"Stories. Stay. People don't."
Mumbai-based indie filmmaker. NSD-trained. I direct short films + ad-films + branded content, and I act in theatre, web-series and commercials. 12+ short films across 8 years on the festival circuit — MAMI, Dharamshala, IFFI Goa.
Arjun trained at the National School of Drama (NSD), New Delhi (Acting Diploma, 2017), and moved to Mumbai the following year. He spent two years as an assistant director on indie features, then returned to writing his own work — a discipline he refuses to separate from his acting practice. Today he writes-directs short films + ad-films from his own studio, and continues to act on stage and in select web-series.
"कहानियाँ रहती हैं — लोग नहीं। और मैं कहानियाँ बनाने आया हूँ।"
Short films · ad-films · branded content · music videos
Theatre · web-series · commercials · features
Movement · contemporary dance · physical theatre
Screenwriting · poetry-readings · workshop facilitation
Indie short films that have travelled — MAMI, IFFI Goa, Dharamshala, Bengaluru, Kerala, Jaipur, Berlinale Talents, DocLisboa. Logline-first, then logline-only-if-it-earns-it.
A widowed chai-wallah on a Mumbai chawl rooftop teaches his estranged son to brew the family blend before the monsoon.
A schoolteacher in a Banaras gully walks the same route home every evening, until one Tuesday a stranger asks him for a different direction.
NSD-graduation short. A retired Hindi-typing teacher meets her last living former-student in a Lucknow tea shop. She doesn't want to be remembered.
Branded film for a homegrown chai brand. A Hindi-English-spoken-word piece on what "fresh" actually means in a country where chai is the language of pause.
Experimental short. A young Lucknow widow hides a piece of her late husband's handwriting under her morning chai cup, and reads it before pouring milk.
A docu-fiction hybrid following five Mumbai street performers across one September monsoon weekend. Made on a single Sony A7iii + 50mm.
I direct from inside the scene — close to the camera, close to the actor. Every short film I've made has been shot with the same camera-op (Vivek Singh) and the same DA (Sneha Pillai) — it's a small, repeatable, trust-built crew that costs less and ships better than a one-off rental team.
"Direction yeh nahi hai ki aap kya bolte hain — yeh hai ki actor ke andar kya jagaate hain."
Post is where short films are won. I edit my own work alongside Sneha Pillai (NSD '17) at a small Mumbai room — DaVinci Resolve, 4K HDR monitor, books on Satyajit Ray and Kiarostami on the wall. Coffee fuels stories. Stories stay. People don't.
Editorial + colour grading + sound mix in one timeline.
For dialogue ADR + foley layer + 5.1 surround festival mix.
Asynchronous notes from clients — every cut versioned.
No phones · 4-hr block · 90-min walk · re-cut next morning.
When I'm not directing, I'm acting. NSD-trained ensemble work, Mumbai theatre houses, web-series long-form, and brand-film commercials — six different contexts where the same discipline applies. Same person on every set, every time.
Lead + ensemble roles · NSD-trained physical-acting practice · Hindi + English · open to multi-city tours.
Supporting + recurring roles. Long-form is where I refine craft. Available for 4-week shoot blocks across India.
Hindi-English ads + brand-films. Character-led work — agencies who want acting, not modelling.
Contemporary dance + physical theatre. Gaga technique base. Performance-art projects considered.
Hindi-Urdu-English voice. Spoken-word readings, audio-drama, narration, dubbing.
Acting workshops for filmmakers + corporates. 1-day / 3-day / 5-day formats.
The portfolio site doubles as a mobile app — built for agencies and producers who want to screen the work between meetings. No 5-minute YouTube preroll. No 50-MB downloads. Just taps and scenes.
Tappable thumbnails of every short film + ad-film + branded piece. Plays in-app — no YouTube redirect.
A 60-second voice-note from me on what each film is about + what we got right + what we didn't.
Live festival-selection feed. Each film tagged with its laurels + writeups + jury-quotes.
One-tap brief form — feature/short/ad/web-series, scope, budget tier, dates. I read every brief myself.
90-sec branded reel · 5-min direction reel · 3-min acting reel · 2-min movement reel. All available in 4K.
Acting workshops (Mumbai + travelling) listed with seats remaining + Razorpay checkout.
The tools that don't change. A wooden clapperboard, a Canon 50mm prime, a roll of black gaffer-tape, and a one-page call sheet on every shoot day. Indie-film grit isn't a style — it's a workflow that respects the people on it.
