Ruchi Narain (born 1976) is an Indian

film director A film director controls a film's artistic and dramatic aspects and visualizes the screenplay (or script) while guiding the film crew and actors in the fulfilment of that vision. The director has a key role in choosing the cast members, p ...

, screenwriter, and producer widely known as the writer for the critically acclaimed film ''

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 ...

'' (2003). She has also directed films like '' Kal: Yesterday and Tomorrow'' (2005), '' Hanuman: Da' Damdaar'' (2017) and Netflix original film ''

Guilty Guilty or The Guilty may refer to: * Guilt (emotion), an experience that occurs when a person believes they have violated a moral standard Law *Culpability, the degree to which an agent can be held responsible for action or inaction *Guilt (law) ...

'' (2020).

Early life and education

Her family is originally from

New Delhi New Delhi (, , ''Naī Dillī'') is the capital of India and a part of the National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati Bhavan, Parliament House ...

, however, she has never lived there. She spent her early years in Calcutta, Dubai, Sri Lanka,

Muscat Muscat ( ar, مَسْقَط, ) is the capital and most populated city in Oman Oman ( ; ar, عُمَان ' ), officially the Sultanate of Oman ( ar, سلْطنةُ عُمان ), is an Arabian country located in southwestern Asia. It is s ...

, Oman where she attended the

Sultan's School The Sultan's School is a private school in Seeb, Oman, Seeb, Oman. The student roll is around 1300 from Kindergarten, KG through to year 13. The curriculum is bilingual, with Arabic Language, Islamic Education and Social Studies taught in Arabi ...

, The Woodstock School in Mussoorie, and Qatar. She moved to Mumbai for College and has lived there ever since.

Career

She started her career as an assistant director to

Sudhir Mishra Sudhir Mishra (born 22 January 1959) is an Indian film director and screenwriter known for directing the films ''Hazaaron Khwaishein Aisi'', ''Dharavi (film), Dharavi'' and ''Chameli (film), Chameli''. Mishra has had a 30-year career, with his ...

in ''

Is Raat Ki Subah Nahin ''Is Raat Ki Subah Nahin'' () is a 1996 Indian Hindi-language thriller film directed by Sudhir Mishra. The film stars Tara Deshpande and Nirmal Pandey, with the entire plot taking place over a single night. The film is based on a story written ...

'' (1996). Subsequently, she was Associate director, Second Unit Director and

Screenplay writer A screenplay writer (also called screenwriter, scriptwriter, scribe or scenarist) is a writer who practices the craft of screenwriting, writing screenplays on which mass media, such as films, television programs and video games, are based. ...

and edited the film ''

'' for which she won the Best Story

Filmfare Award The Filmfare Awards are annual awards that honour artistic and technical excellence in the Hindi-language film industry of India.Al The Filmfare ceremony is one of the most famous film events in India. The awards were first introduced by th ...

Zee Cine Award The Zee Cine Award (ZCA) is an Indian awards ceremony for the Hindi film industry. They were instituted in November 1997 to award "Excellence in cinema - the democratic way". They were first held in Mumbai until 2004, when the ZCA went interna ...

and Star Screen Award. It was a love story set against the political backdrop of India in the 1970s. She was the writer-director of the contemporary urban thriller '' Kal: Yesterday and Tomorrow'' (2005), which also won her the Osian's Cinefan Film Festival Critics Award. She raised the financing for this film by making a business plan and bringing together a consortium of 14 investors'. Subsequently, she started the production company R.A.T Films with two partners Ashutosh Shah and

Taher Shabbir Taher Shabbir Mithaiwala is an Indian actor who is known for his portrayal of Viraj Singh Rathore in ''Nisha Aur Uske Cousins'' and Arshad Habib in '' Bepannah''. Personal life Shabbir graduated with a degree in mass media from KC College, M ...

which has done over a hundred commercials for a variety of products as well as produced the animation film '' Hanuman: Da' Damdaar'' (2017) which she wrote and directed. It was the biggest animation film release in India ever, voiced by the superstar

Salman Khan Abdul Rashid Salim Salman Khan (; 27 December 1965) is an Indian actor, film producer, and television personality who works in Hindi films. In a film career spanning over thirty years, Khan has received numerous awards, including two Nation ...

and featuring a litany of Bollywood stars;

Raveena Tandon Raveena Tandon (born 26 October 1972) is an Indian actress who works in Hindi films. The daughter of director Ravi Tandon, she made her acting debut in the 1991 action film ''Patthar Ke Phool'', which won her the Filmfare Award for New Face of ...

