Exclusive | Sabeer Ahluwalia's True Calling Lies in Media & Films

India has never lacked talent and never will in the future. The youth of today and their achievements provide us with this surety. They have their hands in all the pie and yet they emerge successful in the choice of their own career. One such youth among us is Mr. Sabeer Ahluwalia who has been recently awarded the young achievers award from Subhas Ghai's Whistling wood International.

A degree in Microbiology and masters in Bioinformatics Sabeer chose to make his career in media because that is where his heart lay. Currently he is the CEO and Whole Time Director of Quantum Gabriel (QG) which imparts 360 degree specialized, avant-garde Media & Communication Services in the various spheres of communications like Animation & Vfx, Production & Post Production, Advertising and Promotion & Events. Quantum Gabriel has a team of In house 40 animators and designers facilitating the production of more than 300 short animated films. QG has developed more than 11000 minutes of animated content meant for the entertainment, educational and marketing segment.

QG has also handled the production of a graphic novel on Bible which was appreciated in the various International book markets. It has also handled the production of a part of a 2D classical animated film (yet to be released) for a Kolkata based film company.

QG was also responsible for the execution of more than 100 animated greeting cards for the Netherland based Portal.And the production of an animated promo of a Tollywood film starring super star Prosenjit and Paoli Dam called ‘Jamai Raja’ the first of its kind in Eastern India, followed by the Durga Puja Capmaign for Zee Bangla, Kolkata. It has produced no less than 100 animated and motion graphic TV commercials for New York 1 channel, Zee TV, Sony TV, TV Asia, WNBC 63, and CNBC on behalf of Executive Producer, Co-Producer and Associate Director of many independent New York and Los Angles based Independent Film companies.

Quantum can boast of clients such as Macaw Books, 3 Dimension films, Amantel, Pidipompi, Quixot Multimedia, Frame box, Interlude Technologies, Vibgyor Group, Adarsh Telemedia, Eskay Movies, Zee Bangla, Toonz Animation, True cinema, Verka, Super Shakti TMT, Sparrow Publication, Angel Animation , Book Matrix, Tauwen Industries.

Sabeer is at present working on a full length animated feature film based on the stalwarts Satyajit Ray & Sukumar Ray. Adgully had an elaborate conversation with him to know more about his work. Here is what all he had to say.

We were curious to know from the man that how did a career in media work out for him. He said that creativity is his passion and the good work he has produced is a result of his academic career and passion.  “I love the human body as a machine but the human mind fascinates me more and what better medium to explore and showcase the intricacies of the human mind than films,” he added.

Sabeer had successfully created the animated TV Series of Byomkesh Bakshi and Neel Kamal Laal Kamal earlier and that made us ask him, was this a logical shift from TV series to a full length animated film and Sabeer said a yes. His real passion has always been movies. He thought the transition will be easier if he got into animation first. He has done short films in animation in the past so to make a full length animated feature is a logical decision made by him.

His TV series concentrated on legendary fictional stories and in the feature film he will be dealing with legendary film-makers. How difficult was it to dabble from fiction to non-fiction? Sabeer coolly answered, “‘Difficulty’ is not a word for me. Fiction or Non Fiction is not important, what is most important is the art of filmmaking. It gives me immense pleasure to create each character and project them on screen.”

He also added that even in non-fiction there is always a touch of reality.  That's how everyone connects to the stories. In non-fiction one has to handle the subject with a great deal of responsibility in terms of authenticity; every detail touched upon in the movie has to be accurate and true.

Sabeer mentioned that his heart beats for Kolkata so we could not stop ourselves from asking that was he restricting himself to Bengali themes and not moving out of his comfort zone. Sabeer defended his stance with the words that, films like music, do not have any language, religion, or barriers. It’s universal and therefore it does not matter whether he is making a film in Bengali or any other language. It is his creation and he would like to grow and be recognized universally for his work.

He further said that, “I am a Bong by heart and I am proud of that abut that has nothing to do with my work. I love this city...its people, culture and vibrancy. That in no way means that I intend to be like a frog in the well. I'll definitely explore options outside Bengal.”

We definitely wanted to know more about his film and what part of Satyajit Ray and SukumarRay’s life did he intend to concentrate in his film and will it have a pan India appeal. Sabeer said that every aspect of the lives of these legends is well known. Hence, his film will deal with their work rather than their lives. Satyajit Ray and Sukumar Ray are globally known so whatever he will create will be for all strata of society and have a pan India appeal.These legends and their work are universal. Hence the movie would not cater to a niche audience but rather will be for everyone who loves cinema.

Our next question was why he had not yet come up with illustrated books in Bengali and the answer was that he will be more than happy to create books in all languages and specially Bengali.  There is an enormous collection of good stories in Bengali literature which could be made into illustrated books. It would be a dream to work on them.

We could not have ended our talk without a question on Quantum Gabriel and how did he see the company growing in the next few years and his own expectation from the company. Quantum Gabriel has taken baby steps to establish it and would like to grow in leaps and bounds in the future. “Creativity comes from trust”- We at Quantum Gabriel believe in this maxim and aspire to be not the 'biggest' or the 'leading' media & communication firm in India, but to stand apart as the most trusted by the people we work with, as well as the people we work for.

How could we not ask the man who has his fingers in all the pie that whether this was his true calling or there was anything still left to be tried by him, and well the man did seem to have an answer to it. He said that, “Creativity has always been my passion and my calling in whatever field it is in. I have been very experimental in my life and have experienced a lot of thing, which convinces me even more that this is my real calling.”

Well since the man has found his true calling we can only wish that a lot other youths in our country would also eventually find their true calling where their heart lies.

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@adgully

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