Long before the standing ovations and red carpets, Neeraj Ghaywan was seated behind a desk at a corporate job, wearing a name that wasn’t his.

Born in Hyderabad, Neeraj followed what many would call a conventional path—an engineering degree, an MBA, and a job at Tech Mahindra. But even with stability and success on paper, something felt deeply hollow. Filmmaking, he realised, wasn’t just a dream — it was a calling.

In a bold move, Neeraj left it all behind. He began assisting Anurag Kashyap on Gangs of Wasseypur, learning the craft from the ground up. Just a few years later, in 2015, his directorial debut Masaan premiered at Cannes and earned a standing ovation. The world had finally taken notice. But behind that applause was a silence he had carried for years.