Born in Mumbai to a photographer father in 1975, Nitin Kakkar grew up on a staple diet of Bollywood. After gaining experience as an assistant director for Hindi movies, Nitin Kakkar made his directorial debut with the award-winning short film Black Freedom (2004). Since then, he has worked on a number of television projects. Filmistaan is his debut feature film. It received a Special Jury Mention during its World Premiere at the Busan International Film Festival embarking on its international tour; the film won him Best Debut Director at the International Film Festival of Kerala and Jaipur International Film Festival. It won audience choice award at Los Angeles, USA and Stuttgart, Germany. It also won the National Award for the best Hindi feature 2012.
Filmistaan is also screened at the Palm Spring Film Festival, California, Mumbai International film festival, Tromso Film Festival, Norway and Goteborg Film Festival, Sweden.
