Sunayana Kachroo

Sunayana Kachroo is an Indian-American poet, film-writer, lyricist and a columnist.

Education
Sunayana Kachroo was born and raised in Kashmir, India into a Kashmiri Pandit family. She received her education in Jammu and Kashmir and Maharashtra, and earned a master’s in computer science from Savitribai Phule Pune University in Pune. Her father, Chaman Kachroo, was also a poet known for his Urdu Nazm titled Charcha. 

Career
In 2000, Sunayana moved to the US and began working as an analyst in New York City. Her first book, Waqt Se Pare- Beyond Time, was published in 2013.

Sunayana entered into dialogue writing and creative production with Half Widow, a 2017 Indian drama film. She served as an associate producer for The Illegal, an American drama released in 2021, starring Suraj Sharma, Shweta Tripathi, and Adil Hussain. The illegal was shortlisted for nominations for the Best Picture Category at the Academy Awards 2019. She has also written lyrics for songs sung by artists like Sonu Nigam, Shankar Mahadevan, Ali Sethi, Sunidhi Chauhan, Hariharan, Harshdeep Kaur, Rashmeet Kaur, Anuradha Palakurthi, Jasraj Joshi, Hrishikesh Ranade, and Archana Kamath.

Sunayana developed an interest in poetry at the age of 15, trying different forms like Kavita, English Poems, Nazms, and Dohe. She started as a featured poet at the South Asian Institute of Harvard in 2014 and later shared the stage with Punjabi poet Nirupama Dutt at the Bangalore Literature Festival. Since 2015, she has been a featured poet at the annual South Asian Poetry reading at Harvard University hosted by the South Asian Institute.

In 2022, she launched a new collection of poems called Sunny Side Up, which received reviews from Subhash Kak, and Lopa Banerjee, and an NFT poem named Home and Homeless, after which she was invited to the US Capitol Hill to recite her poems. Sunayana has participated in poetry shows globally and recited her poems at various venues, including Jose Mateo's Ballet Theatre, Harvard University, NECA awards, Indian Consulate NYC, Lalded Ke lal-vakh, and Hindu Heritage Day in 2015. Notable events included her poetry showcase at the U.S Capitol hill.

In 2023, she released the song Tum Kehte Ho, sung and produced by Sunidhi Chauhan.

Work as lyricist

 * Tum Kehte Ho
 * Dil Khanjar
 * Kahan Hai Tu
 * Sonn Pann
 * Dilbaro
 * Ae Savere
 * Baliye
 * Kuch Baqi Hai
 * Subha Dekh Li
 * Pehla Qadam
 * Ekal Vidhayala Theme
 * Dhool Hatakar Dekha
 * Yumbarzaloo
 * Tu Zarra Hai

As an additional dialogue writer

 * The Illegal
 * The Good News
 * Half Widow
 * In Search of America
 * My Father's Doctor

As a creative producer

 * Half Widow

As an associate producer

 * The Illegal

Books

 * Waqt Se Pare-Beyond Time (2013)
 * Sunny Side Up (2022)
 * Tere Jaane Key Baad

Accolades

 * Best Lyricist Award for Ae Savere— India International Film Festival of Boston
 * Top 20 Woman of the Year— Literature Award (India New England)
 * Her poem, Oh, my brown boy was featured on the National Park Services, US Government Federal Department in December 2022