Lokmat News Network
Aurangabad, Feb 19: “Every opportunity you catch is one step closer to success and wisdom,” says Aurangabad girl Srushti Kalse. She should know as working in the media industry for 7 years and operating as a Director of Photography for four years, she grabbed opportunities that came her way and is currently based in Los Angeles, United States.
Srushti started in Mumbai as a behind-the-scenes videographer for the Bollywood movie “The Zoya Factor” featuring Sonam Kapoor and Anil Kapoor. During her early days, she also shot a few social awareness documentaries on subjects like the MeToo movement and hidden gems from Dharavi slums.
Taking a leap of faith, she decided to move across countries to study Cinematography from New York Film Academy in California, where she produced over 5 short films during her course in the peak of the global pandemic. Having shot different genres in narratives, music videos, documentaries and commercials, Srushti gained expertise in understanding the requirements of her projects and the creative visionaries. In March 2021, she landed her first feature film “Lost in the moment” which got signed with platforms like Amazon Prime, Hulu and Tubi. She worked on another feature film “Chama days” in New Mexico which is still under post production. Some of her work in music videos included artists like Matthew James’ “Show me your love” which is grossing on top 20 in UK MTV’s rock/club music charts and one of her own produced “Doom’s Night”, a passion project. One of the films ‘’Palm trees and power lines’’ that she crewed on ended up winning the Sundance award in 2022.
She shot for events like Variety Magazine top 10 upcoming actors of 2021, premiere for Vivek Agnihotri’s upcoming film "The Kashmir Files.'' Her most thrilling experience was working on a marvel docu-style interview called “Super power women” based on women filmmakers in marvel. Her latest work behind the camera on a short film “Uncut”, directed by an Emmy award winner, Mark Hensley, is currently taking rounds of film festivals.
“This play of light and shadows and how you can mould your story with every tweak of light (metaphorically and literally), has become a big part of my life. I have merely begun my journey as a storyteller and there’s a long road to walk,” signs off Srushti.