Debbie Rao

Hailing from Mumbai, Maharashtra, with roots in Karnataka, Debbie Rao has juggled and tried her hand in copywriting, advertising, TV show production, and editing.

Rao made her TV career debut as an assistant producer on MTV's Rock On. Then she moved to Splits villa. She then joined Trouble Maker Studios, and so began her learning process. Debbie worked with David Polycarp (creator of the Fully Faltoo series) and Vasant Valsan (creator of MTV's Bakra) during this time.

After she worked with them for four years, she landed with the gig Better Life Foundation just as she was about to leave for a solo trip to Europe. She finally got a knack of directing comedy web series. Roa, in an interview, said that she finds digital entertainment medium a fresh platform.

She believes that people, on the web, are willing to run their imaginations wild with edgy content and they tend to be less judgmental as well. This promotes open and non-stereotypical content. She adds to this by saying that on television, there are too many rules that are to be followed.

Because channels have their images to keep up and there is a restriction on what they can and can’t say in front of the camera. Oft times they create ideas for women or society in general that can get unrealistic.

For a short span of two years (2013- 2015), Rao also worked at The Company, Film/Television studio, as a director. Rao worked as a director for Pushpavalli (2017-2020), a short web series.

She also directed seven episodes of the Indian version of The Office Story Coming Soon >> Read More... (2019). Go Straight Take Left, a 2018 movie she directed. Better Life Foundation, a TV Series Rao worked on.

Debbie has not only worked as a director but been a part of the editorial and music department of Pushpavalli (2020). And not only that she has even appeared as an actor in a 2012 TV series Best of Luck Nikki in the role of Priya