Aban Raza

Aban Raza is an Indian filmmaker and contemporary artist. She was born in 1989. She is known for her serigraphic prints and sketches. She is critically acclaimed for her work in the movie M Cream Click to look into! >> Read More... . Aban is the daughter of renowned art historian Dr. Nuzhat Kazmi. She studied at Springdales School in New Delhi. She earned her Bachelor in Fine Arts and Master in Fine Art degrees from the College of Art in New Delhi. She is presently pursuing a scholarship at Lalit Kala Academy in New Delhi. Aban’s artworks explore the theme of social movements, protests, and rebellion. She believes in using art to spread awareness and explore multiple perspectives of human existence. Some of her works include ‘Roses in a Cupboard.’

Her paintings have featured in exhibitions like ‘On The Threshold of Time III’ in April 2013 at the Art Heritage Gallery in New Delhi and Contemporary Artworks (inspired by Bollywood) in December 2013 at the Art Heritage Gallery in New Delhi. Aban collaborated in the direction of the English movie ‘M Cream’ with director and writer Agneya Singh Agneya Singh is an Indian Filmmaker, screenwriter, >> Read More... for the production company Agniputra Films in 2014. She also provided additional photographs for the film. The movie was about a group of college students going on a journey to find a legendary form of hash.

The film won the Cult Feature award at The Queen City Film Fest in the US in 2014, the Best Foreign Feature Award at the Indie Spirit Film Festival in the US in 2014, the Platinum Remi award at the Worldfest – Houston International Film Festival in 2014, the Yellow Rose award at the Jaipur International Film Festival in 2015, and the Platinum Award at the International Independent Film Awards in 2015. Aban received the Grand Prize shared with Agneya under the Best Feature Film category at the Rhode Island International Film Festival in 2014.

The movie was first screened on 10th August 2014 at the Rhode Island International Film Festival. The movie was featured at several film festivals between 2014 and 2015 including the Chicago South Asian Film Festival, the Film Columbia Festival, the Seattle South Asian Film Festival, the Florence River To River Film Festival, the Delhi International Film Festival, and many others in the USA, Canada, Ireland, Germany, Italy and India. The film hit the screens in India on 22nd July 2016. The movie was lauded as India’s first stoner film by several critics worldwide.