Hi,
I'm Shubhra Chatterji!
Filmmaker
What I do best is tell stories - the story of India and her people.
I research, write, develop long and short-format IPs, and I direct.
I work at the intersection of non-fiction and fiction, a sweet-spot where narrative storytelling meets factual entertainment, and it is in the seamless, sometimes surprising, merging of the two that I find joy.
I have 20 years of experience in the entertainment industry, and 15 years as an independent Director, Creative Director, and Writer of non-fiction programming for TV, OTT, Web, and Brand Films - beginning with Chakh Le India for NDTV Good Times in 2011.
I am as conversant with studio-based multi-camera set-ups as with the single-camera, often guerrilla demands of shooting a documentary.
In recent years, my work has expanded beyond screen - into creating (writing) immersive food-theatre (as Creative Partner at paChaak Productions), participatory workshops (the Body and Food workshop), on-the-ground community research in Mumbai's M-East Ward, and the stories of farming families in the Himalayas through Tons Valley Shop and SAYB.
I am a multiform storyteller, and I mean that precisely: the form changes, the questions don't.
My Work So Far.
Recent/Current Work:
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Director
Ek Tha Raja (Non-Fiction, History, Discovery Channel India + Discovery Plus) 2025
8 Episodes of 24 minutes each, currently on air (Thursdays/Fridays at 9pm)
Director
Rainbow Rishta (Unscripted, Docuseries, Amazon Prime Video Originals) 2023
6 episodes of 30 minutes each, released Nov 2023.
Created By (Concept, Direction)
Rasa, by the Leela (Brand Films) 2024
9 episodes, exploring the cultural and aesthetic heritage of India via the Navrasa, each film anchored by an iconic Indian personality (Manushi Chillar, Kailash Satyarthi, Amaan & Ayaan Ali Bangash etc) Produced by Collective Artists Network.
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Director, Researcher, Writer
Lost Recipes (Non-Fiction, TV Series, Follow-Doc, Epic Channel) 2022, 2019, 2015
27 episodes, shot over three seasons, showcasing intangible and tangible heritage through heirloom recipes and food stories.
Creative Director (and Writer)
Pitch To Get Rich (Reality Series, Business/Fashion, Produced by Dharmatic.) 2024/25
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Screenplay Writer
Ishq Mastana (Fiction, Short, 'Feels Like Ishq' anthology, Netflix) 2021
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Writer, Researcher
Nomad Chef (Non-Fiction, Follow-Doc) 2025-26
Five episodes, currently in production - on the food of the Indian Himalayas, produced by Supari Studios.
Creator, Writer
New India Lodge (2023 - and still running)
Goa Is A Bebinca (2025 - commissioned by the Serendipity Arts Foundation)
Immersive Food-Theatre experiences.
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1st Job
2nd Assistant Director to Sudhir Mishra on a feature film, Khoya Khoya Chand (2007)
12 Years of Directing
Directed over 260 hours of non-fiction content, for TV, digital platforms and brand films, OTT
Big Leap
Chakh Le India (2011-2012), a food-travel series for
NDTV Good Times, first directorial project. Shot 63 episodes across two seasons.
Screenwriter
Other than writing most of what I’ve directed, I undertake both fiction & non-fiction writing
projects. My most recent has been a short for a Netflix anthology, a 5-part food-series on the Himalayas, and 2 immersive-theatre plays.
Won an Award
Won the ITA award 2013 for Best Travel Show on Indian Television, for Chakh le India.
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A Book
My extensive body of work showcasing India’s Culinary heritage has led to a book deal with Hachette India, and I’m currently writing a book chronicling the
culinary history of India.
Tons Valley Shop
In 2020, locked down in our home in upper Tons Valley
of Uttarkhand, I used my time and storytelling skills to tell the story of the farmers of the Tons Valley and have co-founded www.tonsvalley.shop
@historywali
A micro-blog (on Instagram), initially a space to document my travels, is now my online (sometimes offline) identity, and a platform for innovative
and constant content creation – telling stories from across India.
History On A Plate
HOAP is an Instagram - LIVE series that ran for 100 episodes in 2020-21. It gave way to a number of online culinary workshops and study-circles.
