‘Discovered’ @ TIFF

By Pickle  September 1, 2025

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Breakout Indian talent that TIFF sought out over the years and showcased in its Discovery section – and elsewhere

Kaizad Gustad – Bombay Boys (1998)

Cheran – Porkkalam (Golden Age, Tamil, 1998)

Pankaj Butalia – Karvaan (1999) – Butalia’s documentaries Moksha (1993) and When Hamlet Went to Mizoram (1994) played TIFF before he made his first, and to date only, narrative feature

Rahul Bose – Everybody Says I’m Fine (English, 2001)

Vishal Bhardwaj – Maqbool (2003)

Manish Jha – Mathrubhoomi (2003)

Bharat Bala – Hari Om (Hindi/French/English, 2004)

Rajnesh Domalpalli – Vanaja (Telugu, 2006)

Shivaji Chandrabhushan – Frozen (2007)

Laxmikant Shetgaonkar – Paltadacho Munis (Konkani, 2009)

Aamir Bashir – Harud (Autumn, 2010)

Sidharth Srinivasan – Pairon Talle (2010)

Rima Das – Village Rockstars (2017)

Ritwik Pareek – Dug Dug (2021)

Nithin Lukose – Paka: River of Blood (Malayalam, 2021)

Jayant Digambar Somalkar – Sthal (A Match, Marathi, 2023)

Lakshmipriya Devi – Boong (Manipuri, 2024)

Bikas Ranjan Mishra – Bayaan (2025)

Jitank Singh Gurjar – Vimukt (In Search of the Sky, Braj, 2025), the director’s second feature; Part of the festival’s Centrepiece (previously Contemporary World Cinema)