I am so thrilled to welcome one of my favorite people in the world, Mili Ghosh to CulturallyOurs. Mili is a cinematographer, photographer extraordinaire and an all around creative powerhouse originally from Africa, now living in LA.

Mili is an African Indian and has experienced multiple migrations throughout her life. Mili who considers herself a cinephiliac has used film and visual media to satisfy her cultural curiosity and hone her creative skills in visual storyteller.

Growing up, Mili talks about how she was always told by her father that she could never be a master at anything because she had too many interests. She was always glued to the ‘idiot box’ a.k.a the television. Her whole life, she was heavily influenced by Indian cinema and always had a stack of VHS tapes, rented from a local VHS rental store. In fact she even earned herself the nickname “PHD in Cinema” by the shop owner in her home town of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.

Reading was not Mili’s forte. Words did not translate easily into a narrative. And living in Africa meant she did not have regular access to Indian culture. Her deep sense of cultural curiosity about her heritage needed an outlet for discovery and understanding. Mili needed visual stimulation to focus and learn and that fueled her fascination with Indian Cinema.  She jokes that if Bollywood was a country, she would be the president of it.

As a child, she watched Indian movies from some of India’s iconic producers and directors. Her aim was not just entertainment but to get exposed to India and Indian way of life. She also studied films to enrich herself and understand the art of film making, indulging herself in every aspect of film making : Screenplay, Dialogues, Cinematography, Art Direction , Set Design, Music, and even Wardrobe.

Mili says her fascination with cinema was dangerous as she would obsess on the nuances of understanding the choices that were made during film making. She had started to see beyond the story and entertainment value in a film. There lay a much more interesting world for her that made her wander deep into the maze of the complex world of film making. She says the fascination still continues, only becoming stronger and stronger each day. She relates this deep curiosity to the concept of first principals thinking – breaking down complex problems into easy simple solutions.

Today Mili is a sought after wedding cinematographer and photographer known for her flamboyantly fantastic and unique style of visuals and her way of infusing Indian aesthetics into her work in a very unique way. She has photographed weddings of some of India’s top industrialists all over the world.

But Mili, being Mili, says she is nowhere close to being a master at anything because she still considers herself a Jane of all trades with an insatiable curiosity and love for cinema.

I know you are going to throughly enjoy listening to Mili’s story on this episode of CulturallyOurs.

{Photo credit: Mili Ghosh, Instagram: @milighosh }