Pushkar–Gayatri are a husband-and-wife filmmaker duo from Chennai, Tamil Nadu. Their works are noted for their unique style, technical finesse, and intricately woven storylines.

They started as writers and directors with the Tamil feature films – Oram Po (2007), and Va - Quarter Cutting (2010), both quirky dark comedies. In 2017, they wrote and directed Vikram Vedha, which swept the awards that year and was the top-rated Indian film of 2017 on IMDb. In 2022, they remade the critically acclaimed Vikram Vedha in Hindi with Hrithik Roshan and Saif Ali Khan. They made an entry as content creators in the streaming space with Suzhal: The Vortex, a tent-pole global show in Amazon Prime Video. They were the writers, show-runners, and producers of the show which won awards in India and abroad. Other notable works they have created include Vadhandhi: The Fable of Velonie (2022),Aelay (2021), Exam (upcoming) and Vadhandhi Season 2 (upcoming)

Personal life

Gayatri and Pushkar are born and brought up in Chennai, the city where they are currently based.

Pushkar completed his schooling from St. John’s Senior Secondary School, Mandaveli (CBSE).

They did their under-graduation in Visual Communication in Loyola College, Chennai, where they first met.

During and after graduation, they worked with eminent advertising filmmakers such as P.C.Sriram and Manav Menon. They decided to pursue their education further and applied to film schools in the U.S. Gayatri finished her Masters in Fine Art from the University of Chicago, and Pushkar finished his Masters in Film Marking from the University of New Orleans.

The two started their careers together with ad-filmmaking. Neither of them are from a film background. To approach producers, they came up with a short-film version of the script of their first film, Oram Po. From then on, they have been full-time feature filmmakers in Tamil. With the release of the Vikram Vedha remake in Hindi, they debuted their entrance to Bollywood.

Production

Under their production house Wallwatcher Films, Pushkar and Gayatri have produced two long-format web series, Suzhal: The Vortex and Vadhandhi: The Fable of Velonie, for Amazon Prime Video, and a feature film, Aelay, on Netflix. Pushkar and Gayatri curate all their projects under Wallwatcher Films and they mentor them as creative producers.

Filmography

Denotes films that have not yet been released
  • Note: all films are in Tamil, unless otherwise noted.

As directors

YearWorkNotes
2007Oram Po
2010Va- Quarter Cutting
2017Vikram Vedha
2022Vikram VedhaHindi film

As producers

YearWorkRolesNotes
2021AelayCreative producersNetflix film

Television

YearWorkRolesNotes
2022–2025Suzhal: The VortexCreators, writersAmazon original series
2022Vadhandhi: The Fable of VelonieCreative producers
UpcomingExamCreative producers
UpcomingVadhandhi 2Creative producers

Awards

FilmAwardsCategoryResultRef.
Vikram VedhaAnanda Vikatan AwardsBest ScreenplayWon
Tamil Nadu State Award 2017Best DirectorWon
65th Filmfare Awards SouthBest DirectorWon
Chennai International Film FestivalSecond Best Tamil Feature FilmWon
Norway Tamil Film Festival Awards 2018Best ScreenplayWon
Techofes Awards 2018Best DirectorNominated
Best StoryWon
10th Vijay AwardsBest DirectorWon
Best ScreenplayWon
Behindwoods AwardsBest DirectorWon
7th SIIMA AwardsBest FilmWon
Suzhal: The VortexOTT Play Awards 2022Best Screenplay (Series)Won
E4M AwardsBest Thriller-horror show on web OTT platformSilver
Best WriterSilver
Asian Academy Creative Awards 2022Best Drama seriesWon
Indian Telly Streaming Awards 2022Best Regional SeriesWon
Afaqs Vdonxt Awards 2023Best Music VideoWon
Adgully Screenxx Awards 2022Best Content - ThrillerWon
Indian Film Festival of Melbourne 2023Best SeriesNominated
Critics' Choice Shorts and Series Awards, India 2023Best SeriesNominated
Best WritingNominated