Mukti Krishan

Thrilled to share, Waagh (The Leopard) will have its world premiere at the hallowed grounds of genre cinema: @frightfestuk Where myths, monsters, and the uncanny find their people, and where one of my favourites from 2024, the acclaimed Substance had its premiere. Set in a city where forests and high-rises uneasily coexist, Waagh is a tense psychological drama about childhood paranoia, primal fear, and the wild that refuses to be forgotten. To the cast - thank you for your quiet power, vulnerability, and precision. To the crew - for your rigour, heart, and for holding the vision through every still breath and feral beat. What a rare thing it is to make something together. See you in the dark. 🐆 Cast: @mr_sagardeshmukh , @sharvaripatankar Arjun as Apu @vidulaamdekar Director of Photography: @van.devi Editor: @abhrobanerjee.cut Sound Recordist: @rinkupathak Sound Designers: @bigyna & @abhrobanerjee.cut Music: @bhanudhande Grade: @mujahid.mk , @nubestudio.in Casting Directors: @yugadeshpande & @filmyyy_bandaaa Production Designers: @prashant_deshmane & @satish_potdar Costume: @devikakale Story: @strangeconsumer and me Associate Editor: @yashshukla1724 Assistant Director: @justin.jessy.jose Director’s Assistant: @chinmay.indurkar 2nd AD: @arnavnirvanh Chief AC: @saurebhshindde Focus Puller: Waseem Khan Gaffer: Shrinivas Shinge Art Team: Suhas Sutar, Gaurav Khedekar, Kishor Gaikwad, Akshay Bhakare Set Dressers: @mi_vikram_sonawane_ , Pournima Devkute Production Team: Bharat Purohit, Swapnil Deokar, Manas Bhagat Marathi Dialogues: @sharvaripatankar , @mr_sagardeshmukh Subtitles: @aniruddha_mokashi Poster Design: @puinam._.bisht #genrefilmfestival #indiangenrefilm #frightfest2025

Glimpses from a project we’ve been working on for the past few months. Proof that a small team of four with a clear vision, skill and strong intent can make things happen. Grade by @noizfactory Coming soon! #PlanIndia

Fresh cuts from our latest film for Slurrp Farm. 🎬✨ Loved bringing this vision to life! Client: Slurrp Farm CMO: Ankit Kapoor Creative head: @vaaniarora Marketing team: Jayshree, Priyanka Sachdeva Dir: @muktikrishan Executive producer: @ironman_sid DOP: @shubhamsharmadp PD: @sakshivk LP: @ravi.k1953 Food stylist: @udaymalhotra_ Casting: @vishalpatwarcastingcompany

Happy to share that Waagh (The Leopard) is heading to @nyindianfilmfest . 🐆 Grateful for how far this journey continues to take us. #newyorkindianfilmfestival2026

New campaign for Slurrp farm is out 🎬 It’s a rare joy to work with clients who embrace the storytelling journey as much as we do. Proud of what we’ve built together with the Slurrp team @vaaniarora Client: Slurrp Farm CMO: Ankit Kapoor Creative head: @vaaniarora Marketing team: Jayshree, Priyanka Sachdeva Dir: @muktikrishan Producer: @ironman_sid DOP: @shubhamsharmadp PD: @sakshivk Food stylist: @udaymalhotra_ @the.food.frame Line production: @ravi.k1953 @whitestallionfilms Costume stylist: @nowmee_chowdary Casting: @vishalpatwarcastingcompany Kids casting: @yugadeshpande Makeup: Bunty DA: @chinmay.indurkar Chief: @justin.jesy.jose 2nd AD: Fardeen 1st AC: @alpesh_rajput_parmar Post producer: @postwalastudio Editor: @sacredframes Grade: @samiransonowal Cast: @samvednasuwalka Spot: Ranjeet Storyboard: Aman Catering: Swami Production manager: @adi_24_frame_

