A budding filmmaker from a small town in Rajasthan called Rawatbhata wins prestigious Cannes award
A moment from RJ
Just to be sure, Deepanshu Malik sent six different ideas for his film RJ for the MOFILM Cannes Video Contest, a part of the Cannes Lions Festival of Creativity; usually people send two. His dedication paid off. The budding filmmaker from Rawatbhata, a small town in Rajasthan, was one among the five winners who got an opportunity last month to travel to the prestigious awards ceremony in Cannes, where he was presented the award. “This is a great leap for my career. I now have work that I can show when I want to make a film,” Malik, 26, who studied filmmaking on scholarship at Whistling Woods International in Mumbai, says.
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A moment from RJ
Roots to reel
For Malik, the journey of storytelling did not begin with films. In his hometown, he directed and wrote his first play at the age of 14. “It was for an inter-school competition. I enjoyed it so much that I made up my mind that I wanted to be a director,” he says.
After school, he moved to Bengaluru to study advertising where he worked with theatre groups at Rangashankara, a theatre centre, and also worked with Arundhati Nag, theatre veteran and wife of Shankar Nag, the director of the legendary TV series, Malgudi Days.
A still from the film
The competition gave the filmmaker who had started working by then, a chance to make a film on his own. “Ad films usually have a script we have to follow. Here the only theme was Finding New Roads, and I had the freedom to make a film adhering to the basic philosophy. The theme comprised of two important philosophies; one to keep going, no matter what, and second to be inventive, something which is extremely relevant for every human life. I concentrated on the philosophical pillars while writing the film and we mounted the entire structure of the film, including music, lyrics, shooting style, and performances in the same peripheral.” Chevrolet, the sponsors of the prize will use the film as an advertisement on their digital platforms. “This digital advertising platform is fresh and provides a great opportunity to showcase your story as you have a length of two-three minutes,” he says.
Deepanshu Malik
With this newfound success, Malik, the maker of the film where a young man embarks on an undying hunt to ensure a launch for a singing talent he has discovered, he will embark on his journey as a filmmaker with renewed zeal.
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