Principal Crew

EXECUTIVE PRODUCER

Anup Malani is a professor of law and medicine at the University of Chicago. Prior to becoming a professor, Anup received a PhD in economics and a law degree from the University of Chicago. Anup is a leading expert on economic development, health policy, and the economic analysis of laws. Anup has lead major research projects across India, including the Indian Health Insurance experiment, a 50,000 person randomized controlled trial of health insurance in Karnataka. He has also been at the forefront of COVID-response in India, leading two large-scale surveillance studies and developing an epidemiological model that informed policy in multiple Indian states. Anup believes that research is a means to an end: improving policy and livelihoods. To achieve that, Anup co-founded the International Innovation Corps, a social service program that sends Indian and US university graduates to work on development projects with government officials in India and the US. After one of these projects in Mumbai’s slums, Anup came to appreciate the complexity of these communities. He partnered with Adam Chilton to research how slums thrive in the hope that improving conditions in India’s informal settlements will provide a ladder to opportunity for both rural and urban poor.

EXECUTIVE PRODUCER

Adam Chilton is a professor of law at the University of Chicago. Prior to becoming a professor, Adam received a PhD in political science and a law degree from Harvard University. Adam is a leading expert on comparative and international law, and his research focuses on studying how the laws that countries adopt influences their protection of human rights and economic development. The book Adam co-authored with Mila Versteeg, How Constitutional Rights Matter, won best book awards from the International Society of Public Law and the American Political Science Association. In 2017, Adam partnered with Anup Malani to start a research project that placed researchers in slums across India to document the ways that government policies influence lives in slums. Adam was drawn to researching the legal rules that shape the conditions in India’s slums because he believes that the most promising way to alleviate global poverty is finding ways to move people living in rural poverty into productive lives in cities. Finding ways to improve India’s slums so that they can be a gateway to live in India’s cities is thus one of the single most promising ways that global poverty could be reduced.

EXECUTIVE PRODUCER

Doug Blush is an award-winning director, producer, editor, writer and cinematographer whose work includes over 200 feature and television projects, and is a member of the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) as well as the American Cinema Editors (ACE). His recent credits include, as consulting editor and co-producer, the 2019 Academy Award winning Period.End of Sentence, the 2018 Academy Award winning Icarus, and, as editor, the 2013 Oscar-winning 20 Feet From Stardom, for which he also received the ACE Eddie Award for Best Documentary Editing. He was Co-Editor and Associate Producer of Kirby Dick’s The Hunting Ground (2014), and the Oscar nominated and Emmy and Peabody Award winning The Invisible War (2012). Other major recent films include Rock Camp (co-director/producer/writer, 2020), Mr. Soul! (IDA Award Winner, 2018), Jim: The James Foley Story (HBO Emmy winner, 2017) and The Music Of Strangers (HBO Best Editing Emmy nominee, 2018). Doug co-owns MadPix Films, a production and post production company in Los Angeles dedicated to documentary and independent films.

ASSOCIATE PRODUER

A cinematographer at heart, Gururaj is also an exceptional producer. His hard-working attitude has contributed greatly to the founding of Knock Knock Films in 2017, and he is now also a partner in Awedacious Originals which formed in 2020. Gururaj has over 9 years of eclectic experience encompassing several media, including films, short films, non-fiction television, documentaries, digital ads, vnd music videos. Gururaj specifically has considerable expertise in scripted/unscripted documentaries and series production, logistical managements, cinematography, and post-production.

DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY

Udit Khurana is an independent cinematographer based out of Mumbai. His filmography includes “Chronicles of Hair” which premiered at Busan International Film Festival, “For the love of a man” which had its premier in Venice International Film Festival, and the documentary “Lock and Key” which was awarded a National Film Award for Best Film on Social Issues in 2019. Besides working in independent cinema, Udit has also worked on a prominent web series titled “Pushpavalli” that is on Amazon Prime. His latest work is a film titled “Ghath” produced by Jio and Drishyam Films. 

EDITOR

Originally from Bangalore, Sanjana graduated with a B.A. in Media Studies. Sanjana moved to film school (WWI, Bombay) in 2015 to pursue a career making films, and she specialised in Film Editing. Sanjana has since spent 3 good years exploring varied forms of films and narratives in the Indian film industry. As an editor, Sanjana has assisted and associated with some wonderful editors and directors in the past and she continues to do so today. Sanjana is currently working as an independent freelance editor.

SYNCH SOUND MIXER, DESIGNER, & MUSIC MIXER

Rahul was born and brought up in an artistic family doing folk theatre and music in Raipur Chhattisgarh. He graduated in Commerce from RSU Raipur then completed a 6 year Diploma in Sangeet Visharad from IKSV Khairagarh. After he came to Mumbai, Rahul did various productions with the Ekjute and Rangshila theatre group, but his love for film and music took him to Ftii Pune. There he completed a 3 year post graduate course in Film Sound Design and Recording. Rahul has worked as music mixing engineer for feature films and various artists singles, and he is also working on short films and documentaries as a sync sound mixer and designer.

MUSIC DIRECTOR

Born in Raipur (Chhattisgarh), Rajat Tiwari took inspiration from his father who is a folk artist and a theatre veteran (sangeet natak academy awarded). Since childhood, Rajat started doing folk theatre and learning Indian Classical Music. As a child artist, Rajat worked in many radio plays and did many shows for Doordarshan. In theatre, he has worked with many directors, like Nadira Babbar, Makrand Deshpandey, Quasar Thakre Padmsee, and Akarsh Khurana. Rajat has also composed and done music for many plays, like “Dhumrapaan” (META winner), “Mother courage and her children”, and “Meri maa ke hath”. He has also composed music for short films, TV serials, ad jingles, TV reality shows, and documentaries. Rajat was the music director for the film "High jack”, composed a few tracks for the film "Karwaan", and is currently working on a film by Nawazuddin Siddiqui called "Bole chudiya".