Anubhav Srivastava to complete 'Carve Your Destiny' film this year

25-year-old Anubhav Srivastava was as laidback as any youngster would be at college. But at one point he began to feel tired of the complacency. His life had a turning point in 2007 that came in the form of an international competition. The undergraduate student decided to make a documentary on successful personalities.

Says Anubhav, “I wanted to shoot such a film because it would help me grow as a person. I knew that meeting the people I had in mind was extremely tough but I made it happen.” True to his promise to himself, Anubhav's put together quite an impressive list of personalities — politico Sheila Dikshit, former IPS officer and activist Kiran Bedi, artist Jatin Das, politico Kapil Sibal, motivational speaker Shiv Khera, among others. The two-hour film, Carve Your Destiny, will be completed this year and Anubhav is looking to take it to film festivals next year.

“With the support of contacts, the university’s financial resources and a large group of students, I was confident we could pull it off. However, the idea was rejected by the professor and all the possibilities of using the contacts and resources disappeared. Slowly, all the students who pledged their support disappeared too,” recalls Anubhav, adding that the obstacles only made his aim stronger. He confesses that setting up the meetings was the toughest job: “In the past three years, I’ve done interviews with 19 Indian and international achievers, but I have been rejected by over 200 other people I approached.”

The interviews gave him a first-hand experience of the behavioural traits of the personalities. “Some were gracious, some polite but distant, some seemed in a hurry and some just behaved a bit oddly. But these were more of their personal traits instead of the fields they belonged to — with the exceptions of the politicians, of course!” says Anubhav, quickly adding, “They all brought their unique insights in to what helped them succeed in their field. It was a great learning experience.”

Anubhav’s wish-list also includes names like Shah Rukh Khan, Aamir Khan and Sachin Tendulkar. But he feels most of the knowledge that the masses need to know about making their dreams come true has been discussed in his film.
Anubhav’s personal philosophy is simple. “We only have one chance at life. 30 years down the line, I’d prefer having lived a life filled with great failures rather than having a life filled with great regret for not having tried hard enough.”