The Indian Film Industry has gone under a transformation in terms of kinds of the film being made and as well as the way the audience consumes them. From single screen to multiplex and now to OTT platforms, the platforms have changed. Not only this but people have started to get inclined towards realistic films rather than old stereotypical masala movies. Women-centric films, biopics, realistic to surrealistic and ‘what-if’ films, movies filled with patriotism and nationalism have started to emerge and are rapidly becoming the preferred choice of movie buffs. Gone are those days when movies used to get super hit just because of the presence of a massive superstar, now the audience just wants good content to be it in a movie, fiction or a documentary. Sudeep Mehta is one such man who has contributed significantly to this tectonic shift in the world of cinema.
Sudeep Kishor Mehta, a renowned photographer & filmmaker has proved his mettle in film-making with his film ‘Unfinished’. The movie was nominated as one of the finalists atThe Paris International Film Festival, and the filmmaker also hopes to reach Cannes Short Film Festivalwith it. The virtuoso, following his dream, went on to study Visual Arts at the prestigious Harvard University and there he scored a cent % in Advanced Photography and was also awarded an A grade in both Film Direction and Advance Digital Photography. Sudeep has vast experience of more than 15 years and has extensively shot in foreign countries like the USA, Mexico, Bahamas, Jamaica, and over the Caribbean islands.
The man has a long list of recognition to boast about. He has been recognized for his efforts and contribution to the world of cinema and was even featured in several books penned by well-known prolific authors. To name a few, Sudeep was featured in books like National Geographic’s Stunning Photographs by Anne Griffiths,Reader’s Digest, and On Being with Krista Tippett to name a few. 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. Sudeep, in the year 2012, won a bunch of awards for his exceptional work done in ‘Hands of Unity’. He was also the winner of DPR Connect- Amazon.com and came out to be the World’s Most Popular National Geographic Traveler post ‘Hands of Unity’.
The phenomenal director is currently working as the Managing Director at Worldwide Photo works Pvt. Ltd. and also teaches photography & filmmaking at Devi prasad Goenka Management College of Media Studies and ITM Institute of Design and Media, both in Mumbai.
Talking about his journey and the evolution of film-making, Sudeep says, “Unlike the older times, the audience has now become smarter as they won’t spend 400-500 bucks watching anything, if they are paying such a huge amount, they need that huge cinematic experience. The emergence of Digital OTT platforms has further changed the game. Now anyone, having the talent can make their film with a small budget and showcase their talent. My film ‘Unfinished’, which is winning awards globally, is a zero-budget film. Short films are getting widely popular because the director is able to tell the story in a very short span of time and I see this trend continuing for a long time.”
Talking about his upcoming project, the filmmaker said, “I’ve been working on a script, ‘Maahi’, for a few months now. We have Shubhangi Bhujbal & Sudeep Modak, celebrated actors from the Marathi film industry on board with us. The music is composed by Viktor Khlyustov, a renowned Russian music director, along with one of my students Yash Bhalekar. Most of the pre-production work is done and we are now looking out for a co-producer. The plan is to hit the floors in early 2022.” Mehta is constantly working with diligence to create top-notch content that resonates with the audience.