TLDR: The India Film Project (IFP) is celebrating its 15th anniversary with a two-day festival on November 29th and 30th at Mehboob Studios. The event will feature creative challenges across six categories, workshops, and discussions, with a jury including notable personalities like Dibakar Banerjee and Sheeba Chaddha.
Fifteen years, thousands of creators, and countless stories later, IFP has become a global stage where imagination finds its audience and ideas find their voice. What began as a tiny idea with a big dream has now grown into the World’s leading festival for everything Creativity x Culture, where art, ideas, and imagination meet in the most unexpected ways. This November 29th and 30th, the beloved creative festival returns to Mehboob Studios for a two-day celebration packed with stories, performances, workshops, interesting conversations, and more. It’s the one weekend where every creative spark in the city lights up together!
As IFP hits the milestone this year, the festival is pulling out all stops to make Season 15 its most memorable edition yet, celebrating 15 years of storytelling, collaboration, and the community that turned an idea into a global festival. At the heart of IFP lie its iconic 50 Hour Creative Challenges, which this year drew an overwhelming response from creators across six categories. Filmmaking, Music, Design, Photography, Writing, and Performing Arts. With over 40k participants from 350+ cities and 23 countries, the challenges continue to embody IFP’s spirit of collaboration and creative exploration. The jury for this milestone edition brings together some of India’s most celebrated names across cinema, design, art, including Dibakar Banerjee (Filmmaker), Hariharan (Padma Shri Awardee, Musician), Sheeba Chaddha (Actress), Bilal Siddiqi (Screenwriter and Novelist), Santhy Balachandran (Writer), Ravi Jadhav (Writer, Director, Producer, Actor), Kanu Behl (Filmmaker), Mukesh Chhabra (Casting Director and Filmmaker), Gajesh Mitkari (Designer, Founder of Studio Modak), and more.
Reflecting on IFP’s incredible journey, Ritam Bhatnagar, Founder of IFP, said, “What began as a small dormitory idea shared among a few passionate creators has now grown into one of the world’s leading celebrations of creativity and culture. Fifteen years later, IFP continues to be that space where creative people come together, experiment, and grow. This milestone year is our way of celebrating that journey, from one tiny idea to a global festival that inspires millions of people to create, share, and dream bigger every year.”
Dibakar Banerjee, National Award-winning filmmaker, member of the Filmmaking Jury, shared, “Storytelling has always been about curiosity, and IFP thrives on that. As a filmmaker, I’ve always believed that cinema must surprise you. Fifteen years in, IFP is continuing the good work in promoting curiosity. That’s what makes it so special. Loving being a jury this year.”
Versatile actor Sheeba Chaddha, member of the Performing Arts Jury, added, “There’s something truly joyful about IFP, and it’s always a pleasure to associate with the team, this time as a jury member. What I love the most about this festival is how it empowers artists to express and evolve without limits. As an actor, I’m drawn to spaces that let artists nurture their craft without fear or formula, and IFP has built that beautifully over the years. I’m excited to see what this milestone edition brings to the table.”
Over the years, IFP has brought together thousands of creative minds, hosting over 1400 speakers, 1.2L million participants, and representation from 8 countries, marking its place among the world’s largest festivals for creative enthusiasts. Over the past 14 years, IFP has hosted prolific creators such as Joseph Gorden Levitt, Tom Schulman (Academy Award Winner, Dead Poets Society), Alexander Payne (Academy Award Winner), Asif Kapadia (Academy Award Winner), Mira Nair (Academy Award Nominee), Ira Glass (Podcaster, Journalist, This American Life), Naseeruddin Shah, Pankaj Tripathi, Javed Akhtar, Ayushmann Khurrana, Rajkummar Rao, Imran Khan, Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Shabana Azmi, Vicky Kaushal, Taapsee Pannu, Sonakshi Sinha, Vijay Varma, Kartik Aryan, Bhumi Pednekar, Vikrant Massey, Adarsh Gourav, R. Balki, Sriram Raghavan, Vikramaditya Motwane, Shakun Batra.
This season too, the festival has something special for everyone, from thought-provoking discussions to endearing experiences. So, mark your calendars for November 29th and 30th, and be part of this Everything Creativity x Culture festival!
