Kolkata: He wasn’t much into thrillers or crime fiction or the horror genre. But when this young boy packed his bags and shifted base from Pink City of India, Jaipur to the Maximum City, Mumbai. With dreams in his eyes to make a mark in the business of filmmaking, he grabbed the first opportunity that he got – script for Sony Television’s most successful series – CID, which was soon followed by Aahat, Adalat and even Savdhaan India.
After a successful start in the Indian Television Industry, the Jaipur lad has progressed on to the making films. His debut short film – The Masterpiece was premiered at the Jaipur International Festival. And now his second film – Marilyn Lights has been winning award at various Film Festivals across the globe.
Tanmay was in Kolkata for the Golden Galaxy Awards, and after bagging another award, eNewsroom caught up with him. The young award winning film maker’s planned are chalked out and he has suggestions for Rajasthan film industry too.
Films, a fascination
Talking about his fascination with Indian cinema, he said, “I loved watching films as a kid and wanted to be in the movies since my childhood (that time the fascination was with the acting). But once I was done with my college I decided to pursue it seriously and joined the filmmaking course at Xavier’s institute of communications, Mumbai. And then the rest is history.”
On being asked if his father had any role in his decision, of becoming a filmmaker, he said, “Not really. In fact he (Jagdeep Singh) tried to convince me to do something in science or commerce during school days but I never was the studious types and in fact spent most of my school life writing poetry and stories than paying attention to what was being taught in the class. So I guess wanting to do something in media was a natural progression.”
For a youngster, who had just stepped into the sunny side of his thirties, how natural or appealing was for a much younger to write scripts related to crime and thrillers, he was asked. To that he said, “Well, not really. In fact as a youth I was never into these genres. But then I got my career break with CID. Following which I got a tag for being a thriller writer. The producers of the Saas-Bahu sagas thought I wouldn’t be able to deliver. I would have loved doing those series; the writers there are better paid.”
Short films, a natural progression
Filmmaking seemed to the obvious career for the youngster, once he had his fill with the television industry. He revealed, “As I said films always fascinated me. So, while I was doing CID, I decided to try my hands in films. CID, somehow gave me the confidence of continuing to make short films.” He then added, “I have no qualms making films for the web platforms but of course my ultimate dream is to see my films play at the big screen as that’s how a film is meant to be seen and it was with this aim that I went to Mumbai.”
Speaking about his second short film, Marilyn Lights, he said that the film in all probability was a take on his life. “A lot of my relationships didn’t work out because I felt they might cause a hindrance in my pursuit of being a successful filmmaker. Sometimes we lose and sacrifice a lot of things in life, while chasing our dreams. Marilyn Lights is the story of one such guy who has lost on all fronts in life, but his worst defeat is the loss of hope. A chance meeting with his ex lover rekindles the hope back in him and he decides to give life a second chance.”
However, the youngster, who is interested in the business of filmmaking, feels that he would be experimenting a lot in the time to come as both filmmakers and audience are seeking for content creation and consumption on newer platform.
Regional Cinema needs to improve
However, the youngster who shot his short film in Jaipur is not happy about Rajasthan’s regional film industry. He said, “The regional film industry of Rajasthan is one of the weakest in the country. There is hardly any good local content in Rajasthan, which is quite shameful considering we are the biggest state of the country.” He then paused and said, “I am directing a documentary series, which is a kind of a tribute to one of Andy Warhol’s earlier works, and is expected to release sometime in 2019. And I am planning to shoot my next film in Jaipur too, just like Marilyn Lights.”
