Meet Abhilasha FNU | Filmmaker, Painter

We had the good fortune of connecting with Abhilasha FNU and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Abhilasha, why did you pursue a creative career?
Because I am an expressive person, who feels satisfied to form, explain, & listen perspectives. And what could be better than picking forms of art & pursue an artistic career as filmmaking & painting. Being a versatile and multi-talented being who is always looking to explore new expressions & its form, nothing seems better than being an artist to satisfy my soul. It was not always the same.

Well, I was always an expressive child, & my expression were in so many different forms. I loved singing, dancing, writing, creating craft & art and would love to live in solitude with my own imagination. But coming from India, the Indian culture promotes security, assurance & fears to walk on unknown, uncertain & undefined paths. This mentally took me away from my art of expression during my teenage years. I stopped my training in Indian classical music (Hindustani) & dance (Bharatnatyam), & tried to fit in where I need to learn maths & science to be in ‘a noble profession’ but I lost myself completely.
I, myself as a kid was very rigid to not pursue art. But I always wanted to learn psychology & be a journalist. Maybe because being a journalist was not completely a risky job profile & still it needs research, thoughtfulness & performance.

And I did all that. I studied Science in my high school, did my bachelor’s in Clinical Psychology & got a master’s degree in Journalism & Mass Communication and still I felt unhappy. It was my 4th semester in Master’s, Visual Communication, where I was introduced to the art of filmmaking & I was just natural at it. And I felt happy, excited, motivated in ages to work on a vision & nothing was surreal as my first immature film getting exported & produced on the editing table.

I don’t know how everything happened after that but it changed me. Slowly & steadily, I went back to my childhood, meeting my inner child with artistic instincts. I decided to come to Los Angeles to learn filmmaking, write & director my own screenplays. And the journey from flying to the United States, studying & working here, everything just felt like it was meant to be & to be honest, I never imagined it to be like this.

Well, being expressive comes with being emotional & vulnerable. Choosing to be an artist, gives me more space & time to go back & meet my inner child which is, in my belief, my purest & truest potential self. As I’m maturing, I have understood we grow out to only meet our inner self. And being that, it makes me each day more compassionate, patience, empathetic, & I learn to be an observer.

Being an observer, is a gift in disguise. It makes you see lessons in life, more understanding of our meaning, I learn agony, & misery too, to only reflect in my work of art. And in someway contribute to this society, to this world of what I have understood about life. and maybe my perspective helps the society to understand their lives.
That’s mainly how an artist contributes to the society. by giving their perspective, which is usually broader than the rest. At least that’s what artist think! (chuckles)

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
I really get excited about my abstractive & perspective art in thoughts & in creation. I take life casually while lives seriously, in a sense where I understand the depth of the emotions & feel it, yet still could see the broader perspective, And that’s what I understood where my skills lies. Having a thought process like this, helps me to take leap of faith when my instincts call for anything in life. I have always risked, from changing my career paths to waiting till last moment for the perfect moment but it always works out because I never try to suppress my urge to express. This learning about self has helped me in my career asa director-writer assistant director, producer, script supervisor. To learn to hear my instincts and speak it out.
Something that I have learnt which I take very seriously. This world is a play ground and we all here to play for a short span of time. So if you really want to do try something, to express just do it. And that has been my success mantra. Listen to your instincts, try to live in the moment, in present as much as possible. That is only true peace. And trust me, being an over thinker, trying this could be task!
I really want to be known just as an artist. Not like a filmmaker, painter, dancer, writer, actor, or chef but just as artist. It gives me all, and being a multi-talented personality. with so many interests of expression, it sums me up.

Few of my favorite form of expression is painting, & writing. My abstract art is now being online in NFT world as Akukusart, managed by artist managing company G-ED UP.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
Well, I came just before pandemic and life is mostly traveling for work on different film sets, that I enjoy a lot. And to be honest, I don’t find a lot of Los Angeles spots of my kind, probably because I haven’t explored enough, But in summers, I love going to Venice & Malibu beach. They both have different vibe, yet fun to be at. I would definitely take my best friend for surfing experience. Hike to Hollywood sign is a very exciting journey. Visiting prop houses like Edith Head, ISS, Almost Christmas, Universal studios are something which is definitely a place to take anyone who visits me. DTLA walks & local art exhibitions are a my thing. I have been place outside LA, which is. Yosemite is a real treat for me & I would surely take my best friend or my parents, even San Fransciso & Las Vegas.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
My mother (Sudha) , father (Dinesh) & brother (Abhinav). & my few supportive friends.

Website: https://abhilashafnu.wixsite.com/sudinproduction

Instagram: abhikuku

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/abhilasha-fnu-9b6a1a21a/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/abhilasha.kumar.16

Other: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm12783468/

Image Credits
Nishanth Shri Shiva Painted by Abhilasha FNU