Meet Deep Bhatia

We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Deep Bhatia. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Deep below.

Hi Deep, we’re so appreciative of you taking the time to share your nuggets of wisdom with our community. One of the topics we think is most important for folks looking to level up their lives is building up their self-confidence and self-esteem. Can you share how you developed your confidence?

At the tender age of 11, I was put into Bollywood dance classes by my mother along with my elder sister. I had a strong belief that dancing was only for girls, and that guys did not dance, but rather played a sport. This was also the time that I was enrolled in Cricket class, and at the time, my dream was to grow up and become a professional cricket player. I sobbed and tried to convince my mother not to put me in for dance, as I was ashamed that my friends and peers would make fun of me. But my mother was persistent, and believed that this would be really good for me, and to my surprise back then, she was absolutely right.

As the classes started, I was surprised that there was another guy with me as well, and we quickly became good friends. But more than that, I slowly started talking to everyone in my class. I was extremely shy back then, and didn’t make much of an effort to talk to anyone, unless they approached me, or I absolutely had to. My dance classes were twice a week, and were on a term bases, meaning that there would always be the same kids in my class until the end of the term. Our class quickly became extremely good friends with each other, and we all started hanging out after classes and even on the weekends. It was great. As much as I did not want to like the dance class I was enrolled in, I hate to say it, but I really had a ball. Until I found out about the end of the stage performance.

The dance company made it a point that at the end of every term, there would be a show, where each class had to perform the dance routine that they had been practicing for the past 8-12 weeks. This would be an event where all of our friends and family were invited, and overall was a great idea. But my anxiety said otherwise. I could not believe that I had to step on a stage and perform in front of nearly 200 people. Remember, this wasn’t just a show for my batch, but for all the batches that had been enrolled for dance classes.

I cried and balled, and constantly kept trying to avoid going on stage, but my parents believed this would be really good for me, and would help me step out of my bubble. And then came the show day, where I had even thought of running out of the venue before they took us on stage. But for some reason, I did not. My sister ensured that everything would be alright, and my amazing dance instructors also made sure that in case I messed up on stage, I could do absolutely any moves I wanted. The idea was to keep performing, not to have a perfect dance routine.

I stepped onto the stage and took a deep breath, and as the music started, I naturally started moving. I was there, scared for my life, but for some reason, I just kept moving, and smiling. I genuinely thought the stage time would go much slower, but it was all over in a breeze. As we walked off, people in the crowd started cheering. I had even messed up on stage, but that did not matter. The only thing that mattered is that I kept going, and that felt great. As we got off the stage, I was filled with adrenaline. This was the first time I had ever performed in front of a crowd, and could not shake the feeling of how proud I was of myself.

My parents ran to my sister and I, and they were so proud as well. They showed us the video, and I could not believe that I had actually done it. Although my moves were extremely stiff, I had jumped a massive hurdle. This was something that I never thought I could no, but it was great to prove myself wrong. Right after the show, my mother asked me if I would be open to enroll in the next term, and my immediate response was “yes”, without any hesitations.

Dance is one thing that I kept doing, even when I enrolled in College/University. I joined my University’s dance team in Manchester, UK, and when I transferred to Boston in America, I was also selected in the dance team, both in which we competed.

My ability to perform on stage grew stronger over time, and I was even given the opportunity to perform at the largest mall in the world, Dubai Mall, only at the age of 13. I started taking part in school dance competitions and performances, and enjoyed every second of it. I truly believe that dance is something that opened me up towards my creative aspirations, as it sparked immense creativity, and further pushed me to pursue my passion of filmmaking, one that I might never have explored if I never started dancing. I

I quickly learned that although dance is an art form, at the end of the day, we are also storytellers. Each movement in dance, no matter what style, tells a unique story. Why it was chosen to match that specific sound or music is a creative decision. Every precise movement, pause, and breath has a reason, and it’s great. I was quickly able to talk to anyone in the room, no matter what age, or what they did. It made me a stronger communicator, visualizer, and even helped with problem solving. Moreover, the most important thing it taught me was to not judge anything by its gender. No sport, performing arts, or creative arts is made for any specific person. If something works for you, you should pursue it, no matter what.

Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?

I am a writer, director, and editor, who is now focusing more on improving my skills in cinematography, as I truly believe that it is one of the most important parts of filmmaking. My goal is to pursue filmmaking, with the ability to travel the world, and make films in different countries, while exploring different cultures. Being of South Asian decent, from India, there are not a lot of stories told, or accurate depictions about our people, and I would love to change that in world cinema, by providing more accurate representations. My passion for filmmaking was sparked when I started my YouTube channel at the age of 15, where I made small skits videos, and uploaded short-films. This helped me jump into the world of social media as well.

