Daily Inspiration: Meet Rohit Relan on Finding Belonging, Building Strange Worlds, and Staying True to His Voice

Today we’d like to introduce you to Rohit Relan.

Hi Rohit, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
I began my career in Mumbai as a production intern, making photocopies and handling small tasks while learning the ropes. After completing my undergraduate degree in computer engineering, I decided to pursue my passion for storytelling and become a film director. I worked with production companies like Maddock Films and Ellipsis Entertainment, and later on projects for Netflix and Amazon Prime. I started as a production coordinator and then became an assistant director, shooting across three different countries before relocating to Los Angeles to study directing at the American Film Institute.

In addition to narrative work, I gained experience in commercial production, working under directors like Ashim Ahluwalia and Prakash Varma, and also directed music videos for bands such as Nyasa. By the time I graduated, I had made twenty films across formats and genres. My work has since screened at festivals including Giffoni Film Festival, Dances With Films, Hawaii International Film Festival, Chelsea Film Festival, Uppsala Short Film Festival, LA Shorts, and WorldFest Houston.

Currently, I am developing multiple feature film projects and participating in script labs such as the Storylines Lab at Cine Qua Non. My next film, titled Bhool-Chook, is set to go into production soon. I am also preparing my debut feature Spydog, which will follow.

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
It has not been a smooth road, but I think that is part of what makes the journey meaningful. One of the biggest challenges was finding belief in myself. Not just believing that I could direct, but believing that I had something worth saying. It took time to find stories I truly felt connected to, stories I cared enough about to pursue with everything I had.

Changing countries brought its own set of challenges. Adapting to a new culture, building relationships from the ground up, and finding narratives that made sense in a different environment was not easy. There were long stretches of uncertainty and isolation. The film industry is also extremely competitive. It took time to understand the craft across different formats such as commercials, music videos, and narrative films, and to learn how to move between them while still holding on to my own voice.

Eventually I found collaborators, festivals, and audiences that responded to the kind of work I was making. These struggles have shaped me. They have made me more focused, more flexible, and more certain of what I want to say and how I want to say it.

Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I am a film director and writer interested in creating work that feels emotionally immediate and slightly off center. I do not chase polished answers or perfect heroes. I am drawn to uncertainty, contradiction, and characters trying to carry something invisible through the world.

What I specialize in is tone. I pay close attention to rhythm, silence, and composition. I like building tension quietly without calling too much attention to it. I believe that subtle shifts in blocking, pacing, or performance can speak louder than exposition.

I am proud that I have created work across countries, formats, and budget levels without ever feeling like I had to compromise my voice. What sets me apart is that I do not treat filmmaking as a product. For me it is personal, and every decision, whether visual, emotional, or narrative, is rooted in something I care about deeply. I do not work to impress. I work to connect.

What are your plans for the future?
Right now, I am focused on five projects that explore very different emotional and tonal spaces. They are not connected by genre or form, but by a shared interest in longing, control, identity, and the strange ways people hold on to meaning.

The Obsessive Moth and the Fireball just completed development through the Storylines Lab at Cine Qua Non Lab. It is a layered and emotionally complex project that shifts between grounded realism and surreal atmosphere.

Spydog is about to go into production. It is one of my leanest and most satirical works, focused on paranoia, emotional rupture, and the absurdities of male ego.

Bhool-Chook is coming off a successful fundraising campaign supported by Gold House. It is a quiet and emotionally intimate piece that slowly transforms into something surreal and redemptive.

Poof will begin production soon. It is a nearly silent film told entirely through blocking, rhythm, and visual tension. It has the tone of a dark fable and the restraint of silent cinema.

We Buy Souls is finishing post. It is a sharp, contained story about a transactional world where souls are bought and sold. It plays with satire but reveals something deeply human and melancholy beneath its premise.

Each of these films has its own creative logic. I am not interested in repeating myself or chasing trends. I am interested in building work that feels alive to its own questions. Expanding into more genres and working with collaborators while reaching a bigger audience is very much a part of that journey. I want the work to stay personal and strange, but I also want it to be seen.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rohitrelan/