22/03/2022
Join the renowned Screenwriter Utkarshini Vashishtha, as she talks on a few lessons in the social leadership domain!
As part of the Leadership Storytellers Series, the Ashank Desai Centre for Leadership and Organisational Development (ADCLOD) is exhilarated to announce a guest lecture titled “Lessons in Social Leadership from the backstreets of Mumbai | Gangubai Kathiawadi: The Mafia Queen”. Join Professor Amit Nandkeolyar & Professor Promila Agarwal of the Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad as they speak with renowned Screenwriter Utkarshini Vashishtha, who is known for writing scripts for Bollywood films like Gangubai Kathiawadi, Sarbjit, Goliyon ki Raasleela Ram-Leela to name a few. Attend this engrossing talk to more!
Utkarshini Vashishtha, is a Los Angeles based screenwriter who works in USA and India. Her latest powerful and super hit film, “Gangubai Kathiawadi” is running successfully all over the world. The film is being loved by critics and audiences for its exceptional screenplay & dialogues that have been penned by her. Utkarshini was born in Kapurthala, Punjab and grew up in Meerut and NOIDA in Northern India. Her understanding of strong female characters and appreciation of their struggles comes from her mother, Neelam Vashishtha; who is a journalist and has raised her single handedly while working as a school teacher. Utkarshini was taught early on by her mother that women can do anything and knowledge is the wealth no one can take from you. She did her schooling at Somerville School and engineering from Agra University, always as a star student. She went on to do her MBA abroad and joined Asia’s biggest media company ZEE, in the Middle East; where she began her career in the entertainment industry. Utkarshini created many TV series here that bought in global audiences for ZEE TV. Utkarshini later completed film school in the USA and then came to Mumbai to work in the film industry. Early on she met India’s leading film maestro Sanjay Leela Bhansali as a mentor. And thus began a more than a decade long partnership. Where she worked as his associate director on the super hit film “Ram Leela” and wrote the blockbuster “Gangubai Kathiawadi” which was the closing film of Berlinale. She is also known for writing the hard hitting and powerful “Sarbjit”, which premiered at the Cannes Film Festival, and was long listed for the Oscars. Utkarshini has also headed the story department for Mukta Arts Ltd and has created top rated series for Sony TV. She has written many projects for leading production houses like Fremantle, BBC, RSVP and Frames. Utkarshini’s global understanding of cultures and stories comes from having lived and worked in the USA, India, and the Middle East. She is widely traveled and speaks 5 languages. Currently, she is working on movies and series involving strong powerful female characters for major global production houses and platforms.
