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= PIA SHAH = Pia Shah is an Indian film director and screenwriter.

Pia is a National award winning film-maker, her short film 'Waterbaby' won the 65th National Film Awards - Best Debut Films of a Director.

EARLY LIFE & EDUCATION
City girl by birth, mountain girl at heart, Pia Shah* is a vociferous reader, compulsive traveler and a passionate storyteller who revels in exploring the cusp of old-world and new age.

FILM CAREER
Pia’s short film 'Waterbaby' won Best Debut Film of a Director at the 65th NATIONAL FILM AWARDS (India), a Platinum REMI for Best Short (Family) at the 50th Worldfest Houston and Best Script, Best Director, Best Editing, Best Short (Silver Filmingo) at the Filmingo International Short Film Festival. It World Premiered at the Oscar-qualifying Short Shorts Film Festival & Asia (Japan) and has since played at over 25 International Film Festivals including – Toronto International Film Festival TIFF Kids, Cleveland IFF, LA Shortsfest, St Louis IFF, BUFF Sweden, Lucas IFF Germany, Golden Elephant ICFFI and Dadasaheb Phalke FF.

While at film school in New York, her thesis short ‘I’m Afraid I am Hitler’ won Best Short (Audience Choice) at the Rhode Island International Film Festival, Best Student film at the Magnolia Independent Film Festival and was screened at several film festivals around the world. After graduation, she was hired to write a feature screenplay titled ‘Walk Away’, an English-language American Independent made with Bollywood flair and influences. The film was supported by Red Chillies Entertainment and distributed across North America by Reliance Entertainment in 2010.

Pia has worked as a Script Supervisor on American Independent films as well as mainstream Indian films including ‘Don 2’ (Shahrukh Khan, Priyanka Chopra), ‘Cocktail’ (Saif Ali Khan, Deepika Padukone), ‘Forgetting The Girl’ (Christopher Denham), Lucy Liu's directorial debut ‘Meena’ and Zoya Akhtar's segment in Bombay Talkies. She was also one of five directors chosen from around the world to direct ‘Tokyo Cinema Ensemble' - a short film for brand '&TOKYO' for the Tokyo Metropolitan Government in association with Short Shorts Film Festival & Asia.

Pia is currently developing her directorial feature titled ‘Kohradoon’. The script was a part of the National Film Development Corporation of India's (NFDC) - National Script Lab, and work-shopped under the mentorship of preeminent panelists Marten Rabarts, Olivia Stewart & Rajat Kapoor. It was also a semi-finalist at the Sundance International Screenwriters Lab 2017 (USA).

* Some of the above mentioned credits are under Pia’s maiden name Ruchika Lalwani.

WRITER/DIRECTOR (2007- Present)
Waterbaby

Walkaway (credited as Ruchika Lalwani)

I'm Afraid I am Hiter

SCRIPT SUPERVISOR (2007-2013)

 * BOMBAY TALKIES

Director: Zoya Akhtar; Company: Excel Entertainment

(celebrating the centenary year of Indian cinema)


 * OONGA (Nandita Das, Seema Biswas)

Director: Devashish Makhija; Company: Speaking Tree Pictures


 * COCKTAIL (Saif Ali Khan, Deepika Padukone, Diana Penty)

Director: Homi Adajania; Company: Illuminati Films


 * DON2 (Shahrukh Khan, Priyanka Chopra)

Director: Farhan Akhtar; Company: Excel Entertainment


 * HALF THE SKY-MEENA, USA-India

Director: Lucy Liu, The Sibs; Company: Speaking Tree Pictures


 * FORGETTING THE GIRL, Feature Film, New York, USA

Director: Nate Taylor; Cast: Christopher Denham, Anna Camp, Phyllis Summerville


 * TROPHY KIDS, Feature Film, New York,USA

Cast: Ryan Eggold, David Gallagher, Tahyna Tozzi and Nathan Lee Graham

AWARDS
WINNER - 65th National Film Awards 2018 -  'Best Debut Film of a Director'

WINNER- PLATINUM REMI for Best Short (Family) at WORLDFEST HOUSTON International Film Festival 2017 (USA)

WINNER- BEST DIRECTION, BEST SCRIPT, BEST EDITING and BEST FILM Silver Filmingo at Filmingo International Short Film Festival (India)