Nitin Upadhyaya

Nitin Upadhyaya was born and brought up in Lucknow, a small city located in the Northern part of India. He attended a local Catholic School for his early education and throughout his early teens he wrote and staged many plays forming the first theatre group in the school. Despite being a below average student in academics, he got accolades from the teachers for his penchant for writing and also served as the Editor of School Magazine for 2 years. His exceptional theatrical skills earned him a seat at one of the most prestigious Film Schools in India but he was unable to pursue it due to family commitments. He subsequently settled for his average skills in science and started pursuing a Bachelor's degree in Engineering. Even during those Engineering years, his flame for creativity did not douse and he insistently struggled to give a new face to the College Theatre Group giving it a name that won honors in major University Theatre Competitions. He made his first short feature music video with a group of friends which inspired many students across India and earned him appreciation. He started his professional career as a Software Consultant for an MNC and moved to Kochi located in the Southern part of India which is drastically different from the rest of the country in terms of language, culture and food. Even though he was so far from his dream city and dream job, he did not let his determination falter. He played role as a Cinematographer for a Short Film shot in regional language there. After a struggle of one year he finally got transferred to Mumbai, the heart of Theatre and Cinema. While continuing his work at Wipro, he took his first step into the industry with the help of a Film Caterer in Film City. It was just a meager job of dropping Beta tapes for Edit. He worked during the day and did night shifts for a TV shoot. Since he did not have any relevant background in the field, he took up any kind of work to gain learning experience. These varied experiences have given him the unusual feat of working with cast, crew and film of all major Indian languages as First Assistant Director, Casting Director, Editor, Screenwriter, Line Producer, Executive Producer, Distributor and Director. It was the desire to learn in any possible way that got him involved in covering the 26/11 Terrorist Attack on the Taj single handedly for an Israeli News Channel. Due to widespread nepotism and lobbying in the industry he finally left working for corporate structures and started a Line Production Company Creative Roots India to help promote Independent Cinema in Mumbai. The company helps students from major universities abroad to make their Foreign Diploma Films in India. His venture Cinematically Correct promotes first time Film makers and produces several Short Featurettes in Mumbai. He is associating with Independent Film makers in Line Producing films throughout India thus promoting Indian Independent Film culture by helping them reach International audience and Inviting Foreign Independent projects to come shoot in India. His next goal is setting up an NGO called 'Free Spirit Foundation' to help bring out the creativity in the group of people who do not have access to the expensive technology thus giving them an opportunity for a career choice they would otherwise not be able to make.