<h1 class="left">What do Billie Eilish, Alicia Keys, Steve Aoki and Megan Thee Stallion have in common? Well, you may never find them on the same Spotify Wrapped but the musicians have all starred in Kajal Patel's high-octane films. The 30-year-old director, photographer and writer has burrowed a niche in celebrity content that’s drunk on emotion. With an extensive repertoire of music videos, campaigns and short films — including one that became the voice of the Black Lives Matter movement — Patel’s feelings-first storytelling is hard to miss.</h1>
<h1 class="left">Back in 2017, when Eilish was still slated under the ones-to-watch category, Patel hung out in the artist's family home, filming a mini documentary called Who Is for Complex magazine on her life. "I remember it clear as day, one of the team fell ill and Billie's mother concocted some home remedies for them," the Brooklyn-based creative reminisces. "When Billie shot to fame, my inbox blew up with interest from other brands and labels; the film became a turning point in my career."</h1>
<h1 class="centre">Cut to 2024 and Patel's audiophiliac credits only graze the surface of her success. She has directed Serena Williams and Naomi Osaka for Nike, Simone Ashley for Johnnie Walker, Amanda Gorman for Glamour and worked with big-name brands like Bose, Popeyes, Burger King, you name it. The creative recently hopped on a plane to LAX with Coi Larey, directing the rapper's first stint at Coachella. "I promised myself that I would only go to Coachella when I was working there and I made it happen," she says, mumbling about willing things into existence. When Larey's festival trailer was marked 22–Patel's lucky number–she posted an Instagram Story calling it destiny, a reminder that her late grandparents were looking out for her.</h1>
<h1 class="right">In fact, whimsical signs and affirmations play a sizable role in the director's creative journey. Patel gifted Megan Thee Stallion her first manifestation journal and half-earnest, half-in-jest believes that she inherited her passion to make films in her ancestry. "Growing up, I watched everything from Mr. Roger's Neighbourhood to Hindi films with Dada, my grandfather. He would stop to explain sound design and filming techniques, that's when I knew I wanted to be a director," confesses the first-generation Indian-American. At 23, well into her first job as a junior director at Complex Magazine, Patel's grandfather sat her down in their family home for a pep talk. He then revealed that at her age, he left his village in Gujarat and moved to Mumbai in the hopes of making films. But her Baba’s aspirations were written off as a "poor man with a rich man's dreams."</h1>
<h1 class="left">Years later, this close bond with her grandparents remains Patel's biggest inspiration, one that helped reaffirm her voice as a director. "Beyond everything, I want my work to help people express themselves and really feel something," she says. Having seen many Indian households suppress emotion only made her want it more. While at first she was hesitant to ask her clients to dig deeper, in time Patel realised that it was her strong, feelings-led perspective that made her stand out in a sea of creators. The brightest, shiniest, award-winning example of this approach is her 2020 short film with Megan Thee Stallion called Protecting Women of Colour.</h1>
<h1 class="left">At the height of the Black Lives Matter movement and shortly after she was attacked by a gunman, the American rapper and her team approached Patel to create a powerful movie highlighting the shared pain that women of colour endure. "When I took my first draft to Megan [Thee Stallion]she told me to make it more A-rated, to unleash all the rage I've experienced as a Brown woman in the world. Penning the script the second time, making it raw and real, was cathartic," shares the director. The final result? A minute and a half-long film featuring over 20 Black, Brown, young, old, trans and femme women who expose the prejudice against people of colour by being their most authentic, unfiltered selves.</h1>
<h1 class="left">On seeing the film, The New York Times took an interest in the campaign but demanded a laundry list of changes before agreeing to publish it on their platform. "My proudest moment as a creator was to say no to the edits and I'm glad that Megan was on the same page, we refused to water down our experiences for anyone. Once we told NYT we're happy to take the film elsewhere, they gave in as well," she explains. Soon after its release, the short film won Patel 12 awards including a Webby — often dubbed the Oscars of the internet — a Gold and Silver Clios, and a D&AD pencil, both prestigious accolades that recognise creatives globally.</h1>
<h1 class="centre">Besides the trophies, the success also gave her free reign to centre human emotions in the projects ahead. Patel can take on Burger King, and convert plain old fries into a medium that channels nostalgia through her storytelling. Although this quest could swiftly turn cringe, the creative has the rare ability and wit to evoke warmth with a fine balance that does not rely on overly intellectualising the final result.</h1>
<h1 class="centre">In 2025 (alongside the ambition of working with Charli XCX and Rihanna), the director will launch The Last Time I Cried. The platform hopes to encourage people to be genuine about what they're going through and heal together through workshops and creative expression. This will include global events and a narrative film project that aims to create a community of others, like Patel, who are unafraid to lead with feeling. As for her work, the creative is slowly but surely shifting her focus onto films – the goal was and still is to fulfil Baba's vision of seeing "directed by Kajal" roll up in the credits at a movie theatre.</h1>
