Award-winning Indian writer and filmmaker Zoya Akhtar was named a Living Legend 2024 at the India-UK Achievers Honours in London last week.
Addressing the event, organised by the National Indian Students and Alumni Union (NISAU) UK in partnership with the British Council in India and the UK government’s Department for Business and Trade, the daughter of celebrated poet-writer Javed Akhtar and sister of fellow filmmaker Farhan Akhtar reflected upon the Creative Economies opening up in the country and worldwide. The creator of a string of box-office successes, starting with her debut ‘Luck By Chance’ to most recently Netflix musical ‘The Archies’, declared her love for storytelling that keeps her going.
“I love what I do. I can't imagine not writing or not telling stories. It's just part of who I am,” said Akhtar.
Asked about the influence of artificial intelligence (AI) on the film industry, the filmmaker felt it was still early days to fully grasp where the trend is headed.
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“Honestly we don’t know where it’s headed. Maybe the low-end jobs in the industry would cease to exist. I don’t know how long before it comes for other jobs. But it’s pretty remarkable, it’s moving pretty fast and there’s a lot of convenience with it, but at the same time it’s definitely going to affect people.”
As someone who studied literature and sociology in Mumbai before her filmmaking diploma in New York, Akhtar’s advice to the predominantly Indian student gathering was to keep an open mind about their route into cinema.
“I genuinely believe that literature and sociology have helped me immensely in making movies, and writing and telling stories. However, I don’t believe one size fits all when it comes to your career path in the film industry.
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“If you have the means to study filmmaker, go for it. But it's certainly not the only way.”
Zoya Akhtar, founder of Tiger Baby with her writing partner Rima Kagti, was conferred the Living Legend award in recognition of her work in furthering an understanding of India on the global stage.
