Mentorship

At the heart of Govandi Arts Festival is the mentorship program where mentors from various creative disciplines like Theatre, Film, Photography, Public Art and Rap will nurture, support and teach the youth of Govandi. The youth will be selected through a series of workshops to understand their interests, aspirations and existing skills. 

गोवंडी कला उत्सव का सबसे अनोखा और महत्वपूर्ण हिस्सा है ६ महीनों से चलता हुआ मेंटरशिप प्रोग्राम, जहाँ पर ३६  बच्चों और युवा ने विभिन्न कला के माध्यम से अपने आप को व्यक्त करना सीखा। नाटक, फिल्म, फोटोग्राफी, सार्वजनिक कला और रॅप के जरिए यह उभरते कलाकार आपको गोवंडी की नयी तस्वीर दिखाएंगे।  

Mentees

Aamir Shaikh

Mentor

Tejinder is an independent photographer and researcher. His current work and interests revolve around portraiture and photographing films. He is also a senior urban fellow from Indian Institute for Human Settlements, Bangalore. He has documented Jio MAMI Mumbai Film Festival, IIHS Urban Lens Film Festival, City Scripts – The IIHS Urban Writing Festival, 2017 IAWRT Asian Women’s Film Festival, Gaurav Gagoi’s campaign for Assam assembly elections, Occupy UGC movement, Swaraj Abhiyaan’s Jai Kisan Andolon and many grassroots movements and events in India. 

Tejinder is mentoring a cohort of young photography enthusiasts from the neighbourhood of Govandi in the art of making photographs.

Mentor

Niharika Lyra Dutt is an alumni of the Drama School of Mumbai, and straddles the world of screen and stage equally. She has worked with Faezeh Jalali, Atul Kumar, Manav Kaul, the Black Box Theatre, Rage theatre group, Purva Naresh among others. Along with Fistful of Rupees, her other ongoing plays include Faezeh Jalali’s 777, Manav Kaul’s Chuhal, and Nikhil Mehta’s ‘For The Record’. Her recent screen work includes, Eternally Confused and Eager for love on Netflix, and Sutliyaan on Zee5. Her most critically acclaimed role is Sara Matthews in Patal Lok, which streams on Amazon Prime Video.

Lyra is mentoring a cohort of young theatre enthusiasts from the neighbourhood of Govandi in theatre practice.

Mentor

Sanskar Sawant AKA Chew’d Perfect is a visual artist and illustrator based out of Bombay. Sanskar likes painting on unconventional structures and often builds his own canvases, which are later put to use. Sanskar runs a design studio called Homework Coolkids which specialises in environmental fashion, installation art and audiovisual experiences. Homework Coolkids believes in creating an impact and better experiences through public art and installations.

Sanskar are mentoring a cohort of teenagers and youth of Govandi in the practice of public art. 

Mentor

Danish is a rapper, beatboxer, singer ,shayar/poet straight outta Kurla west, Mumbai 70. He has worked for Qyuki, an artist network founded by Shekhar Kapur, AR Rahman and Samir Bangara as a beatboxer. He has performed at both national and international gigs where he has performed for well known rappers like MC Altaf and Kaam Bhari. His singles are available on his YouTube Channel. 

Sohail Shaikh better known by his stage name DRJ Sohail, is an Indian record producer, DJ and audio engineer. DRJ has   worked with top artists from India such as Divine, Mc Altaf, 7bantaiz, Dopeadelicz, Munawar Faruqui and more. Famous for his hit singles like Code Mumbai 17, Yedechali, Bas kya ba, Khwahish and more. DRJ has also worked on brands such as TooYum, Converse, HDFC, Gonoise & more.

Tash is an underground beatboxer from Marol, Andheri East Mumbai 59.  He is the founder of Jungle Assembly and the administrator of Marol Art Village - a community of street artists. He also organises hip-hop cyphers every Sunday, where the most talented rappers come and showcase their talent. Tash has performed all over the country at various events and venues. 

Danish, DRJ Sohail and Tash are mentoring a cohort of rap enthusiasts of Govandi to create and produce an album of rap numbers.