Leena Yadav (born 6 January 1971) is an Indian film director, producer, screenwriter and editor. She started her career in the television industry and gradually moved on to making feature films. Her first international feature film, ''

Parched ''Parched'' is a 2015 Indian drama film written and directed by Leena Yadav and produced by Ajay Devgan under his banner Ajay Devgn FFilms. It premiered at the Special Presentations section of the 2015 Toronto International Film Festival. In In ...

'', premiered at the

Toronto International Film Festival The Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF, often stylized as tiff) is one of the largest publicly attended film festivals in the world, attracting over 480,000 people annually. Since its founding in 1976, TIFF has grown to become a permane ...

in 2015.

Early life and education

Born to an

Indian Army The Indian Army is the land-based branch and the largest component of the Indian Armed Forces. The President of India is the Supreme Commander of the Indian Army, and its professional head is the Chief of Army Staff (COAS), who is a four- ...

general in

Madhya Pradesh Madhya Pradesh (, ; meaning 'central province') is a state in central India. Its capital is Bhopal, and the largest city is Indore, with Jabalpur, Ujjain, Gwalior, Sagar, and Rewa being the other major cities. Madhya Pradesh is the seco ...

, she graduated with Economics honours from

Lady Shri Ram College for Women Lady Shri Ram College for Women (LSR) is a constituent women's college, affiliated with the University of Delhi, and has a legacy in women's education. History Established in 1956 in New Delhi by the late Lala Shri Ram in memory of his wife ...

Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, primarily its western or right bank, Delhi shares borders w ...

. She did Mass Communications from

Sophia College Sophia College (Autonomous) is an undergraduate women's college established in 1941 by Society of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. It is affiliated to the University of Mumbai. The governing body of The Society for the Higher Education of Women in In ...

Mumbai Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the second- ...

Personal life

She is married to Aseem Bajaj (son of

Ram Gopal Bajaj Ram Gopal Bajaj is an Indian theatre director, academician, and a Hindi film actor. He has also been a faculty member and a former Director of National School of Drama, New Delhi (1995 – September 2001). He was awarded the Padma Shri in 2003 a ...

and maternal grandson of

Khemchand Prakash Khemchand Prakash (12 December 1907 – 10 August 1949) was a music composer in the Hindi film industry. He had few peers in 1940s, the decade for Indian film music which started with Saigal very active on the scene and ended with Lata Mangeshkar ...

), who is an Indian cinematographer and film producer well known for his poetic imagery on films like

Hazaaron Khwaishein Aisi ''Hazaaron Khwaishein Aisi'' (A Thousand Wishes Like This) is an Indian political drama film made by director Sudhir Mishra in 2003 but released in 2005. Set against the backdrop of the Indian Emergency, the movie tells the story of three young pe ...

Shabd ''Shabda'' ( sa, शब्द, ), is the Sanskrit word for "speech sound". In Sanskrit grammar, the term refers to an utterance in the sense of linguistic performance. History In classical Indian philosophy of language, the grammarian Katyayan ...

, Teen Patti,

U Me Aur Hum ''U Me Aur Hum'' () is a 2008 Indian Hindi-language romantic drama film co-written, directed, and produced by Ajay Devgn. The film tells the story of Ajay (Devgn), who meets barmaid Piya ( Kajol) on a cruise with his friends (Sumeet Raghavan, ...

and Chameli to name a few. She met Aseem while directing her first TV show ''This Week That Year''.

Filmography

Having captivated by the job of ''Film editing'', while she was working with a diploma in Mass Communications background, she learned ''Film editing''. Without working as an assistant to anyone, she learned about direction and script writing from ''editing'' itself. While working as an editor for 'ad films' – corporate shows – and television serials, she got an offer to direct a Television (TV) show ''This Week That Year'' for Star Movies. With success, she floated her own production house with Nikhil Kapoor to produce and direct shows for Star Bestsellers. As a TV director, she directed both fiction and non-fiction for almost 12 years; some of the TV shows that she directed included singular episodes for Star Bestsellers, ''Say Na Something to Anupam Uncle'', ''Sanjeevani'', and many more. As a mainstream film director,

was her directorial debut with ''unconventional storyline,'' released in 2005. Teen Patti was her second film after a gap of five years.

is the latest movie directed by her, starring

Tannishtha Chatterjee Tannishtha Chatterjee is an Indian actress and director best known in the west for her performance in the British film ''Brick Lane'' (2007), the film adaptation of Monica Ali's best selling novel of the same name Radhika Apte Radhika Apte (born 7 September 1985) is an Indian actress. She works predominantly in Hindi films, and has appeared in a few Tamil language, Tamil, Marathi language, Marathi, Telugu language, Telugu, Bengali language, Bengali, and English-langua ...

Surveen Chawla Surveen Chawla (born 1 August 1984) is an Indian actress and dancer who appears in Hindi films and television. She started her career with television shows like Kahin to Hoga and Kajjal. She is known for her roles in movies and shows like ''Hat ...

and

Adil Hussain Adil Hussain () is an Indian actor who has worked in Indian cinema, including art house cinema and mainstream Bollywood, as well as international cinema, in films such as '' The Reluctant Fundamentalist'' and '' Life of Pi'' (both 2012). He re ...

playing lead roles.

As director

Films ;TV show * ''This Week That Year'' – for Star Movies. * ''Say Na Something to Anupam Uncle''. * ''Sanjeevani''. * ''Goonj'' – for

Sony TV Sony Television, Sony TV, or Sony HD may refer to any of the following television-related products from Japanese conglomerate Sony: * Television sets designed and manufactured by Sony Corporation in Japan ** Trinitron, television hardware brand (196 ...

. * ''Kahin Na Kahi Koi Ha'' – a match-making show with Madhuri Dixit. * ''Temptation Island''. * ''Dead End''. * ''Khauf'' ; ;Documentary *'' House of Secrets: The Burari Deaths'' (2021)

References

External links

*
What's making Leena Yadav worried?

Latest Films directed by Leena Yadav

INTERVIEW: Director: Leena Yadav

Let the game begin – Leena Yadav explores gambling and its psychology in ‘Teen Patti'.

“The story of Teen Patti is a metaphor for life” – Leena Yadav

Bollywood previews – Teen Patti – A high tension drama based on gambling to prove a mathematical theory.

After ‘Kites’, Hollywood editor for ‘Teen Patti’
{{DEFAULTSORT:Yadav, Leena Indian women film directors 1971 births Living people Lady Shri Ram College alumni Sophia College for Women alumni Indian women film producers Film producers from Madhya Pradesh Indian women screenwriters Indian women film editors Film editors from Madhya Pradesh Hindi-language film directors Indian women television directors Indian television directors Indian women television producers Indian television producers Indian television writers Indian women television writers 21st-century Indian women writers 21st-century Indian writers 21st-century Indian dramatists and playwrights 21st-century Indian film directors Women writers from Madhya Pradesh Hindi screenwriters Screenwriters from Madhya Pradesh Film directors from Madhya Pradesh Hindi film editors Women artists from Madhya Pradesh Businesswomen from Madhya Pradesh Women television producers 21st-century Indian screenwriters