🎬 Four stories. One unforgettable screening — Family Shorts block at IMFF 2026! A gentle, thoughtful collection of stories told through children’s eyes—exploring love, loss, fear, and connection across generations. Bring the kids and experience these stories together. Featuring:
• AASMANI (dir. Sayani Gupta @sayanigupta ) a grandmother and granddaughter connect over the journey of a well-loved, vintage car 
• Deva Aaj Pan Vhay (dir. Amol Jadhav @amoljadhavphotography ) A young boy and his grandfather dream up mischievous ways to protect him on his way to school from the torrential rains of the Western Ghats 
• Little Fishies (dir. Mallika Juneja @mallikajune young Raya grapples with the loss of her father. As she seeks an outlet for her grief, she helps her family break free from what is deemed “acceptable” in her conservative family. 
• Waagh (The Leopard) (dir. Mukti Krishan @muktikrishan ) A leopard dies in a housing complex in Mumbai, and awakens paranoia in Apu. Can nature and humanity co-exist? 🎤 LIVE Q & A with Sayani Gupta & Amol Jadhav post screening @sayanigupta @amoljadhavphotography 🗓️ April 26, 2026
🕞 3:45 PM – 5:40 PM
📍 AFS Cinema, Austin, Texas 🎫 Get your badge (link in bio)
• Platinum — priority access + parties 🎉
• Passport — films + Q&As 💛 Members get 20% off 🎟️ Sunday Shorts tickets — tap the shop or link in bio 🤝 Thank you to our community partner @idiausa #IndieMeme #IMFF2026 #FilmFestival #AustinEvents #SupportIndieFilm

The official lineup is here! 🎬
Short Films – Part 2 at the 11th Indie Meme Film Festival
The stories you don’t want to miss. Kanippu (The Prediction) (North America Premiere) — Dir. Rishi Chandna @rishi.chandna 
A grieving boatman and a determined meteorologist share their knowledge of the sea, yet find themselves powerless against an unpredictable climate. Little Fishies — Dir. Mallika Juneja @mallikajune 
On the day of their father’s funeral, two sisters navigate grief, family expectations, and the question of what it really means to mourn. New Moon Rain (Austin Premiere) — Dir. Santosh Dahal 
A father’s attempt at discipline leads to consequences that unravel his life. P for Paparazzi (Texas Premiere) — Dir. Divya Kharnare @divyakharnare 
A paparazzi balances ambition, ethics, and a deeply personal crisis behind the camera. Showtime (Texas Premiere) — Dir. Vivek Menon @vivektor 
On the day of her first open mic, a young woman’s simple errand turns into a chaotic journey across New York City. Squat N Stool (Texas Premiere) — Dir. Ram Rajagopalan @ramr.79 
A visit to meet her boyfriend’s parents spirals into a hilarious series of mishaps. Texas Jaanu (World Premiere) — Dir. Aliza Khan @uhleeza.khan 
A young immigrant in Austin finds her creative voice through filmmaking, challenging expectations around identity and independence. Waagh (The Leopard) — Dir. Mukti Krishan @muktikrishan 
A psychological drama set in Mumbai, where the death of a leopard blurs the line between fear, memory, and reality through a child’s eyes. 📍 AFS Cinema, Austin, Texas
📅 April 22–26 All films have English subtitles. 🎟️ Get your badges before they sell out — link in bio
🎬 Learn more about the films: indiememe.org #IndieMeme #IMFF2026 #ShortFilms #AustinEvents #FilmFestival

Another selection for Waagh(The Leopard), this time at @indiememe in Austin, Texas. Thankful to the team for including Waagh in such a wonderful line-up. Honoured to be in inspiring company. The journey continues. 🐆✨ #indiememe#IMFF2026 #IMFF #11YearsOfIMFF#indiememefilmfestival

🐆 Waagh (The Leopard) :First Bombay Screening Part of Shorts Package: Films on Mumbai at the Kala Ghoda Arts Festival @kgafest 📍 Cama Hall, Fort 🗓 Fri, 6 Feb 🕛 12:00–1:00 PM 🎟 Free (register) Link in bio

