The Shorenstein Center

Team

Khushboo Ranka

Fellowship

Term

Khushboo Ranka is a Mumbai-based filmmaker known for AN INSIGNIFICANT MAN (2016), which became India’s highest-grossing political documentary. It premiered at TIFF, BFI, and over 55 international festivals, winning multiple awards, including the Doc Impact Hi5 Award for its groundbreaking campaign. She co-wrote SHIP OF THESEUS (2012), a philosophical exploration of identity and ethics, which won the National Award for Best Film and was celebrated at numerous international festivals.

Khushboo directed India’s first Virtual Reality Documentary, RIGHT TO PRAY (2016), which premiered at TIFF and Sheffield. She was also editor-in-chief of ElseVR, India’s first VR platform, producing several pioneering VR documentaries. Her first short film, CONTINUUM, won Best Short Film at the Hannover Film Festival. Most recently, she produced WHILE WE WATCHED, a Peabody and Henry Award-winning documentary on journalist Ravish Kumar, which won top awards at TIFF, Sheffield, and Sydney Film Festival.

Beyond filmmaking, she has been actively involved in mobilizing resources for nonfiction storytelling and content. Her latest project is a pulpy, noir-inspired detective series set in a fictional Indian town—a world of crime, rebellion, and shifting power dynamics—that explores autonomy, morality, and tradition in a rapidly changing landscape.

While at Shorenstein, Khushboo will explore how a new generation of creators is turning to digital platforms—particularly YouTube—to tell urgent, investigative, and socially resonant stories.

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