This might be a long shot but here goes…
I’m a writer, creative director having studied journalism and political science abroad at UMASS Amherst. In college, the Bollywood Film Bug bit hard and how, so I packed my bags and flew back to India, armed with the exuberance of youth, excited at the prospect of making a Bollywood movie. I bounced around a fair bit, worked as an Assistant Director to being a gopher (gofer) for a few celebrities and the like.
Slowly, steadily I worked my way up and found better paying jobs which included brief stints at MTV, (Mostly promos for different shows and voice gags for MTV Digital)
Then there was Red Chilies (Shah Rukh Khan’s Production House) where I helped conceptualised a show The First Ladies with Abu Jaani and Sandeep Khosla. They happened to be one of India’s most prominent Fashion Designer Duos and the show talked to the significant others of prominent male celebrities from Movie Stars to Industrialists. Here I was given the title of associate director. I’d like to add, working in Bollywood left me a bit disillusioned with the entire system because the hours were excruciatingly long, the pay wasn’t much and the treatment meted out to those working behind the scenes was pretty harsh to say the least, so I decided to give it a shot on my own.
The Bollywood dream remained but I needed to recharge so I left with my girlfriend to see the FIFA Football World Cup in South Africa in 2010. The plan was stay there for 3 months, but we loved the country so much that we extended our visas and stayed there for 2 years, travelling the entire country, seeing whales and the Big 5 in Kruger too. Eventually, we came back to India with a pet dog, Snowy, a Husky-Beagle rescue.
However, life had other plans and I was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis in 2017. Post the diagnosis, I’ve written a bunch of stuff, in English (Screenplays, Synopses for different genres of Films and Webseries) as the resolve to make a movie was only strengthened now. I just had to do it.
I write this piece asking for help, and any help would be appreciated in taking my writings forward and getting them Green Lit. Alternatively, I could write something fresh for you as well. Admittedly, these shows were written for an Indian audience, but can easily be tweaked for a Western viewer (others) too.
I still want to make a movie but in the interim, I’ve started my own Creative Agency – Holy Cow
A few of my Work Links
1) The BIG. TV (India’s answer to YouTube) needed a launch campaign and we provided one. In a nutshell, we gatecrashed the Abhishek Bachchan, Aishwarya Rai wedding and the rest is history.
The Campaign is now a Case Studies in Low Cost Marketing
2) WebCharades for Contests2win for Logitech Webcams starring the talented Nushrratt Bharuccha
3) Corporate Films for B.Braun Medical, TravelLogs (A Travel Website), ItWorks (A Stain Removal Infomercial in South Africa)
4) A DVC (Digital Visiting Card) made by Holy Cow Creatives for my DOP (Director of photography) That is not his Phone Number
5) An Episode of The FirstLadies with Gauri Khan and Shahrukh Khan
Aditya Pillai is a writer, creative director having studied journalism and political science abroad at UMASS Amherst along with brief stints at MTV, Red Chilies (Shah Rukh Khan’s Production House) and miscellaneous freelance projects, including 2 years in South Africa. Since being diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis in 2017, direction had taken a backseat and Aditya has written a bunch of stuff (Screenplays, Synopses for different genres of Films and Webseries).
