Mohd. Yaseen
In the present arena where there are very few opportunities for the generations, most of the younger faces have chosen to be a filmmaker. With the heavy growth of independent films, the interest in this profession has taken a big shape which will become yet another profession in which one can easily understand the necessity of Aatmanirbhar Bharat. Since the film policy has been inducted in Jammu and Kashmir Union Territory, many young guns have loaded their guns to showcase their talent in the field of Filmmaking. A young lad Indu Shekhar who hails from village Chiryai, Tikri is one of them. He has done his Masters in Mass Communication from Central University of Jammu, Bachelors in Journalism and Mass Communication from Chandigarh University and has also done Foundation course in Digital Cinematography and Film Appreciation Course from Film and Television of India, Pune.
He is presently working as a Content Writer and Content Creator at FC Digital marketing agency, besides he is following his passion of film making and also a budding filmmaker of Jammu and Kashmir who brought several laurels to the UT.
He started his journey at the age of 23 with the film ‘Smoke Free’ which received accolades from every nook and corner of the universe. The film ‘Smoke Free’ reached the Independent Video Film Festival of Art Club PavlosParaschakis Greece 2022 in which it went into finals.
Things didn’t stop here; the passion of Shekhar has compelled him to create more masterpieces in which he has independently made 9 short films which include Smoke Free, Sunflower, Herath, Be A Hope, Anmol, The Bench, Hum Honge Kaamyab, Homemaker and Aaina. These films also won him awards in various International Film Festivals such as Satyajit Ritwik Mrinal International Kolkata Film Festival 2023, International Film Festival of Jammu and Kashmir, Chambal International Film Festival 2023, Chandigarh Music and Film Festival 2023, Dil Maange More Film Festival 2022, Chambal International Film Festival 2020 & 2022, Chandigarh Film & Music Festival 2022,Tagore International Film Festival, Gangtok International Film Festival 2022, Jaisalmer International Film Festival 2022, Himachal Short Film Festival 2022. Besides this his films are officially selected in these international film festivals: Haryana International Film Festival 2023, International Film Festival of Jammu and Kashmir Kerala Short Film Festival 2023, Pune Short Film Festival 2023, Lift Off Filmmaker Session United Kingdom 2023, Mumbai Independent Film Festival 2022, Independent Video Film Festival of Art Club Pavlos Paraschakis Greece 2022, Kashmir World Film Festival 2018, J&K International Film Festival 2022,First Time Filmmaker Sessions United Kingdom 2022, The Lift-Off Sessions, United Kingdom 2019, 15th TFT Winter National Festival 2020, Chandigarh and Mumbai Independent Film Festival.
It is pertinent to mention that he won “Best Director Award” for Herath at Satyajit Ritwik Mrinal International Kolkata Film Festival, “Best Director Award” for Herath at International Film Festival of Jammu and Kashmir 2023, “Best Story Award” for Anmol at Chambal International Film Festival, “Best Director Award” for The Bench at Himachal Short Film Festival, “Festival Special Mention” for Hum Honge Kaamyab at Chambal International Film Festival 2021, “Best Screenplay Award” for The Bench at Chambal International Film Festival 2022, “Special Festival Mention” for Sunflower at Chambal International Film Festival 2022, “Finalist” for The Bench, Sunflower, Smoke Free at Independent Video Film Festival of Art Club PavlosParaschakis Greece 2022, “Outstanding Achievement Award” for The Bench at Gangtok International Film Festival 2022, “Winner” for The Bench at Tagore International Film Festival 2022, “Critic’s Choice Award” at Jaisalmer International Film Festival 2022, “3rdPrize” for Smoke Free at CU Media Fest Chandigarh University 2019 and he is also the runner up for Herath that DilMaange More Short Film Festival 2022 which was organized by Northern Command, Indian Army. Some of his photographs are also published in US based international photography magazine, “Chizz”.
Shekhar’s portfolio profile was shortlisted for “75 Creative Minds of Tomorrow” programme held at 52nd International Film Festival Of India (IFFI), Goa organised on behalf of the Directorate of Film Festivals (DFF), Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Government of India. He was also felicitated by Union Minister Anurag Singh Thakur at IFFI Goa for direction and writing.
Initially in his childhood, his interest was more in acting than in film making. He shared that he used to watch a lot of movies as he loved watching films. He has clear remembrance of DDLJ, which sparked his interest in films. But with time, when he joined a leading Theatre Group of North India ‘Natrang’, he realised that an actor is just a person who just acts and the director is the real creator of the film so he inclined towards filmmaking. After that he started watching world cinema and classic cult.
As a young filmmaker, he conveyed to every youngster, to make use of their precious time and avoid the wastage of their time on mobile phones by playing games and doing all sorts of irrelevant things. They can use technology to do something that is valuable to them and their career, learn new things, enhance their skills and expose themselves to something new. Don’t be limited because I remember when I started my journey of film making I did not know anything. I started learning editing, camera, shooting etc . Even my first film was just an experiment but it gathered a lot of appreciation. I learned new things and now I am posting to create films. Therefore I want everyone to work for their passion whatever it is but don’t just sit idle and indulge in gossip or leisure time. Value your time and just have a firm belief in yourself, he added.
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