Art brought him to Goa, his heart made him stay

GOA: Even at the peak of their youth, not many people know what they want out of life. But, by the time Rajeev Shinde was out of high school, he had already decided to shape his destiny. In the summer of 1975, he walked up to his father and said, "You either allow me to join the Air Force or become an artist." That decision was made quickly and he gained admission to the J J School of Art, Mumbai.
Not interested in pursuing a diploma in Mumbai, he decided to head to Goa for a degree programme at the Goa College of Art. Four decades on, his indispensability surpasses his attachment to the institute, where he has grown from a lover of the arts to the head of department of applied art.
Born to an army man in Ratnagiri, Maharashtra, Shinde was brought up to lead a disciplined life. It isn't uncommon for children of military personnel to keep jumping schools and cities and Shinde was no exception to this, shifting base to almost every big town in the state. "I had to adjust every time I moved to a new environment. Friend circles created and abandoned. I guess it nurtured in me the quality to never be satisfied with status quo," says Shinde, who has been actively involved in theatre activities for the last 30 years as a playwright, director and set designer.
"When I proclaimed my love for the arts, my family and friends thought I had lost it. They also couldn't see beyond their limited scope and imagination that I would be painter whitewashing walls and roofs. Destiny brought me to Goa and I think if I had not left my father's strict environs, I would never have made the stage my home," he says, adding that he owes a great of who he is today to his aunt, Varsha Desai, and uncle, Dada Desai, who nurtured him while he studied in Goa.
As a student at Goa College of Art, which then had its campus at Miramar, he was involved in many theatre activities, writing and performing one-act plays. He began his stage career with a theatre group, ‘Navrang Stars', and later formed another group called ‘Vakratunda'.
It was his play, ‘Karata Karma Kriyapad' that took him places and helped him make his mark in Marathi theatre. Having performed it over 250 times at different venues in Goa and Maharashtra, he deserving won the best director award in 1993 in both the states. Over the years, he has written and directed around 20 one-act plays and 11 full-length plays.
Shinde's tryst with filmmaking began on the last day of college. While his friends were busy celebrating the end of exams, he caught a 6pm bus to Mumbai, merely two hours after writing his final semester paper. He met with Raghuvir Talashilkar, who introduced him to the famed film art director, T K Desai, with whom he worked on movies such as ‘Loot Maar' featuring Devanand, and ‘Suhaag', featuring Amitabh Bachchan.
Despite the thrill of working with the top names of Bollywood, deep down he yearned to be back in Goa. And, when he learnt that there was a vacancy at his alma mater for a teaching post, his heart was at war with his mind.
"I was a mess and that is when T K Desai said to me, ‘Do what your heart says, because your mind is corrupt'. So, I left behind the money and magic of Mumbai in search for something more relevant to me. From earning 10,000 on a good working day in 1982, to earning 1,400 a month as a teacher, it was a decision many people laughed at. But, today they are envious of how happy I am. I chose a quality life with no compromises," he says. admitting that he wouldn't be able to pursue this lifestyle if he was tied to the mundane madness in Mumbai. "I did in Goa everything I could have done in Bombay, so I have no regrets at all".
His critically acclaimed film, ‘K Sera Sera', has been selected for the Indian Panorama section at the International Film Festival of India (Iffi) 2016, among 230 other nominations from all over the country. It is also being screened at the Dhaka International Film Festival 2016.
Not letting himself be distracted by the success and recognition his work is attaining, Shinde is in the process of providing finishing touches to the screenplay of his 2014 theatrical masterpiece ‘Thodassa Logic Thodassa Magic' and will begin shooting early next year.
"I think Konkani cinema has come of age. If you have a good story, people will appreciate it. We shouldn't be afraid to try different genres and subjects in our cinema," says Shinde, who is stoked about his latest Marathi play, ‘Love by Chance', a psychological thriller, which is scheduled to be released in January.
As a teacher too, he has never settled for the normal. The thrill of experimentation and abstract thinking drives his normal day at work. His students say the classroom is his stage and his lectures are like a performance. Shinde specializes in communication design, audio-visual and visual communication. Working late into the night, he creates demos and short films at leisure, just to inspire his students to emulate him.
Not many people may know this, but Shinde is also a very fine poet and a brilliant photojournalist.
"As a teacher, the most important thing is to understand the strengths of your student and guide him/her accordingly. Helping him/her follow what the heart says is essential to shaping futures," he says.
Shinde is married to singer Archana Kandeparkar and has a daughter studying in Class IX.
Despite being a theatre person, and for someone who reads and studies people's mannerisms and characteristics, he says he got to know his father only after he passed away. Reflecting on the relationship he shared with his father, he says, "My dad would never appreciate me, he always berated every achievement or award I won. But, after he died, I found a file hidden in a box, which had newspaper clippings of all my accomplishments. I guess he hid his emotions to keep me grounded."