Even though I’ve always believed that the visual medium has had a strong impact on my learnings and journey as a person, one of the biggest inspirations for everything I do and believe in is music. Rock and roll got me early and got me good! I started in the entertainment industry with my funk rock band Simple Harmonic Motion. I also worked behind the stage on shows, with artists as a volunteer on music gigs happening from 2008 until 2016.
During my time at SIMC-UG Pune, I had a keen interest in films and video content along with the event management module, which I was initially supposed to specialise in. I realised soon that working with the camera was something special for me. I bought my first DSLR and started shooting images around Pune. I used to love to photograph live music shows and that helped me shape a visual style for taking pictures early on. Internships were a great learning experience which led me to work on various aspects of film such as direction, cinematography, editing as well as sound recording and gather experience in all the fields. I worked on a lot of ad-film and independent sets after college to get experience.
In 2016, a production job with Space Monkey Project in Delhi was keeping me busy with music videos, after-films for events and corporate video projects for almost 2 years but time spent on set often had me thinking about the pressures and the joys of being on the camera team. The prior experience of having worked with music events in a different capacity allowed me to easily blend in to the event coverage and after-movie space. I continued doing artist management gigs and working with independent musicians through this time to keep my other side satisfied. Dastaan Live rekindled my lost love for creating music. Along with the collaborators at Dastaan Live, I was also able to create visual stories and explore mediums like shadow puppetry and newer technologies like the 360 AR experiences along with the power packed live music shows.
Having spent the last year at Prague Film School was like a dream come true especially in a year like 2020. Some of the best mentors helped me shape my understanding of being able to express stories and moods visually. Access to cutting edge technology and some of the finest technicians guiding me to make the best use of this equipment, helped me gain confidence in working on multiple projects, occasionally overlapping, through film school as well. My peers, the learnings from working on each other’s sets and the distinguished mentors have helped me realise the power of collaboration and teamwork. Having travelled around the world and experiencing different cultures helped me bring fresh ideas to my work and exposed me to a variety of artworks, cultures and music. I wish to travel around the world collaborating with film-makers, musicians and storytellers to share a unique take on visual storytelling.
