Film maker, photographer, cinematographer and animator, 33 years old Kumar Sawan is a multi talented man. Quitting his lucrative corporate job, he turned his passion of photography and film making into his career.
Born in Ranchi, Kumar completed his schooling from DAV Hehal. He did his graduation in Journalism and Mass Communication from Bangalore University. To acquire some technical knowledge and skills, he also did a diploma in animation and designing.
For the past two years, Kumar has been involved in making documentaries for Jharkhand government’s Department of Art and Culture highlighting the rich heritage of the State. So far he has made five short films for the Department.
“I always wanted to do some serious work and the cities offered mostly commercial work. That’s when I came to know about the Department looking for film makers to make documentaries about the State’s culture and history,” Kumar remarked.
The first documentary titled ‘Nagvanshi- Sabse Lamba Rajvansh’ features about the Nagvansh dynasty that ruled over Chotanagpur for over 2000 years and highlights some of the features unknown to the world.
Two documentaries on the famous tribal dance of Jharkhand- Chhau were made. One on Saraikela Chhau and the other on Manbhum Chhau. A fourth documentary was made about the local dialect of the State- Nagpuri while a fifth one was about the Navratangarh Fort. Each of these short films is of about 25 minutes.
“The best part about these documentaries is that there is nothing fictional about them. They have all been shot on natural set- ups. The film on Chhau features the local dancers who have performed not just in India but in numerous countries across the globe,” said the young film maker.
Kumar has also made three television campaigns for tuberculosis awareness featuring the ace archer Deepika Kumari for an NGO called Reach which works towards the same cause.
“Presently I am working on a short film for the Election Commission of India which will show the entire 2019 Lok Sabha elections,” he said. The documentary is in the final stages of production.
Not just film making, Kumar has always been very passionate about photography. He also participated in a photography competition by National Geographic called ‘Nat Geo Moment Awards’ where he was a nominated for a special category called ‘Do Moments’.
“Participating in this contest gave me a little push and a confidence boost to take it up as a career since I do not have any formal training in photography. Post this I got a lot of freelance assignments for travel sites like Yatra.com, Makemytrip.com and Goibibo,” he recalls.
He has also worked for various property portals and shot interiors for catalogues for a few years. He was also involved in making corporate videos for some leading corporate houses in Bangalore.
“I always wanted to get into photography, film making just happened by chance. When I got the first opportunity, I was a little apprehensive but now I am sure this is what I want to do. These topics have not been covered very extensively and that is what I found to be most interesting,” he said.
Kumar has his own production company by the name of Creation Production with offices operating in Ranchi and Bangalore and generally shuttles between the two cities.
Looking into the future, the filmmaker feels that this is just the beginning and he has miles to go. “I want to get involved in making movies. It is a time taking process and I want to build a good team before I take the next step forward. Right now I am trying to hone my skills and grasp all the technicalities involved in film making.”