My Journey
My Journey

Shailaja Posted on 01 Jan 1970

My journey as an artist began as a painter and sculptor student while I pursued my education for a degree in Visual Arts. My exposure to art was enhanced by my added exposure to Art History, which pulled me to films. It led me to pursue post-graduation education in Cinematography. I entered the Media Sector as a Television Video Producer in 2012. Under the mentorship of Balakaisalam, while I worked as a Video Producer, exposure to journalism, news, and new media and visual digital creation further enhanced my skills as an artist. 


My first work as a director of “Short Memories of a Machine” was created as a non-cinematic experience in the form of realistic video. This short film caught the interest of a network of youngsters who helped me understand the finer nuances of the realities of cinema and cinematic production in India. I also discovered even though professions such as doctors, engineers, and other such careers had more scope, there were many young adults who had shifted their focus to fields of art and culture that they were more passionate about. 


In my journey to understand why cinema was placed on a pedestal vis the use of cinema as a tool of digital media, I made a film with cost-effective methods to understand the intricacies of why it is so, I discovered that it is stardom and brand that makes a film tip over gross earnings of over crores of rupees. 


Also, while I watched and absorbed films made by third world countries which had no stardom or production value that had far better content than Hollywood or Indian films, it simply made me realize that cinema had become a tool for quick money and importantly, a majority of the Indian Film Industry made revenues off black cash. My vision became clearer; a nation where all the artists and their art is secured in a corporative business via a medium where a systemic public sector revives the economy and jobs in Media. 


I attempt to make cost-effective content by engaging more people, especially women into media and cinema, irrespective of class, and other barriers that currently exist. My aim is to create secure lives for them as is in the public sector. I envision understanding methods of cooperative business, believing that the economic progress of a nation does not lie in its GDP alone but in a lifestyle of its community that exists in it. 


It is my aim to bring about a paradigm shift in work culture in the area of arts and cinema where the product not only boosts GDP but also its community and lifestyle.



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