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My father, Rajen Kothari, was a renowned cinematographer. He shot iconic films like Ghayal, Hip-Hip Hurray, Zubeidaa, Mrityudand, Welcome to Sajjanpur, Chanakya, and many more. Mai aksar unke sath set pe jaya karta tha. We had pre-production and post-production meetings at home, and I attended some movie premieres too! Moreover, bachpan me; I used to be very asthmatic, toh raat me mein jag jata tha. And the best way to make me feel better was to watch feel-good movies, as films felt therapeutic. So, the filmy duniya was subconsciously ingrained in my mind since early childhood.
For academics, my sister, Bhairavi, was preparing for Medical. Her thick books felt intimidating to me. So I opted for PCM. After twelfth, I enrolled in an integrated course that taught Engineering and MBA together - MBA Tech. Kyon ki tab perception tha ki bina MBA, naukri nahi milege. And in between, I used to attend the sound-mixing, editing, and dubbing sessions. The idea was to learn and use the technicalities with engineering learnings to stay connected with the film industry.
At a friend's suggestion in college, I participated in the SKIT competition and enjoyed being on the stage. It led me to join an acting workshop in the summer holiday, and then I took a three months course with an institute called Kreating Charakters in Bombay. The course made me realise that acting is a full-time craft. Part-time se kuch nahi hoga. So, I dropped out of engineering. Luckily, my parents supported my decision, and I took another acting course from Barry John Acting Studio. Both the courses played a vital role in helping me establish myself as an Engineer turned into a creative person. And, of course, my father was there to guide me.
Luckily, Lakeerein, the first drama I acted in, was written by the legend Gulzar Sahab. It was about the struggles during the partition. I got the golden opportunity to be mentored by the likes of Yashpal Sharma, Lubna Salim and Salim Arif, who were a part of the play. Honestly, I was scared of Yashpal Ji due to his on-screen intimidating characters. But off-screen, he is a sweetheart.
I also did a Gujarati play called ‘Mummy tu aavi kevi’. It was based on three children trying to transform their traditional mother into a modern mom. Aur jab maa modern ban jate hai to uhne pasand nahi aate hai. At twenty-four, I played a twelve years old kid in the natak. It was a hilarious and successful play.
Significantly, I got the privilege to assist Mr Shyam Benegal Sir in Samvidhan, based on the making of the Indian Constitution. Waha ka atmosphere bohot welcoming tha. Aap jis bhi post pe ho, respect sabhi ko equally milta tha. The best part was I learnt how to conduct myself as a filmmaker.
Initially, my misconception was that you must shout in the set as an AD to get the work done. But Shyam sir redefined it. I still remember we were shooting inside Parliament, he was sitting far away, and I was doing the clap. I wasn’t holding the clap at the right angle. He tried explaining it to me, but I wasn’t getting it. Usually, unke jagah koi bhi director hota to chillata ya sayad gaali bhi de deta. But Shyam sir being the institution himself, handled the situation gracefully. He got up, walked up to me, gently adjusted my wrist to the correct angle, and silently returned to the monitor. He could have yelled at me, and I probably wouldn’t have felt bad. But his gesture showed why he is a legend. These surreal experiences have taught me a lot, and I’ve come a long way.
As an artist, short films are a great tool to learn the craft. But the problem is that most short films are published on YouTube or any other digital space. So the scope of feedback on the movie is minute. To fill the gap, we started White Wall Screenings, where we screen short films and host a Q&A session to discuss the films. And it has worked wonders for the budding artists. They get real-time feedback on their work, which ultimately helps them work on themselves. Isn’t it a great approach to uplift the artists? Balraj and I have been doing it for over half a decade! It feels great to help aspiring artists grow through our platform.
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