It is very intoxicating for me to see things through camera: Raj Desai

India has been witnessing the new and young blood showing their talent and performing sensibly in recent time. Raj Desai is one of them. He is by his age only 20 but his vision for art and cinema would amaze you. By this age he has created a few miracles. We can hope on him that he would be turned out as a great film director in the future. He has made a short film whose credit line goes like this: PRODUCER, DIRECTOR, WRITER, CINEMATOGRAPHER, EDITOR: RAJ DESAI. He has also worked as an Assistant Director with Sidhhartha Kak. He is indeed a versatile artist.

Videos of Interview

Part 1

Part 2

Interview

Q.: Welcome to SpeakBindas. You have worked in a television serial ‘Sambhav Kya.’ Tell us more about it.

Ans: It’s daily series on channel 9X. It is produced by Cinema Vision and hosted by Siddharth Kak. It works in the most complicated way if we talk about the type of recent tv serials. It works in three formats, one is the anchor, second is reality and third part is fiction which we create from the reality. The theme of the show is paranormal which people have doubts about and generally do not believe in.

Q.: What was your role in ‘Sambhav Kya’?

Ans: Initially I worked as an Assistant Director and later was shifted to post production part. Both the parts are really interesting. I like post production because there you have to start with the impact and then edit the whole story. So that’s really interesting.

Q.: What is next? I mean, after doing ‘Sambhav Kya’, you going to do another story? Or what?

Ans: No. I want to do Hindi films. I did Sambhav Kya to gain experience of television format.

Q.: You are just 20 years old and it is uncommon to have such a passion to work in cinema. What is your say about that?

Ans: I feel that I am late, at least one year!

Q.: Your educational background is very diverse than cinema. You have studied B.A. with psychology. Now your passion to work in cinema field. Why didn’t you then study cinema?

Ans: Infact, earlier I wanted to study Psychology only but gradually I found that I am more interested in Cinema. I started making short films. I also attended a workshop on films. This passion came to me very naturally. I can visualize very well and film making is mostly about visualization. It’s about creating things which do not occur to yourself in day to day life. They are not there. You have to create that dimension. I felt at ease doing this.

Q.: How you started in Cinema field?

Ans: I started with writing scripts and getting ideas from my friends. Then I started making short films. That’s how it started.

Q.: You are seen photographing everywhere in Baroda city. What does that say!!?

Ans: Camera sees things in different ways. It’s very intoxicating for me to see things through camera. I have this great obsession about quality and beauty.

Q.: You have made a beautiful short film named “Are you one of the 27?” Tell us more about that. Like in the credit lines of the film we see script, cinematography, screenplay, editor and everything is done by Raj Desai only.

Ans: Basically we know all the trades of human behavior but it is manifestation in a different way. Film is about the interaction of a child’s innocence and he expects that the whole world is innocent like him. He doesn’t know what the world is in reality. The world responds to him in their way not the way he expects. So the theme is of that sort.

Q.: Your another passion is music. People have seen you playing Guitar in garden of Baroda. What is the role of music in your life?

Ans: Music is everything for me. I am conquered by music not that I have conquered music.

Q.: You also have another name which starts with Swami which says you are a Sanyasi too. Tell us about your spiritual journey.

Ans: When I was a child, I always used to ask questions. I was almost an atheist. I used to ask questions about existence. I used to get worried a lot because of my attitude towards life which was very adventurous, not the usual kind seen at my age. One day a friend gave me a book of Osho. And I felt “Oh! This is it!.” That is how I became an Osho sanyasi.

Q.: Raj, thanks a lot for talking with us.

Ans: Thank you so much.