Meet Mukti. With a decade-long practice spanning advertising, fiction, and documentary, Mukti’s voice is marked by visual elegance, emotional intelligence, and a quietly radical human lens. From story-led campaigns for Google, Lux, Asian Paints, Samsung, Motorola, SBI Home Loans, LG, and Chalo App, to purpose-driven branded work that never forgets the people at its centre, she brings craft and conscience into the same frame. Her storytelling extends beyond advertising into cinema that is layered, political, and deeply rooted in place. Her documentary work — including Raqs-e-Inquilab (Art in a Time of Conflict), 4 Daughters in Kashmir, and The Mud Warriors — has screened on MUBI and The Atlantic, and at international festivals like Schnitt and HollyShorts. Her fiction debut Waagh (The Leopard) premiered at FrightFest 2025, announcing her entry into psychologically rich, ecologically conscious storytelling. A Mumbai Mantra–Sundance fellow, Asia Society Screenwriting Fellow (under Making the Heroine the New Hero), and recipient of the Emerging Writer & Director Award at DCSAFF, Mukti’s work has been recognised across formats from Kyoorius and Gong Silver to Mad Star Bronze and the Digies. She has also directed commissioned documentaries for ZEE5, Discovery, YouTube, and Virtual Bharat, always bringing a cinematic eye to stories of identity, conflict, and social change. She is a filmmaker who listens first and then lets the work speak. We’re looking forward to seeing much, much more of her award-winning work!

Beyond the world of advertising, SDA directors continue to push boundaries, experiment with form, and tell stories that stay with you long after the screen fades to black. @tarannumpasricha ‘s series concept was selected at the SWA Pitch Fest — one of just 25 chosen from over 600 submissions. Her short film script also made it to the Semifinals of the Final Draft Big Break Competition, marking an exciting milestone in her narrative journey. @muktikrishan ’s short film Waagh — a psychological thriller exploring fear, childhood imagination, and the wild messiness of nature — premiered at FrightFest London (Aug 2025), screened at the 36th Cinemagic Film Festival in Belfast, and is now competing in the NOVA Competition at the Beijing International Short Film Festival, celebrating bold emerging voices in cinema. @sarah.thomas18 ’s powerful documentary, The Unsung, traces the last surviving voices of the Halakki Vokkaliga tribe in coastal Karnataka — a moving record of culture on the brink of disappearance. The film has won 8 awards including Best Director (South Asian Film Festival of Australia 2023), Best Editor (10th Dada Saheb Phalke Film Festival), and Best Documentary (Altin Saffron Film Festival, Turkey), with 23 nominations and screenings across 31+ festivals worldwide. Today, it is also being used as research material on the tribe. And @raashinahata just directed, shot, and hand-edited her film Neev on 16mm, which screened at Harkat Studio’s Ek Minute Film Festival recently — a stunning ode to craft, experimentation, and analogue beauty. These women are building worlds, preserving memory, confronting fear, and crafting cinematic experiences far beyond commercial storytelling — and we are endlessly proud. ❤️ More incredible work coming soon. Stay tuned for Part 3!

Waagh(The Leopard) continues to find its own strange tribe, selected at both a horror festival and a children’s festival. Maybe that’s the truth of the film: it lives in the space where wonder meets fear, where childhood and nightmares sit side by side. Grateful it’s resonating across such different worlds. @strangeconsumer @sharvaripatankar @mr_sagardeshmukh @vidulaamdekar @van.devi @abhrobanerjee.cut @bigyna @bhanudhande @prashant_deshmane @satish_potdar @justin.jessy.jose @arnavnirvanh @chinmay.indurkar @yashshukla1724 @saurebhshindde @mi_vikram_sonawane_ @filmyyy_bandaaa @aicffindia @ktmhorrorfilmfest