INDIA: Rajeev Barnwal is a screenwriter, director, and producer who has predominantly worked in Bollywood. He has been working in this field for the past 18 years. Now, he is operating a film production company named ‘Lotpot Films’ with his partners Simrat Kaur and Gazal Ankush Nashine.
The magic of the film isn’t just because of the big screen, actors, or the acoustics, the hard work, determination, and vision that is put by the director is the main reason behind it. Barnwal is a dedicated director who has vast experience in filmmaking who has brought many meaningful stories to life in the forms of feature and short films. In an interview with Transcontinental Times, he talked about filmmaking, his future plans, and many other things.
Early Life
Barnwal has spent most of his childhood in Jharkhand where his father was an employee in the Coal India Ltd. His inclination towards theatre, writing, and movies has been quite prominent from childhood only. Right from the beginning, he knew that his heart belonged to films and writing. To develop his writing skills, Barnwal used to write stories and poetry in Hindi.
After graduating in Chemistry from Kirori Mal College, Delhi University, Rajeev plunged into the media field. He started working as an assistant in one of Delhi’s production houses to make documentaries. But he was always interested in movies. Barnwal constantly looks for inspiration from the directors like Vidhu Vinod Chopra, Raju Hirani, Abhinav, and Anurag Kashyap.
A die-hard movie buff, he shifted to Mumbai to try his luck in the Hindi film industry and landed a job in UTV. Since then, Rajeev has been writing and directing films. In 2011, Rajeev co-produced and executed his first film ‘Satrangee Parachute‘ with an ensemble cast of Sanjay Mishra, Jackie Shroff, Kay Kay Menon, and Rajpal Yadav amongst others.
Talking to Transcontinental Times about this, he said, “I still get inspired by watching a good film and get the energy to write more and make more good films. When I was a kid, I used to spend my time watching Hindi and English movies. Now that I am very much a part of this industry, I also believe that films are a very strong medium to convey a message to the society.”
Lotpot Films
In 2019, Barnwal collaborated with Simrat Kaur to start his own production house named ‘Lotpot Films’. From thereon, Lotpot Films has become a platform to produce, execute, write and create entertaining and meaningful films, short films, over-the-top media content, and Ad films catering to the ever-growing entertainment industry.
At Lotpot films, Barnwal along with his team keeps making films & short films based on social issues. He believes in telling stories from the heart. Lotpot films is an emerging company with great ideas, stories, and scripts and constantly driven by young and fresh talent with regular mentoring by experienced professionals from the industry.
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Everlasting love for movies
Barnwal strongly believes in the power of love. Through all his stories and films he tries to convey the message that love can heal and solve anything between people. He also writes stories that are mostly focused on relationships, giving out a strong message to live in harmony. Barnwal also believes that films are the best medium to motivate people to look inside them and correct their approach towards people and life.
“The world right now is fighting with a lot of issues. Be it a war for territory or a fight to save the environment. To be honest, humanity somewhere has lost its compassion. People fight on small -small issues and love for each other seems to be disappearing gradually. A happy and understanding world can handle any problem thrown at it in more efficient ways,” he said.
The future of the film industry
According to Barnwal, the film industry is ever-evolving right now in India. Its rapid growth is the result of major studios opening offices in India to cater to the vast Indian population. Now, the competition for filmmakers is quite tough as the audience is more demanding and not easily satisfiable. This allows the storytellers and filmmakers to make more relevant content for viewers.
“With the coming of OTTs in India, the future of Indian film Industry looks very bright with more meaningful content to come out of Indian Film Industry. Also, with AI and advanced computer software programs, the making of a film has gone through multiple changes for good. Technology along with a meaningful story will always win people’s hearts,” Barnwal added.
His future plans
Barnwal is currently developing a web-series for Sony Liv. Sony Liv is a leading Indian general entertainment, video-on-demand service owned by Sony Pictures Networks. Along with this, he is also making more films under Lotpot Film’s production.
Rajeev Barnwal and his partners Simrat Kaur & Gazal Ankush Nashine have major plans to take Lotpot films to the big league. They encourage young writers, filmmakers to be a part of their ever-growing team. Lotpot Film is a place where they make sure that everyone gets an opportunity and supervision to tell their story without any limitations.
Inspired by his journey of passion and struggle, Barnwal is always ready to support the younger people. Rajeev has a special place in his heart for all the budding and rising writers and filmmakers. He always quotes the title of the movie LAGE RAHO MUNNABHAI (Carry On Munnabhai) to the young filmmakers.
“Everyone has a story to tell. To all the young makers I would like to say that keep working, keep your passion alive, be honest to your work, and be good to people around. Always remember: It’s your behavior that wins people more than your skills. Just keep pushing your limits,” he concluded.
