Manish Jha

Manish Jha is an Indian film writer and director After completing his studies Jha moved to Mumbai and began working as an assistant director in television serials hoping to get a break When the break never came he made a fiveminute short film on the homeless putting in Rs 30000 A Very Very Silent Film which won the Jury Prize for the Best Short Film at the 2002 Cannes Film Festival Thereafter he made his feature debut with Matrubhoomi 2003 about effects of female infanticide which won a series of awards and critical acclaim At the 2003 Venice Film Festival it was presented in the Critics Week Parallel section and later awarded the FIPRESCI Award For its important theme on womens issues and female infanticide handled with sensitivity by a firsttime director His next was Anwar 2007 a film set in Lucknow about stereotyping of Muslims in the post 911 era In 2008 he directed the segment title And it Rained in anthology film with 11 directors Mumbai Cutting which became the closing film of 10th Osians Cinefan Festival in Delhi He next directed a twohour yoga DVD Shilpas Yoga 2008 for actress Shilpa Shetty shot against the coastal backdrop of Kerala