In our pursuit to assist the youth to make the Right Academic/Career Choices, we have interviewed several successful individuals.
The first in this series is our interview with the famous Dr. Nitish Bharadwaj, Actor, Director and Screenwriter.
For Dr. Bharadwaj, passion for cinema, hunger for knowledge, persistent hard work and constant search for originality while being different, are the contributory success factors.
Read on to find what he has to share on his CAREER movement…
CB5: Please share some detail about your current professional activities. What do you do?
NB: After having tasted flavors of various walks of life in India & abroad, I am now completely focused on my film career, mainly as a director & screenwriter.
CB5: Your formal education and your professional career have different tracks…How did you decide on the line for the formal education? What made you select this line of study?
NB: My love for horses & tigers made me choose Veterinary Medicine for formal education. Moreover, I was hell bent on not becoming a ‘human doctor’, which was considered the 1st choice in any middle-class household. So, in a way, I rebelled to choose Vet Medicine.
CB5: When and How did you get into your current area of work? What were/are your motivators? What made you change your career path as defined by your formal education?
NB: I was trained in children’s theater and was taught all the aspects of theater, esp. writing, art direction, make-up, lights, music and lastly acting. It remained my hobby all through my formal education. I kept on acting or directing on stage. My only motivation for the stage was the challenge it offered in every new play. However, I was also tremendously attracted to Cinema for its magic of storytelling, the art, costumes, music but mostly its unlimited scope to go beyond one stage. This aspect of theater always restricted my creativity. Cinema allowed me to break rules, form newer boundaries… there was no limit on my creativity.
As a person, I need newer horizons to conquer in life & theater shows as well as cinema gave me that fodder. There was no end to my dreaming, no restrictions at all. So, when I felt stagnated as an asstt. Vet at Mumbai Racecourse, the natural shift for me was theater & films. I made that as my career.
CB5: What do you enjoy most about your current profession?
NB: Ability to create, which I believe is God’s own ability. To weave a story from a seed of an idea & to dream for months to write a screenplay. Then the toil of making it for celluloid where I am involved in every department of cinema. It offers me an opportunity to research in diverse fields other than films, such as history, art, literature, architecture, music, costumes, fashion, metallurgy, trade, human behavior & psychology. I learn something new every day and with every new subject. This keeps the fire in my belly alive; the fire to reach new destinations, fire to excel & outperform my past work. I can not ever stagnate in life. That would finish my zeal of life.
CB5: In your opinion what are your success factors? What elements about your personality help in this success?
NB: My success factors ?- Passion for cinema, hunger for knowledge, focus on hard work, ability to immerse in something that I believe in, constant search for originality & to be different than the crowd.
Success? It is a relative term. I just enjoy the journey. In my heart, I am a child who wants to explore new horizons, set my own goals & achieve them.
CB5: What are the significant achievements in your present career that you would like our readers to know?
NB: My portrayal of Lord Krishnā in Mahābharat, Parshuram in Vishnu Puran, a Gandharva in a Malayalam film ‘Njan Gandharvan’ & my directorial debut film in Marathi titled ‘Pitruroon’. I must move on to bigger & seemingly more difficult subjects for my next films as a director.
CB5: What were some of the sacrifices you had to make to reach the level of success that you have achieved?
NB: Sacrifices? Not really. God has been extremely kind to me; so were my supportive parents. But the ups & downs of professional as well as personal life taught me a great deal & have made me a person mature enough to take on the mantle of a film director. LIFE IS THE BEST SCHOOL!
CB5: Would you have any advice for the younger generation, especially someone who is at crossroads trying to select an education path, say someone between ages 14-21 years?
NB: I think I have something to tell the parents, and it applies to me too. Keep the children away from the false virtual world for as long as possible and expose them to various things like books, art, sports, music, drama, dance, literature, food … from the age of 4 till 14, so that they realize where their passion lies. They must be soaked in these options to begin with. It is now almost proved that modern tools of communication are making anti-social robots & slaves out of our children. Practice restraint & teach restraint to your children. Gadgets should be made available to kids when they absolutely need them. Bring your kids closer to nature & not iPad screens. Nature humbles you, teaches mutual respect. Don’t buy your children’s love with gifts. The best gift a parent can give his/her child is ‘quality time’. If a parent achieves this, the child will automatically choose its education &/or career path wisely.
One can sustain a lifetime only in a field which is closest to one’s heart. And mind you, money has never brought happiness, peace & a sense of fulfillment to anyone in life. Demonstrate this to your child & your job is done.
I know it sounds easy but is difficult…. Peer pressure etc. etc. … but then, it isn’t impossible anyway!
CB5: Is there anything else that you would like to share with our readers?
NB: ‘The Manual of the Warrior of light’ by Paulo Coelho
‘The art of man-making’ by Swami Chinmayanand Ji and of course…
The ‘Bhagvad Geeta’ by Lord Krishnā.
If possible, the Yoga & meditation, to be learnt from a qualified Guru.
HARI AUM TAT SAT!
VISIT : www.CB5.in
