Maaria graduated in Literature at St. Xavier’s College and was among the top rankers at Mumbai University. She then moved to London, where she completed her Masters in Filmmaking at London Film School. Having been a part time painter and theatre performer (where she trained children under 15 for the Trinity College of Speech and Drama examinations), Maaria felt cinema was the best way to combine and channelize her interests.

In spite of having lived in Mumbai, Singapore, London and Milan, Maaria is most connected to stories about spiritual enlightenment experienced by women that come from a very specific Indian setting. After having worked in different capacities on over 15 short films and assisted in television content in India, she decided to make her own.

Her first short film “Aabida” screened in more than 20 international film festivals and won 4 awards in the Best Film category. Maaria worked in Beach House Pictures in Singapore as a writer for networks such as Discovery Channel, National Geographic and Fox, alongside dabbling in pre-schoolers content for television. She then moved back to her hometown Mumbai, where she established the production company Draw4Films, thereby returning to the world of cinema.

Her most recent short film, ‘Chudala,’ is currently doing the round of festivals and has so far been showcased at 8 international festivals. Her feature documentary, ‘WAIGUOREN,’ is currently under post-production. She was selected among the top 24 filmmakers of Asia to be a part of the Asian Film Academy 2016, where she co-directed the short film “Cichlid”, screened at the Busan International Film Festival 2016. In addition to this Maaria balances her work for corporate clients in India and Italy as she writes and preps her feature film.