Zoya Akhtar

Zoya Akhtar is a contemporary Indian film director. She made her debut as director with critically acclaimed Luck By Chance (2009). In 2011, she directed the critically and commercially successful film Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara and won her Filmfare Award for Best Director.

Personal life
Zoya Akhtar was born on January 9, 1974 in Mumbai to screenwriters poet, lyricist and screenwriter Javed Akhtar and screenwriter Honey Irani. Zoya's stepmother is Shabana Azmi. And she is the sister of Farhan Akhtar and grand-daughter of Urdu poet Jan Nisar Akhtar. She went to school at Maneckji Cooper and earned her Bachelors of Arts degree at St. Xavier's College, both in Mumbai. Later, she joined the New York University Film School to learn film production.

Zoya was brought up atheist, as her father Javed Akhtar stated in his speech "Spirituality, Halo or Hoax".

Early career
Zoya started her career as an actress playing a small role in Kamasutra movie, where she played one of the disciples of Rekha. Zoya has worked on a number of commercials including Pepsi and Finolex. She has co-directed a music video called "Price of Bullets" for a rock band. She has worked as a casting director for films including Dil Chahta Hai, Kamasutra: A Tale of Love and Split Wide Open, and as an assistant director for her brother Farhan's films, Lakshya and Dil Chahta Hai. She then worked as an executive producer for her longtime friend Reema Kagti's Honeymoon Travels Pvt. Ltd., also produced by Excel Entertainment.

Direction
Zoya made her directorial debut with Luck By Chance which was well-received by critics, despite not doing well at the box office., In the year 2011, She directed the commercial success film Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara, a multistarrer with Hrithik Roshan, Abhay Deol, Farhan Akhtar, Katrina Kaif and Kalki Koechlin. which turned out to be a huge box office success and was well received by critics and won her Filmfare Award for Best Director, After the film's release, Zoya Akhtar expressed an idea to make a sequel of the film. Speaking about it, she said "You never know, I might or may not make a sequel. It all depends on the right content.", But later Farhan Akhtar claimed that "There is no necessity of Sequel"

Other
She appeared on the Valentine's Day charity show of Kaun Banega Crorepati along with her brother Farhan Akhtar.