Zoya Akhtar (born 14 October 1972) is an Indian film director, screenwriter and producer. The daughter of two screenwriters, she has made some of the most admired Hindi films of the last two decades, including Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara, Dil Dhadakne Do and Gully Boy, and co-created the web series Made in Heaven. Her films are known for ensemble casts, close attention to class and family, and carefully written characters.
Quick Facts
| Full name | Zoya Akhtar |
| Born | 14 October 1972, Mumbai, Maharashtra, India |
| Age | 54 |
| Occupation | Film director, screenwriter, producer |
| Years active | 1998–present |
| Known for | Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara, Gully Boy, Made in Heaven |
| Education | Maneckji Cooper School; St. Xavier’s College, Mumbai; New York University (film-making diploma) |
| Parents | Javed Akhtar and Honey Irani |
| Relatives | Farhan Akhtar (brother), Shabana Azmi (stepmother) |
Early Life
Akhtar was born in Mumbai to the poet and screenwriter Javed Akhtar and the former child actor and screenwriter Honey Irani. Her parents separated when she was a child, and her father later married the actor Shabana Azmi. Her younger brother is the actor and director Farhan Akhtar. She has said that seeing Mira Nair’s Salaam Bombay! as a teenager made her want to direct. After a degree at St. Xavier’s College she studied film-making at New York University.
Career
She began in advertising and then worked behind the scenes for about a decade, as a casting director on films such as Kama Sutra: A Tale of Love and Split Wide Open, and as an assistant director on her brother’s Dil Chahta Hai and Lakshya. In 1999 the siblings and Ritesh Sidhwani’s company Excel Entertainment became the base for much of her later work.
Her first film, Luck by Chance (2009), a wry look at strugglers in the Mumbai film industry, was praised by critics but did modest business. Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara (2011), about three friends on a road trip through Spain with Hrithik Roshan, Farhan Akhtar and Abhay Deol, was a major hit and won the Filmfare Awards for Best Film and Best Director. Dil Dhadakne Do (2015) followed a wealthy Delhi family on a Mediterranean cruise.
Gully Boy (2019), starring Ranveer Singh and Alia Bhatt, told the story of a young rapper from Mumbai’s Dharavi and drew on the lives of the street rappers Naezy and Divine. It premiered at the Berlin International Film Festival, won a record thirteen Filmfare Awards and was India’s entry for the Academy Awards.
She directed segments of the anthology films Bombay Talkies, Lust Stories and Ghost Stories. In 2015 she and her long-time writing partner Reema Kagti founded Tiger Baby Films. Together they created Made in Heaven (2019 and 2023), a series about two wedding planners in Delhi, and the crime drama Dahaad. She directed The Archies (2023), a musical for Netflix set in an Anglo-Indian hill town. As a writer she also shared credit on Kagti’s Talaash and Gold.
Personal Life
Akhtar lives in Mumbai. She keeps her private life out of public view and has often spoken about growing up in a home where film scripts were everyday conversation. In 2019 she was invited to join the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
Awards
Selected Filmography
Frequently Asked Questions
When and where was Zoya Akhtar born?
Zoya Akhtar was born on 14 October 1972 in Mumbai, Maharashtra, India and is 54 years old.
What is Zoya Akhtar known for?
Known for: Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara, Gully Boy, Made in Heaven.
Featured image: Zoya Akhtar at the Toronto International Film Festival, September 2024. Photo by Kevin Payravi, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
