Not all movie-goers know that filmmaker, Madhura Sreedhar, of Snehagitam and It’s My Love Story fame, is an IIT- Madras alumnus who spent 13 years working for reputed IT companies before following his true calling and turning a director in tinsel town.
When a teenager, Madhura gave in to his parent’s dreams for him rather than follow his heart’s desire which seemed too impractical at the time.
While he always dreamed of telling stories on celluloid, his parents chose the more practical life of an engineer for him.
“I always wanted to join the movies but I gave in to my parents and after graduating from the Regional Engineering College at Warangal, I joined the IIT- Madras to do my masters (M.S),” recalled the director, taking time out from his busy schedule to chat with Deccan Chronicle.
“I continued working in the IT industry for over 13 years to satisfy my parents and relatives. But then I
started a music label company and began to direct movies in 2010 , fulfilling my own childhood dream,” he recounted.
The young director believes that many IITians are multi-faceted and have a creative streak that draws them to fields like filmmaking.
In fact the technical skills he learnt at REC and IIT have helped him in his new career. “ I found the filmmaking process similar to project management in software companies where work is done by teams with various kinds of expertise. Direction is like project management,” he said.
He doesn’t buy the argument that IITians who stray into other fields are depriving others, more serious about a career in engineering, of seats in the premier institutes.
“After all, they don’t go away to the USA to develop its economy but stay in India and do something creative in the interest of their motherland,” he contended.
Dean (academic courses), IIT- Madras, Prof. K. Ramamurthy, says the percentage of IITians opting for creative fields like filmmaking is very small, but when they do, they are usually following their dreams rather than that of their parents.
“These are students who have a lot of creativity but realise it only later. I once came across a student who was a born painter but had joined the IIT under parental pressure.
After completing his course here he joined the industry to become a leader in creative painting. We have several such students at our institute”, he added.
Prof. Aysha Iqbal Viswamohan, professor of film theory and practice in the department of humanities and social sciences at IIT Madras, says film theory and practice is the most popular elective among its M.A and B.Tech students.
“We teach them how to appreciate cinema and so on. B.Tech students enjoy the subject,” she revealed.