One-time advertising writer, Subramanian has been a women's rights activist and documentary filmmaker since the nineties. Her work as a filmmaker explores the connections between everyday practices and larger political questions, be they in the areas of culture, food production, primary education, urban development, communalism, sex selective abortions or matters of identity embedded in our food practices. Her films have been screened, and received awards, both nationally and internationally. More recently, Vani has extended her practice to mixed media work.