Miransha Naik

Miransha Naik lost both his parents to illness at the age of 9. He grew up in Borimol village with his grandmother and two sisters, coming third in his Class X exams. He dropped out within a year of joining the BCom course at Government College, Quepem to contribute to his household by working as a waiter. His grandmother passed away when he was 19, and he had to take responsibility of the marriages of his two sisters. By waiting tables for nearly five years, he made enough money to set up his own beachside shack, named Blue Corner, on Benaulim Beach.

After he got his sisters married, he began travelling to India and abroad. His love for films grew further. He recalls that two scenes in Juze, which show the village children watching Subhash Ghai's Karz and Hero, are based on memories of Naik and his young friends and Naik's love for movies.

He then took a short-term screenwriting course at Asian Academy of Film and Television, Noida. In 2010, he entrusted his sister and brother-in-law the responsibility of running Blue Corner and joined a screenwriting course at Whistling Woods International, Mumbai. here, he was exposed to a wider range of films, including Indian and international arthouse films. He co-wrote his first short, Remember A Day in 2012, before going on to direct Ram (2014).[2]

Miransha Naik made his writing and directorial debut with the short film Ram in 2014.[3] It was a comedy about a Goan boy desperate to lose his virginity, and featured debutante teenager Rushikesh Naik (who later played the lead role in Juze).[2] His debut feature film was the critically acclaimed Juze. The film is about the social injustice and exploitation faced by migrant labourers in Goa, and is set in the 1990s. It was co-produced by people from India, France and Netherlands (Thin Air, Three Rivers, Kepler Films, Cine-Sud Promotion) under the banner of Goa Film Bazaar, with some of the editing done in Paris.[4] The film is partially based on Naik's childhood experiences.[5] It premiered at the Hong Kong International Film Festival in April 2017.[6][7]

• Special Jury Award at Minsk Film Festival, 2017 (For his film, Juze)[8][9]