(From left) Sanadt with his Ascendance co-founders Heerraa, Mathura and Harsha.
G. SANADT Kumar loved watching movies from the time he was a toddler.
His mother Rani Arumugam, who owns and runs a tuition centre with her husband S. Ganesan, recalls how the little boy would spend hours enthralled by the movies and documentaries he watched.
Unlike most parents, Rani did not stop Sanadt or limit his hours watching television.
“I just allowed Sanadt to do whatever he wanted to do and did not prevent him from spending a lot of time watching movies and documentaries.
The young filmmaker’s documentary on chess master Genkeswaran (pic) won the Best Inspirational Film at the Los Angeles Film Awards.“As he grew older, he would interpret and review the movies he had watched, and it would always be different from what we thought the movie was about,’’ said Rani, adding it was then that she noticed Sanadt’s knack for storytelling.
Strongly believing that children should be the ones discovering their own potential, she allowed him to continue his fascination with movies and documentaries.
Rani’s parenting style was not in vain.
Today, at 23, Sanadt is not only accomplished but is also achieving his dreams of becoming a filmmaker.
He has made a series of documentaries which have received rave reviews and won him numerous awards.
Sanadt also set up a company with three like-minded friends when he was 15.
Currently, the social enterprise called Ascendance has helped over 58,000 students in over 28 countries by conducting goal-setting programmes and providing them the resources and platform to pursue their passion and dreams.
Sanadt said how the turning point in his life was his “failure” as a child to participate in the many of the things and activities children his age usually did.
“I could not play sports and I was not one for reading books. I was also not involved in extracurricular activities in school and was not a member of any club or society. I did not fit in,’’ said Sanadt, who was a straight-A student.
Because of this, added Sanadt, he was sometimes bullied by other students during his primary and lower secondary years, which resulted in him being a loner without friends.
That was until he met Mathura Kannan as well as sisters Harsha and Heerraa Ravindran, who eventually became his Ascendance co-founders, at a training programme attended by their parents.
The programmes were conducted by social enterprise ET Ideas which helps individuals identify their potential and formulate businesses.
“We used to tag along with our parents as there was no one to take care of us while they were away attending the programme,’’ said Sanadt, adding that all four had many things in common including not being able to fit into conventional roles while growing up.
Since they were spending so much time at the ET Ideas programmes, the friends started attending goal-setting training conducted by the organisation’s founder Elango Thiyagu.
Elango recalls how Sanadt told him that he liked movies and wanted to pursue movie-making as his career.
Sanadt’s documentaries have won him several awards in the international arena. — SHAARI CHEMAT/The Star
“I taught Sanadt about goal-setting as well as working hard while pursuing what his heart tells him to do,’’ recalled Elango.
And follow his heart, he did.
Wanting to tell real stories about real people and how they had beaten the odds and reached for the stars despite the many obstacles before them, Sanadt created a storytelling platform dubbed Wanted: Shades Of Life.
“I decided to make documentaries of real people telling real stories as I felt this was the best way to send a message across,’’ said Sanadt.
He has so far created and directed three documentaries under the Wanted: Shades Of Life platform, with the debut featuring his friend and Ascendance co-founder Mathura talking about her efforts and aspiration to uplift her peers.
The second episode is on Agnesmary Selvaraj, who had taken a decade’s break from Bharatanatyam, only to eventually rediscover and rekindle her passion for the dance form which propelled her to open a dance school.
Sanadt’s documentary on Agnesmary won him a silver in the Best Feature Documentary category at the Tokyo Film Awards in 2021.
His biggest coup was the third episode which revolved around chess master Genkeswaran Munian, who had risen from the ashes, after leading a life mired in crime and despondency.
Genkeswaran pursued his passion for chess and this led him to winning a bronze medal for Malaysia at the Myanmar Sea Games in 2013.
He now runs a chess academy and trains youngsters to master the game.
Sanadt will be completing his Diploma in Film Production at the Toronto Film School via its long-distance programme soon. — Photos: Handout
The documentary on Genkeswaran bagged Sanadt several awards, such as the Best Inspirational Film at the Los Angeles Film Awards, Best Documentary at the FilmCon Awards in 2022 as well as Best Documentary Feature and Best Indie Feature at Festigious International Film Festival early this year.
According to Sanadt, who will be completing his Diploma in Film Production at the Toronto Film School via its long-distance programme soon, he was six years old when he first met Genkeswaran and started taking chess lessons from him.
“Many years later, after I started pursuing filmmaking, it meant so much to me to make a film about someone who has impacted me greatly. The biggest motivation was how his story resonated with the audience,’’ said Sanadt, who aspires to pursue a tertiary programme in creative arts after completing his diploma programme.
In addition to his achievements, Sanadt is also well-mannered as well as humble and this has compelled many to help him achieve his dreams.
One such person is Elango’s best friend Gerard Thomas, co-owner and director of Keris Media Networks which is in the business of producing, procuring, marketing and distributing content for the broadcast media.
“He is still inexperienced and impressionable and we are guiding him on how to meander through the content production and broadcast industry which can be difficult and manipulative if you do not know the ropes,’’ said Gerard of Sanadt.
He added he was also guiding Sanadt on how to write proposals and market his products to broadcast service providers.
On his impression on Sanadt, Gerard said: “He is considered a prodigy in Elango’s development programme for youths.
“Sanadt is a good storyteller though still a little raw but he has the vision, initiative and drive to pursue his dreams of becoming a movie maker to be reckoned with.’’
