Sumi Mathai is an advertising professional turned filmmaker based in India. During her advertising career spanning 7 years, she worked with top ad agencies BBH Mumbai, Scarecrow Communications Mumbai, and Mullen Lowe Singapore. Her heart was very much in cinema even when she was thinking of clever lines to sell soaps, shampoos, and dating apps. Her debut film 'Detour' was selected as one of the 10 scripts to be produced by Jio Studios, from a nationwide submission of 900 applications. The film premiered at Mumbai Film Festival (2017), and won the Special Jury Mention.

Ullarivu (The Awakening) is her second short film which she wrote, directed and produced. It was produced via a crowdfunding campaign, through which she raised INR 9,07,350 ($10,915). The film had its World Premier at MAMI Mumbai Film Festival, 2023, in the Focus South Asia category, following which it was selected at various prestigious international film festivals including Oscar-qualifying ones.

Sumi's heart truly lies in deep-diving into the kaleidoscopic inner lives of women and bringing up nuanced, power-packed observations to the fore. She likes to tell stories of young girls and women who are at the precipice of epiphanies, discoveries, and self-actualization. She loves to create characters who are ready for their avalanche-like heroine's journey into adulthood, into themselves, and into life.

Currently, Sumi is developing multiple projects, a high-feminist series project that was selected for the Episodic Storytelling Workshop conducted by Film Independent’s Global Media Makers in collaboration with NFDC India’s Film Bazaar 2024, and a feature film that was a finalist at the Pitch Fest conducted by the Screenwriters Association of India.