CHENNAI: What began as a rejected idea for a student film competition, has snowballed into a three-year-old movie project involving politicians, Olympians and television personalities.
Carve Your Destiny was conceived in 2007 by 24-year-old Anubhav Srivastava, while he was studying Finance in New Delhi.
Anubhav explains, “I was in my final year of studies, when there was a film competition.
My idea for it was rejected, as they said it was not viable. But I thought that if I could go ahead and make the film myself, it would be an inspiration to the masses.” The film is a motivational documentary, in which Anubhav interviews eminent personalities from various fields and gleans the secrets of their success.
When he began, he had no idea of the journey he’d be taking for making the film.
Even his friends and family were sceptical, and thought of it as nothing more than a pipe dream. “Initially, my family was not very supportive.
They tried to drill some sense into me and wanted me to get an internship with a big company instead. But when they realised that this was what I really wanted to do, they saw that I was on the right track.” Anubhav, despite the initial rejection, strove to bring his idea to life, and through sheer determination, secured his very first interview with Dr Kiran Bedi, the first woman to join the IPS, in 2007.
“I had a lot of rejections before I finally got the first interview. The moment I wrote an email to her, she was one of the kindest people, and was very easy to get hold of.
Right now, I have done 19 interviews, but I’d say that the number of rejections I’ve had are about 200.” Since that very first meeting in 2007, Anubhav has gone on to meet many famous faces, from India and abroad, including Padma Shri winner Vinod Dua, chief minister of Delhi Sheila Dixit, the father of DNA Fingerprinting, Sir Alec Jeffreys and Miss India 2009 Ekta Chowdhary.
“There have been instances when people have agreed to the interview and kept me waiting for a very long time.
There were also those who’d call it off just when I was about to interview them. But if you keep trying and changing your approach, you will eventually get somewhere,” says Anubhav.
His determination to see his project through is admirable, and he has funded the entire process himself. The film is in the post-production phase now and Anubhav plans to have it ready for release at film festivals later in the year, with the aim of finding a financial backer to distribute the documentary to audiences worldwide.
Despite getting this far, the youngster admits there are still plenty of public figures he’d like to speak to. He says, “There are so many people I’d love to interview — perhaps somebody like Obama. But the one person I’d like to interview most is Arnold Schwarzenegger.
This is because he has had success in three fields: body building, movies and politics.
To be successful in three different areas shows the mentality of the person. Many don’t know this, but he was a millionaire even before he entered the movies.” Anubhav’s quest to track down inspiring success stories is indeed remarkable, proving further that the key lies in aiming high and not letting rejection block your path, and as Anubhav admits even the smallest achievements deserve credit.
“Along the way I have learnt that as long as what you do makes you happy, you have success,” he adds.