Spirit W | Live each day as if it is your last: Nilakshi Sengupta

Nilakshi Sengupta is Director, Producer at Nilakshi Sengupta Communications (Sole Proprietorship). The business which was started twelve years ago was earliercalled Point Of View. When she realised that she was sharing this name with other businesses she felt it was time for her to change and give her business a new name!Inspired by PNC she someday hopes to scale similar heights.

She is a person with   positive attitude, and has a never-give-up spirit. She considers herself pretty tough headed! Never Say Die......That is Nilakshi Sengupta’s attitude towards life. She  truly believes that Nothing Is Impossible once you put your mind to it. To her, mind  is the single biggest weapon that we all possess.

She started very early in life with Radio since  there were no FM's then. She was with All India Radio. Then later she graduated to television and had the opportunityof being with Doordarshan which was the only channel around at that point. Then came another move which was advertising where she has had wide experience ofClient servicing, Media, Copy and Films. 

She has always believed in being able  to deal with  medium of films in every capacity possible. Having stayed in  Mumbai for almost 20 years now, she has worked in the best production houses and ad agencies in the city. She has  been running her  own setup since the last four to five years adding on PR and Events as well to herportfolio.  Some of her most successful brands are Athena and Moshe. She is a foodie and loves the hospitality industry. 

From year 2000 to 2005 she did a short stint in PR after which she returned  to films in the world of Audio Visual medium. Nilakshi has also been doing promos for Television, Corporate films for the hotel industry and writing scripts and trying to understand how the International film industry works. 

She is also involved in the business of Content providing to mobile phone companies which she started early this year and finds it extremely interesting and growing everyday.

She works abroad most of the time and takes Bollywood contents across to UK and USA.

Nilakshi’s motto is ‘Don’t lose interest half way; nothing is impossible’.

Nilakshi Sengupta took out time to talk to Adgully and share her views with us on various  topics such as her early days with radio , television, PR, Bollywood andalso her hobbies. This is what she had to say:

Speaking about her long and quite zig-zag journey that is from radio to television, from production houses to ad agencies, she said, “It has been a great experience of growing up for me. I had no family member or friends to advise me during my early years. All I knew was that I wanted to be in a field that combines visuals with art, sound, theatre, acting, literature.”

‘Sound’ has been one thing that has always been her favorite. She started learning Indian classical music since the age of 6 and continued it for almost 18-19 years. She says, “I had the good fortune of watching great maestros do their own riyyaz. I realized, with time, that I was always more interested in rhythm; the beats around us, the beats in nature; rhythm is there everywhere; when we walk, when it rains, when the train passes by, when you are frying some food.” She basically wanted to find the common areas in rhythm in music, films and literature. And that drew her towards radio and then TV; it was only Doordarshan those days and eventually films.

Her early days were spent in Calcutta. Sharing her best memories, she said she still remembers the meandering lanes, the old structures and her long walks. “I had this habit of getting off a bus at any bus stop that struck me as interesting and walk around to see where it reached. It was like my own discovery of the city. I used to also look for the ghats of the Ganges and spend hours watching the different activities at the banks.”

Commenting on whether there is a specific shift by brands and marketers vis a vis a decade back, Sengupta explained that the brands and marketers have today woken up to three things - quality, beauty and presentation. She believes that consumers are also getting more conscious of what they want and what to select from the numerous brands available. “Look at the packs of the earlier years. They were printed on paper and stuck with glue. We were happy with it then. But today one cannot imagine using a shampoo bottle with the label peeling off or a bottle of medicine without an expiry date,” she stated.

Sengupta has also been associated with the film industry and Bollywood and so when asked for her opinion on what standing Bollywood has in the West, shebelieves that we are at par with Hollywood as far as our technicians go. As far as content goes, we are where they were thirty years back, or maybe even behind.

With a tinge of pride and joy she said, “I attend most international film festivals and workshops and I have realized, technically whatever the discussions maybe, we are at par to interact. Be it in the camera department, editing, sound and today, even stunts and action.”  She is of the opinion that, work needs to be done on our acting skills too. “Acting should be like second skin – effort less and not pushed beyond normal”, she said.

Also, Sengupta believes that its time to move out of the melodramatic scenario. It is not what the audience wants and enjoys, it’s what the audience is fed, day in and day out.

When asked to share her point of view on how have marketers started to reach out to women consumers now, Sengupta opined that women were always the central figure even 20 years back. “Look at old commercials, either woman was the medium used to sell a product or the product was meant to appeal to women. The only difference being now we have more products catering to the women whose exposure to the world has become wider. We are more in tune with what is going on in the entire world,” she said. Adding further she mentioned, “Remember the first Liril commercial? The path breaking one that showed the Indian audience what Indian women could look like in a bikini! We are more tolerant today.”

She believes that the era has changed to a large extent. There was a time when years back, Usha Uthup singing English songs, fully dressed in an ethnic silk saree with a gajra and bindi,  termed as ‘opo sonskriti’ – indecent - simply because she moved to the beats while singing. Making a hard-hitting statement she said, “We are ready to accept more, tolerate more and when frustrated – blame more. Then again, if we look at the totality, nothing has really changed – women are still treated as objects.”

The woman who believes and carries the ‘Never Say Die’ attitude towards life, actually regards her mother for the love and independence she gave to her. With a broad smile dressing her face, she says, “For me, I very strongly believe that there can be only two options in life – when you fall, either you get up and move or lie there and mop. If we chose the second then it is us who we need to be answerable to when the last moment arrives in our lives.”

Sengupta’s hobbies include watching movies, watching movies, watching movies! This is followed by listening to music, reading - her favorites being historical thrillers, and of course eating!

When asked about her mentors and inspirations to take up a career like this continue working fruitfully, Sengupta offered us long list of people who have reflected their insights on her personal and professional life. Elaborating on the same she said, “I hold very few people in very high esteem. And they are usually people with certain specific qualities.” Her little sister Enakshi Kapur for her lessons on humanity, her three ex- bosses on various details that she has learnt about various facets of the industry, Nomita Roy Ghosh of Whitelight, Ananya Bannerjee of Doordarshan and  Kavita Advani from Lowe Lintas. Then there is Nagesh Kukunoor, the only other director for TVCs in her company and who has taught her how to dream movies, Imam Siddique who has taught her all about fashion and Moshe Shek who has taught her all about food. “But my biggest mentor in life philosophy would be Daisaku Ikeda nd last but not the least the gentle smile in the face of the greatest adversary from my Mother. I owe her everything,” Sengupta mentioned.

Ending the conversation with a positive advice to the young women who are trying to be successful in their careers, Sengupta said, “It’s your life, so make the choices after weighing both pros and cons – preferably in writing. Take risks that doesn’t harm anyone, but protect you first. You are your best friend. Do everything that you want to do, there is no limit. But take responsibility for every action taken.”

Nilakshi Sengupta believes that one needs to live each day as the last day of our life. The emotions shared with any person are the most precious.