Nimisha Misra '24 Wins Highest Recognition in Indian Entertainment for Netflix Series

Less than a year after graduating from the Film program, Nimisha Misra '24 has won the prestigious Filmfare Award and SWA (Screenwriter's Association of India) Award for her work as writer on the Netflix series Kaala Paani. Both honors represent the highest recognition in Indian entertainment, with the Filmfare Awards often considered India's equivalent of the Academy Awards, while the SWA Award represents the peak of professional acknowledgment for screenwriters.

"For a ten year old girl, growing up in a small-town in North India, admitting to anyone except the bathroom mirror how badly I wanted to make films and be one of those people in a shiny outfit, getting a Filmfare Award was impossible," Misra said. "So now, at thirty-two, to know that a Filmfare award sits on a shelf in my house in the same small town feels unreal."

The achievement is particularly meaningful for Misra, who faced personal challenges during the writing process. In an Instagram post celebrating the win, she said: "While we were writing Kaala Paani I was also going through a very serious illness, one I wasn't sure I'd even survive. My brothers kept my spirits up every step of the way, as we all did our best to write the highest possible version of this story in spite of everything that was happening."

Kaala Paani, which premiered on Netflix in October 2023, is a seven-episode survival drama following the outbreak of a mysterious disease in India's Andaman and Nicobar Islands. Misra co-wrote the series with Biswapati Sarkar, Sandeep Saket, and Amit Golani. The show has garnered significant critical acclaim—maintaining a 77% positive rating on Rotten Tomatoes—and has been renewed for a second season.

Before joining the School of the Arts, Misra was already making waves in Indian entertainment. Her directorial debut Posham Pa (2019), a true-crime thriller, was hailed by the Times of India as "The most underrated movie of 2019." She previously worked as a copywriter for major brands and produced content for Arré and Zee5 India, where she launched India's first Zee5 Original Series. During her time at Columbia, she received multiple prestigious fellowships, including the Hollywood Foreign Press Association Fellowship, Dean's Fellowship for Academic Excellence, and a Creative Capital Emerging Artists Fellowship.