Recap 2025: Indian Women Artists Who Won Global Recognition

By: WE Staff

As 2025 comes to a close we look back at women’s achievements throughout the year. In the following article we meet five women creative forces that won big accolades on the global platform. From film producer Guneet Monga to author Banu Mushtaq, we highlight women artists whose art is creating waves globally. 

In 2025, Indian women in media and entertainment are not just creating content; they are shaping global conversations. From literature and cinema to music and documentary storytelling, their voices are resonating far beyond national borders, earning standing ovations at international festivals, award ceremonies, and cultural platforms worldwide. Years of consistent craft, quiet perseverance, and fearless storytelling have built a momentum that audiences across continents now recognise and celebrate.

Global acclaim for Indian women creators is not sudden; it is the result of sustained excellence over the past decade. Filmmakers like Payal Kapadia and Anuparna Roy have brought deeply human, locally rooted stories to prestigious global stages, while producers such as Guneet Monga Kapoor have ensured Indian narratives travel fearlessly across borders. In literature, writers like Banu Mushtaq have made history by bringing regional Indian voices to the centre of global literary discourse. Music, too, has witnessed a powerful rise, with Indian artists such as Sonam Kalra earning international honours for compositions that blend tradition with contemporary expression.

What unites these women is not only talent, but also a purpose, an unwavering belief in storytelling as a force for change. As global audiences continue to embrace their work, 2025 stands as a defining year where recognition meets legacy.

Women Entrepreneurs Review Magazine highlights five notable Indian women personalities in media and entertainment who were honored with international awards in 2025.

Banu Mushtaq - Literature

Banu Mushtaq is a trailblazing Kannada writer, activist, and lawyer who made history in 2025 by becoming the first Kannada author to win the International Booker Prize for her short story collection Heart Lamp, translated into English by Deepa Bhasthi. Deeply rooted in the Bandaya Sahitya (protest literature) movement, her writing powerfully explores themes of gender, identity, and social justice.

With six short story collections, a novel, essays, and poetry to her credit, her work has been translated into Urdu, Hindi, Tamil, Malayalam, and English, amplifying marginalized voices across languages. Her Booker win elevated regional Indian literature onto the global stage, placing Kannada among the world’s most celebrated literary traditions. In 2025, she also received the Ram Advani Award for literary excellence.

Payal Kapadia - Film Director

Payal Kapadia is an acclaimed Indian filmmaker whose poetic, socially grounded storytelling has brought historic global recognition to Indian cinema. Her early short Afternoon Clouds (2017) was the only Indian selection at the 70th Cannes Film Festival, followed by a breakthrough win at Cannes in 2021, where A Night of Knowing Nothing earned the Golden Eye Award. In 2024, her fiction debut, All We Imagine As Light, made history by winning the Grand Prix at the 77th Cannes Film Festival, becoming the first Indian film to do so.

The film’s global journey continued in 2025 with a Best Film win at the 18th Asian Film Awards and a Golden Globe nomination for Best Director, another first for an Indian filmmaker.

Anuparna Roy - Film Director

Anuparna Roy is an Indian filmmaker and screenwriter who made history in 2025 by becoming the first Indian director to win the Best Director Award in the Orizzonti (Horizons) section at the 82nd Venice International Film Festival for her debut feature Songs of Forgotten Trees. Presented by Anurag Kashyap, the film stood out among thousands of global submissions for its poetic yet grounded storytelling.

Rooted in her upbringing in rural West Bengal, her work explores memory, identity, migration, and ecological loss through intimate human narratives. Songs of Forgotten Trees follows two migrant women navigating life in Mumbai, resonating deeply with international audiences.

Ramira Taneja - Film Director

Ramira Taneja is an Indian filmmaker and entrepreneur who earned international recognition in 2025 for her short film Wild Flowers, winning the Best Director (Female) award at the Asia Film Awards in Thailand. Founder of RamiiPhy Entertainment, she brings over 13 years of experience in the film industry, having begun her career in Mumbai under the mentorship of Yash Chopra.

Wild Flowers was widely praised for its emotional depth and compelling storytelling, achieved with limited resources. The jury highlighted her ability to craft a powerful narrative through simplicity, clarity, and empathy rather than abstraction.

Sonam Kalra - Indian Vocalist & Composer

Sonam Kalra is an award-winning Indian vocalist and composer, best known as the creator of the internationally acclaimed Sufi Gospel Project, which uniquely blends Western gospel, Indian classical music, and Sufi poetry. In 2025, she won multiple Global Music Awards, including three Silver Medals, and became the first Indian woman to receive a Gold Medal at the platform.

A member of the Grammy Recording Academy, she has performed at prestigious venues such as the Sydney Opera House and shared stages with legends like Abida Parveen. Her signature works draw inspiration from poets such as Faiz Ahmed Faiz, Rabindranath Tagore, and Bulleh Shah. Guided by the belief that art should serve a higher purpose, her music promotes peace, unity, and spiritual connection, earning global acclaim for its emotional depth and healing power