Kavita Bahl

Multiple National Award-winning Indian director and Producer Kavita Bahl is a journalist turned filmmaker. Coming from a family of teachers, Kavita Bahl developed a sense of responsibility since her early days. She did her Master of Arts degree in World Literature from Delhi University. Upon graduating in 1991, she joined as a journalist for Indian Express. She got married to Nandan Saxena   Nandan Saxena, a successful director with three >> Read More... , a journalist turned filmmaker. As a news correspondent, she worked on investigative stories from the North-East Indian states.

After seeing the situation in the northeast of India, Kavita Bahl decided to quit her five-year-old job to become the voice of the people. Post leaving the job as a journalist, Kavita Bahl and her husband, Nandan Saxena, began a production house in the name Top Quark Films in 1996. Since then, they have been giving out films with meaningful messages out to the world. In 2006, the duo started their work to tell the story of the suicide of Vidarbha farmers through a documentary. Released in 2011, the documentary ‘Cotton For My Shroud’ follows the miseries of the Cotton farmers and how the families of the farmers lose their loved ones because of the mounting debts.

Their painstaking effort of five years rewarded them with the Rajat Kamal National Film Awards The National Film Awards gets presented every year >> Read More... for Best Investigative Film at the 59th National Film Awards. In 2013, Kavita Bahl directed the movie ‘Candles in the wind.’ Like their previous documentary, this one also had an impactful message to the audience. ‘Candles in the wind’ unfolds the story of the women in Punjab who bear the responsibilities after the death of the farmers. The documentary shows the struggles and the way of survival of the women. In the 61st National Film Awards, Kavita Bahl bagged the Special Mention Award for the documentary. In 2014, she received the CMS Vatavaran Award for Best Film on Environment and Water Issues for her movie Dammed.

Her subsequent work, ‘I Cannot Give My Forest,’ revolves around the Kondh Adivasis in Odisha and their fight for their forests. It also shows us their love for the forest and how their lives are interwoven with the forest. For the third time, Kavita Bahl won the National Film Award for Best Environment Film Including Agriculture at the 62nd National Film Awards for ‘I Cannot Give You My Forest.’ Kavita Bahl’s visit to her grandparent’s house in Vrindavan and the sight of the widow made her write and direct the documentary ‘ Krishna Story coming soon.. >> Read More... ’s Waiting Room.’ The documentary shows the women who are waiting for their deaths in the city of Vrindavan. With the voiceover of Kavita Bahl, the film is nothing short of a wonder.