A List of Key Projects Undertaken
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Created By - Concept, Research, Script, Direction:
India On A Plate – an 18-part series that tells the stories of some of India’s most popular dishes. For Indiatimes, 2018 Ghar Sa Yummy with Ranveer Brar - a 65-episode table-top cooking series that showcased recipes from around the country, made easy for the desi home-cook, for Living Foodz (Zee5). 2019
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Rasa - a series of Brand Films for the Leela Hotels (ongoing) ​
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Lost Recipes - a non-fiction, food-history series chronicling the culinary history of India through recipes that have been forgotten and lost in time. For Epic TV Networks (2015, 2019, 2021-22)
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Indipedia – an 18-part scripted non-fiction series that showcases the different aspects unique to India, and dig deep into Indian Culture and Philosophy to explain them! For Epic TV Networks (2017, 2018)
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(Nomad Chef: Working Title) - a 5-part follow-doc on the food of the Indian Himalayas and Trans Himalayas, for Supari Studios (2024) - (I have not directed this, but have conceptualized, researched, and written it.)
Directed By:
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Chakh Le India (NDTV Good Times) - 2011/2012 - won the ITA Award for Best Food Show TV Ka Pehla Radio Show (Sony Mix) – 2013
Style Police (UTV Bindaas) – 2012, 2013
Cook, Eat, Party with Vicky Ratnani (NDTV Good Times) - 2013
Ekaant (Epic Television Networks) - 2013 to 2015
Ekaant Sarhad Paar (Epic Television Networks) - 2016
Thank God It's Fryday with Ranveer Brar (Zoom TV) - 2016
Indipedia (Epic Television Networks) – 2017
Station Master’s Tiffin, a TV series with Ranveer Brar for Living Foodz (Zee) (2018)
Rainbow Rishta, a six-part docu-series for Amazon Prime Video, produced by VICE India (2023)
A one-hour documentary on the Swachh Bharat Mission for History TV 18, produced by Colosceum (2023)
Ek Tha Raja, a historical non-fiction series, simultaneous TV + OTT release, for Discovery Channel India (2025)
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Creative Director:
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Ishaan (Disney) - 2010 - Fiction, Associate Creative Director
Ekaant (Epic Television Networks) - 2013 to 2015
Ekaant Sarhad Paar (Epic Television Networks) - 2016
Khwabon Ka Safar With Mahesh Bhatt (Epic Television Networks) - 2015
India's Next Top Model (MTV) - 2015, 2016, 2017
Indipedia (Epic Television Networks) - 2017
Regiment Diaries (Epic Television Networks) – 2018, 2019, 2020
Pitch To Get Rich (for Dharmatic Entertainment), 2024-25
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Research/Written By:
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Revealed: Shah Rukh Khan (Discovery Networks) 2010
Chakh Le India - Kachcha Raasta, Research & Content (NDTV GoodTimes) 2011-2012 Ekaant, Story & Screenplay (Epic Television Networks) 2013 - 2016
Thank God It's Friday, Research & Content (Zoom TV) 2016
India's Next Top Model, Writer (MTV) 2015, 2016, 2017
Indipedia, Research, Content, Screenplay (Epic Television Networks) 2017
Dass Dev, Associate writer. (Feature Film for Sudhir Mishra) 2008 - 2018
Indian Food Classics, Research, Scripts - a TV series for Living Foodz (Zee). 2020
Code M, Screenplay (Web-series on ALT Balaji) 2019-2020
Grand Trunk Rasoi S1 and S2, Research, Scripts – a TV series for Zee Zest. 2021
Ishq Mastana, Screenplay (short film, part of the Feels Like Ishq anthology on Netflix India) 2021
WIP – A feature film for Yash Raj Films - (Story and Screenplay), Dir: Namrata Rao
Anchor by Panasonic - The Story of Making in India, Research, Scripts - a Docu-feature for History TV 18, 2024
Lost Recipes - a non-fiction, food-history series chronicling the culinary history of India through recipes that have been forgotten and lost in time. For Epic TV Networks (2015, 2019, 2021-22)
(Nomad Chef: Working Title) - a 5-part follow-doc on the food of the Indian Himalayas and Trans Himalayas, for Supari Studios (2024) - (I have not directed this, but have conceptualized, researched, and written it.)
