From IIT to Bollywood, director Udai Pawar reminisces his journey

Udai Singh Pawar, in an exclusive interview with NewsX under the special segment NewsX India A-list, talked about his recent Netflix movie Upstarts and his inspiring journey from being an IITian to a filmmaker. Udai is a filmmaker and a screenwriter based in Mumbai who has worked as an associate director in movies like Airlift starring Akshay Kumar and has worked as a chief assistant director with veteran directors like Raja Menon and Sudhir Mishra.

Udai recently directed his first-ever Netflix feature film Upstarts, which has been streaming on the OTT platform since October 2019. Being an IITian, he has also worked in technology companies and left a corporate job to pursue his dream of becoming a filmmaker. Sharing his journey and passion for becoming a filmmaker, Udai remarked, “Oddly enough since I was a child, I was fascinated with video cameras and my father had one old family cameras with which I used to do experiments. I would try to do all sorts of movements, video editing, and cuts to make and form short videos. When I went to college, more of my time was devoted to studying but one day a friend of mine made me the video editor of the college club wherein I used to record and shoot events happening in college itself.”

Talking about leaving the corporate job and the courage it takes to follow one’s dreams, he said, “I think it is only here in Bollywood that you notice and appreciate the courage of people. I think it’s everywhere. My father is an entrepreneur. Many friends of mine have started their ventures. I think everyone has done their part to achieve what they want in life despite coming from different backgrounds.”

Udai’s first film Upstarts was widely appreciated and he received praises from all around the globe. When asked about the same he underlined that one of the nicest reviews he received was from Brazil that made him realise that audience views the film from their perspective and as a filmmaker he feels elated.

Addressing the issue of nepotism in Bollywood, Udai stated, “I come from a place where I had no contacts. I don’t want to say that it doesn’t exist as everyone has had different journeys. I think the actors’ job is the hardest one to do if as a director, a genre doesn’t work for me, I can easily switch to different genres be it comedy, action, thriller but an actor can’t do that. Although inherently in every industry there is some level of meritocracy, there are other factors that come into play and I understand the frustration people go through. It’s a really tough business.”

He further talked about the upcoming projects, “I have been working on a couple of different new ideas.”