production assistant and assistant director for films like Rang De Basanti and Jodhaa Akbar before turning cinematographer. 

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Oza has finished working on director Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra’s ‘Toofaan’, and will soon be filming ‘Yudhra’, directed by Ravi Udyawar

Renu Savant (director)

Savant received a fellowship from the Tata Institute of Social Sciences, School for Media and Cultural Studies, in 2014. This helped her in the productions of a four-hour video documentary chronicle, Many Months In Mirya. The documentary tells the stories of people living on the west coast of India. The film received a national award. Her other projects are Aaranyak, Airawat, Cinema City.

Savant has earlier worked as a journalist, researcher, and assistant director in Mumbai before joining the Film and Television Institute of India as a student of Film Direction.

Shruti Ghosh (game developer)

Ghosh’s creation Nodding Heads Games’ was selected as the finalist for the initiative’s inaugural year in India. ‘Raji: An Ancient Epic’ met with success after its release last year and was appreciated for its style of storytelling.

Holding a degree in Fine Art from Rabindra Bharati University, Ghosh specialises in hand painting. She has over a decade of game developing experience having working on titles such as Burn Out Open World & Dominator, VC Arts – Fantastic Four etc and working as Art Manager for EA Games India for titles – Bejeweled Blitz, Monopoly Slots and Tetris Blitz.

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Sumit Purohit (screenwriter and editor)

Popular series ‘Scam 1992: The Harshad Mehta Story’ was written by Sumit Purohit. He was born in Uttarakhand and studied art in Baroda. He believes that cinema is a natural progression and thus one should treat and write it like one. 

He has worked in documentaries, films and series.

Vikram Singh (director)

Director/producer Viram Singh’s short film ‘Elephants In My Backyard’ saw a grand world premiere at the Wildlife Conservation Film Festival. The movie also received the Bhoomi Award for Best Indian Short.

This highly-acclaimed movie contemplates the future of elephants in India which is compromised due to industrial developement.