Natasha Coutinho (MUMBAI MIRROR; August 16, 2017)

After judging the dance show Nach Baliye, Mohit Suri will mentor aspiring filmmakers on the new MTV reality show, Fame-istan. He is the first in a series of Bollywood directors to guide four participants through the making of their respective short films.

The show kicks off with a call-for-entry promo, featuring Mohit, for actors and technicians. The filmmaker will pick a winner after watching the finished shorts. “I’m glad that there’s a platform for budding moviemakers to bring their imagination to life. I’d like to tell these youngsters that they shouldn’t let anything stifle their voice,” he said.

Recalling his days as a beginner, when he made the 2005 film Zeher, Mohit says, “I had to take over someone else’s film. I was asked, ‘What if the film doesn’t do well?’ I said I hadn’t given myself that option. That was my innocence. I was so happy about the opportunity that I didn’t harp on the box office success or failure. My mentor, Mahesh Bhatt, once told me, ‘Go do for someone else what I have done for you’. This could be my way of thanking Mr Bhatt.”