Hindi
Young filmmakers need passion and conviction to be successful
PANAJI: One needs not just courage and conviction to make a film but a passion that will sustain him even after years of struggle have passed.
This was the general consensus at a discussion on ‘Student Cinema: New Risk takers, Courage and conviction’ organised by the Federation of Film Societies of India in coordination with the organisers of the 41st International Film Festival of India.
The animated discussion in which Directorate of Film Festivals Joint Director Shankar Mohan was the moderator had several teachers and students of cinema interacting on what sustains an upcoming filmmaker.
In his remarks, FFSI President H N Narahari Rao said that new technologies including digitalisation had made it possible for young filmmakers to take the risk of making films and ‘the horizon is seamless’. He referred to several short film festivals in the country which accepted entries from students.
Mohan, who holds additional charge of Director of the Satyajit Ray Film and Television Institute, said the passion may remain but young filmmakers must sustain the courage and conviction as well. Mohan said almost 90 per cent of the technicians in Bollywood were from the FTII and so those doing technical courses need not be afraid of finding jobs.
Amresh Chakraburtty, who teaches at the SRFTII, quoted Bresson who had said filmmaking was like a battlefield and said one needed courage to take a three-year course before one could call himself or herself a filmmaker. He later said both FTII and SRFTII were holding festivals of student films.
D G Livingstone who teaches at the Chennai Film School said parental support was also important, while Akash who studies in the School said the reach test of courage was after doing the course.
Samimitra Das of the SRFTII said the filmmaker is his own first audience and this gives him the courage to sustain as a filmmaker. Sometimes convincing parents is only one part of the struggle. What is needed is the conviction to dream and fulfil that dream.
Sandeep Chatterjee from Chennai said the time had come for young filmmakers to take the craft to the next level with new avenues opening up.
Filmmaker Haoban Pabam Kumar (formerly of the SRFTII) whose film ‘Mr India’ was shown here said his experience at the Institute had taught him to grapple with problems relating to filmmaking.
The discussion that followed threw up various views. Some of those in the audience said funding continued to be a problem, while others said students lacked the courage to touch untapped subjects.
In a music industry that often rewards speed, spectacle, and instant recall, Navjot Ahuja’s journey feels refreshingly different. His story is not built on noise. It is built on patience, discipline, emotional honesty, and a quiet commitment to becoming better with every passing year. After 14 years of struggle, learning, performing, and writing, Navjot stands today as an artist whose success has not changed his centre. If anything, it has only made his purpose clearer.
For Navjot, music has never been about chasing fame alone. It has always been about expression. It is about writing more truthfully, singing more skillfully, understanding himself more deeply, and becoming a kinder human being in the process. That rare clarity is what gives his journey its beauty.
Where It All Began: A Writer Before a Singer
Indian singer and songwriter Navjot Ahuja’s musical journey began in the most familiar of places: school assemblies. But even then, what was growing inside him was not only the desire to sing. It was the need to write.
Long before he saw himself as a performer, he had already discovered the emotional release that writing offered him. For Navjot, words became the first true channel for feeling. Songwriting came before singing because writing was the only way he could let emotions flow through him fully. That inner pull shaped his artistic identity early on.
Like many young musicians, he sharpened his craft by creating renditions of popular songs.
Those experiments became his training ground. But the turning point came in 2012, when he wrote his first original song. That moment did not just mark the beginning of songwriting. It marked the beginning of self-definition.
A Calling He Did Not Chase, But Accepted
What makes the latest Indian singer-songwriter Navjot’s story especially compelling is the way he describes his relationship with music. He does not frame it as a career he aggressively pursued. In his own understanding, music was not something he chose. It was something that chose him.
There was a time when he imagined a very different future for himself. He wanted to become a successful engineer, like many young people shaped by ambition and conventional expectations. But life had a different script waiting for him. During his college years, around 2021, music entered his life professionally and began taking a firmer shape.
That shift was not driven by image-building or industry ambition. It came from acceptance. Navjot embraced the fact that music had claimed him in a way no other path could. That sense of surrender continues to define the artist he is today.
An Artist Guided by Instinct, Not Influence
Unlike many singers who speak openly about idols, icons, and musical role models, Navjot’s creative world is built differently. He does not believe his music comes from imitation or inherited influence. He listens inward.
He has never considered himself shaped by ideals in the traditional sense. In fact, he admits that he does not particularly enjoy listening to songs, especially his own. His decisions as a songwriter and singer come from instinct. He writes what feels right. He trusts what his inner voice tells him. He positions his music according to what he honestly believes in, not what trends demand.
That creative independence gives his work a distinct emotional sincerity. His songs do not feel calculated. They feel alive.
The Long Years of Invisible Struggle
Every artist carries a chapter of struggle, and Navjot’s was long, demanding, and deeply formative. One of the biggest challenges he faced was building continuity as the best new indian singer songwriter in an era where musical collaboration is increasingly fluid.
For emerging singers, especially those trying to build with a band, consistency can be difficult. Instrumentalists today have more opportunities than ever to freelance and perform with multiple artists. While that growth is positive and well deserved, it can make things harder for singers who are still trying to establish a steady team and sound around their work.
For Navjot, one of the most difficult phases came during 2021 and 2022, when he was doing club shows almost every day. It was a period of relentless performance, but not always personal fulfillment. He was largely singing covers because clubs were not open to original songs that audiences did not yet know.
For a new Indian singer and songwriter, that can be a painful compromise. To perform constantly and still not have the freedom to share your own voice requires not just resilience, but restraint.
“Khat” and the Grace of Staying Unchanged
After 14 years of effort, Navjot’s new love song Khat became a defining milestone. Professionally, he acknowledges that the song changed how society viewed him as a musician. It strengthened his place in the public eye and altered his standing in meaningful ways.
Yet personally, he remains unchanged.
That is perhaps the most striking part of his story. Navjot says his routine is still the same. His calm is still the same. His writing process is still the same. He does not want success or failure to interfere with the purity of his art. For him, emotional detachment from public outcomes is essential because the moment an artist becomes too attached to validation, the writing begins to shift.
His joy comes not from numbers, but from the attempt. If he has tried to improve his skill today, if he has written his heart out more honestly than before, then he is at peace.
Growth, Not Glory, Remains the Real Goal
Even now, Navjot is not consumed by labels such as singles artist, performer, or digital success story. His focus remains deeply personal. He wants to sing better. He wants to play instruments better. He wants to understand himself more. And he wants to become a kinder person.
That is what makes Navjot Ahuja’s journey so moving. It is not simply the story of a musician finding recognition. It is the story of an artist who continues to grow inward, even as the world begins to look outward at him. In an age obsessed with applause, Navjot reminds us that the most meaningful success often begins in silence, honesty, and the courage to remain true to oneself.
