In 2003, his New Delhi based short film, Butterfly, won three best film awards in addition to screening at over 30 festivals across North America, Europe, India and Pakistan. His first feature film "Punching at the Sun" premiered at the 2006 Sundance Film Festival and was awarded the Grand Jury Prize at the 2006 San Francisco International Asian American Film Festival. Variety called his feature "distinctive, original and iconoclastic". Tanuj holds a BA in Art Semiotics from Brown University and an MFA from Columbia University. He is a recipient of the Columbia School of the Arts Dean's Fellowship and the Columbia FOCUS Film Fellowship. In addition to making films, he currently serves as program coordinator for the New Voices for Youth initiative sponsored by the Palo Alto League of Women voters.