Indian screenwriter and film director
Rohena Gera, born in 1973, is an Indian director, screenwriter and producer.
Biography.
Rohena Gera studied at Stanford University and Sarah Lawrence College. She works as a scriptwriter for Indian cinema. She also engages in non-profit campaigns to defend peace and equality.
Gera was married to Rohan Sippy, who also went to Stanford and is now a screenwriter. They got divorced in 2003.
Works.
In 2003, Rohena Gera made her screenwriting debut for the first season of the Indian comedy-drama television series "Jassi Jaissi Koi Nahin" on Sony Entertainment Television.
In 2003 she independently produced the public service advertisements featuring 16 celebrities including Zakir Husain, Amitabh Bachchan, Sachin Tendulkar, Aamir Khan, Ashutosh Gowariker, and M.F. Husain, all coming together to say "Stop the hatred" and to fight hate propaganda after the Gujarat riots.
In 2013, Rohena Gera wrote and directed her first documentary "What's Love Got to Do with It?" The film shows a funny representation of urban and privileged Indians who reconcile with expectations about love, marriage, happiness and tradition. The story mixes the stories of eight unlikely candidates who are each in line for an arranged marriage, playing with the rules that often reinforce the status quo of class, caste and gender. The director takes an intimate look at the human quest for love and happiness, capturing social obligations or pressures within the Indian family. The documentary is selected at the Mumbai Film Festival.
Rohena Gera presented her film "Sir (Monsieur)" during the Cannes Film Festival 2018, in the selection of La Semaine de la Critique. The story is about a servant, Ratna who is working in the luxurious house of Ashwin and dreams of independence. Ratna and Ashwin fall in love but Ratna breaks the relationship foreseeing it unacceptable to the society. Two opposing worlds will have to live together. The film is supported by the Gan Foundation for Cinema, whose Broadcast Award supports the first works of young filmmakers.
References.
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