ITBHUGlobal.org: The Chronicle: Tech veteran turns filmmaker

September 11, 2005

Tech veteran turns filmmaker

Chronicle Editor @ Sep 11, 2005

Nihilent CEO LC Singh turns to films to convey a strong message to the youth of today.

Technology and the arts - two varied segments converge in this banker-turned-IT pro-turned filmmaker, L.C. Singh. An alumnus of the Institute of Technology and Harvard Business School, he spent over 30 years shaping the Indian IT industry - of which 17 years of his career was invested in India's largest software services company, the TCS.

A man of strong opinions, Singh believes that today's youth is cocooned from reality. Youngsters are in a state of disconnect and they do not find the rest of the world as good and smart as themselves; this is dangerous.

"There is so much money now with IT and BPO boom. These youngsters do not realize that being modern does not mean giving in to smoking. There is nothing cool about drugs and divorce," he bemoans. This belief made him choose a very influential medium to convey his message to the youth. Singh turned filmmaker with 'Banaras: A Mystic Love Story'.

"There is something special about Banaras that has attracted mystics and gurus from Shankaracharya, Kabir to Krishnamoorthy. It is also a city where fear of death is overcome," says Singh.

Singh always had this creative urge to write. He approached close friend and director Pankaj Parashar with the script and things fell in into
place. Parashar previously made ad films for Singh during his days at TCS.

" This (the film) is my visual tribute to the spiritual city of Banaras where I grew up and studied. Banaras is close to my heart," says Singh.

The Rs 8 crore film's star cast includes popular actors the likes of Naseeruddin Shah, Dimple Kapadia and Urmila Matondkar.

"The film is an attempt to convey the 'Indianness' of our roots in a contemporary manner. There is need for introspection about the social impact of the way we choose to live and it is this quest for existentialism that finds an echo in the film," he extols.

Having launched his career with the State Bank of India, Singh moved on to work for the Iranian Ministry of Finance as a consultant. After a short
stint with Zensar Technologies, he set up Nihilent Technologies, a solutions and consulting provider for global businesses.

The journey he says has been quite an eventful one. The most harrowing time, according to Singh was during the market crash and then the 9/11 tragedy.

Post 9/11 Nihilent found the going tough and had to change its strategy to survive. The company shifted gears and made strategic changes in management to move ahead.

One of his major contributions at Nihilent is the conceptualization and the creation of MC3, which is currently being taught as an executive program at the Harvard Business School, MIT and BITS School of Management.

With IPO plans in the offing at Nihilent, Singh plans to take the company to the next level. But, for the moment, he is busy promoting his film, which he hopes, will convey to the youth, to stop considering alienation as reality.

Alumni Guest House : Donated by Mr. Mody (Class of '55)