Sayani Gupta

Sayani Gupta received the South Asian Screen Excellence Award at the International Film Festival of South Asia (IFFSA) in Toronto on her birthday. She attended the festival as Guest of Honour, where her directorial debut Aasmani was screened alongside her summit session.

Sayani Gupta was awarded the iSAFF Leadership in Film Award 2026 by the International South Asian Film Festival in Canada, presented on 23/09/2026 in Vancouver. Her short film Aasmani also earned an Honourable Mention for Excellence in Short Filmmaking, and she served as a jury member for Excellence in Feature Filmmaking.

Sayani Gupta's directorial debut short film Aasmani was pulled from the Indian Film Festival of New Zealand after copyright concerns were raised. She publicly described the withdrawal as unfair and said the film had been in development for years, making the setback especially disappointing.

Sayani Gupta was cast in Arya, her first U.S. feature film, written and directed by Neil Tuli. She plays a piano teacher from an Indian conservatory who takes an assignment in northern Minnesota, and principal photography began in Duluth, Minnesota.

Sayani Gupta was named the 2026 Person of the Year by the Harvard South Asian Association in recognition of her contribution to film, storytelling, and representation. She was scheduled to be formally felicitated at Harvard University later that month.

Sayani Gupta announced her directorial debut, Aasmani, a short film starring Revathi. She described the project as a long-held dream and shared that she had written the script over more than two years before revealing it publicly.