Comedian, writer and film-maker Varun Grover has been selected as part of this year’s BAFTA Breakthrough cohort, which includes 43 talented up-and-coming creatives from the US, UK and India working across film, television and video games.

A talent initiative by arts charity British Film And Television Arts (BAFTA), supported by Netflix, the Breakthrough programme provides a springboard to creatives working in costume design, production, casting, editing, games design, directing, composing, cinematography and performance. This year’s cohort were selected by a variety of industry professionals in each country, including Netflix representatives in the UK, actor John David Washington in the US, and producer Guneet Monga in India.

Grover, who was chosen for his directorial debut All India Rank—which he also wrote—is joined by game producer Abhinav Chokhavatia, director Christo Tomy, director Deepa Bhatia, sound designer Dhiman Karmakar, showrunner Jaydeep Sarkar, series producer Monisha Thyagarajan, producer Neeraj Kumar and director Sindhu Sreenivasa Murthy from India.

“BAFTA Breakthrough, now in its 11th year, spotlights a host of emerging and talented ‘must-watch’ creative practitioners working across film, games and television,” said BAFTA CEO Jane Millichip in a statement. “This year we have an amazing roster of casting directors, producers, writers, performers, lead artists, cinematographers, lead developers, and more. We urge the industry to take note. A huge thank you to Netflix, whose support makes BAFTA Breakthrough possible.”

Previous BAFTA Breakthrough alums include Ambika Mod, Josh O’Connor, Letitia Wright and our very own Sumukhi Suresh, who was chosen for the programme in 2022.