Rahat MAHAJAN is a director, cinematographer, editor, screenwriter and producer. He gained a Bachelor of Mass Media degree from St. Xaviers College, Mumbai and an MFA from the ArtCenter College of Design in Los Angeles. Mahajan’s first short film Memoirs of an Apple won the first prize at the IDPA film festival in 2006 and was aired on Indian national television. Shortly after, he started working in the Bombay film industry, starting out as an assistant director and ultimately spearheading Visual Promotions for several acclaimed feature films. His short film Istifa, made on a Visual Communications Fellowship, was a National Finalist under the narrative category for the 41st Student Academy Awards in 2014. His debut feature film Meghdoot/The Cloud Messenger (2022), part of the IFFR 2022 Tiger Competition, is a contemporary tale of reincarnation about two lovers meeting in the present day after several centuries of longing, yet still trapped in their destiny of a perpetual cycle of love and death. Mahajan founded his production company Mahamudra Collective in 2005 and Inspired by his own roots, he wishes to weave stories that are sensitive and yet urgent in their mission to bring the vastness of Indian thought to the world in an approachable manner.