May, 2016. It was summer and college was done for the semester. I had an internship but it was 2 weeks before I had to leave. I was fully prepared to waste my time watching TV shows and anime. Then, on May 29th, I got an email from Adobe. My film, Insti Wali Holi, had been selected as a Semifinalist in the Fine Art - Video Editing and Post-Production category! I was over the moon, since it was my first ever filmmaking award.

That was the boost I needed to get some drive to do something meaningful. A friend of mine called me shortly after to congratulate me on the news. That's when he told me about an opportunity to contribute to society and make films in the process. There was a short summer camp where we teach school kids how to make films, graphic design, create websites and more. I volunteered as an instructor to teach the kids filmmaking.

It was a one week program and I had 4 kids under me, and they were all lovely. I wanted to make 3 short films with them: a music video, a comedy video and a video with a message, something they would proudly show their parents and friends. I wanted to teach them some important moral values by making a film with a social message. And that's how "The Importance of Giving" was born.

This was a time when I didn't have a camera of my own and I was just good at Editing and Shot Composition. We had an iPhone 5S to shoot with, so recording sound and audio was out of the question. We were at a roadblock. We couldn't have sub-par audio in the film. That's when it struck me. Let's go retro and make a silent film!

I wanted the kids to contribute to the script. I racked their brains through and through to get them to think as to how to convey their story with only actions and no dialogue. It took two days, but finally we had a good script. We shot in a day. I edited the entire thing in Adobe Premiere Pro. The day of Showcase came and all the parents gave us a standing ovation.

Little did I know then about the magic that I had created. I started submitting the film to different competitions and film festivals. So far,"The Importance of Giving" has been an Official Selection in the Hamilton Youth Film Festival, a Finalist in the Emerging Lens Cultural Film Festival, a Finalist in the Indian Mobile Film Festival and a Semi-Finalist in the Miami Epic Trailer Festival. 

What makes this film special isn't that it's very savvy or sauve or very well shot. It's the simplicity. The minimalism involved. You don't need big budgets or high-end DSLRs to make a good film with a message. What matters isn't the packaging but what's on the inside. "The Importance of Giving" has a strong heart on the inside and so does Ishaan, the protagonist. 

I've made 10 award-winning films, but "The Importance of Giving" is the one I hold closest to my heart, more so because I was able to make this gem while giving back to society by volunteering to teach kids. And I couldn't be more humbled as karma has been kind to me and given me 4 awards so far from this film alone. I'm really hoping that ADAA 17 will be the 5th. Thank you.