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Mohammad Ibrahim works as an assistant cinematographer in Indian films, tracing his roots to a West Bengal fishing village where his grandmother made beedies to survive. His Nani moved the family to Ajmer after hearing about opportunities there, working wedding processions and staying near the dargah.

His mother developed postpartum psychosis after his birth, leading to years of untreated mental illness.

Ibrahim grew up on Ajmer streets, working at juice shops, cycling with saved rupees, and surviving on dargah food. Called "Pagli ka ladka" (mad woman's son), he attended madrasa before joining his mother and grandmother at The Banyan's Chennai facility.

Starting in 4th grade without English knowledge, he progressed through APL Global School, won Cambridge World Topper recognition for mental health artwork, and graduated to pursue film studies at Srishti Institute. He completed internships under cinematographer P.C. Sreeram and now works on feature films and advertisements.

00:00 – 00:07 | The View Outside My Home
00:07 – 00:16 | Blind to Beauty
00:16 – 00:23 | When Life Hits You
00:23 – 00:35 | Remembering Freedom
00:35 – 01:06 | The Ibrahim Days
01:06 – 01:12 | Star Power
01:12 – 01:35 | A Different Kind of Experience
01:35 – 02:05 | Pros, Cons, and Learning

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Transcript
00:00What a must-view at my house?
00:02You know, when I was little,
00:04I never appreciated the view.
00:06I never saw the sunset, bro.
00:08I never sat and saw the sunset.
00:10It's so beautiful.
00:12I never thought, bro.
00:14No food, no drink.
00:16I think that sunset, sunset,
00:18all comes back.
00:20When you feel in life,
00:22after seeing the sunset,
00:24oh, nature,
00:25hawa,
00:26freedom.
00:28Yeah, that'd be good.
00:35We have Ibrahim and Ibrahim's story
00:37where Ibrahim's mother
00:39came to us in shackles.
00:41And from,
00:43you know, her being in shackles
00:44to getting a little better
00:46to going all the way back to Ajmer
00:48and then not having any food to eat
00:50and then coming back
00:52with her mother and with Ibrahim
00:54who was then four.
00:56He is now 23
00:58and he's shot,
01:00he works with PC Shriram,
01:01a cinematographer.
01:02He shot an ad with
01:05Shah Rukh Khan and Amitabh Bachchan.
01:07He has shot another film with Maddie.
01:11But that's not why I value or love him.
01:14I love him because he said
01:16that I will use my lived experience.
01:18The adventurous life childhood I had,
01:20with no control.
01:22Nani never controlled me.
01:24She always told me to go enjoy.
01:27I mean, not enjoy,
01:28but she never, like,
01:29there was no sense of control.
01:31I was always free.
01:32And that freedom,
01:34again, there was both pros and cons to it,
01:36made me understand the world much faster,
01:38see through my own eyes.
01:40But then I was also caught up in the environment,
01:44the behaviors of everybody,
01:46people who are much older than me,
01:48doing something and I would just follow them.
01:51Always grateful for how far I have come.
01:55But this trip really made me understand
01:59where I came from.
02:01It's fun.
02:03Bye.
02:04Next time.
02:05See you next time.
02:06See you next time.
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