Celebrating the Launch of There’s a Ghost in My Room

Sanjoy K. Roy, an entrepreneur of the arts, is Managing Director of Teamwork Arts, which produces over thirty highly acclaimed performing arts, visual arts and literary festivals across forty cities in countries such as Australia, Canada, Egypt, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Italy, Singapore, South Africa, Spain, UK and USA, including the world’s largest literary gathering: the annual Jaipur Literature Festival. Roy is a founder-trustee of Salaam Baalak Trust, which provides support services for street and working children in the inner city of Delhi. He works closely with various industry bodies on important policy issues within the cultural space in India and is co-chair of the Art and Culture Committee of the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry; he is a former president of the Event and Entertainment Management Association and Earth Day Network’s official Global Advisory Committee and is the current co-chair of Catalyst Now. He has been awarded an honorary doctorate by York University, UK.   He lives in Gurgaon with his family.  

Shobhaa De has monitored and written extensively on India’s socio-cultural-political contours for over four decades. Her twenty books include several bestsellers like ‘Starry Nights’, ‘Spouse’, ‘Superstar India’ and her latest, ‘Seventy.... and to hell with it!” She is a prolific writer, columnist, blogger, social commentator and opinion shaper with a vast Twitter following of close to 3 million. It is often said that one tweet from her can – and does – shake up Parliament. Her feisty, irreverent style has made her a powerful icon, widely respected for her fearless and independent opinions.

Shernaz Patel has been a part of English theatre in India for the past 35 years. She is a partner in one of India’s leading theatre groups, Rage Productions and has helmed their playwriting initiatives, Writer’s Bloc and Class Act. Aside from theatre she has also been successfully acting in Indian cinema ever since she worked in Sanjay Leela Bhansali's Black in 2004. A Charles Wallace scholar, she holds a Masters degree in Acting from the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama. She is also an established voiceover and a television actress. Also a teacher, she was Head of Acting at India’s premiere film school, Whistling Woods International from 2013-2017. She is currently Artistic Director for the Aditya Birla Group’s theatre initiative, Aadyam.

Deepika Deshpande Amin is a well-known actress in Film, Theatre & Web. Acting in popular Bollywood hits like SonuKeTituKiSweety, HumptySharmaKiDulhania (Prime), FAN (with Srk) & TaraVsBilal (Netflix); she effortlessly crosses genres to critically acclaimed films like RamPrasadKiTehrvi (Netflix) & GoneKesh (Prime). Garnering praise for her performance in historic web series like Siyaasat (Prime), Jaanbaaz (Zee5),  Farmaan (DD), winning Best Actress; she gained great popularity for WhatTheFolks, DesiMom  & Tashn E Ishq (Zee5). Her notable plays include the pathbreaking show EveryGoodBoyDeservesFavour directed by UK director Bruce Guthrie; Girish Karnad’s Wedding Album & BoiledBeansOnToast, performed in several countries; Kanyadaan by Vijay Tendulkar & August Osage County directed by Lillette Dubey. She has worked with theatre stalwarts like Barry John & Mahesh Dattani and directed 3 plays in Jakarta, Indonesia. An avid reader and secret writer; she plays the guitar, sings in a choir and trains in Indian classical vocal.