Close your Eyes 

Trust Me. 

Close your eyes and revisit the time you saw the character you relate to the 

most getting his heart broken on T.V. 

Close your eyes and think of the time the character you rooted for all 

throughout a film finally getting what they wished for. 

You see, cinema isn’t just another form of art. It’s magic. It has the power to 

make you laugh, cry, and even downright confused all in the span of an hour.   

Ever since I watched ‘Drishyam’ (a Malayalam film directed by Jeethu Joseph) 

I was mesmerized. I was able to see the power cinema had over a person and 

how the filmmaker could tango with a person’s emotions with just sound and 

a juxtaposition of pictures. I wanted to wield that power and help reform the 

ideologies, fears, thoughts, and ideas held onto by entire communities. 

This concept of whether something was right or wrong was always defined 

and completely binary in my catholic Indian family. My parents even sent my 

sister and me to Sunday school for ten years and made us attend a catholic 

school for twelve years so that we too would get a hold of right and wrong. 

One would think that I was a master of it by now. 

But no, I don’t know. I’m still learning the difference between the two. The 

line that separates right and wrong has always intrigued me and really dug a 
hole in my head. In a few months of staring at my ceiling, I even came up 

with a theory to truly distinguish between what was right and wrong. I came 

to the conclusion that our true purpose in life is to facilitate the progress and 

maintenance of humanity as a whole, and therefore the ‘right’ thing to do is 

whatever aligns with the progress of our species. 

As I started making more films and documentaries, I started realising that I 

was getting better at the craft and even started getting nominated at film 

festivals and winning in a few. This further made me cement my idea that I 

could push out my beliefs on right and wrong using cinema as my medium. 

This gave me huge confidence in my ability to make films and allowed me to 

take the decision to apply to college as a film and television production major. 

The path I would have to take to realise my ambitions will be very hard, but I 

am willing to swallow the pill and keep at it till the end because I truly believe 

in my theory of what is right and wrong. And, if I were to convey and help 

people understand my ideologies I would be able to go to bed each night 

telling myself that I am fulfilling my purpose on this beautiful planet God has 

gifted me and that at least a few people had changed their ways of thinking 

and are doing all they can to help grow the humanity as one. A community 

that is able to see different races for what they truly are, human beings and a 

community that will fight together for the progress of the world. 

Now close your eyes and imagine that.