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Gitanjali Rao is a critically acclaimed Indian filmmaker, animator, and theatre artist known for her distinctive, hand-painted style of animation that blends stunning visuals with poignant, often complex stories. A self-taught animator, Rao's work stands out in the landscape of Indian cinema for its artistry and emotional depth.
Rao's signature is her painstaking frame-by-frame, hand-painted animation technique, which gives her films a vibrant, painterly quality. Her narratives often explore the dreams, struggles, and inner lives of ordinary people, particularly those in the bustling city of Mumbai.
Her short film, "Printed Rainbow" (2006), brought her international recognition, winning three awards at the Cannes Film Festival's Critics' Week and being shortlisted for an Academy Award. This was followed by other celebrated shorts like "True Love Story" (2014).
Rao made her feature-length directorial debut with "Bombay Rose" (2019), a poetic story of forbidden love on the streets of the maximum city. The film was the first Indian animated feature to open the Venice International Film Critics' Week, and it masterfully uses multiple traditional Indian art forms—from Mughal miniatures to truck art—to depict the characters' reality and fantasy worlds.
Beyond animation, Rao is also an accomplished actor, making a notable feature film debut in Shoojit Sircar's acclaimed drama October (2018).
Gitanjali Rao is a powerful, independent voice whose work elevates animation to an art form, offering a unique, non-mainstream perspective on Indian life and culture.
The K. R. Narayanan National Institute of Visual Science and Arts expresses its deep honour and pleasure in having a visionary artist of Gitanjali Rao's calibre share her expertise and unique creative philosophy with its students as a guest faculty member.
