Today we’d like to introduce you to Sana Malhotra.
Sana, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
I felt like Alice in Wonderland when I entered an electronic store. At that time the digital cameras came in neon blues and pinks. It was all I ever wanted. And my father would get me whatever I ever set my eye too.
A gift he gave me out of pure love, became my greatest love story. After fidgeting with cameras for years, I got inclined to reading. I could never understand how characters from pieces of paper could transport me to their world, so much so, I would give them different hair and eye colors and picture them talk in a certain way.
Still, I never got intrigued to the writing bit of it. I think that change only came about, recently, when my mother sat down with my girlfriends and me, narrating her love story with my father, and how she is a hundred percent sure, it’s her poems that got him to fall for her.
I think it went something like this; “Silver cycle, golden seat, come on darling, double seat?” I guess that’s where it all began for me. Knowing, each one has the power to change someone’s mood with just a few words. Ever since, I pen down any or for that matter, all moments until, it’s a story worth telling.
Great, 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?
I wish it was a smooth road. I left for LA, to study film making at 18 years of age. Los Angeles was the key to all film making dreams. So much so, it’s easy to get lost in the spirit of the city. It was a new beginning for me, so whatever baggage I came with, was instantly forgotten.
By the end of my first year at school, I fell immensely unwell. I couldn’t get through three-hour classes, let alone, 12 hour day shoots. I tried, hiding it, for a long time, until I couldn’t handle it anymore. Sadly, I left my course halfway and was sent home, to recover. A year long, medication, made me healthy, but it destroyed my creative outlook to the world.
It took me a year, to open my laptop and write a story. My family and friends didn’t leave my side for a minute through this year. They pulled me together and forced me to make a short film, however good or bad. And I did. It wasn’t my best works, but the process and the people reminded me why I wanted to be a filmmaker in the first place.
I reapplied to school after a year and a half, to further complete my studies, this time, all healthy, and ready to tackle 12 hour day shoots.
Please tell us about eyepicturesproducts.
I’ve only just started my journey, but I hope in the future, my production company, scans through the globe and finds voices that need to be heard. And showcase people, for the truths of their lives, and not just fiction.
I’m working towards making a production company, that anybody can walk into and feel at home. And their stories find their target audience.
Do you look back particularly fondly on any memories from childhood?
I think having my twin with me all times in life, are my favorite memories. And I know it may sound silly, but having a twin, is poles apart from having a sibling. She, helps me see the same thing from a different perspective every minute of the day.
Sharing wasn’t taught to me as a good habit, it came to me naturally. And I guess, that’s what turned me into a writer, somewhere down the line; to always see two sides to a story and to truly believe both sides are as important
But, if I have to pick one favorite memory, it would be, my sister, Sara, at age four, mind you, hitting me with a rolling pin on my forehead because I won at rolling the perfect naan. It makes sense now since she turned out to becoming a Chef.
Image Credit:
Anusha Jain, Armand Muchhala
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