“We hired Arjun for our brand-film at Tea Trunk in 2024 — 90 seconds, single Mumbai location, ₹14L budget. He turned in a Hindi-English spoken-word piece on what "fresh" means in a country where chai is the language of pause. Cannes Lions India shortlist three months later. Four million YouTube views. Most agencies would have given us a generic cup-pour beauty shot.”
“"Court Martial" Prithvi Mumbai · 14-show run · 2024. Arjun played the lead — a young army officer on trial. Watching him on stage, I forgot I had cast him. He arrived three weeks before opening, did the entire script-analysis with us, and offered a reading of the role I hadn't considered. The Mumbai theatre press picked up the show because of his performance.”
“मैं Sony LIV "DELHI 1947" का show-runner हूँ। Arjun को 6-episode arc के लिए cast किया था — एक conflicted poet-revolutionary का role। उसके पहले audition tape में ही saaf था कि यह वही actor है जो NSD-discipline के साथ camera-acting समझता है। 4-week shoot block था, एक भी delay नहीं हुआ। हमने next season के लिए recurring role offer किया है।”
“I attended Arjun's 5-day acting intensive at Whistling Woods in March 2025. I'm a software engineer by day — wanted to test if I had any business pursuing this. Arjun spent 90% of the workshop on technique, not on encouraging dreams. By Day 5 I had three monologues in my voice. He told me directly which two I should keep and which to drop. That kind of honesty from a teacher is rare.”
“CHAI AUR KAHANI played at Dharamshala IFF in 2023, in our short-film competition. Of 240 submissions we selected 14, of which 1 won — Arjun's. The jury (Anurag Kashyap, Konkona Sen Sharma, Ritesh Batra) was unanimous. The film is the kind of grounded, generous Hindi short cinema that comes once every two festival years. He has a long road ahead.”
The festival inbox is the writer-director's report card. Every short on this site has travelled — MAMI, IFFI Goa, Dharamshala, Bengaluru, Kerala, Jaipur. The point isn't the laurels. It's that the films have been seen by audiences who paid for the ticket.
"Make movies, not excuses."
I read every brief myself. If it's a fit, you'll get a proposal in 5 working days with reference reels, a budget tier, and a shoot-window estimate.
Both. NSD-trained as an actor first (2014–2017), self-taught as a director through 12+ short films since. The two crafts inform each other — I direct better because I act, and I act better because I direct. For any one project, I commit fully to whichever role you hire me for.
Short films, ad-films, branded content, and music videos for direction. I have not directed a feature yet — currently in dev on my first ("RAASTE — feature version", ₹3.2 cr indie budget, expected shoot Q4 2026). For acting I take feature roles when the work is right.
₹2L–₹8L for a 10–15-minute festival short, depending on locations + crew + cast + post. Branded content at ₹8L–₹25L for 60-second ads, ₹15L–₹40L for multi-day brand films. Workshop fees ₹25k–₹1.5L depending on duration and city.
Both. About 70% of my short films are self-written; 30% are adapted from short stories or theatre pieces I had permission to adapt. For commercial / branded work, I always work from the agency / client brief — but I prefer briefs with room for craft, not just message-delivery.
Yes — I take 4–8 acting projects a year (theatre + web + commercial). Day-rate quoted on inquiry. Audition reels are available in 4K via the portfolio app. I respond to casting requests within 48 hrs.
In writing, in the contract. I quote a reference-reel + creative-brief + scope-of-work doc upfront, signed before shoot day. Two rounds of revision baked in. Beyond that, we either negotiate or part as friends — I'd rather miss a brief than make work I can't put my name on.
Mumbai (Bandra) is home + edit room. I shoot anywhere — Banaras, Lucknow, Delhi, Goa, Kerala have all been location shoots in the last three years. Travel + stay billed at actuals; usually adds ₹40k–₹2L for a 3-day out-of-Mumbai shoot.
MAMI Mumbai (3 selections, 1 award), IFFI Goa Indian Panorama (2024), Dharamshala IFF (2023 Best Short), Bengaluru IFF, Kerala IFF, Jaipur IFF, Berlinale Talent Campus screening (2018), DocLisboa (2022). Total 40+ festival selections across 12 short films.
Yes — I run short workshops 4–6 times a year. 1-day intro (₹2,500/seat, 25 seats), 3-day intensive (₹12k/seat, 16 seats), 5-day residential (₹35k/seat, 12 seats). Mostly Mumbai, occasionally Delhi/Bangalore. Private corporate workshops available on request.
Whenever I can — but realistically I get 50+ such requests a month. Send me your link via the form below + a 100-word context note (what stage of cut, what feedback you want). I respond when I genuinely have something useful to add. No formal mentorship program.
Press / interviews · festival programming · screenwriter collaborations · agent representation · workshop bookings · short-film mentorship requests.