E-Paper
Exclusive | Vipin Sharma on his film Kamathipura Express winning Student Academy Awards: We are now in the Oscars race
Actor Vipin Sharma's film Kamathipura Express, directed by Leon Korzynsky from Warsaw Film School, Poland, won the silver medal at the Student Academy Awards
Actor Vipin Sharma has added a feather in his cap after his short film Kamathipura Express, directed by Leon Korzynsky from Warsaw Film School, Poland, won the silver medal at the Student Academy Awards, announced last week.
Organised by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and the ceremony for the same will be held as part of the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) in Canada next month.
Last seen in Dhadak 2 (2025), the actor plays the antagonist in the film that has been shot in India.
The actor tells HT City, “It stands at a very great place as it’s after all an Oscar. It won the silver medal in the Student Academy Awards out of 2,972 entries from 894 colleges and universities worldwide. The film stars Polish boy Oskar Karos and Mia Paul, who plays my daughter.”
Sharma says that now the film will be competing for the Oscars in the Best Short Film category. “The Gold, Silver and Bronze awardees get a direct entry as a nomination for the Academy Awards to be held in LA in March 2027. Some of the very big filmmakers today have won this award as a student.”
The film was shot in September 2025. “This opens the door for more young filmmakers to come and shoot in India. For young directors it’s a dream to make a film in India. Leon was very fascinated with Slumdog Millionaire (2008). He conceived the film and made it independently.”
Sharma says there was a lot to learn from young students. “The director is barely 24 but as an actor I just surrender to my director. These youngsters bring so much energy and passion to make a film,” he says and gives an example, “We were shooting at a beach in the coastal area, and the cops were not allowing us to shoot. I saw they were in tears and touching the feet of cops and literally begging to allow them. Such is their passion and attachment to their film.”
The film was shot in the slums of Mumbai and near Bengaluru as well.
Vipin’s breakthrough film, Aamir Khan’s Taare Zameen Pe was India’s nomination for the Academy Awards Best Foreign Film in 2009 but could not progress ahead.
“I am planning to attend the award ceremony at TIFF. Also, Leon has invited me for a Masterclass at Warsaw Film School, Poland. Besides, I have two international projects coming up and I am currently shooting for an OTT series,” he says on a signing off note.
