Migrant story: Karpal Singh, a banker turned film-maker
Born and brought up in West Bengal, Karpal Singh moved to New Zealand in 2001, as an international student. After completing his studies, he went on to spend over fifteen years in the New Zealand banking and hospitality sectors.
As it happened, in 2016, his bank made him redundant. But always positive, Karpal took this opportunity to follow his childhood passion, and venture into film-making. To arm himself with the skills necessary to make the switch, he successfully graduated with a double major in Production Management and Drama Directing from Southseas Film and TV School, the next year.
Notably, even during his banking days, Karpal acted in the very successful short film, Manurewa. “So the passion has always been there,” he says, while adding, “In the last few years, I have worked on several New Zealand TV shows including Arranged, Namaste NZ, Dance Masala, Yours Faithfully, Kitchen Science, The Cul De Sac, and the upcoming Tele-feature The Tender Trap, among others.”
Additionally, Singh has worked on some international productions like MTV’s Ex on the Peak, and Disney ASB Studio’s The Wilds (The Pilot).
A feather in his cap was Singh’s short film, Best of Both Worlds, which was picked up by an American distributor from the Cannes Film Festival’s Short Film Corner (on-demand platform) and recently played on Amazon in the US and UK. This film has been recently added to the YouTube platform.
Talking about his upcoming projects, Singh informed, “I have been working on a very ambitious short film called Impossible, which is a musical. I am one of the producers and the project is supported by the New Zealand Film Commission. The film shooting was completed recently and currently, it’s in post-production.”
More details at Impossible’s Facebook page here.
Best of Both Worlds – by Karpal Singh
Best of Both Worlds is a short film that was filmed as part of my film studies in 2017. The story was very closed to my heart and I had to tell it. It’s a story of my next generation who is born and raised here in New Zealand. It’s their perspective.
And for me this story doesn’t just talk about a particular culture. In fact, anyone in a similar situation can relate to this. I truly believe culture is the best thing a generation can pass onto the next generation and cherishing it is the only way to keep it alive.
The film is a story of a New Zealand born Sikh, Preet, who is pretty much a Kiwi boy. He doesn’t want to be associated with his Indian/Sikh heritage. While he’s busy enjoying life with friends, he doesn’t have time for his parents, and his continuous absence has taken a toll on the parents.
Things change when a new Maori friend and work colleague, Tahu, realizes Preet’s internal struggle and decides to do something about it.
As the movie goes on, we learn that reconnecting with roots was the easy part.
But society’s acceptance, when you reconnect with your roots, doesn’t come so easily.
The film is on YouTube here.
-Gaurav Sharma