Today we’d like to introduce you to Arushi Garg.
Arushi, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
I was always the smart kid. I worked hard and was kind of intelligent and so I got great scores in my boards. At 15, I decided to study Commerce because I didn’t know any better and eventually graduated in Economics from a great college in Mumbai. I also studied Literature, History and French. Naturally, my good old Indian family had great expectations from me. Though I loved Economics, what really kept me occupied during my college years were college festivals. All I did was organize them and participate in them. Fashion shows, street plays, dramas, dances, management events, you name it. In my senior year, I co-headed the main cultural committee of the college with my best friend and together, we had a ball (quite literally).
We both had big dreams of getting an international education. I almost applied to London School of Economics for my Masters, when one day, it happened. Something struck me out of nowhere. I think it was while watching the Vampire Diaries behind the scenes on Youtube, that my mind went like – I want to be in that writer’s room. It was random but it just felt right. So I decided to switch my career from Econ to Film and completely pissed off my parents. They gave me a half a year for this experiment of mine. Now it’s super hard to get into Bollywood unless you have connections but I hit the jackpot when I applied for a job online and got it. My family called it a secretarial job and discouraged me a lot. But I knew that that was my way in, as it was for one of the top directors in Bollywood. And there began my journey. No, it did not last for 6 months.
For one and a half years, I worked varied roles in the industry, such as Assistant to Producer, to Director, Post Production and Marketing Coordinator, Assistant Director, Script Supervisor and eventually an Independent Producer. Producing my own short indie film is one of the things I’m most proud of. Again, it was really serendipitous when one of my colleagues randomly asked me about my future plans and I told him that I wanted to go study abroad, to a film school but it was too expensive. That’s when he told me about UCLA extension. It was the hardest battle I had to fight against my family. My mother thought I was doing film for fun and wanted me to do an MBA or switch back to Economics. But I knew I had to go. And so, I landed in LA looking at Hollywood sign from the flight. That was the beginning of my dream.
I came to LA to learn filmmaking by the book and by working in Hollywood. Living independently, attending classes at UCLA, interning at big production houses, working on-set, making friends from all over the world, it has all been absolutely insane! LA is one of a kind, it is for people who struggle to find a place to belong to. The city has offered me more than I could ever have asked for.
To take the Covid crisis as positively possible, I am now trying to work on my own projects. Quarantine has got me writing. Who knew the Econ major could also be a writer?
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
I think my family has been the biggest struggle for me. To make them understand why I want to work in films and what kind of a career trajectory I will have, it’s been hard. I am however grateful that they still have my back even if they don’t agree with my life choices. And I need that slither of support from them because film business is THE toughest to crack into if you don’t have some sort of advantage. There is no ready-made path and definitely no sort of certainty. Working in Bollywood is hardcore. We work crazy hours, in crazy conditions and with crazy people! It is an insane amount of hard work in high pressure – high stakes situations. All the show lights are just that, for show. I was also never much of a film geek. So I’ve met people who knew so much about films and felt really incompetent in front of them. But I’ve made my peace with it cause I have the drive to learn, and the skills they don’t. Also, as a foreigner in the LA film industry, I feel like I fall short when compared to natives on a daily basis. So no, things have definitely NOT been easy. They say, to work in film, is 60% dreaming and 40% hard work. So I do my part every day!
We’d love to hear more about your work and what you are currently focused on. What else should we know?
I want to make content by which I can offer a multicultural point of view to a very Americanized global media culture. I’m currently working on two drama/thriller short films and one short film on dysfunctional Indian families. I’m also working on a short documentary for a class, based on the clean energy sector in California, as I’m really passionate about environmental causes. I want to become a producer because I have a knack for good storytelling, I love organizing things and collaborating with people; basically putting to work all the life-skills I have learned over the years.
Has luck played a meaningful role in your life and business?
I think luck comes disguised in the form of a reward for hard work. It’s only ever that I have worked hard, invested in relationships, that ‘luck’ has come to me. I do believe that the universe makes things happen for you, if that counts as luck, yes, I’ve been lucky.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/arushi_garg_/?hl=en
- Other: https://www.linkedin.com/in/arushi-garg-717513145/
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