Manisha Israni

Manisha completed her MBA in 1996 from Business School, University of Hull, UK. One of the founding Directors of Telebrands India she has 20+ years experience in Media, Marketing and Management. Managing large teams of diverse personalities in deadline-driven and result-oriented environment, she has directed over 100 commercials & infomercials representing global brands including Maybelline, Nykka, Big Flex, Aragon oil etc. for National TV platforms such as Sony, Discovery, Animal Planet and Star TV. Her expertise lies in visualizing/developing/creation high quality content for TV and emergining digital platforms. She has worked as a producer on Bollywood film “Aryan” and has worked with various celebrated actors like Waheeda Rehman, Smriti Irani, Mukesh Khanna, Kader Khan, etc on numerous TV shows.

Since her early years she was inclined towards the creative art forms, this creativity was nurtured into a passion that led her to Documentary Filmmaking. She wished to look beyond the corporate realm and do something more meaningful as a filmmaker. Hurdles did not deter her, and she successfully completed a documentary on Javelin throwers Devendar’s life, titled “Devendar Jhajharia Para Athlete”. This documentary won the award for the best Film, in Navi Mumbai International Film Festival - 2016, received critical acclaim at the Lonavala IFFI 2016 and was awarded for outstanding excellence - 2017” - DOFIFF.

With early years in Afghanistan, growing up in Africa, a masters degree from UK, and now having lived in India for over 20 years she’s truly had the opportunity of immersing herself in many cultures. She has been conveying stories of courage, perseverance and hope since 2012 either by writing pieces that get published in American journal of film making or shooting documentaries such as “Zambia Diaries” or “Para Athletes - The SuperHumans ”.

Apart from being a published author, she is committed to her cause of providing visibility to such stories of courage and perseverance under the wider umbrella of her charitable fund "Born To Play". Born to Play is an initiative dedicated towards development of Para-athletes in India so as to sharpen their skills and also financially help underprivileged young athletes.