Love Struck Smart: Engineer Follows Passion

Born in Nagpur, central India, from a family of engineers, Akshay Prem Vyas managed to follow his passion in filmmaking in San Jose while staying the course of what his family intended for him — a career in electrical engineering.

As a child in his hometown, Akshay began writing short stories, influenced by his grandmother's storytelling. He soon watched "Terminator" and other films by James Cameron and became fascinated by this industry.

"I knew you couldn't make those films in India, but it was fascinating to me to create that kind of world. It took my attention," said Akshay.

Then Cameron released "Titanic," whose success caused an even bigger impact on Akshay.

"I watched 'Titanic' 15 times. I really enjoyed Cameron's direction," said Akshay. From that moment he knew he wanted to make films, yet his family had different plans for him, and he wouldn't let his family or himself down.

"My parents told me that filmmaking was not a safe field, that I should get my engineering education first," said Akshay.

Filmmaker Akshay Prem Vyas (with microphone) and "Love Struck Smart" main actor.

Akshay completed a degree in engineering in his hometown and then came to SJSU to get a Master's in Electrical Engineering. There, he had a part-time job renting cameras and other filmmaking equipment to other students, and after being surrounded by all these equipment, he went for it.

In only two years, Akshay learned to shoot and edit. He gathered a small group of friends and began making short films in his spare time, while working as a full-time software engineer in San Francisco.

Akshay, now with full support from his family to make films, has completed his ninth short film, "Love Struck Smart," and recently premiered it at the India Community Center in Milpitas.

A light, romantic comedy, "Love Struck Smart," is a witty, funny story about the romantic adventures of SJSU students, with a clever and ingenious twist, written by Nupur Sinha. It is about love at first sight, and the hurdles and hoops that any young person would go through before even asking a girl out for the first time.

The 30-mininute long film also shows Akshay's intelligent editing that enhances his storytelling abilities.

Even though his actors are from India, Akshay does not only reach out to Indians. His stories are real, everyday life comedies that could apply to any culture.

Part of the cast of "Love Struck Smart"

"My films are whatever I see around me," said Akshay. The humor used in his films are indeed funny for everyone; the audience during the premiere of "Love Struck Smart," as diverse as San Jose itself, surely broke out in laughter at the half-English half-Hindi dialogues and jokes (with subtitles) of the actors.

He finds economic factors to be the most difficult challenge for filmmakers nowadays. He has to pay all expenses for his films from his own pocket. "It is extremely difficult to sell your films to distributors and much more difficult to get financing from studios."

Besides James Cameron as his main influence, Akshay recalls M. Night Shyamalan and can relate to his personal story as well.

Shyamalan is from Southern India and was brought up in a line of doctors in the United States but decided to be a filmmaker instead.

Akshay still follows the film industry in his country, which is now booming. "If I had done filmmaking back then, in the middle of the last decade, I would have been in the middle of this boom."

Akshay, remembering a quote by Cameron, suggested, "If you want to make films, nobody will come say, 'Please make a film for me,' so just do it, pick up a camera, a tripod and start shooting — you're a director."

Visit Akshay Prem Vyas's website at www.apvmovies.com.