Roopa Rao

Roopa Rao (born May 18) is an independent Indian film-maker from Bangalore. She is the writer and director of India's first same-sex love story web series, The Other Love Story. Rao is also known for directing critically acclaimed award-winning Kannada film Gantumoote (2019).

Early life

Rao began writing at an early age. She had written the story of two young women falling in love while in college but did not pursue it further due to concerns about the reception of its story-line, as same-sex love between women was a taboo subject in India.

Career Rao completed a Masters in Commerce with Personnel Management as a specialization and discontinued Masters in Finance. She worked at Infosys for six years. She later resigned her position to pursue a career in filmmaking. She completed a course in film direction and production from Asian Academy of Film and Television, Delhi. After this, she moved to London, UK to assist a documentary filmmaker.

Rao returned to India, where she created documentaries and short films. She co-directed Vishnuvardhana, a Kannada feature film, and Kurai Ondrum Illai, an independent Tamil feature film.

In 2015, she began to work on her own project, The Other Love Story,

In 2017, Rao wrote and directed BFF (Breath Friend Forever), a short film where a 7-year-old, after learning about trees in class, tries to understand their importance. The film was an official selection in Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) and was screened at Ireland National Film Body's Kids' Section.

In 2018, Astu Studios released a travel short film, Love Leh'tter, starring Rao, written and directed by Surya Vasishta. Rao co-founded an independent production house, Ameyukti Studios, with a friend in 2018.

In 2019, Rao's first feature film, Gantumoote had its world premiere at the New York Indian Film Festival (NYIFF), where it won the "Best Screenplay" award. The film is a coming of age, high school drama set in Bangalore in the 1990s.

In 2024, Kenda, the Kannada feature film, was released, produced by Rao's production house, Ameyukti Studios. The film was directed by her long-time associate Sahadev Kelvadi. The movie was written and directed by Kelvadi, and it is Rao's third project as producer under Ameyukti Studios.

In 2025, Rao announced a new featurette film, Asmin, was planned for release on her YouTube Channel in the last week of January. It premiered January 27th, 2025. The film won awards at the Indo French International Festival.

Filmography Year Film Director Writer Producer Language(s) Notes 2009 Let Live English- Hindi Short Documentary; Also Editor2011 Hot Seat Kannada Short Film 2014 The Night of all Nights German Documentary Feature length 2015 The Century Of Women German Documentary Feature length 2016 The 'Other' Love Story English Hindi Kannada Web series 2017 BFF (Breath Friend Forever) English Short Film 2018 Love Leh'tter Kannada Short Film; Actor 2019 Gantumoote Kannada Debut feature film 2020 Silent Passage (Pandemic Tales) English Short Film 2020 Year of Silence (for Arte TV) German English Television Series 2021 Naked (For Arte TV Series) German English Television Series 2024 Kenda Kannada Feature Film 2024 Coromandel Coast (For Arte TV Series) German English Television Series 2025 Asmin Kannada English Mini-Feature Film

As Associated Director Vishnuvardhana - 2011 Kannada Kurai Ondrum Illai - 2013 Tamil

Awards

2016: New York Web Fest Award for Best Direction: The Other Love Story (2016) 2017: TO Web Fest Award for Best LGBTQ Story: The Other Love Story (2016) 2017: Boston LGBTQ Film Festival Award for Best International Web Series: The Other Love Story(2016) 2016: New York Web Fest Nomination for Outstanding Writing: The Other Love Story (2016) 2016: New York Web Fest Nomination for Best Webseries: The Other Love Story (2016) 2017: Vancouver Web Festival Award for Best Drama: The Other Love Story (2016) 2016: Miami Short Film Festival Semi Finalist: The Other Love Story (2016) 2019: New York Indian Film Festival Award for Best Screenplay: Gantumoote (2019) 2020: Critics Choice Film Awards Nomination for Best Director:Gantumoote (2019) 2020: Critics Choice Film Awards Nomination for Best Film:Gantumoote (2019) 2020: Critics Choice Film Awards Nomination for Best Writing:Gantumoote (2019) 2020: Critics Choice Film Awards Nomination for Best Director:Gantumoote (2019) 2020: Karnataka Film Critics Awards Nomination for Best Director:Gantumoote (2019) 2020: Karnataka Film Critics Awards Nomination for Best Writer:Gantumoote (2019) 2020: Karnataka Film Critics Awards Nomination for Best Film:Gantumoote (2019) 2020: Raghavendra Chitravani Award for Best Debudant Director:Gantumoote (2019) 2021: SIIMA Awards Nomination for Best Debudant Director:Gantumoote(2019) 2023: Indo French International Film Festival for Best Indian Short Film:Asmin(2023) 2023: Indo French International Film Festival for Best Director Critics Choice:Asmin(2023)