[4] Working outside the mainstream Bollywood film system,[5] Ashim Ahluwalia is part of a new generation of Indian directors.

His short films have shown at the Tate Modern,[7] the Centre Pompidou and at the Venice Architecture Biennale.

[11] He formed an independent production company, Future East, in 2005, providing an infrastructure for him to work outside mainstream film channels.

[12] In May 2013, he received the Charles Flint Kellogg Award in Arts and Letters from Bard College, his alma mater.

"[14] In November 2013, he was selected to be on the jury of the 8th edition of the Rome Film Festival for the CinemaXXI section.