Meet Aditya Patwardhan | Film Director and Producer

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

Hi Aditya, what do you attribute your success to?
As a director, single greatest thing that has helped me has been the ability to take creative risks, and specifically when I first said yes to direct a Spanish short film.

One of the most interesting stories in my career has been the fact that I have often directed award-winning films in foreign languages that I do not speak. I have so far directed two short films in Portuguese, two short films in Spanish, and one feature film in Korean, and all the projects have gathered accolades and awards internationally. It may come as a surprise, but it all started when I was offered to direct a Spanish-language student short film while I was still at school.

First of all, I am a fluent speaker of Hindi, Marathi, and English, but I don’t have a background in Spanish, Portuguese, or Korean. Being alien to those languages, naturally, I didn’t go out seeking a foreign language project. But call it a happy coincidence, but a Panamanian producer called Ricardo Diaz-Guillen approached me to direct a 20-minute TV pilot that he was writing and producing.

Apprehensive at first, I took up the opportunity, and with a lot of help, of course, from the writers, on-set language assistants, and amazing actors, I directed the Pilot. The episode was very well received internally by networks we pitched it to, as well as film festivals and news media in Panama. That gave me a confidence boost that I could direct more projects in foreign languages.

When I first started directing foreign-language films, it was a major challenge to make sure that the actors were conveying what I wanted from them. But that very challenge helped me in developing a knack for understating emotions and performances through facial expressions, voice pitch & modulation, and body language. That combined with a reliable language assistant on-set during filming made sure that I was able to translate the scene from page to screen.

One of the factors that helped me in this was the fact that I was fluent in three Indian languages. Having grown up in Rajasthan, with primarily Hindi-speaking social circles and a Marathi-speaking family, I had started analyzing early on in life how meaning translates between languages and how it shapes our body language and thought processes.

My Portuguese language short called Um Toque Da Aurora (A Touch of Aurora) went on the win numerous awards and accolades across the world, and it features the celebrated Brazilian actress Thaila Ayala.

Recently I released my first Korean Language feature called And the Dream that Mattered (꿈의 의미), primarily set in Seoul, Busan, and Los Angeles. This film had the privilege to host a special private screening at the Lionsgate Studios in Los Angeles. Additionally, within a month of concluding post-production, it won the prestigious award for the best independent film at the 26th Korean Cultural Academy Awards, hosted by the Korean Cultural Centre of Los Angeles.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
My filmmaking journey began at the age of seven when I was introduced to music. After learning to play tabla, drums, and piano during my early school years, one of the first things I was enticed with was observing how background score shapes a film. It became one of my primary obsessions to notice background scores and try to duplicate them at home on my instruments. Films like Dil Se, The Lion King, Titanic, and The Matrix played a key role in influencing me in terms of music and its association with videos. Naturally, I assumed that I would want to grow up to be a music director.

My love for music continued, and while I was doing my B. Tech degree in Information Technology from Jaipur Engineering College and Research Centre (JECRC), I played the drums for a rock-metal band called Jettatura from 2007–2011.

Apart from my band, I developed an interest in photography and public speaking during my engineering days, hosting multiple events in my hometown, Jaipur. Jaipur is a major cultural and tourist hub of India, and that put me in touch with some amazing people from media and arts.

My first professional involvement with films was a short film called “Kiski Kahani” directed by Hiren Pandya Rahi, on which I worked as the music director.

It is no surprise that even now, I often professionally collaborate with some of my associates from my college days. Hiren Pandya Rahi from Kiski Kahani is the lyricist for my feature film “A Nomad River”, and has been the lyricist of multiple music videos that I directed in the past. Amit Jain, the lead guitarist from my band, is the music composer for 5 of my short films and the feature film “A Nomad River”.

After finishing my degree in computers & IT, I decided not to go for a software job and instead joined a local jewelry brand as the branding and communication manager. In addition to this full-time job, I took up part-time work at a political party as the social media head for the 2013 winning elections for the Rajasthan state assembly.

All this while, the dream to become a filmmaker was always brewing in my mind. With time to spare on the weekends, I started working with Gaurav Bhatt, a Jaipur-based musician from the Bhatt Gharana of Classical Musicians (known for Grammy-winner Pandit Vishwa Mohan Bhatt, Pandit Krishna Mohan Bhatt) and together with Hiren Pandya Rahi’s lyrics, we started making music videos that we launched on YouTube. Again, what started as a part-time passion turned into a full-time job as our songs received media attention in Rajasthan and were subsequently released by Zee Music Company, Pepsi MTV Indies, etc.

With the experience of a music video director, the social and cultural exposure due to working in a political party, and advertisement experience from the jewelry and fashion brand, I decided to come to the United States to do a one-year filmmaking program at the New York Film Academy’s Los Angeles campus.

What was going to be a one-year educational trip turned into a fully-fledged career and now I have been in Los Angeles as a film director and producer for almost 9 years.

Currently, I am working on three projects that I am thrilled about:

My fourth drama feature film, titled The Web of Life, featuring LA Law’s Corbin Bernsen, and Battlestar Galactica’s Aaron Douglas, is set to be released in 2023 and is currently in post-production. The Web of Life is a coming-of-age story about a young surfer and his family in Santa Barbara. The post-production is happening in New York, and I am actively overseeing the process.

Over the pandemic years, I have developed a World-War II-based fictional mini-series with Lucy Walsh, daughter of The Eagles guitarist Joe Walsh and niece of The Beetles Ringo Starr. The series is based on Lucy’s grandparents’ letter from the 1940s. Being a history buff, I am very excited about this project, and thoroughly enjoying the development and pitching process.

Thirdly, I am currently developing a science fiction television show, called Infinitum Revolutions, based on an upcoming game of the same name, with acclaimed writer and producer Peter J Wacks, known for working on the award-winning franchise Predator, NBC’s acclaimed Heroes, and the global classic Cyberpunk.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
Venice Beach Broadwalk, California Science Centre, Mt. Wilson Observatory, March Airplane Museum, Lonely Tree Hike in Griffith Park, Point Dume in Malibu, camping in Angeles National Forest, and Mt. Baldy Hike would be something I would definitely do.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
My parents and my wife would be the first people that I would thank for my career and profession, but with every projects, its also the amazing team of artists that I have has the fortune to work with.

Website: www.patwardhans.org

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/adityapatwardhan/

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/patwardhan/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/ajpatwardhan

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/patwardhan/