We were lucky to catch up with Dhwani Shah recently and have shared our conversation below.

Dhwani, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Can you open up about a risk you’ve taken – what it was like taking that risk, why you took the risk and how it turned out?

My twenties have been characterised by taking risks. I switched multiple jobs, wearing the hat of an editor, producer, director and screenwriter, which allowed me to hone my skills and also find what I do best – directing. One of my recent risks was moving to New York from Mumbai. I decided to jump ship, with the hope that I could creatively cross-pollinate on a larger scale. And so far….it’s looking good. Being a South Asian in the US who doubles-down on her culture and writes films that are South-Asian centric and female-led is a risk on its own. But the world has been more welcoming of perspectives like mine lately, and hopefully this is a risk that pays off in the longer run.

It’s a whole lot of hard work, late nights, and hours of unrecognised effort that one has to put in. And the only way it is worth it – is if you’re absolutely in love with what you do.

Dhwani, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

Sure! I am a filmmaker; I write, direct and edit narrative fiction, oscillating between horror and drama on any given day. I don’t remember a time in my life when I wasn’t familiar with film. My dad bought one of those cassette camcorders when I was about 6, and I played with the camera all through childhood. Naturally I took to filmmaking when I was in college and made a bunch of (now embarrassing) short films that are safely tucked away in my archives. A lot of my learning came from YouTube tutorials, honestly. Back when I was starting out, my film philosophy was ‘fake it till you can secretly Google it and make it’.

I still remember my first real film internship at 18, when I was asked to shoot and edit a behind-the-scenes video. I had never touched Premiere Pro till that point. I lied that I could do it, stayed up for three nights straight watching YouTube tutorials, and came up with a pretty decent cut. Looking back, I’m surprised that my tiny Asus laptop managed to hold up!

Editing is the one true language of filmmaking, and knowing how to edit has majorly influenced my approach as writer-director.

As of date I have self-produced two of my indie short films (that won some awards), and I have written two feature screenplays that I’m really passionate about! I do a lot of work as a 1st AD for ad films and digital content, and have dabbled in education content for the most part of the last five years.

Till date when someone asks me what I do – I have to reply with ‘filmmaking’. Asking me to pick only one role is like asking a mother who her favourite child is. Having said that, my ideal future is one where I am working on a feature as a writer-director-editor. Fingers crossed!

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?

Being an artist is mostly hard. But art isn’t the gateway drug; creation is. Nothing is more rewarding than sitting back and watching the final cut of your film after countless hours of hard work. Or finally writing ‘The End’ on a screenplay after months of grinding away. Yet I suppose the most rewarding aspect of being an artist for me is “being” it.

And the reward usually looks like this in my case –
Coming back home late at night, after wrapping a shoot or finishing an edit, taking a long hot shower, eating some Chipotle in bed while watching Bob’s Burgers or something like that. That right there is one of the most rewarding feelings I’ve ever had.

Do you think there is something that non-creatives might struggle to understand about your journey as a creative? Maybe you can shed some light?

“You never come out”, “Why are you always busy?”,
“But it’s the weekend, can’t you take a break!”

Something that my people struggle to understand is the volatile nature of work that comes with being a freelancer and indie filmmaker. As much as I try to show up for things, the truth is that my work drains my social battery. It’s hard trying to make weekend plans when the weekend is the only window for me to schedule writing time.

Another that is categorically true about writing is that it requires solitude. For someone who doesn’t know me all too well, it’s easy to mistake my behaviour as moody, rude or a recluse. It’s always hard for me to communicate that I don’t like ‘being busy’ to sound fashionably occupied. If anything, I crave for more time away. But the erratic-ness of my career is here to stay for a couple more years. The people who know me, know this and are incredibly kind and accommodating of my idiosyncrasies. Sometimes I do feel like I got super lucky! And hopefully my drudgery pays off in due time (fingers crossed!).

Contact Info:

• Website: www.dhwanimakesfilms.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dhwanishah11/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dhwani-shah-a76178219/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@ladybugfilmsin