This January, stars will descend on Vadodara at India’s biggest multi-arts and culture festival. And, joining these stars are the Masters of Indian Film Industry. VadFest presents VadMasters – a Master-class with Homi Adajania, Zoya Akhtar, Makarand Deshpande, Sriram Raghavan, moderated by Rajesh Mapuskar.

VadMasters, a special feature of VadFest, offers a unique opportunity to come face-to-face with these leading film personalities as they share stories about their life journeys, experiences, struggles and success. Hear them talk about their passion for films and their dreams of the silver screen. Each of these masters of creativity will talk about their favourite films, favourite scenes and offer insight into the field of film making as seen and experienced by them. As each master picks up a nuance of film making to talk about, you will have a rare opportunity to learn the technicalities of the industry straight from their hands.

VadMasters is a by-invitation-only event. Invitations will be sent out to select participants based on the application forms submitted by them. There are no charges for the event and participants who attend all master-classes of VadMasters will be awarded a certificate.

Rajesh Mapuskar,
Moderator

23rd & 25th Jan

Rajesh Mapuskar, whose debut film as a director was Ferrai Ki Sawaari, is an acclaimed writer and screen player. As an assistant director, Mapuskar, has been part of famous movies like Lage Raho Munnabhai and 3 Idiots. He has also acted in Sau Jhooth Ek Sach - The Uninvited.

Makarand Deshpande

23th Jan

Actor, writer and director, Makarand Deshpande is a well-known name in Hindi and Marathi films and theatre. He is often seen in supporting and pivotal roles in various films like Jungle, Sarfarosh, Swades, Makdee, and Darna Zaroori Hai. He has directed films like Hanan, Danav, Shahrukh Bola Khoobsurat Hai Tu, Sona Spa and Saturday Sunday. He runs his own theatre company, Ansh, and has written 35 full-length plays and at least 12 short plays. Deshpande has an unconventional personality and is noted for his unusual outfits and hairstyle. As an actor his work has been much acclaimed across Hindi, Marathi, Malayalam and Telugu film industry.

Homi Adajania

24th Jan

Critically acclaimed director and writer Homi Adajania, made his directorial debut with an offbeat English-language psychological drama, Being Cyrus. He followed this with a money spinner, Hindi-language romcom Cocktail. Adajania's third directorial venture was the caustic comedy, Finding Fanny, which was well received at the box office with rave reviews. More recently, he has made a very insightful short film called My Choice, based on women empowerment with his muse Deepika Padukone for Vogue.

Zoya Akhtar

24th Jan

Eminent director Zoya Akhtar, born in an honoured family with immense creative prowess, she began her career as a casting director for films like Dil Chahta Hai & Split Wide Open, moving on to become an assistant director for brother Farhan Akhtar's films. She made her directorial debut with the film Luck by Chance, that was well received, winning her the Filmfare Best Debut Director award in 2009. In 2011, she directed the hugely successful Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara, winning her many laurels as a Best Director at the Filmfare, IIFA and Zee Cine awards. She also directed an anthology of 4 movies to mark the centenary year of Indian cinema, along with other accomplished directors, called Bombay Talkies. She is currently working on Dil Dhadakne Do, with an ensemble starcast like Priyanka Chopra, Ranveer Singh, Anil Kapoor, Anushka Sharma & Farhan Akhtar.

Sriram Raghavan

25th Jan

Renowned film director and screen writer Sriram Raghavan is well known for producing a 45 minute documentary on Indian serial killer Raman Raghav and Hindi feature film Ek Hasina Thi produced by Ram Gopal Varma, starring Urmila Matondkar and Saif Ali Khan. His second feature film was Johnny Gaddar (2007) which garnered overwhelming response from the critics. His latest film was Agent Vinod starring Saif Ali Khan. His upcoming movie is Badlapur, an action-thriller starring Varun Dhawan and Nawazuddin Siddiqui in lead roles. The film is scheduled for release on 20 February 2015. He is also signed for making a film based on a book by Vikas Swarup.