Vishal Punjabi's Journey from Bollywood Setbacks to Wedding Filmer Stardom
Vishal Punjabi, the founder of The Wedding Filmer, has come a long way since his early days with Shah Rukh Khan to be a well-known name when it comes to bespoke wedding videos. In one of Shivani Pau’s podcasts recently, Vishal shares his journey into Bollywood that began with helping Shah Rukh Khan design his personal website in the 1990s.
However, Vishal's Bollywood aspirations ended abruptly when he was deported from India for overstaying his work permit. He remembers racial prejudice and various difficulties he had while working on films sets contributed to deportation and a ten-year ban on coming back to India. Nevertheless, Vishal managed to make himself and run a successful production company in Ghana where he also directed commercials featuring local actors.
His fate took another turn after Pranab Mukherjee intervened in his case post-26/11 Mumbai attack as the new Foreign Minister. Mukherjee, who is known by Shah Rukh Khan, called off Vishal’s deportation process and issued him with a new visa. It was at this juncture that Vishal was able to return home; then he went about establishing the “Wedding Filmer” brand and implemented lots of high profile celebrity weddings using distinct style touch.
The story of Vishal is proof enough about dedication and networking in showbiz industry.
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