Sometimes you need to do ‘Jugad’ to get work.

I know you may have heard countless stories about individuals struggling to enter the film industry. And I feel that’s the beauty of the creative process everyone goes through. Now, let me share mine. My story has a crazy ‘Jugad’ too, and you may use it at your own risk!

After the first year of my MBA in Media Management, our college professor told us to go to Mumbai and do internships in filmmaking. As instructed, we moved to Mumbai and applied for an internship at various companies. Lekin humare jaise waha 1000 the, aur koi waha hume especially entertain karne nahi baitha tha.

So, one day we thought about changing our approach. We went to film city thinking that ‘Jaha live shooting ho rahi hoge, waha sayad kaam mil jaye.’ Entering Film City was difficult, but my friend Rupendra and I went ahead confidently. And luckily, the security guard didn’t suspect us, and we entered the ‘creative duniya’. Slowly we kept moving towards a shooting spot, and within half an hour, we stood behind a TV show's director.

After some time, a supervising producer enquired about us. We showed him our resumes and told him we were looking for work. Luckily the show was related to Indore, and we were from the same city. So he asked us if we could give some input to the project. We agreed, and he referred us to an EP (executive producer) for further talks. We came out of this with the hope of getting work. While waiting at a bus stand, we realised that we hadn’t taken the EP’s for further follow-up for the work. Luckily, while we were cussing each other for the blunder, we got the call for work. It wasn’t a paid project, but it gave me the proper experience to move ahead. And since then, my experience in the film industry has been surreal.

I feel making short films is the best approach to setting up one's film-making career. Recently, I’ve also taken that step by directing my debut short film titled ‘Terai’. The film is about ‘Death Feast’ and is inspired by real-life incidents. You must be aware of the age-old rudimentary custom of giving a death feast when someone from a family member dies. What are your thoughts about it?

I feel it should be a personal decision without any societal pressure. What if a family isn’t financially sound to give the feast? Should they take a loan and organise the feast? I don’t think it’s right. It will only break them in times of emotional crisis. I’ve seen some families suffer due to this, so I thought of making a movie about it. Do watch it on HumaraMovie’s YouTube channel. It will be a liberating experience for sure! And do let me know your thoughts about the movie.

We’re glad to partner with Humara Movie. They release a film every week. And we feature the story of someone behind the film. After all, everyone has a story.

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