Premila Puri Makh founded the charity, Be Kind Movement. She is also an executive producer of documentaries and a corporate headhunter with over 15 years of experience. This lady manages to succeed in every task she starts doing, whether it is fundraising for the Be Kind Movement or producing films such as "Beyond Bollywood", "Delhi Boom!" and "Retardation".
Her charity was recently chosen as ‘The Charity of Choice' and received proceeds from a ‘Christmas Extravaganza' pop up event on 28 November 2016 at the Grosvenor House JW Marriott. As a producer, she was selected to attend The International Rotterdam Film Festival's (IFFR) prestigious Lab Programme in January 2014 as one of eight emerging producers from the UK. Here is the story of this ambitious entrepreneur.
Childhood and life with parents
Premila was born in Mumbai, India into the family of a naval mechanical engineer and a housewife. When her father became a fashion entrepreneur, Premila's family moved to Holland. There her father was establishing women's retail shops and supplying large conglomerate retailers in Europe.
Premila went to study at The International School of The Hague, It was a new experience for Puri Makh. She recalls: "Life was ‘international' and schooling at The International School of The Hague was a cultural eye opener when interacting with 56 nationalities."
Although Premila was at first happy to be of a new international world; this world wasn't ready to accept her. Premila remembers being bullied at school: "If I could turn back time, I would skip that part completely. It is unpleasant, and my heart goes out to the children I read about in papers who commit suicide from bullying. On the flipside, there's much more awareness today and more willingness to discuss such taboo subjects."
Premila's parents supported their child and encouraged her not to give up but to be proud of her background. Puri Makh recalls that each summer they used to bring her and her siblings to India so they would not forget where they came from. As Premila knows how hard it was for her parents to go away on holiday, she is grateful to her parents for this gesture. She says: "When I hear of second generation Asian children who went to India as a baby and returned in their 20s or 30s, I'm grateful to my parents for keeping India alive in us that shaped us into who we are today: Indian at heart, Global in perspective."
Biggest turning point
Although Premila had a great relationship with her parents, at some point she was willing to leave their house to start living her life. The first time she moved was when she went to England to study Law and Management Science followed by an MPhil in Marketing and the second time for her career. Puri Makh believes that she made the right choice: "I'd advise everyone to live independently even if you have a fabulous relationship with your parents. I grew up overnight, became fiscally responsible, did my DIY, travelled and seized many opportunities, which I wouldn't have done living at home."
Biggest challenge
One of the biggest problems for Premila was to move from a mild corporate job with four to five holidays a year to that of an entrepreneur.
The move entailed hard decisions that had an opportunity cost. But she’s is happy about the decision: " I'd advise everyone to find their true calling and pursue this passionately. Just ensure you have healthy savings to rely on and truckloads of resilience!"
Another challenge for Premila was personal. It happened when she lost an inner circle of her friends during one night. This was a drastically sad experience for Premilla: "I used to read about losing friends but having to experience it was a challenge I didn't know how to handle. It made me question many things and wrestle with many fundamentals." But sometimes bad things happen for the better, and this story was no exception. This event led to the setting up of Puri Makh's charity Be Kind Movement (BKM). "Out of horrible situations, something remarkable and passionate can emerge."
Ambitions for future
As she is interested in real life stories, Premila's newest goal is to create entertaining film and TV content that covers this subject but also remains commercial. Premila is pursuing collaborations of talent, money and new players.
Another project Premila leading is connected to her charity. The organisation's ambition is to engage with audiences by using innovative methods. To do this Premila's company is going to produce a film with proceeds dedicated to helping children in the UK.
