JURY PANEL FOR FINAL STAGE

Suhasini Maniratnam is a prominent actor, writer, director, and film producer from South India. Notably, she was the first female student to study cinematography at the Madras Film Institute. Over her career, she has acted in more than 350 films across four South Indian languages, earning numerous state awards and the prestigious Indian President’s Award for Best Actress. Her directorial debut, Indira, won the Best International Award at the Minsk Film Festival in Belarus. Beyond films, Maniratnam has directed various TV serials, web series, and short films. She has curated for the Dubai Film Festival and co-coordinated for the Berlin Film Festival. She also serves on the board of the Chennai International Film Festival and is the Honorary Consul for Luxembourg. In addition to her work in film, she runs the Naam Trust, a non-profit organization aimed at empowering single women in South India. She produces films and collaborates with her husband through their production company, Madras Talkies. Their recent successes include Ponniyin Selvan 1 and Ponniyin Selvan 2, which have set new records at the Tamil box office.