The 2011 drama film, No One Killed Jessica, lead me to take one of the most firm decisions of my life – to pursue journalism as a profession
Cinema, since time immemorial, has had a very strong impact on people. It has the ability to inspire, attract, motivate and lead its audience. I, like many others, belong to that section of people who have been inspired to do something by it. The 2011 drama film No One Killed Jessica lead me to take one of the most firm decisions of my life – to pursue journalism as a profession. Being a 14-year-old teenager, though I wasn’t able to understand the gravity of the issue that the film highlighted, it still had a very strange and unfading influence on me. It roughly gave me an idea about the power media (especially news media) has, to challenge the system and to speak for the unheard.
Four years down the line, here I was, at Symbiosis Centre for Media & Communication, preparing myself for what I had always wanted to do. This college gave me a new perspective of looking at things, taught to form my own opinions and instilled the belief in me that it’s completely alright to make unconventional choices. One of the most captivating courses was the Basics of News Reporting, taught by Professor Ramesh Menon. Journalism seemed magical to me, in the way he taught it to us.
One experience that left an indelible mark on me was the screening of the film Spotlight in his class. It is a 2015 American biographical crime drama film, based on The Boston Globe’s investigative team, and won the 2016 Academy Award for Best Picture. Though I had already watched the movie a few times, that day, it was special. Each time, it gives me a stronger push to dive into the field and explore it and I crave to share my appreciation for the film with a second person. However, that day, I felt at ease. After the screening, we had a discussion about the film with Professor Menon. The way he explained to us the innumerable challenges faced by journalists in this field, it was extremely inspiring.
As the character of Marty Baron (played by Liev Schriber in Spotlight) says, “Sometimes it’s easy to forget that we spend most of our time stumbling around in the dark”, I’m glad that I’m at the right place and SCMC has helped me find my way out of the dark.
Article by: Prakriti Arya (Batch of 2019)
Photograph by: Yogyata Arun Joshi (Batch of 2019)
