A filmmaker by chance

Learning till class 8 is no certificate for any job. But that is all that Kuldeep Tiwari has in terms of academic qualification. However, for the man who comes from a rural background becoming a famous documentary maker is a no mean task.

After he gave up studies, Kuldeep seemed directionless in life till he developed a liking for films. He took up videography as a profession.

Kuldeep makes documentaries on developmental issues and has a long record of assisting many Indian and foreign filmmakers. And he has managed to achieve all this only because of his passion, determination and liking for the profession.

'Youth for Energy Empowerment', 'Land First Mela', 'On Foot for Right', 'Step towards Janadesh' and 'Janadesh 2007' are some of the famous documentaries made by him. His photos have been exhibited in Nepal and Narobi in Kenya.

Kuldeep, who belongs to Murena district in MP, was born on in 1979. And it was very unfortunate for him that he lost his mother at a very young age. His bad financial condition combined with other difficulties led to him to abandon studies.

Sharing his experience, Kuldeep says, " There were times when I did not get work for one year but that did not stop me from doing videography since I liked the work. I used to put in my full effort in doing the work."

He got his first big break in 1999 when a videographer was needed to cover a procession that was held during land rights issues.

It was duing this time that a studio gave work to Kuldeep who later joined Ekta Parishad.
Says National Conveyner of Ekta Parishad, Raman Singh Parmar, " When Kuldeep joined us, he started to fine tune his skills rather than sitting ideal. He showed how a good videographer he is whenever he got time. He made a fine doumentary by the name of ' Janadesh 2007' which received acclaim both at national and international level. "

Kuldeep reached to the next level when he received training in 'Abhivayekti Media for Development'. There he learnt about the nitty gritties of documentary filmmaking and he was training in digital camera handling by famous documentray maker, Sahajo Singh.

Not only that Kuldeep also learnt about this art from world famous Siman Williams, whom he met whenever he came to India at Ekta Parishad.

Kuldeep at present is working as conveyner at 'Ekta Media', the media unit of Ekta Parishad. He at present deals with water, forest,development and land issues.