The ever-evolving movie business in India is undergoing a paradigm shift, and one of the numerous causes for this shift is the wave of "new age" films that have swept the country. The movie-going experience has evolved in many ways as multiplexes have evolved into one-stop destinations for film, food, and entertainment. However, it's worth mentioning the growing trend of niche, content-driven films making their way into theatres. Even more encouraging is that there are audiences eager to watch these films, and this trend is expected to continue. One such name that is garnering immense admiration for bringing revolution to the cinematic experiences is Sudeep Mehta.
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Sudeep's film 'Unfinished' was nominated as one of the finalists at the Paris International Film Awards 2021 and won many awards at film festivals globally, including Best Film, Best Director and Best Editor. Since childhood, he has been a diligent student and was career-oriented. He scored a cent per cent in Advanced Photography at Harvard University and is currently pursuing Professional Graduation in Visual Arts from Harvard. He was awarded an A-grade in both Photography & Film Direction. With the work experience of 15 years, he has shot extensively in India, the USA, Mexico, Bahamas, Jamaica, and over the Caribbean Islands. He is currently working as the Managing Director at Worldwide Photoworks Pvt. Ltd. He teaches photography & filmmaking at Deviprasad Goenka Management College of Media Studies and ITM Institute of Design and Media, both in Mumbai.
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Giving recognition to the tireless striving, he was featured in many books and blogs by renowned authors, like- National Geographic's Stunning Photographs by Anne Griffiths, Reader's Digest, and On Being with Krista Tippett. This year, Mehta published his photo book, 'Three Stories Above - The Lockdown Effects' and was conferred a couple of awards at The Prix de la Photographie, Paris and The International Photography Awards.
In one of his statements, Sudeep said, "Filmmaking used to be constrained by a highly rigorous creative format. A film's success would be contingent on the presence of a celebrity, a couple of dance moments, and a storyline that could maintain audiences' attention for at least 2 hours 30 minutes. Today, digital has democratized filmmaking in the sense that anyone who can operate a camera and narrate a compelling tale may distribute a film online."
"Digital has reduced production costs, inspired filmmakers to broaden their creative horizons, and served as a breeding ground for new talent. I never went to a film school and kept shooting on manual film cameras with no budget. We had no facilities as the youngsters have today. My goal is to share knowledge and experiences with my students and help them self-develop to become good photographers & filmmakers. And, as viewers become more open to watching multiple types of films on digital platforms, made by the new generation, I expect the new age cinema phenomena to skyrocket in the coming years", he further adds.
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Crediting his prowess in the field, Sudeep has bagged a plethora of accolades for his work across multifarious genres. The year 2012 brought reams of awards, many of them for his exceptional work done in 'Hands of Unity'. He was the winner of DPR Connect- Amazon.com and came out to be in the World's Most Popular Photographs of 2012 by National Geographic Traveller. In 2015, he received an honourable mention in the International Photography Awards. This work also got him the Bronze Award at Prix De La Photographie, Paris. This year, his work in 'Three Stories Above' also bagged a few awards.
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Being a photographer, filmmaker and a professor, and acing it alongside requires a lot of patience and precision in creativity. Sudeep Mehta, holding it all, is making strides in the domain and is bound to touch horizons with his artistic eye.
