Today we’d like to introduce you to Dhirajj Vinodd Kapoor.
Dhirajj Vinodd, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
Man, Woman and Child…a beautiful story was penned down way back in the ‘garden city of India’ by Viney & Vinod K Kapoor…..Dhirajj Vinodd Kapoor.
A BABY BOY WAS BORN
Born as Dheeraj Kapoor Alias Dheiraj Kapoor in Bangalore, India, on October 25, 1978. I am fondly addressed DK amongst my friends and peers. I am an Indian film Actor, Model, Director, Board Advisor, Consultant, Producer and Entrepreneur.
GROWING UP DAYS
Having studied in schools like Sophia High School, Sindhi High School, St. Fatima High School and St. Stracey Memorial High School where I mingled with students across a milieu of cultures. This was instrumental in nurturing my mind as a child to look at life through a much broader perspective, a contemporary outlook and therefore established a futuristic vision. My birth city of Bangalore is culturally oriented and caters to a cosmopolitan crowd hence growing up in this environment helped me get exposed to art, culture, architecture, and theatre. Since my childhood, I was always keen on participating in dramatics, acting, fancy dress and dancing competitions. This resulted in developing my passionate interest in the world of cinema. I love learning different languages and thanks to that, I am a linguist with fluency in many languages such as English, Hindi, Punjabi, Kannada, Tamil, and Urdu. As an athlete, I played almost every sport and have won many accolades and trophies in intra and inter-school competitions. The tipping moment in my school days was being the Vice Captain for the Karnataka State Basketball Team and the House Captain in my 10th grade.
Has it been a smooth road?
ENTREPRENEUR – started out my career in the year 1995 as a model with assignments like Honda Activa TVC, Byford t-shirts Campaign, Gurukul Campaign, BPL net.com Campaign, and IBM computers Campaigns. I have also acted in four English plays with internationally acclaimed theatre personality Mahesh Dattani and also acted in a Hindi play while doing his summer course in National School of Drama.
In my early 20s, I moved away from my family’s well-established retail business to pursue my passion and interest in movies and entertainment industry. It was here that I first brushed a stroke of my entrepreneurial streak that challenged me to start my own company ‘LIMELIGHT SHOOT EVENT CELEB TALENT MANAGEMENT PVT LTD’ in the millennium year with my close friend. In less than three years of starting Limelight under me and partner’s leadership, we succeeded and started growing from strength to strength and thereby gaining much recognition in the field of Advertising and Entertainment. Here was the next big step for me to shift base to the city of dreams- Mumbai in the year 2005 to expand further and fulfill my cinematic dreams by allowing me to establish myself as an award-winning producer nationally and internationally.
International experience always excited me, therefore in 2014, I moved to Los Angeles to understand the futuristic ways of work in the dynamic digitized world, more into content creation and aggregation of creative minds. Moving back into India to create a new base outside Los Angeles becoming the bridge between east and west with the conviction to do differentiated assignments, I have taken my entrepreneurial skills with the launch of my company ‘DHIRAJJ WALKS OF ART PVT LTD’. Also am a Board Advisor – for HOPE B~Lit for their “A Voices Unheard Films” Production of social awareness shorts and features. Being a part of this social movement bettering the lives of women and children with their team globally has been a profound learning experience.
Today I am actively taking my entrepreneurial skills single-handed into many new ventures in different industries such as Arts, Culture, Entertainment, Organic Farming, Real Estate & Venture Capital Funds, etc. and wish to direct some films in the near future.
We’d love to hear more about your work and what you are currently focused on. What else should we know?
PRODUCER Member of Indian Motion Pictures Producers Association.
Since the year 2000, I have successfully produced and executed over 500 campaigns, 100 events, 90 celebrity brand endorsements and above 1000 talent marketing assignments. I have had the pleasure to produce many advertising campaigns, brand endorsements, new brand launches & many unique marketing events across multiple leading Indian and Multi-National Companies such as Toshiba, Danone, Unilever, Tata Group, Emami, Levi Strauss, Unicharm Sofy, Yakult Danone, Procter & Gamble, Collection G, Westin, Casio Asia Pacific, Seiko, Onida, Aditya Birla Group, Reckitt & Benckiser, Dabur, Himalayas, United Breweries, Panasonic, VGN Builders, Liril, Limca, Maxim Magazine, World Gold Council, Future Group, Globus, Pantaloons, Reliance Group, Airtel, Vodafone, BPL Group, Hero Group, Lakme, Lux, Britannia Group, Titan Company, Arvind Brands to name a few.
Currently, I am living my dreams by working on new projects for the International Independent Feature & Short Films, Documentaries, Television Productions and Feature films. I am also currently involved in developing various Digital Content, live-action features, Web series, Documentaries, Television Productions, and an International animation feature, etc. Produced two feature films “Barot House & Posham Pa” for Zee5 Premium OTT platform etc.
• Producer for Barot House (2019)
• Producer for Posham Pa (2019)
• Associate Producer for The Last Koan (2019)
• Associate Producer for Got Cancer! (2019)
• Associate Producer for The Nair House! (2019)
• Associate Producer for Got Cancer!-Survivor’s Journey (2020)
How do you think the industry will change over the next decade?
I believe that there are opportunities to be found in this new world order, especially at a time when people are avidly consuming content at home. The landscape was already tough for filmmakers and the people who make them are adaptable will be a challenge even more as the huge investments and huge risks are more, so this could be a time when we see more support for small budget contents on a rise with many unique stories to be told. We could also be looking at new ways of making films. The industry has certainly taken this to heart, finding innovative ways to bypass the current roadblocks. While sets remain closed, writers’ rooms are convening on video conferencing; artists are promoting virtual and remote casting, and film festivals are pledging to do online screenings and sales. The focus will be on finding more creative solutions to help and keep business stable with innovations.
Our industry has increasingly seen a meteoric rise in the digital future. Having said that theatrical and OTT releases shall co-exist beautifully, especially in India even more as film Audiences treat cinema as a family outing. I Don’t think that the current situation will have a long-term impact on cinema, it will only recover from if all collaborators come together and take equal responsibility. After months of quarantine, the audience may need time to regain the confidence to return to cinemas, but it’s also possible that this pandemic will push the film industry towards a more digital future—accelerating a transition that has been underway for the past decade. Cinema will endure, of course, but in what form? No one can yet say.
The biggest trend I feel will be Blockbuster Movies and Content will heavily depend on Pay Per View or Premium Packaged Rate Modules to survive.
Contact Info:
- Address: Grace Ave, Hollywood, Los Angeles, CA 91028 / Bandra West, Mumbai – 400050, India
- Website: https://dhirajjkapoor.com
- Email: [email protected]
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dhirajjkapoor/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DhirajjKapoor/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/DhirajjKapoor
Suggest a story: VoyageLA is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.
