Deepti NavalDeepti Naval is an Indian actor, director, writer, painter, and photographer. A multifaceted personality, Deepti has carved a distinct niche for herself in the Indian film industry, winning critical acclaim for her 'sensitive and close to life' portryals that emphasized the changing role of women in India. Deepti made her debut in the year 1980 with the path-breaking film Ek Baar Phir, and has since appeared in more than ninety films, including Chashme Buddoor, Katha, Saath Saath, Kamla, Ankahi, Main Zinda Hoon, and Mirch Masala. She has received the Best Actor award in several national and international film festivals for her roles in Leela, Firaaq, Memories in March, Listen Amaya, NH10, The Boy with the Topknot, and others. She also won the Best Screenplay award at the New York Indian Film Festival for her directorial film, Do Paise Ki Dhoop, Chaar Aane Ki Baarish, in 2010. As a writer, she has three books to her credit-her first collection of poems, Lamha Lamha, published in 1981, Black Wind and Other Poems in 2004, and The Mad Tibetan: Stories from Then and Now in 2011. Her poems are reflective, sometimes autobiographical, and 'constitute a direct and honest female voice'. A graduate of Hunter College, City University of New York, Deepti acquired her bachelor's degree in fine arts studying painting as her major subject along with psychology, astronomy, and American theatre. As a painter, her knife work with oil on canvas is distinctly expressionistic. Read More Read Less