I have always been fascinated by the process of filmmaking. Growing up, most people around me studied engineering, and very few were interested in the arts. One of the earliest shocks I faced was at school, where we were told that we should only pursue science or commerce. Arts, it seemed, were not considered a path with a future. The school management held this perception strongly, which is why they did not offer an arts stream after the 10th standard.

Initially, I expressed to my parents that I wanted to study arts. Because I did not have a concrete plan, they refused and suggested that I pursue engineering instead. My father, being a mechanical engineer, naturally expected me to follow in his footsteps and support him in his future endeavors. I agreed and enrolled in a diploma in mechanical engineering, but I struggled and failed. Our university had a rule that if a student failed five subjects in a year, they had to take a gap year and clear those subjects before continuing.

During that gap year, I discovered a world of cinema. Watching films every day became my favorite activity, and slowly, I developed clarity: I wanted to make movies. I realized that filmmaking was not just a passion; it was the path I wanted to dedicate myself to.

Choosing this path was not easy. I had an education loan to repay, and everyone around me began losing faith as I continued to struggle academically. It was difficult to make people understand that my career choices lay elsewhere, that my commitment was to cinema. One day, my father suggested to join a filmmaking workshop near our home. It was an eight-weekends course on the fundamentals of filmmaking, and I decided to enrol. That experience introduced me to some amazing people.

After the course, Venky approached me with a short film idea and asked me to collaborate. Our classmate Krishn joined us, and together we started preparing for a film called The Book. This was my first hands-on experience in filmmaking, and nothing has ever matched the depth of learning we all gained from it. We premiered the film at our film school, and our teachers encouraged us to take it on a festival run. We applied to one, but later decided not to pursue it further. At that moment, simply making the film was our success.

Since The Book, I have worked on numerous projects. One of the most important lessons I have learned over the past five years is the value of perseverance and consistency. I look forward to writing about my movie-going experiences, on-set stories, personal reflections, and everything connected to cinema because I truly believe in its power to inspire meaningful change.

Watch the Film

You can watch our film, The Book YouTube.