Prashant Bhilare

Prashant Bhilare is an Indian independent filmmaker based in Mumbai. His directorial debut short film Main zindagi hoon (2009) represented India at the international film festival in Albania in October 2010. He is one of the many filmmakers of the world to make films without attending any filmmaking school.

Career
Prashant Bhilare, a commerce graduate from the University of Mumbai, initially assisted a veteran theatre actor-writer, Ashok Purang, on a few small television projects as a writer's assistant. He was introduced to the concept of short film when Ashok Purang asked him to co-ordinate a short film screening programme in Mumbai with his theatre troupe. This screening programme proved to be a life-changing experience for him. He was very much fascinated by the concept of telling a story within a time frame from a few seconds to a few minutes, with a proper start, middle and end, which was just like any other full-length feature film.

With no training in filmmaking or formal education from any film school, he started writing his first short "Main zindagi hoon" soon after appearing for his last university exam. It took him two years to finish writing the short. It was filmed in three days in March 2009. After post-production, which lasted for a few couple of months, the short was released online by Rajshri productions' media unit, Rajshri Media, an online short film distributor firm in Mumbai in December 2009 and later by 1takemedia, another short film distributor in Mumbai, in May 2011. The short film represented India at the 1st First Step Film Fest in Albania in October 2010, followed by a television premiere for the short on the Albanian television, DigitALB. It was nominated for GOLDEN CAMERA AWARD for Best Short at the 3rd Nashik International Film Festival and Best Social Movie Award at the Miniboxoffice International Film Festival, New Delhi.

His second short film The Pink Circle Story, Indian title "Brahma", is set to premiere at the 3rd International Film Festival of Ahmedabad in October 2011. "Brahma" tackles the issue of breast cancer and the living conditions of the "new age" middle class "homemaker" women.

"Brahma" was shot simultaneously with Twinkle Twinkle Unknown Star, his documentary short about his maternal grandmother and Pune resident, who was a stand-in for a popular marathi actor Sandhya in the 1953 V. Shantaram film, Jhanak Jhanak Payal Baaje. It was screened for private audience and family members in Pune.

Filmography

 * Main zindagi hoon Short (2009)
 * Twinkle Twinkle Unknown Star Documentary Short (2010)
 * The Pink Circle Story Short (2011)

Nominations

 * GOLDEN CAMERA AWARD for Best Short, 3rd Nashik International Film Festival, Nominated
 * Best Social Movie, Miniboxoffice International Film Festival, New Delhi, Nominated