Dipankar Kashyap

Q: Your introduction and your lifestyle in a nutshell.

A: I was born into a middle-class Assamese family. My mother was a government school teacher, and my father was a Divisional Superintendent at Assam State Transport. I completed my schooling at Don Bosco, Guwahati, and later earned my Master's degree in English Literature from the University of Poona.

From my school days, I was deeply interested in fashion and dance and used to participate in numerous cultural events. During my university years, fashion came into my life — I did my first show there in 1991, when fashion was still new to most of us.

After completing my post-graduation, I returned to Guwahati and I was offered to do the costumes in Mridul Gupta's film Krishnasura. After that, there was no looking back. I became a fashion designer — though without formal training, my passion for creativity guided me. Of course, it took a lot of hard work.

At the same time, I developed a liking for direction. When Prag Channel was established, I joined hands with Krishna Baruah, Kopil Bora, Kaushik Nath, and Sanjive Narayan. Together, we created a range of programmes — New Year specials, personality features, style and talk shows, music videos, short stories, and VCD films. In total, I've directed around 12 video films, designed costumes for 16 films, and worked on numerous music videos.

I've spent 34 years in the fashion industry, and today, I've also directed a big-screen film titled Sitore Xemeka Rati - The Winter Rain, which has brought me both national and international recognition, winning 27 awards.