Preya Hirji is a writer & director based in Mumbai and London. Born and raised in London's Camden Town, Preya was always drawn to filmmaking and the theatre through the music she was exposed to growing up in a cosmopolitan hub. Her meeting with the great humanist of British cinema, filmmaker Mike Leigh, when she was just a teenager, made her passionate about writing of the ordinary people and the social fabric of cultures in working-class London. Mixed with her favourite Yash Raj Films and Hindi cinema, she has a mixed identity. 

 

She is deeply fascinated by the history of India and the roots of her Gujarati heritage. Her ancestral family home in Kutch, Bhuj, where she spent her summers with her grandparents, has shaped her interest in travel to know more about Kutch and India, its people and the land.

 

Passed out from London film school, with a filmmaking degree, Preya has directed web series, music videos, fashion films and short films. She has won best director at Berlin indie shorts, and best fashion film in Paris for her short film 'Cheer Up It's Christmas.' Preya is passionate about exploring Indian and diasporic narratives, with a particular focus on female-centred stories.