Currently, I work as a content creator for a real estate/development firm. I shoot and edit content for YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok, and create social media strategies, as well as come up with unique concepts to further grow our viewership. I focus closely on working with brokers from other agencies as well, to develop social media campaigns, to further promote our property that is being built in Al Marjan Island, in Ras Al Khaimah, where GCC’s first casino is being built.

One of the reasons why I love what I do is because of the ability to learn more about the real estate industry. It is an industry I never thought that I would step foot in, however recently, I have been wanting to learn more about it. I thought that this would be the perfect opportunity to learn more about the market, what goes into selling projects, and the type of efforts that are involved into make a billion dollar project.

I also love the fact that I’m constantly around people from different departments as well, as I get to learn more about their backgrounds and cultures, and more about what goes into what they do. This further helps me grow my knowledge and helps me further pack these learnings into the content that I create, to give them a further edge.

I strongly believe that it is extremely important to explore different opportunities and industries. In my case, I use my learnings from creating short-form content and put it in use to develop further ideas for my personal long form film projects. I also learn how to deliver projects that a client wants in a specific way. I have had the opportunity to equip myself with these unique skills, such as video editing and storytelling, and would love to use my skills to help people tell their stories by providing them with my resources.

Moreover, I have also learned how to deliver projects on a corporate level, and learned to utilize my skills not only for my personal filmmaking or content production, but also as a way to help corporations and people further build their brand presence in a unique way.

There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?

The first area of knowledge hands down is to keep yourself open to trying new things, even if it may seem that it does not interest you, or is not for you. By challenging yourself to do something that you never thought you would do, you are already stepping out of your bubble, meaning that there will be some takeaways, no matter how small or big that task might be. If my mother had never enrolled me in dance classes, I would have never been able to express myself on stage through a performing art, and might have never tried to get into a creative field to begin with. This has helped me take risks in my life, such as leaving home and moving to another country at just the age of 17 to pursue filmmaking, even when people believed that it wasn’t the best option or decision for me. I took the risk for myself, and pushed through, even though it was hard living away from home.

One quality that was extremely impactful to my journey was a never say die attitude, that I still carry strongly to this day. I’m not sure what it is, but I know at the back of my mind that I will figure it out, no matter what. This might sound extremely cocky, but it is one quality that has helped me back myself and take risks. There are a lot of things that I want to try in my life, and although people say to play it safe, I believe that I need to explore in order to learn what I truly want to do. At the moment, I am pursuing filmmaking; but tomorrow, I might find something else that I enjoy doing even more, or it might be that filmmaking is the only thing I will ever end up doing. Regardless, I need to explore to know.

One skill that I believe everyone should have, is the ability to talk to people. I understand that there are introverts or people who would prefer to keep to themselves, but by talking to others, you learn about things you might have never even known existed. Plus, it helps form connections, and that will lead a long way. I am only learning this now, but it is something that I wish I pursued more when I was younger as well. Regardless, it will take you a long way, no matter what industry you are in.

How would you spend the next decade if you somehow knew that it was your last?

The challenge that I am currently facing is a sense of belonging. At the tender age of 17, I left home to study in England, as I wanted to pursue filmmaking, and wanted to continue my journey in Cricket. Since then, I have been on a journey of finding a place that feels like home. Dubai is a city that I was born and raised in, and although I love this city, I want to have the opportunity to live abroad and experience different cultures. I want to travel the world and see as many places possible.

I decided to take a transfer during University, and transferred over to Boston, US from England. I believed that I wanted to get more out of my education, and moreover, since the film hub was based in America, I thought it might provide me with better opportunities. Having lived in several countries by the age of 23, I decided that I wanted to continue exploring, and find a place that felt like home. Although I am grateful for the experiences I have lived through in each of these cities, I am still in pursuit of finding what fits best for me.

Recently, I had to move back home due to personal reasons. It feels great living with my parents again. Since I was abroad, I only got to see my parents around a couple of weeks in a year, but now, I get to see them everyday. I am trying to make it my priority to see my parents as much as possible, however, I also want to follow my passions and dreams of traveling and making films. Although I love living at home, I also miss living in another country and exploring what it has to offer. Although this will always be my home and I will always be grateful to this city, I want to find a place that matches the life that I want to live. I also want to explore different opportunities, as mentioned earlier, and find out who I truly am. And with that, it is extremely important to travel and see the world.

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