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Advertising and Short Format: ​
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Director
DVCs for Tons Valley Shop and Meta Ads (2025 - 26)
Digital Shorts - GQ Nexa styling videos with Akshay Tyagi for Conde Nast.
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Previous Work (Film): ​
Director’s Assistant (D.A.) on Hindi Feature Film, Shaurya, directed by Samar Khan. (Released 2008)
2nd Assistant Director on Sudhir Mishra’s Khoya Khoya Chand (Released Dec 2007)
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Immersive Food-Theatre
As Creative Partner at paChaak Productions, I create work that lives at the intersection of food, performance, and storytelling - experiences where the meal is the narrative and the audience is inside the story.
New India Lodge Written by Shubhra Chatterji, directed by K V Divya Rani. An immersive theatre-and-dining experience set in Independence-era India, built around a five-course meal representing the flavours of Gujarat, Kerala, Punjab, and Maharashtra. Guests become characters in the story - uncovering secrets, inhabiting history, eating their way through it. Staged in Mumbai and Bangalore; currently running in Bangalore.
Goa Is A Bebinca Conceived and written by Shubhra Chatterji. Presented at the Serendipity Arts Festival 2025 in Fontainhas, Panjim's Latin Quarter. A culinary performance that tells the story of Mary - a woman trying to grow her family's business against her tradition-bound father's resistance — through food, theatre, and the layered history of Goa itself. Like the Bebinca, Goa's iconic multi-layered dessert, the piece is built up slowly, patiently, one layer at a time.
The Pickiest Picnic In development, paChaak Productions. An immersive food-theatre experience for children aged 5–9 and their families. Five Tastebuds escape from a child's mouth and can't agree on the perfect picnic — Sweet, Salty, Sour, Bitter, and Umami each insisting they alone know best. A 60-minute ensemble experience combining food, performance, and participatory storytelling. Staged in courtyard and amphitheatre settings.
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Research & Writing:
Alongside my screen work, I have spent the past year embedded in Natwar Parekh Compound (NPC), Govandi - one of Mumbai's most densely populated resettlement neighbourhoods - working on a long-form research and documentary project on food, community, and everyday life.
This work has produced Mumbai on a Plate, a column-in-progress documenting the food stories of the people who actually make this city run - not the restaurants, not the chefs, but the kitchens that don't make it into food guides.
The research has also led to an academic paper - 'If This Is Poverty Food, Why Is It So Delicious? Taste, Power, and the Politics of Naming in a Resettlement Compound in Mumbai' — accepted for presentation at the Oxford Food Symposium, one of the world's leading gatherings of food scholars, writers, and practitioners.
The Govandi work is ongoing, collaborative, and non-extractive. It is being made in partnership with Parvinissa Shaikh of the Community Design Agency and the Govandi Arts Festival, and with the women of the Haq Se Govandi collective.
Food Studies:
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Food-based content became my specialisation from my first directorial project - Chakh Le India for NDTV Good Times in 2011. Over the years, the work deepened from what people eat, to why they eat it, to what food reveals about history, identity, caste, gender, and power.
Since 2020, I have facilitated a series of Food Studies Workshops covering the food of the Mughals, the Nawabi states, tribal and indigenous foodways, and fermented food traditions — alongside standalone lectures on the food of Kashmir, the North East, and Coorg. These workshops have run in multiple cities and most have had repeat editions.
I teach the Food & Media module at the Studying Food Workshop, facilitated by archaeologist and food historian Kurush Dalal in partnership with Gyanfactory.
I also co-designed Food x Caste 101, a six-week online study circle exploring how caste shapes what we eat, what gets considered 'vegetarian', and the social and symbolic violence faced by those who transgress food boundaries — developed with Rahee Punyashloka and The Big Fat Bao.
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Academic Qualifications:
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2021 Post Graduate Diploma in Classical Indian Aesthetics from Jnanapravaha, Mumbai.
2006 Post Graduate Diploma in Mass Communication, Symbiosis Institute of Media and Communication (SIMC), Pune (Specialization in Audio Visual Production).
2004 B A (Economics), Symbiosis Institute of Arts and Commerce, Pune
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Media Links/Coverage & Articles:
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Interview with Khaki Lab: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QzTjFk97MHg
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