Director Danish Renzu was born and brought up in Kashmir, and moved to the US at the age of 18 where he pursued his dreams of becoming a filmmaker. Growing up in Kashmir, he couldn’t watch films in theatres – Ajay Devgn and Aamir Khan starrer Ishq was the first film he saw on the big screen – but he was exposed to cinema through television. The exposure led to obsession and despite getting a degree in engineering, he chose to become a filmmaker.
His film The Illegal, starring Suraj Sharma, Adil Hussain, Shweta Tripathi and Neelima Azeem, has just premiered on Amazon Prime Video. Inspired greatly by his own life as an immigrant in the US, Danish shows the very real struggles of pursuing the American dream through this one. The film mirrors the harsh realities of the young migrants who journey to America in search of a better life, but end up struggling to make the ends meet.
Danish spoke to us about his journey from Kashmir to pursuing electrical engineering in California to finally becoming an independent filmmaker.
How much of The Illegal is inspired by your own story?
I also went to the US at a young age as an immigrant, as a student. I went through the whole journey of having multiple jobs while being a student and trying to make ends meet. So that was definitely an inspiration to write the script because it was not only my experience as an international student, but also the stories of fellow immigrants and people I met on this journey. I realised that there was so much more to the American dream. It was not how it was always pictured and showcased in movies about glitter and glamour and Hollywood Boulevard and all of that. It’s a story of people who have overcome obstacles, people who have challenges to make their dreams come true, and struggle of living in a system that is difficult for immigrants and outsiders. So I think there’s a lot of my own story in it.
How did you go from living in Kashmir to becoming a filmmaker in the US?
I went to the US when I was 18. Since childhood I wanted to be a filmmaker. My parents went crazy and gave up all hopes on me. I didn’t play cricket or sports. I was more into films. There were no theatres but growing up watching TV I got obsessed about filmmaking. I remember the first film I watched in a theatre in Jammu was Kajol and Ajay Devgn’s film Ishq, and I was amazed. In the US, I pursued a degree in electrical engineering at the University of California. When I was there, I took a couple of film classes just for fun. I loved screenwriting so much.
Once I graduated, I was working but also making short films. I did a 2-year writers’ program while working. That’s where I wrote two screenplays, Illegal was one of them. The feedback I got from the teachers and professors was really overwhelming. And I thought, maybe this is something that I should definitely pursue. Then in 2015, I quit my job.
Did moving to America finally help you realise your dreams?
It’s because of my experience in America of being an immigrant, coming from a middle class family who needed two-three jobs to survive, because the tuition was so expensive for international students, I had to give it my all because I had this one chance to finally make my dreams come true. If I had lived in India I would probably be doing something else. But the US opened doors for me which I would have never imagined. Filmmaking is the best platform for me to express myself and also empathise with stories and characters that are overlooked.
Do you go back to Kashmir often?
Yes, my family lives there. My film Half Widow was entirely shot there.
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