Background
Shukla was born in Lucknow into a family that was not related to film industry.
Shukla was born in Lucknow into a family that was not related to film industry.
She was interested in films right from her childhood and completed her graduation from the Christ Church College, Lucknow.
Her recent direction, ‘Happy Mothers Day’ a feature film by Children"s Film Society, India (CFSI) was the opening film for the 19th Edition of the Children"s Film Festival India (ICFFI). An alumnus of the Film and Television Institute of India, Shukla started her career as an assistant to cinematographer and director Santosh Sivan before making her feature film debut. Upon graduation, she decided to join the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII) to do a course in cinematography, which she felt was an ideal platform to express her "creativity".
Her family was supportive of her decision.
Shukla"s diploma film at the FTII was premiered at the competition section of the Camerimage film festival. Upon completing her course at the FTII, she joined Santosh Sivan as an apprentice and went on to assist him in various films including two Hollywood productions – The Mistress of Spices and Before the Rains.
She was the second unit camerawoman for Mani Ratnam"s Tamil–Hindi bilingual films Raavan and Raavanan (2010). She got a break as an independent cinematographer through Kutty Srank, a Malayalam film directed by Shaji North. Karun.
The film had the distinction of being the first in Malayalam to be shot by a woman cinematographer.
She was the first female to be awarded in the category. After Kutty Srank, she joined with Santosh Sivan for Urumi, a period drama.