Sunil Sadarangani, filmmaker

An early start
Unlike the ones who realised their filmmaking aspirations only later on in life, Sunil Sadarangani did have a inkling about what his true calling was - which was one reason why he chose to take part in filmmaking workshops, followed by his stint as a production trainee for the music channel MTV.

"Apart from this, I even worked with the production company called 'Film Republic' which was primarily into commercial and ad films. It was from here that I graduated to making films in the international arena," reveals Sunil, whose first film was titled 'Bollywood Extras' as it revolved around the lives and workings of Bollywood extras in Mumbai.

However, he counts his film 'September Tapes' as the most memorable one that he has ever worked on. "I guess it has to do with the fact that I bagged this project as a line producer on my own and without anyone's reference or recommendation," he explains.

Another interesting experience is his work on the three episodes of a 15-part documentary series on World Religions, something which had him secure a rare permission to shoot at the Golden Temple, not to mention an exclusive one hour interview with the Dalai Lama.

"The episodes were shown on Al Jazeera channel and I learnt a lot during its filming," reminisces Sunil.

Having his hands full
His current projects include the film 'Blue Coriander' which has him as the co-producer along with Lord Swaraj Paul's son Angad Paul and Karen Embry as the principal producers for the UK and US regions respectively.

"Set in the 1950's , it's about a disillusioned Greek national who on a trip to India chances upon a picture of Nargis and gets mesmerised by her," notes Sunil. Also in the pipeline is the film 'Love Marriage' which is about Indians in the UK and has already won a prize for being the best project at the recently held Middle Eastern film festival in Abu Dhabi. Then there's a high profile documentary called 'Hopi for Hillary' which is a parallel story about an American schoolgirl who idolises Hillary Clinton and aspires to win her school's presidential elections.

The road ahead
 Where future projects are concerned, he's started work on a Kolkata based film called 'The Waiting City' which traces the trials and tribulations of an Australian couple who come down to the city to adopt a child. "We are trying to sign on the Australian actress Radha Mitchell for the lead role," he notes.

—Vidya Prabhu