Being an outsider makes you tough from within: Vishwak Sen

Breaking into the film industry without connections often comes with uncertainty and limited opportunities. For outsiders like him, success depends on carving out a unique path rather than waiting for a break reckons Vishwak Sen. “It’s harder when you don’t have anyone backing you in the industry and have to build your own name from scratch.

Until you reach a certain point which you don’t even know where that is — you’re an easy target for people,” he says, referring to how outsiders are often overlooked or not taken seriously early in their careers.Before making his debut as a lead in 2017 film Vellipomakey, Vishwak had already been working behind the scenes, acting and directing short films like Mera Pehla Suparee (2013) and Pitta Katha (2014). “When I was in a short film I needed someone to give me a break, and at one stage, I thought I’d only get to direct a film when I turned 40,” he adds, a thought that pushed him to start creating his own opportunities.Alongside acting, he went on to direct films like Falaknuma Das (2019) and later Das Ka Dhamki (2023), “Since no one was going to hand it to me, I became my own director and actor. So being an outsider definitely makes you tough from inside.”