Quick Facts
Biography
Ashwiny Iyer TiwarI (born 15 October 1979) is an Indian filmmaker and writer. After working in advertising for several years, she made her debut by directing the 2016 comedy drama Nil Battey Sannata. The film garnered critical acclaim and Tiwari went on to direct it's Tamil remake entitled Amma Kanakku. She had previously served as the Executive Creative Director at Leo Burnett before she moved on to pursue a filmmaking career.
Early life and background
Born on 15th October 1979, Tiwari grew up in the suburb of Mulund, Mumbai. She studied in St Marys Convent and did her higher studies from SIES college of commerce and economics. Inclined towards art, she managed to convince her mother to get into an art school. Her mother Lakshmi Subramanium was a principal of S.M.P.R school in Mulund.
Ashwiny'sfamily consists of husband writer-director Nitesh Tiwari and their twins.
Career
Advertising
A gold medalist in commercial arts from Sophia Polytechnic, Mumbai, Ashwiny spent 15 years in the advertising agency Leo Burnett (India). She won several awards like Cannes Lions, New York festival, One show, Promax and the Goafest Awards. She quit Leo Burnett to follow her passion in filmmaking.
Films
She made her first short film What's for Breakfast which won the Dadasaheb Phalke Award in 2012. In 2016, she made her feature film debut with the comedy drama Nil Battey Sannata starring Swara Bhaskar. Released under the title of The New Classmate internationally, the film garnered critical acclaim and Tiwari was praised for her direction and sensitive handling of the subject matter. She remade the film in Tamil as Amma Kanakku which released on 24 June in the same year.
In the same year, Tiwari made the film Nil Battey Sannata which was produced by Colour Yellow productions (Aanand L Rai) in association with Jar Pictures and Opticus Inc. and presented by Eros International . She was inspired by the film she conceived for Kaun Banega Crorepati with Mr. Amitabh Bachchan which inspired many Indian viewers.
She was selected as one of the "Powerful Women in 2016" in the Femina poll. She was even a part of Grazia Women Achievers 2016. She was invited as a speaker at Tedx Bangalore 2016 to talk on women, films and empowering oneself. Apart from these she has been invited to several colleges for talks on empowerment, films. Currently apart from working on her next film she is writing a book on a life journey.
After her Nil Battey Sannata & Amma Kanakku she is making a fun quirky slice of life rom com story with the leading Times of India group division Junglee Pictures and BR studios LLP called Bareilly Ki Barfi.