My rapport with an actor should be organic or else I will cease to be a creative maker, says DIVYANSH PANDIT, director, short film Kashmiriyat

Jyothi Venkatesh

Short filmmaker Divyansh Pandit, whose latest short film Kashmiriyat is creating waves on social media, actually wanted to be a cricketer since his father Deepak Pandit had also played for the Ranji Trophy. However, with the passage of time, he was inspired to make films, initially on his mobile camera, when he was just 12. One day, the legendary Raj Kumar Santoshi gave him an unofficial chance to work as an intern AD in one of his film, Ajab Prem Ki Gazab Kahani and later he also officially worked as an AD on Phata Poster Nikla Hero, helmed by the same director.

Divyansh Pandit is quite elated that Raj Kumar Santoshi is full of praises for his latest ambitious short film Kashmiriyat, written and directed by Divyansh and produced by Ashutosh Pandit, who himself has been an actor who has shared the stage with actors like Ila Arun and K K Raina.

Kashmiriyat stars the veteran actress Zarina Wahab who is a legend in her own space in Bollywood. Recalling his days of learning with Rajkumar Santoshi, Divyansh says that he was all set to assist him in his film, Power, starring Ajay Devgn in the lead, but unfortunately the film got shelved.

His journey of making short films began with Happy Independence Day (2014) made under his banner and Fakhr Hai (2016) made for post pickle.Kashmiriyat is Divyansh’s 15th short film under his banner Wild Buffaloes Entertainment, with Lallan From Allahabad (2017), Jihad Hai (2017), Tera Jaisa Yaar Kahan starring Satish Kaushik and Shishir Sharma (2018), Raat Baaki Baat Baaki starring Jackie Shroff (2019), Hickey (2020),  which was presented by Pradeep Sarkar, Karta Tu Darta Tu (2017) a tribute to Mumbai police and many more in the list.

Divyansh is proud to have cast Zarina Wahab in the lead role, for according to him, she has essayed the character with utmost profoundness and balance. This short film has been shot in an around Madh Island, over a span of two and a half days. The biggest compliment that he has got for his short film is the brilliant remarks that he has got from people like Paresh Rawal, Raj Babbar and Anupam Kher, who have told him that his short film is like a slice of a feature film that touches an emotional chord with everyone. “The best part of my film is that I did not shy away from calling spade a spade while other filmmakers with a lot more resources at their disposal lack the will to do so.”

Besides Rajkumar Santoshi and Anurag Kashyap, with whom Divyansh has worked earlier, filmmakers that he admires are Mani Ratnam, Sriram Raghavan and the older version of Ramgopal Verma. He further added, “We should not forget that Ramuji has inspired many filmmakers including me and also Madhur Bhandarkar, who has worked as an assistant to him in Satya.”

At the age of 24, Divyansh had worked with Shahid Kapoor as an AD on Phata Poster and he strongly believes that he would love to approach him meritoriously for a feature film and not on the basis of the relationship he established during his younger days. “I feel that my rapport with an actor should be organic or else I will cease to be a creative maker”, he reiterates.

Divyansh Pandit, who has won many awards and nominations at several film festivals for his short films, has been nominated for 4 consecutive years in the Filmfare Short Film Award category. He is now all set to direct a web series as a director as well as the co-writer, besides writing his own feature film too. When asked about the details of his web series, he apologized for not being in a position to be able to divulge any information on account of the No Disclosure contract between him and the producers.

Divyansh signs off on an energetic and a positive note saying that he is now surer of making more such content that will be based on current affairs, societal issues and so on, with the same honesty and boldness that reflects in his short film Kashmiriyat.