<h1 class="full">What do Billie Eilish, Alicia Keys, Steve Aoki and Megan Thee Stallion have in common? Well, you may never find them on the same Spotify Wrapped but the musicians have all starred in Kajal Patel's high-octane films. The 30-year-old director, photographer and writer has burrowed a niche in celebrity content that’s drunk on emotion. With an extensive repertoire of music videos, campaigns and short films — including one that became the voice of the Black Lives Matter movement — Patel’s feelings-first storytelling is hard to miss.</h1>
<h1 class="full">Back in 2017, when Eilish was still slated under the ones-to-watch category, Patel hung out in the artist's family home, filming a mini documentary called Who Is for Complex magazine on her life. "I remember it clear as day, one of the team fell ill and Billie's mother concocted some home remedies for them," the Brooklyn-based creative reminisces. "When Billie shot to fame, my inbox blew up with interest from other brands and labels; the film became a turning point in my career."</h1>
<h1 class="full">Cut to 2024 and Patel's audiophiliac credits only graze the surface of her success. She has directed Serena Williams and Naomi Osaka for Nike, Simone Ashley for Johnnie Walker, Amanda Gorman for Glamour and worked with big-name brands like Bose, Popeyes, Burger King, you name it. The creative recently hopped on a plane to LAX with Coi Larey, directing the rapper's first stint at Coachella. "I promised myself that I would only go to Coachella when I was working there and I made it happen," she says, mumbling about willing things into existence. When Larey's festival trailer was marked 22–Patel's lucky number–she posted an Instagram Story calling it destiny, a reminder that her late grandparents were looking out for her.</h1>
<h1 class="full">In fact, whimsical signs and affirmations play a sizable role in the director's creative journey. Patel gifted Megan Thee Stallion her first manifestation journal and half-earnest, half-in-jest believes that she inherited her passion to make films in her ancestry. "Growing up, I watched everything from Mr. Roger's Neighbourhood to Hindi films with Dada, my grandfather. He would stop to explain sound design and filming techniques, that's when I knew I wanted to be a director," confesses the first-generation Indian-American. At 23, well into her first job as a junior director at Complex Magazine, Patel's grandfather sat her down in their family home for a pep talk. He then revealed that at her age, he left his village in Gujarat and moved to Mumbai in the hopes of making films. But her Baba’s aspirations were written off as a "poor man with a rich man's dreams."</h1>
<h1 class="full">Years later, this close bond with her grandparents remains Patel's biggest inspiration, one that helped reaffirm her voice as a director. "Beyond everything, I want my work to help people express themselves and really feel something," she says. Having seen many Indian households suppress emotion only made her want it more. While at first she was hesitant to ask her clients to dig deeper, in time Patel realised that it was her strong, feelings-led perspective that made her stand out in a sea of creators. The brightest, shiniest, award-winning example of this approach is her 2020 short film with Megan Thee Stallion called Protecting Women of Colour.</h1>
<h1 class="full">At the height of the Black Lives Matter movement and shortly after she was attacked by a gunman, the American rapper and her team approached Patel to create a powerful movie highlighting the shared pain that women of colour endure. "When I took my first draft to Megan [Thee Stallion]she told me to make it more A-rated, to unleash all the rage I've experienced as a Brown woman in the world. Penning the script the second time, making it raw and real, was cathartic," shares the director. The final result? A minute and a half-long film featuring over 20 Black, Brown, young, old, trans and femme women who expose the prejudice against people of colour by being their most authentic, unfiltered selves.</h1>
<h1 class="full">On seeing the film, The New York Times took an interest in the campaign but demanded a laundry list of changes before agreeing to publish it on their platform. "My proudest moment as a creator was to say no to the edits and I'm glad that Megan was on the same page, we refused to water down our experiences for anyone. Once we told NYT we're happy to take the film elsewhere, they gave in as well," she explains. Soon after its release, the short film won Patel 12 awards including a Webby — often dubbed the Oscars of the internet — a Gold and Silver Clios, and a D&AD pencil, both prestigious accolades that recognise creatives globally.</h1>
<h1 class="full">Besides the trophies, the success also gave her free reign to centre human emotions in the projects ahead. Patel can take on Burger King, and convert plain old fries into a medium that channels nostalgia through her storytelling. Although this quest could swiftly turn cringe, the creative has the rare ability and wit to evoke warmth with a fine balance that does not rely on overly intellectualising the final result.</h1>
<h1 class="full">In 2025 (alongside the ambition of working with Charli XCX and Rihanna), the director will launch The Last Time I Cried. The platform hopes to encourage people to be genuine about what they're going through and heal together through workshops and creative expression. This will include global events and a narrative film project that aims to create a community of others, like Patel, who are unafraid to lead with feeling. As for her work, the creative is slowly but surely shifting her focus onto films – the goal was and still is to fulfil Baba's vision of seeing "directed by Kajal" roll up in the credits at a movie theatre.</h1>