Somewhere between the noise of a city and the silence of a desert road, I found myself behind a camera. A Fujifilm camera, to be precise. It felt natural—like I’d simply extended my arm and found the world waiting on the other side of the lens. For the past three years, photography has been my way of understanding people without asking too many questions. I’ve traveled through places that hum in different frequencies, each leaving behind its own set of ghosts and colors. In Ladakh, surrounded by other Fujifilm photographers, I remember waking up to a sky so blue it felt like a hallucination. We shared meals and silence and images. That’s where I realized that collaboration isn’t just about working together. It’s about existing side by side and allowing growth to happen in the spaces between.
Films had always inspired me. Growing up in Hyderabad, India - where films find some of their most chaotic and loyal audiences—I was swept up in that culture from a young age. After school, I would skip tuition and head to the nearest theatre to watch whatever movie was playing. I often wondered how I would tell the same story if I were given the chance, but I never thought beyond that question.
That changed when I started making my own short films on an iPad at the age of eleven. Using apps like FX Guru and Dubsmash, I made the most absurd videos I could think of, often roping in my friends and family and finding ways to make them laugh. What I didn't know then was that I was slowly discovering what I wanted to do.I wanted to make films of my own—to create stories with people that could make an audience feel the way I felt as a child, sitting in a dark theatre, completely absorbed in another world when I was supposed to be sitting in a classroom.
After graduating from film school in 2022, I began working in the Telugu film industry, contributing to two feature films: First Day First Show as an Assistant Director and Rangabali as an Assistant Cinematographer. Although I had gained experience across different departments, my goal remained clear: I wanted to become a writer-director.
In 2024, I took a step towards that goal by starting my own production house, Muchacho Studios, with a group of friends. Based in Hyderabad, we worked on a range of commercial projects, from social media content and cinematic advertisements for various brands to short films that I felt were somewhat unconventional for the industry and region we came from.
Working with limited budgets meant that I often had to take on multiple roles myself. I wrote, directed, shot, and edited many of our projects, which gave me the opportunity to understand filmmaking from every angle. At the same time, constantly carrying the weight of several departments began to take its toll. I found myself becoming exhausted, both creatively and physically.
More importantly, I began to feel that I was reaching the limits of the creative environment around me. I didn't want my filmmaking to become confined by the lack of opportunities and creative outlets I felt were available to me. I wanted to be around people, ideas, and a community that would challenge me to grow. So I made the decision to leave Hyderabad and move to Mumbai—to pursue filmmaking further, and to find a place where I could continue pushing myself as a writer and director.