the latest shooting star waiting to be dicovered in

 the Bollywood, is Avantika Sharma  of City Beautiful.

who is doing a two-years course in film-making from Subhash Ghai’s

Whistling Wood  International Institute for Film, Television, Animation

and Media Arts in Mumbai.

     Flushed with excitement of doing the course, Avantika can’t

stop talking about her life at the academy of international repute,

which she describes as the window to a whole new world of creative art.

“I have been exposed to a different world of creative art – something which

I haven’t done before,” she remarks.  “There we are taught

every aspect of film-making – direction, cinematography, editing,

sound-recording and  acting etc. which I think is a must for any

directorial venture.” she adds.  And, she is thoroughly enjoying

doing it.

         “Students  get every opportunity to horn their skills and

explore their capabilities to learn the  art of film-making which is mandatory in the present scenario,” she explains.  “Earlier a person could learn it by simply

being an assistant to a director.  But not today.  Time has changed.

So has the technique.    With so much improvement and

latest development  in the technology today, film-making has become

a highly specialised job.  One simply can’t learn it just like that

without having a thorough knowledge of  each and every

aspect of filming.  There is so much to learn,” she says

emphatically.

     Flashing her bright large eyes says she,”I am glad that I’ve got

an opportunity to learn it from such a reputed institute.”

Her happiness is understandable.  She is proud of her endeavours.

So are her parents.  Her father, Gulshan Sharma, a retired Major

of the Indian army, is the Director of ITFT at Chandigarh.

Her mother, Indu Sharma, is herself a documentary maker.

In fact, Avantika’s talent has blossomed  under the  able

guidance of her talented mother.  Watching her calling the shots during her

childhood, Avantika, too,  experienced the thrill of  film-making.

She derived the inclination to do something really big on her own

someday.  The opportunity came knocking on her doors when she saw an

advertisement in a newspaper for admission in Subhash Ghai’s

Institute two years ago.   She applied for it  just for the heck of it and lo !

she got admission in it.

      Was it simple to seek admission in the Institute?

     “Of course, not ,” she retorts. “A lot of things go into the selection of a person

for such a course like his overall personality, aptitude, qualification, experience 

and background etc.,” she explains.

    But for her, it was quite a catwalk considering her inherent talent and extra-curricular

activities she has been involved in during her  schooling and college days.

“Direction is just one in a string of things she is interested in,” remarks her mother.

“Before that, she has gone through the whole gamut of dancing, acting and

also a bit of theatre.  Avantika displayed a rare aptitude for this medium

at a very young age.  In fact, she picked up acting and  alphabets

simultaneously.  She participated in a play when she was 4 and gave

her solo dance performance at the age of 6,” she adds.

   A product of Loretto Convent School, New Delhi and Carmel Convent School,

Chandigarh, she  took her examination in B.A. Part II with (Hons.) in

English from Government College for Girls, Sector 11, Chandigarh, when

she joined  Subhash Ghai’s Whistling Wood.  As a student, she has scripted,

directed and also participated in a number of plays and events of repute and won

 several awards.

      Struck by her talent, her parents enrolled her in the

Beginner’s screen-writing course at  Central St. Martina

College of Arts and Design at London.  To learn the nuances of

film-making, she joined the Asian Academy of Film and Television, Film City at Noida

followed by a short-course in film-making at New York Film Academy in 

London in  2005 and made some documentaries which were highly appreciated by

the faculty and the audience.

     Now that her course is almost complete, she is on the threshold of her career.

As  direction has become a real career option for her, she is determined to

make her presence felt.  She is quite aware of the high expectations the film buffs

would have of her.  But she doesn’t want to shy away from her

 responsibilities.  Says she,”No doubt, it is a challenging field and

 a responsible one, too.”    But she  doesn’t want to be stay-in-the-muds type.

“I would like to be innovative and different.  Instead of showing the

usual romantic billing and cooing, I would like to show the various facets

of the society in which we live,” she avers.

      As Avantika is all set to storm the Bollywood with her

directorial talent,  All Good Luck to her !

ANJANA DATTA

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