Vatsal Neelakantan is a screenwriter and director based in Mumbai, India. Having completed his education in film and television from New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts in 2012, he began his career in Mumbai as an assistant on the 2013 film, Fukrey. That was the first step in his association with Excel Entertainment, for whom he also worked as director’s assistant on Bangistan (2015) and Raees (2017). On Raees, he also stepped into the role of second unit director. Following the release of Raees, he worked with Excel as a creative developer, working with writers and directors associated with the company and providing significant contributions to films like Fukrey Returns (2017), Toofaan (2021) and Sharmaji Namkeen (2022), and shows like Mirzapur and Inside Edge. He then turned writer-director in his own right, making his debut with Netflix and Excel Entertainment’s film Friday Night Plan (2023), a feel-good coming-of-age high school comedy film.