Sahadev
Kelvadi

Writer · Director · Cinematographer

Sahadev Kelvadi

The Story Behind
the Lens

Sahadev Kelvadi is an award-winning Writer, Director and Cinematographer from Bangalore, India. A graduate of the MFA Film Production program at NYU Tisch School of the Arts, New York, he brings a global perspective rooted in the textures and stories of his hometown.

He is the co-founder of Ameyukti Studios, an independent production company dedicated to free-spirited storytelling, honesty, and originality. His feature directorial debut, Kenda, is an absurdist political satire that earned critical acclaim.

His work spans feature films, web series, shorts, 3D films, and virtual reality — always united by a commitment to visual storytelling that serves the narrative above all.

Education
MFA Film Production
NYU Tisch School of the Arts
Based In
Bangalore, India
Disciplines
Writing, Direction,
Cinematography

Selected Work

Feature films, web series, and short films — each driven by bold visual storytelling.

Prime Video
Kenda movie poster
2024

Kenda

2024 Feature Film

Kenda

Writer · Director · Cinematographer

An absurdist crime and political satire about the disenchanted youth of Bengaluru. The film centers on a young man who works in a foundry in a busy metropolis, unflinchingly portraying how the degradation of state machinery threatens social stability and harmony.

Kannada Crime Political Satire
Prime Video
Gantumoote movie poster
2019

Gantumoote

2019 Feature Film

Gantumoote

Director of Photography · Co-Producer

A high school coming-of-age drama set in 90s Bangalore, following a young girl navigating her complex world. Ameyukti Studios' debut feature film. Premiered at The New York Indian Film Festival, 2019.

Kannada Coming-of-age Drama Best Screenplay — NYIFF 2019
Eros Now
Metropark cast ensemble poster
2019

Metropark

2019 Web Series

Metropark

Director of Photography

Popular Indian web series starring Ranvir Shorey and Pooja Sawant. An Eros Now Original Series.

Hindi Web Series Eros Now
Streetplay — a boy watches from behind a brick wall
2013

Streetplay

2013 Short Film

Streetplay

Writer · Director · Cinematographer

Over the course of a single day, a young boy peers out from behind a brick wall and watches the man across the street — his stance, his handshakes, the easy power he holds over the corner. Without a word spoken, the child begins to mirror everything he sees: the walk, the posture, the gestures. A four-minute silent film that unfolds like a held breath, revealing the moment innocence quietly learns the wrong lesson.

Silent Film Drama Black & White 4 min
Weathered hands of a farmworker resting on wood
2013

Old Creatures Stir

2013 Short Documentary

Old Creatures Stir

Director · Cinematographer

Before dawn breaks, a man's hands are already at work — cracked, calloused, shaped by decades of the same quiet labor. He moves through the farm the way the animals know him: by sound, by habit, by the weight of his footsteps on familiar ground. A short documentary portrait of one man's unbroken bond with the land and the creatures he tends — told not through words, but through the rhythm of a life lived in service to something older than himself.

Documentary Portrait Short Film
Juvenile — a silhouetted teenager stands in a dim apartment
2014

Juvenile

2014 Short Film

Juvenile

Writer · Director · Cinematographer

A teenager walks back into the apartment he once called home, fresh out of juvenile detention and carrying more silence than luggage. The rooms are the same. His mother is the same. But there is a new man in the house — her boyfriend — who has settled into the walls like he owns them. What follows is a quiet collision of authority and defiance, as a young man who answered to guards and concrete now refuses to answer to a stranger sitting in his father's chair.

Drama Short Film
Invisible — short virtual reality film poster
2016

Invisible

2016 VR Short Film

Invisible

Writer · Cinematographer

Three lives orbit the same museum but never truly meet — a guard who watches without being watched, an artist and new mother vanishing behind her own creation, and a trans girl searching for a reflection the world refuses to show her. A short virtual reality narrative that places the viewer inside the quiet ache of being overlooked, asking what it costs to be seen and what it takes to disappear. Directed by Lilian T. Mehrel. Official Selection, FIVARS 2016.

Virtual Reality Drama Short Film FIVARS 2016
Walk for Me — ballroom voguing scene
2016

Walk for Me

2016 Short Film

Walk for Me

Cinematographer

As daylight fades and the ballroom doors open, a young person named Hanna steps between two worlds — the home where she is still Hassan, and the floor where she is finally herself. Directed by Elegance Bratton, this 12-minute short captures the collision of identity, family, and freedom through the lens of New York's voguing scene. Winner of the Golden Palm Award at the Mexico International Film Festival. Released on the Criterion Channel.

Drama Short Film 12 min Criterion Channel Golden Palm — Mexico IFF
Kenda (Short) movie poster
2016

Kenda (Short)

2016 Short Film

Kenda (Short)

Writer · Director · Cinematographer

Amidst political turmoil, the lives of a struggling factory worker and a precocious young school boy converge. Winner of the NYU Firstrun Award for Best Direction with faculty commendation.

Kannada Action / Drama / Thriller NYU Firstrun — Best Direction

Awards & Festivals

Best Screenplay — New York Indian Film Festival
Gantumoote · 2019
Volker Bahnemann Cinematography Award — Nominee
2016
NYU Firstrun Award — Best Direction
Kenda (Short) · Faculty Commendation
Best Debut Director — 14th Dada Saheb Phalke Film Festival
Kenda · 2024
Best Cinematographer — 14th Dada Saheb Phalke Film Festival
Kenda · 2024
Best Screenplay — New York Indian Film Festival
Gantumoote · 2019
Volker Bahnemann Cinematography Award — Nominee
2016
NYU Firstrun Award — Best Direction
Kenda (Short) · Faculty Commendation
Best Debut Director — 14th Dada Saheb Phalke Film Festival
Kenda · 2024
Best Cinematographer — 14th Dada Saheb Phalke Film Festival
Kenda · 2024

In the Press

Interviews, reviews, and features from leading publications.

Let's Work
Together

Based In
Bangalore, India