All careers
Creative
Filmmaker / Cinematographer
Direction, cinematography, editing, sound, or producing. Indian film schools (FTII, SRFTI) are mostly postgraduate and portfolio-based. After 12th, a media / design UG plus a reel is the practical route.
Salary outlook
Indicative: assistants and editors often ₹2–6 LPA at the start; independent project pay is lumpy. Established DPs, editors and directors on ads/OTT commonly ₹8–25+ LPA. Budget for 2–3 lean years.
Indicative ranges. Actuals vary by city, employer, specialisation and years of experience.
Typical path in India
- 1Start making short films now — phone is enough. The reel is the application.
- 2UG: BA Film / Mass Communication / Design via CUET UG, or a related BA at a university with a production culture.
- 3Assist on sets, edit for YouTube/indie, learn one craft deeply (edit, camera, or sound).
- 4After UG: FTII / SRFTI / private film schools if you want a specialised diploma — they run their own tests and auditions, not a single national ‘JET’ in our exam list.
- 5Freelance + crew networks; ads and OTT often pay before feature films do.
Skills that matter
- Finishing films, not only shooting footage
- One technical craft (camera, Premiere/DaVinci, or location sound)
- Collaboration on messy, time-bound shoots
Who this fits
- You already shoot or edit for fun
- You can handle irregular income for a few years
- You prefer making things over only watching cinema seriously
Watch-outs
- There is no single Class-12 exam that ‘gets you into Bollywood’.
- Expensive private film degrees without a reel rarely pay for themselves.
Where to study
Most filmmaker / cinematographer pathways start in the Universities (General Degrees) stream.
Related careers in Creative
- Design (Product / UX)
Blend aesthetics with user research; portfolios matter alongside degrees.