Rajiv Mehrotra

Rajiv Mehrotra is an Indian writer, documentary filmmaker, and television producer-director. He is best known as the acclaimed host of the talk show "In Conversation", that was aired on Doordarshan News Channel on Saturdays at 9:30 pm. He has directed over 650 documentary films and has won over 170 international and 40 national awards for them. A student of The Dalai Lama, he likes to call himself "a most unworthy chela" of his. 

Apart from The Dalai Lama, Rajiv Mehrotra was also the student of eminent gurus including Swami Ranganathananda, and yoga icon B.K.S. Iyengar. 

Rajiv Mehrotra was born on 4th March 1953 in Kolkata.  He did most of his early schooling from La Martiniere Calcutta. Later, he joined St. Stephen's college in Delhi, where he did his graduation. He received a Master of Fine Arts in film direction from Columbia University in the year 1981. 

He also studied  at the Oxford University.There as  a student, he directed many plays including Othello, Shrivings, The Shrew and Tughlaq.

He joined All India Radio at the age of 12. This was what began his journey and helped him in creating a successful career in making films  in his later years. 

Rajiv Mehrotra has written and published many books that reflect his thoughts on various subjects. The mind of the Guru, Understanding the Dalai Lama, The Spirit of The Muse, and The Essential Dalai Lama are some of his best works. 

Today, Rajiv Mehrotra serves , as the Honorary Secretary and Trustee of The Foundation for Universal Responsibility of His Holiness The Dalai Lama. He is also the founder and managing trustee of The Public Service Broadcast Trust and Chairman of The Media Foundation.

He served on  the Jury as a Chairman during the Indian National Film Awards for their 50th anniversary in the non-feature film category. He also served as the judge for The Templeton Prize for Religion. He was a part of the governing council of a society called  The Sri Aurobindo Society. 

The World Economic Forum, Davos nominated Rajiv Mehrotra as a 'Global Leader for Tomorrow'. He has also conducted two plenary sessions for the youth during the Global Leader for Tomorrow conference.

In each aspect of television and radio production, cinematography and production-direction, Rajiv Mehrotra has extensive and pioneering experience. He is an ardent believer of the policy that the youth of India  has  the potential to move skies, if they  are  given proper encouragement. He spends a lot of his time guiding young filmmakers into making impactful documentaries on various issues. 

Rajiv Mehrotra currently lives with his wife, Dr. Meenakshi Gopinath in Delhi.