If I hadn't gone abroad, The Ghazi Attack wouldn't have been possible: Sankalp Reddy

HYDERABAD: Sankalp Reddy was denied a US visa six times before he finally changed his study destination to Australia. The 31-year-old director of the film The Ghazi Attack, says he could make the film because he had studied abroad. "If I hadn't gone abroad, the film wouldn't have been possible. In India, there's a great deal of concentration on the theoretical aspects of subjects. There, it was a more practical view that widened my horizons," he told students attending a seminar conducted by Global Tree on Wednesday. Sankalp touched on many aspects of his experience — culture, language, food, immigration policies and career opportunities.

He enrolled for a degree in the Master of International Business (MIB) programme, but ended up doing a Master's in Fine Arts. "I went for a MIB degree from Griffith University in Australia but one fine day, when I was in my first semester, I saw a hoarding of the Griffith film school on campus. I decided to change my course to Master's in Fine Arts and I am really glad that I took that decision," he says.

He says racist attacks occur not just in the US but can occur anwhere in the world. He said it was a matter of pride that more students are studying overseas. From 53,000 at the turn of the millennium, today, an estimated 2.5 lakh plus students are studying abroad. "Australia has fewer Indians compared to the US, so I had to struggle more in Australia with everything - studies, food or anything else." His course was also expensive and he had to cut his expenses and even became a vegetarian! "I had to give up a lot to pursue Fine Arts in Australia,'' he smiled.