Born and raised on the streets of Pandarpala, this 29-year-old adman from Dhanbad, went all the way to Mumbai to live his dreams. 

Meet Raj Kumar Das, who after working with the likes of Shah Rukh Khan and Kareena Kapoor, is now back in his hometown to shoot for his next short film.

Das, who started shooting near Dhanbad railway station a few days back, aims to highlight the plight of orphans and underprivileged children in his short film titled The Lost Childhood.

“I want to highlight the sufferings of the orphan children, particularly the rag pickers loitering around the railway stations. In the coming days, I plan to shoot at other places like chai gadda near the station and also in various schools,” said Das, who is also a proficient script-writer and is currently working on a script based on the gangsters of Uttar Pradesh.

In 2015, Das directed a commercial for Fair and Handsome starring Shah Rukh Khan and went on to direct Kareena Kapoor for the iBall ad. In the same year, Das was also nominated for the prestigious Dada Saheb Phalke Award for his short film The Walker.

“I was born in a lower middle class family. My father, a railway employee, passed away during my childhood after which we suffered many hardships. But I did not lose hope and went on to achieve my dreams,” narrated the maverick film-maker.
Das also plans to release his short film in both Hindi and English and complete the editing in Mumbai.  

“The 7-8 minute film have no dialogues. Instead there will be a voice-over that will be added at the time of editing,” reiterated the Dhanbad lad. 

After throwing light on the life of orphans, Das plans to highlight the coal fire and rehabilitation issues of coal town in his next movie. “There are some beautiful locales in Jharkhand where film-makers can shoot movies, provided we get adequate support from the government.”