Interview: Shimit Amin
By: Jai Rajendrakumar
Rocket Singh might be the salesman of the year, but only because Shimit Amin said so.
Then again, Amin never envisioned he would find himself instructing Ranbir Kapoor how to make his character transform from average college graduate to “Rocket” in next to no time at all. Yet, here he is, at the helm of Bollywood’s latest release, Rocket Singh: Salesman of the Year.
Of course, Amin has been taking the humble road all week, telling the media, in the days leading up to the film’s release, he merely stumbled upon directing films, luckily moving up from a career of film editing.
Skill, according to the Chak De! India director, did not have much to do with him being one of today’s most desired film directors in Bollywood.
“I would call (Bollywood) an accident, because when I was working on the edit for Ram Gopal Varma’s Bhoot, (he) offered me to direct Ab Tak Chhappan. I think he liked my work; otherwise, no one would offer such a humongous responsibility without merit,” Amin told the media in a recent interview. “So I took it as a challenge and made the film, and now I’m here.”
So begins the story of Amin, who left working on independent films in Los Angeles to become a film editor on Bhoot – a position he found himself in due to a friend’s recommendation.
The rest, as they say, became history. Before he knew it, Amin had put out the critically acclaimed film Chak De! India. Only his second film ever, the feel-good biopic about field hockey in India was produced by Yash Raj Films and starred Shah Rukh Khan. The fourth-highest-grossing film at the box office in 2007 (reportedly earning about $13 million), it had won several awards for Best Film.
That set the stage for the Uganda-born, Florida-raised and Los Angeles-residing former film student to direct Rocket Singh: Salesman of the Year. Yet, as the film opened in theaters worldwide this weekend, Amin admitted, in an interview with Press Trust of India, that he had no plans on becoming a director or doing anything other than what he calls his true love in editing.
“Editing is still my first love. I love the craft of putting things together,” he said. “I also like directing, but it does not give me the same high.”
Regardless, with his third directorial venture already in theaters, Amin ultimately feels blessed to be in the position he is in, mostly because he had an opportunity to work with some of the biggest names in Bollywood, such as Khan, Kapoor, Varma, and mega-producers Yash and Aditya Chopra.
“I think I’m fortunate to have worked with such talented actors, but I never thought I would get to work with such names so early in my career,” he candidly told reporters this past week. “However, I have to admit that working with them happened by accident.”
Whether he landed in his current position by accident or not is irrelevant. At the end of the day, Amin has directed award-winning films. Should he continue to do so, his place as one of the top directors in Bollywood will be no accident.
By: Jai Rajendrakumar
Rocket Singh might be the salesman of the year, but only because Shimit Amin said so.
Then again, Amin never envisioned he would ever find himself instructing Ranbir Kapoor how to make his character transform from average college graduate to “Rocket” in next to no time at all. Yet, here he is, at the helm of Bollywood’s latest release, Rocket Singh: Salesman of the Year.
Of course, Amin has been taking the humble road all week, telling the media in the days leading up to the film’s release he merely stumbled upon directing films, luckily moving on up from a career of film editing.
Skill, according to the Chak De! India director, did not have much to do with him being one of today’s most desired film directors in Bollywood.
“I would call (Bollywood) an accident, because when I was working on the edit for Ram Gopal Varma’s Bhoot, (he) offered me to direct Ab Tak Chhappan. I think he liked my work, otherwise, no one would offer such a humongous responsibility without merit,” Amin told the media in a recent interview. “So, I took it as a challenge and made the film, and now I’m here.”
And so begins the story of Amin, who left working on independent films in Los Angeles to become a film editor on Bhoot – a position he found himself in due to a friend’s recommendation.
The rest, as they say, became history. Before he knew it, Amin had put out the critically-acclaimed film Chak De! India. Only his second film ever, the feel-good biopic about field hockey in India was produced by Yash Raj Films and film starred Shah Rukh Khan; the fourth-highest grossing film at the box office in 2007 (reportedly earning about $13 million); it had won several awards for Best Film.
That set the stage for the Uganda-born, Florida-raised and Los Angeles-residing former film student to direct Rocket Singh: Salesman of the Year. Yet, as the film opened in theaters worldwide this weekend, Amin admitted in an interview with Press Trust of India that he had no plans on becoming a director or doing anything other than what he calls his true love in editing.
“Editing is still my first love. I love the craft of putting things together,” he said. “I also like directing but it does not give me the same high.”
Regardless, with his third directorial venture already out in theaters, Amin ultimately feels blessed to be in the position he is in, mostly because he had an opportunity to work with some of the biggest names in Bollywood, such as Khan, Kapoor, Varma, and mega-producers Yash and Aditya Chopra.
“I think I’m fortunate to have worked with such talented actors, but I had never thought that I would get to work with such names so early in my career,” he candidly told reporters this past week. “However, I have to admit that working with them happened by accident.”
Whether he landed in his current position by accident or not is irrelevant. End of the day, Amin has directed award-winning films. Should he continue to do so, his place as one of the top directors in Bollywood will be no accident.
