BNA alumnus Kamal Chandra pays a visit to the institute to relive his student days

From engineering to acting to direction, life has been a roller coaster ride for the UP boy Kamal Chandra, who is the associate director in the Rajkummar Rao starrer '

Shaadi Mein Zaroor Aana

' that was shot in the city recently.
A

Bhartendu Natya Akademi

(

BNA

) alumnus, Kamal has a long list of films and ads where he has not only assisted in direction but has acted too. He started his career with Sudhir Mishra's '

Yeh Saali Zindagi

' as an assistant director and an actor. Kamal later went on to do films like 'Aur Devdas', 'Life Support', 'Harry', 'Hum Phirr Milein Na Milein', 'P Se PM Tak' among others.
Born and brought up in Agra, Kamal’s parents wanted him to go for an engineering degree and he did so at the Government College of Engineering in Kanpur. "But during the last semester I realized my heart just didn't lie in engineering. I was relieved that the course was over," recalls Kamal, adding, "I was looking to do something creative, something more satisfying and that’s when I came to know about an acting workshop in Bhartendu Natya Akademi." He went on to do a two-year diploma course specializing in direction in 2004. "I was so attached to this field that I never looked back. BNA was the turning point in my career and it instilled in me the confidence to achieve success in this field." But the learning didn't end here, Kamal then also studied at FTII, Pune to learn the art of filmmaking. In 2005, Kamal went to Mumbai and like every other newcomer, faced the same problem of doors being closed on his face. "I went to the offices of big production offices and they wouldn't even let me inside the door," says Kamal with a smile, but then it was fellow UPite Sudhir Mishra who gave Kamal a break. "And since then there has been no looking back for me," says Kamal giving Sudhir the credit for whatever he is in

Bollywood

today.

Kamal assisting on an ad shoot with actor Rajat Kapoor

Recalling his days in Lucknow while studying at BNA, Kamal shares, "Lucknow has a very special place in my heart. People here are very sweet and caring and that’s why I made so many friends here. I had so many hangouts where I used to spend time with my friends and rehearsed our plays."
Recalling an interesting incident, Kamal says, "I remember, there used to be many food thelas outside our academy in Gomti Nagar where we used to sit for hours and discuss or even rehearse our characters. One day, we got so engrossed into the characters that we started improvising on our characters and that continued for hours. Seeing us enact our scenes, a lot of passerby gathered around us and we had a large audience which we realized later when they started clapping."
"Now whenever I visit Lucknow I try to meet everyone here specially my BNA teachers and staff who gave me incredible support during that low phase in life," says Kamal. Talking about his future plans, Kamal says, "I have written a script titled Bilalpur ka Billu, which is a rom-com and I am in the process of finalizing the lead actors for it. Hopefully, it will be on the floor later this year."
He also has a dream of opening a film school in Lucknow in the near future, "There are many aspiring actors and directors, who don't know anything about Bollywood. I would like to guide such students and support such aspirants through my film school," says Kamal as he signs off.

Abhishek.Shukla2@timesgroup.com