Biography

Anand Mahindra is the Chairman of the US $20.7 billion Mahindra Group. An incisive business commentator and humanitarian with over 8.5 million followers on twitter, Anand has a passion for cinema and a keen interest in filmmaking, a subject he pursued as an undergraduate at Harvard. A desire to meaningfully contribute to the media and entertainment ecosystem in India has led him to invest in his personal capacity in media ventures.

Cinestaan Film Company (CFC) is a boutique film studio co-promoted by Anand Mahindra. It is committed to championing stories that resonate with global audiences, the main objective being to back outstanding writers and filmmakers and encourage them to enhance the standard of filmmaking in India. Cinestaan has the ability to develop, produce and distribute films across the world and were Executive Producers of Cold War, nominated for 3 Academy Awards including 'Best Foreign Film'. Anand was producer on Cinestaan's feature animation, 'Bombay Rose', which opened International Critics Week at the Venice Film Festival. He has also produced 'The Torch', a film on guitar legend Buddy Guy.

Cinestaan AA Distributors (CAAD), a joint venture between AA Films and Cinestaan Film Company, is the leading overseas distributor of Indian films. Some of the films distributed by Cinestaan AA Distributors include Baahubali 2, Badhaai Ho, Thappad, Bharat & Gully Boy.

Anand also did a stint on the Board of Trustees of the Sundance Institute, a global non-profit organization founded by Robert Redford. As the first step in the direction of film education, Mumbai Mantra Media Limited, which is the media vertical of the Mahindra Group, had forged a partnership with the Sundance Institute which gave birth to the Mumbai Mantra Sundance Institute Screenwriters Lab in India and the Sundance Institute Mahindra Global Filmmaking Award. At the end of this relationship, a new initiative, the Cinestaan Script Contest was initiated under the aegis of Cinestaan wherein thousands of scripts have been evaluated and prize money distributed.

Anand Mahindra is a strong votary of arts and culture. Mahindra Blues, Mahindra Excellence in Theatre Awards and Mahindra Sanatkada celebrate and nurture music, theatre culture, art and history in India. He is a member of the Global Advisory Council of the Lincoln Center, New York and has previously served on the Board of Trustees of the Natural History Museum of London.

At Anand's behest, the Mahindra Group cultural outreach division instituted the annual Mahindra Blues Festival in Mumbai which is now in its twelfth year and has become Asia's largest Blues Festival. It featured Buddy Guy in both the inaugural edition of the Festival as well on its tenth anniversary .
- IMDb mini biography by: Cinestaan Film Company

As an undergrad, Anand studied filmmaking at Harvard College where Mira Nair was one year his junior. Anand's student film 'Yatra' is buried deep in the archives of Harvard, much to his relief.