Born in Konkan, Maharashtra, Archana Ghangrekar is known for her unique adaptive style of shooting a wide range of very different films like All India Rank, Shape of Momo, Gudgudi, In Transit, Laila Manju and Secrets of a Mountain Serpent, Ayesha.

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Archana, a graduate of computer engineering, pursued film cinematography from the Film and television Institute of India, Pune. She shot her first feature length 'The bizarre murder of Pristh Tusker' an art house film starring the inimitable Victor Banerjee, at the age of 26.

Her thesis film at FTII 'Meenalap' garnered critical acclaim, winning Grand Prix (Eurasia 2018) and Ritvik Ghatak gold medal the same year. Meenalap depicts the journey of a Bangladeshi immigrant couple navigating life in a foreign city during their nine months of pregnancy. 

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In 2021, Varun Grover asked her to come on board to shoot his directorial debut 'All India Rank' and that changed her world. 

Lauded for its sensitive and beautiful portrayal of conflicts of a 17 year old boy from 1990's of India, the film put Archana on wider radar of cinematographers.

All India Rank was the closing film at Rotterdam in 2023 before releasing in theatres and on Netflix. 

 

Her 2025 was In-Transit a 4 episode series about the journeys of nine extra ordinary trans individuals across India. In transit is produced by Zoya Akhtar-Reema Kagti's Tiger Baby Films and directed by Ayesha Sood. 

The series is globally released on Amazon Prime and nominated for best non fiction series for FilmFare OTT awards.

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Shape of Momo is a Nepali language feature film she shot in Sikkim with director duo Tribeny Rai and Kislay. The film has won the Best film in Vision Asia section at Busan International film festival, 2025. Shape of momo went omn winning Grand jury for best narrative fiction at IFFLA, Indiememe, Bangalore, Kolkata, and Mosco. Shape of momo will be releasing in theatres across India on 29th May 2026 with Zoya Akhtar, Reema Kagti and Payal Kapadia as the executive producers under Rana Daggubati's Spirit media.

Archana's deep passion for her art and craft keeps pushing her to find and work with people she admires and believes in. ​

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" Film is a wildly powerful medium. It is a force of nature really, that holds tremendous potential to transform the human psyche and way of thinking. I want to be a part of the stories that intend to use this potential. I want to push the envelope in every way possible. 

​In the times shrouded by wars, I want to make films that enrich human experience with hope, light, and love no matter how dark this long night is. " 

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What will her next adventure be?

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