Anand Mahindra: From an aspiring filmmaker to a billionaire industrialist

Not many would know that Anand Mahindra, Chairman of the Mahindra Group, a Mumbai-based business conglomerate, was an aspiring filmmaker. 

"Easy to answer this. I wanted to be a filmmaker & was studied film in college. My thesis was a film I made at the ‘77 Kumbh Mela. But this pic was while shooting a documentary in a remote village near Indore. Anyone old enough to guess which handheld 16mm camera I was using?," the billionaire wrote on Twitter today. 

Anand also shared an old monochrome photo of him holding a handheld 16mm camera and questioned the users on the device. One of the users rightly said," Bhil youth !!! Is it Jhabua District ? Must be a shoot for Bhagoria festival . Dug it out and show us some footage Sir !!!" for which Anand said "Right on all counts!! The name of the village was Dahi."

The conversation began as a reply to an user who had asked, "Anand Mahindra Ji, You are now leading a Giant Mahindra group.. But what was your ambition during your School/College days? Have you ever felt like missing some other favourite profession?"

The tweet garnered thousands of likes within minutes of being shared on the micro blogging platform. 

This is not the first time he has spoken about his love for cinema, which dates back to his childhood days. Anand's mother, Indira, was also a stage and film actor. He had in fact co-produced the first-ever Indian animated feature film, Bombay Rose, selected to open Venice Critics Week. 

"As a student of film making in college, my thesis film was shot at the Mahakumbh in Allahabad, 1977. It was a seminal experience that made me understand that being Indian was being part of a universal confluence. So appropriate that it has been recognised as a treasure of Humanity," he had replied to a 2017 UNESCO's KumbhMela tweet.