Javed Akhtar Javed Akhtar (born 17 January 1945) is an Indian poet, lyricist, screenwriter and political activist. Known for his work in Hindi cinema, he has won five National Film Awards, and received the Padma Shri in 1999 and the Padma Bhushan in 200 ...

Kunal Khemu Kunal Kemmu (born Kunal Ravi Kemmu; 25 May 1983) is an Indian actor who works in Hindi cinema. Early life and background Kunal Ravi Kemmu was born in Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir, India on 25 May 1983 into a Kashmiri Pandit family to actors ...

Vinay Pathak Vinay Pathak (born 12 July 1968) is an Indian theater and film actor. He has starred in many films including '' Khosla Ka Ghosla,'' '' Bheja Fry,'' ''Island City'' and ''Johnny Gaddaar'' and had a supporting role in movies like ''Jism'', ''Ra ...

Chunky Pandey Suyash Panday (born 26 September 1962), better known by his stage name Chunky Panday, is an Indian actor who works in Bollywood films. He has appeared in over 100 films in a career that has spanned over three decades. His most successful films ...

Saurabh Shukla Saurabh Shukla (born 5 March 1963) is an Indian actor, screenwriter, and film director who works in Hindi and a few Tamil and Telugu films. He is famous for his roles in ''Satya'' (1998), '' Nayak: The Real Hero'' (2001), '' Yuva'' (2004), ''L ...

and

Makrand Deshpande Makarand Deshpande (born 6 March 1966) is an Indian actor, writer, and director in Hindi, Kannada, Marathi, Telugu, Malayalam, Tamil cinema, and Indian Theatre. He is often seen in supporting and pivotal roles in various films like ''Jungle'' ...

. Her film ''

''(2020) on

Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fil ...

starring

Kiara Advani Alia Advani (born 31 July 1991), known professionally as Kiara Advani (), is an Indian actress who works in Hindi and Telugu language films. After making her acting debut in the comedy film '' Fugly'' (2014), she played MS Dhoni's wife in the ...

has met with a lot of success and acclaim. It is set in an elite Delhi College and centers around an allegation of rape during the #MeToo Movement in India. She has also was the

showrunner A showrunner (or colloquially a helmer) is the top-level executive producer of a television series production who has creative and management authority through combining the responsibilities of employer and, in comedy or dramas, typically also th ...

and the lead director for the 2020 8-part comedy series 'Hundred' on the platform

Disney+ Hotstar The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October ...

which she and her partners created, wrote and produced. The show is a light and irreverent take on two very different women who struggle to do what they want to do in the city of Mumbai. One of them is played by

Lara Dutta Lara Dutta (born 16 April 1978) is an Indian actress, entrepreneur and the winner of the Miss Universe 2000 pageant. She was previously crowned as Miss Intercontinental 1997. In her career, she has primarily worked in Hindi films. She is the ...

as a police woman who feels she can't break the glass ceiling. The other is a young girl, played by

Rinku Rajguru Prerana "Rinku" Mahadeo Rajguru (born 3 June 2001) is an Indian actress primarily working in Marathi language films, best known for her role in the film ''Sairat''. Life and career Rajguru was born in Akluj town of Maharashtra to Mahadeo Ra ...

who discovers she has only a hundred days to live. Together, they try and make their lives count.

Personal life

Narain is the single mother of her daughter Vira who she adopted in 2019.

Filmography

;As Assistant Director *

Khoya Khoya Chand ''Khoya Khoya Chand'', (translation: Lost Moon) is an Indian Hindi film directed by Sudhir Mishra which released on 7 December 2007. The film stars Shiney Ahuja and Soha Ali Khan in the lead roles with Rajat Kapoor, Sushmita Mukherjee, Sonya J ...

(2007) - also editor *

(2003) (associate director) *

(1996)

Awards

** Best Story: ''

'' Awards

IMDb IMDb (an abbreviation of Internet Movie Database) is an online database of information related to films, television series, home videos, video games, and streaming content online – including cast, production crew and personal biographies, ...

. * Osian's Cinefan Film Festival of Asian and Arab Cinema Critics' Award * In the Pink Finalist at Wildscreen Awards 2008 * The Last Dance Finalist at Wildscreen Awards 2008

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Narain, Ruchi Film directors from Mumbai Hindi-language film directors Indian women screenwriters 1976 births Living people Hindi screenwriters Women writers from Maharashtra 21st-century Indian women writers 21st-century Indian dramatists and playwrights Screenwriters from Mumbai 21st-century Indian screenwriters