Happy Birthday, Meghna Gulzar: A look at some of her remarkable films

Writer-director Meghna Gulzar has helmed commercially and critically successful films that focus on social issues. She is the daughter of poet and lyricist Gulzar and actor Rakhee Gulzar.
Meghna started her career as a writer, then worked as an assistant director, and eventually started making her own feature films.

Let’s take a look at the five best films directed by her.

Chhapaak (2020)

Starring Deepika Padukone, the film is loosely based on acid attack survivor Laxmi Agarwal’s life. It tells the story of Malti, an acid attack survivor, who seeks a ban on the unregulated sale of dangerous acids.
Deepika won a Dada Saheb Phalke Award for her performance.

Raazi (2018)

Based on Harinder Sikka’s novel ‘Calling Sehmat’, the Alia Bhatt-Vicky Kaushal starrer revolves around the life of Sehmat Khan, a spy for the Indian Research and Analysis Wing (RAW). She marries a Pakistani Army officer named Iqbal Syed to learn about the neighbouring country’s plans against India.

Talvar (2015)

Starring Irrfan Khan, Konkona Sen Sharma, and Neeraj Kabi, the film is based on the Aarushi Talwar double homicide case from 2008 and it shows how an investigator deals with conflicting perspectives. The case gets complicated when the parents of the murdered girl become the prime suspects.
Vishal Bhardwaj won a National Film Award for the screenplay.

Dus Kahaniyaan (2007)

Meghna directed the segment ‘Puranmashi’ (Full Moon Night), starring Amrita Singh, Parmeet Sethi, and Minissha Lamba, in this anthology of ten stories.
Mala, who is in a loveless marriage, decides to reunite with her secret lover while her daughter Mini is about to get married. Her decision leads to tragic consequences.

Filhaal... (2002)

Meghna’s directorial debut starred Sushmita Sen, Tabu, Sanjay Suri, and Palash Sen in the lead roles. It narrated the story of best friends Rewa and Sia who are happily married to Dhruv and Sahil, respectively. Rewa is unable to conceive a child so Sia agrees to help her by becoming a surrogate mother.

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