'To direct Anupam was a big landmark in my career'

MUMBAI: Director Prasad Kadam, who has helmed the short films 'Chuha Billi' and 'Happy Birthday', calls it a landmark to direct veteran actor Anupam Kher in such an early stage of his career.

"Getting an opportunity to direct veteran actor Anupam Kher at such an early stage of my career was a big landmark," he shares.

Apart from the short films, he has directed music videos and another short film, Verses of War starring Vivek Oberoi and Rohit Roy.

Looking back, Prasad has been born and raised in the Mumbai suburbs. He grew up as a bright student and was awarded a scholarship for his MBA and went to the UK. He has worked as an Investment Banker in Dubai for a couple of years, but it was his passion for filmmaking that made him quit his lucrative job to come back to Mumbai.

"I am a self-taught filmmaker. I learnt the techniques from YouTube. But no one can teach you the aesthetics of cinema, that you learn on your own," he says.

Having good corporate knowledge, he managed to get a few ad films to produce and direct under his production house. Looking at his eye for creativity and passion for filmmaking, he soon received offers for music videos and later for short Films. His short 'Happy Birthday' has won the Best Film and Best Actor award at New York City International Film Festival 2021. Prasad will soon make his full-length Hindi feature film debut.

"I always knew being an outsider and especially having no background in filmmaking, it won't be easy getting a break. I had to start from scratch and move on from time to time. I started with making wedding films, then ads, music videos and now narrative."

"It's a long journey which I managed to cover in a short period only because I knew when to move on. Filmmaking is a non-ending struggle. It's a constant battle of art versus business, sometimes you win, sometimes you lose," he adds.

'Happy Birthday' is all set to release in India on FNP Media's YouTube channel on Friday, May 12. It's his second project.

"When we were casting for it, we didn't imagine we would get to work with Anupam sir. But he likes to challenge himself and experiment with different formats."

"He was thrilled to be part of this project after he was convinced we are a bunch of talented and passionate youngsters. But to be frank, he was the one who was the youngest talent on the set. His energy and dedication are unmatched," he ends.