"Gaurav Seth will always treasure the Bombay International Film Festival 1996 where his maiden film The Art of Dying was screened at the Nehru center. Especially the compliments that came his way. But there was one hitch, recollects Gaurav. "Few of the films in the Information section were screened at the main center; The Art Of Dying was one amongst them. Many were unaware of this fact and came up to me after the screening saying 'Your film will definitely pick up a prize'. They felt that my film was a part of the Competition Section."

A compliment for the young film maker who left for the Soviet Union at the age of 19 in '87 to study film making at the world's oldest film institute -The Russian Federation State Institute of Cinematography. But the question comes to mind is 'Why would a 27-year-old wish to deal with death? "For the past five years or so I have been studying a lot of philosophy, especially on the Vedanta school, " he explains. Death becomes the main interest of young Edward, the protagonist of The Art of Dying. According to Gaurav, "This is not an attempt to look at Death as the final end, but as a change, a rejuvenation of life. It is an attempt to deliberate upon universal ideas and concepts which find expression in all philosophies," he says. A belief that is further borne out by Gaurav's revelation that The Art Of Dying was actually meant to be made in India. It was a story written with India in mind, but I couldn't find a sponsor in India. A Russian businessman backed me, hence I made the film in Russian, changing the social context and language a bit. But the idea remained the same."

This film, made on a budget of US $ 50,000 within a period of one and a half months, draws inspiration from the Russian genius Andrei Tarkovsky. At present, Gaurav is working on a docu-drama" Prabhupada" being sponsored by Mafatlal Industries Limited. After that he plans to make his next film by the year end. But his problem remains; finances. Let's hope he wont have look overseas for finances again."

The Times of India
Februrary 9, 1996