Spirit W | Film making on the cards for Deepti Bhatnagar

Deepti Bhatnagar arrived in Mumbai in 1992 with an aim to promote her handicrafts  and was on the hunt for a good ad agency to fulfil her dreams . But destiny had other plans for her. She got an opportunity to model for the Roopmilan Sarees press ad and close on the heels of this ad she signed on for 12 more campaigns and thus started her stint in the professional modeling world. She caught the media spotlight when she was crowned Eves Weekly Miss India in 1990. Her beauty and talent opened up avenues for her in the film industry and she has acted in  approximately 9 Hindi movies, 2 Telugu movies, and 1 English movie, from year 1995 right through to 2004 and has also  made appearances on the  small screen. 

Post her marriage in the year 2000 she established her own production house Deepti Bhatnagar Productions and in 2001 she ventured into television production with travel shows. The first being Yatra, a religious travel guide show and later Musafir Hoon Yaaron a travel guide show which covered countries  around the world and was  one of the first Indian based international travel television show. She is still producing shows under DB Productions banner, the latest one being 'Jo Biwi Se Kare Pyaar'.

Adgully caught up with Deepti Bhatnagar, Founder, Deepti Bhatnagar Productions Pvt. Ltd. to know more about her journey from a model to a producer, her views on women and their professional careers and her future plans for her company.

Sharing with us about her journey she said," I am an ex-Miss India, was a model and actor and post marriage I moved  into Production.  Being independent for me is really important, and this mattered to me since my youth. After experiencing different roles in life, I found my space in productions since I am a creative person, think creatively and do new things.  For me my shows are like my own baby, and my creativity and shows give me immense satisfaction."

She has been in to production since 2000, so when asked  what made her stick to this profession for over a decade she shared to say, " I believe  that one should follow their dreams and the  rest  follows be it fame, money, popularity etc. I was very clear and focused about what I wanted to do and so in 2000 I started my own production company. This is the 13th year and in this span we have done 25 odd shows and I am happily settled in my profession which has seen no decline. I am very focused in what I am doing," she explained.

As in every profession there are challenges that a person or a company deals with, but for Bhatnagar there have never been any major challenges that she faced professionally.

Elaborating further on this Bhatnagar said, "I am lucky that me and my husband work together so for me it's never been difficult professionally.  But yes I do face challenges on the personal front  as my kids are small and I need to attend shoots and  at the same time take care of them. Work wise I didn't see any kind of difficulties. In my opinion it is all in the mind. For e.g. if you think certain things are difficult, it becomes difficult but if you don't there is none." 

She feels proud to be a mother, wife and a professional who is independent and focused.

On asking her how she sees the television industry today, she said, "I think television industry has always been very progressive. We as a production house are now getting into film productions but television has always been steady and we have been constantly getting shows. What is important in this industry is being able to sustain in it as it is a very competitive genre."

DB Productions Pvt. Ltd. is totally driven by her and has always been innovative where their concepts and shows are concerned. "I constantly keep coming up with new ideas and I believe that being innovative is the key," she added.

For Bhatnagar her role model has always been her mother and till date looks up to her. Explaining the reason behind that she said, "My mother is 75 years old but still working and independent.  She is hardworking and focused.  For me my role models should have these qualities and my mother has it all." 

Sharing her future plans she said "I would be producing movies and many more new shows and will continue doing it."

She is also working on a new cookery show, where she herself will be seen participating. "We are also presenting movies wherein we buy the movies and present them," she said.

Today women are ambitious and do not hesitate to try their hand at different professions.  When asked if women have an edge over men in her profession she replied, "I always say that women are more pushy than men and they are go–getters. But in production presently there are not many women except a few, but in my view yes, women are generally more aggressive and focused in their careers."