Daily Inspiration: Meet Santhosh Ram Mavuri

Today we’d like to introduce you to Santhosh Ram Mavuri.

Hi Santhosh, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
Hey VoyageLA, I’m Santhosh Ram Mavuri. I’m born in Rajahmundry a small town in Andhra Pradesh, India to a business family who’s into clothing and jewelry business. My Family and I shifted to Nellore for business reasons and since then Nellore has been my home. I’ve finished my schooling in Nellore and moved to Bangalore for my Bachelor’s in Business Administration. I always had a dream to become an actor in India but during my bachelor’s, I decide to become a Filmmaker too. Always used to find a way to skip classes to spend some time in the Cinemas. During my bachelor’s, I made my first Shortfilm in Hyderabad, India which was a new place to explore for work. Few friends helped to find the crew and cast and I made my first short in 2018 called Yellow which is a psychological thriller based on Xanthophobia.

The Shortfilm did fairly well in YouTube with 350k+ views. Post bachelors, I decided to learn acting cause a filmmaker should learn a bit of acting to direct actors. I moved to Vishakapatnam where my guru Satyanand.L who’s extremely respected in the South Indian film industry and trained more than 100+ actors who are well-reputed stars in India, then the COVID hit which was a major breaking point of my life. There was a pressure for me to take over the business but I insisted to study filmmaking and confronted my goals. It took my a while to convince them and eventually they agreed. I moved to LA a year and half ago to study at the New York Film Academy for my Masters in Filmmaking. I’ve gained a different understanding and approach to filmmaking and here and it helped me a lot to explore more on the technology and training they taught me here. I recently finished my Thesis Project about reviving Handlooms which is a deep story that has been burning in my heart to showcase to the world to help the present generation of weavers to revive and practice the craft so that the world could appreciate great art and sustainable clothing.

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Definitely not a smooth road, people say that life’s simple when you’re born in a business family. But it’s not always easy to peruse our own dreams. Studying during bachelor’s became quite tough to manage studies that I don’t like but doing it to satisfy the social and family obligations. Went to minor depression but that’s when I went all in to self-learn by doing it and that’s when I made my first short film.

Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I can say that I’m a trained actor by my teacher Satyanand sir who’s extremely hardcore on his training. And also a passionate director soon to be graduating from NYFA. I love to make all kinds of genres and picking up unique plots to entertain and tell the story. As a filmmaker and an actor, I know how hard is to be on both the sides of the camera and I enjoy being on the both sides.

If we knew you growing up, how would we have described you?
I am extremely naughty when I was young apparently haha. Used to watch movies and act as characters, singing, dancing and being a rowdy with my cousins and friends. Watching movies is always a ritual in the family. Every weekend we love watching cinema in the theatres and that made me what I am today.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @srmfilm
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/santhoshrammohan?mibextid=LQQJ4d
• Twitter: @SanthoshMavuri

Image Credits
Profile pic : Zeel Sangoi Rest all : Nani