I MATTER

I MATTER

I was always asked what got me interested in working in the Film Industry and it wasn’t until my conversation with my sister that I realized I actually have a story leading up to it.

Like all stories It all started on a bright sunny day year 95–96 when i was in school having just moved to a new school from Mumbai i soon realized i don’t really fit in with the girls in my school. Couldn’t relate to the conversation. I wasn’t as girly girl as many of them. So I turned to making friends with the boys and hanging with them as I realized they are so much easier to be with. This was my first understanding of the feeling of “not fitting in”

Moving ahead to taking admission in Jr college and this time lucky enough to bond with 2 close girl friends and a big group of friends to hang with sadly i soon realized i don’t feel belonged and the reason this time was not feeling academically smart and scoring as much as my friends. This time as an escape I turned to movies. The feeling of not belonging slowly grew so bad that when our 12th standard results were announced instead of feeling happy and celebrating with both my girl friends who had topped the boards i rushed home to cry in bed because i couldnt help but feel horribly dumb for passing with just a distinction and thinking why would they even want to be friends with someone with such a bad score.

Watching movies and the fictional world they create let me belong and feel at home with whoever I wanted be and however way i was, without feeling judged. And this comfort with movies soon made me feel more entrigue as to how i can stay connected with them and make them a part of my life which led me to the path of discovering there were actually film schools and even a department that got both my love for movies and art and design together which was the Production Design Department.The thought of studying films and design felt more and more the right thing and i couldn’t give myself any more excuses that would stop me from getting on that path.And here I am now 10 years later working with the best Production Designers in the industry and finding myself leading work on some of the best movie projects like Haider, Padmavat, Raazi and many more. Helping create worlds and spaces others can feel belonged to.

I think the best way to sum this is the way my board exam topper friend introduces me to others saying “Hey meet my friend who got successful just by watching movies”. I know now i can proudly say movies made me feel like I MATTER !!