
BY MANSI MOTWANI
LOS ANGELES, CA - “Films are shot on locations and made on an Editor’s Table”, reads the website homepage of Aashish Mayur Shah, an award-winning film editor currently based out of Los Angeles. His display of work includes over 350 projects, ranging from commercial ad films, documentaries and feature films. Speaking with IJ,
LOS ANGELES, CA - “Films are shot on locations and made on an Editor’s Table”, reads the website homepage of Aashish Mayur Shah, an award-winning film editor currently based out of Los Angeles. His display of work includes over 350 projects, ranging from commercial ad films, documentaries and feature films. Speaking with IJ,

Shah recalls his journey from working as a director in Bollywood to becoming a film editor in Hollywood for almost a decade.
“Editing is something that I taught myself to do,” says Shah, adding, “I love it! I love how raw footage with no known outcome can be transformed into something meaningful and cinematic. As an Editor, I choose not to read the scripts of the films I’m editing, because I feel like reading the script would put me in the shoes of the director of the film; I like to interpret the footage with a different perspective. I also feel that film direction and editing go hand in hand. Many great contemporary Directors like Rakjumar Hirani, David Dhawan, James Cameron started off as editors. For me, it has worked the other way round; my directing skills have made me a better editor. In my honest opinion, film editors don’t entirely get the credit they ought to. It is usually the actors that get really famous, followed by directors and producers.” Recounting his journey he said at 21, he moved to Bombay to pursue his creative side; the Bachelor’s degree he held in Commerce from Surat didn’t appease him enough to hold him back. He worked as an Assistant Director for theatres, television series, commercials and Bollywood films - `Sa Re Ga Ma Pa,’ `Dus Kahaniyaan,’ `Rock On!’, to name a few. Alongside, he studied for a Diploma in film making. His first short film ‘Aur Phir’ earned recognition in a few film festivals, one of which was attended by the Hiring Manager of Balaji Telefilms. “They were looking to hire people outside of the ambit of nepotism,” he recalls. They hired him as Chief Assistant Director. His directorial debut was a show called ‘Pavitra Rishta’, an award-winning Indian soap opera.
Soon after, Shah had managed to establish himself as an Independent Director, working 100 hours a week or longer. “I started neglecting my health,” he says. One such shoot schedule ended with him in the hospital, diagnosed with dengue. “We were working 18-20 hours a day at Film City in a forest location,” he shares. Nonetheless, the time he took to recuperate from his illness was also utilized by him to re-evaluate his priorities. “I was always interested in American films and would keep talking about wanting to study them, but never really got around to doing it. I was having a great time working as a Director with Balaji, but I realized that it wasn’t giving me the time to do anything else for myself,” he says. Soon his life took a turn.
In the Fall of 2009, Shah was admitted to the Master’s of Fine Arts course at the Los Angeles campus of New York Film Academy. “I landed at LAX on January 4, 2010; that was the day that marked a new chapter in my life. It will always be a memorable one, as it is also my mum’s birthday,” he says. He loved each and every minute of his student life. “I had a great instructor who worked in Hollywood. I got to study directors, even observe them in real time,” he shares. Interestingly, as a child, Shah hated education. “I think it’s because I was dyslexic, and maybe I still am” he says. “It’s not like I didn’t want to study, I just couldn’t. But I absolutely loved film school because there, studying meant having to make films. I passed with really good grades.”
After working as a Teacher’s Assistant while at school, Shah was promoted to being a Film Directing Instructor and Post-Production Supervisor for the Academy’s summer school program. There, 53-year-old Mel Tewahade, who was working on the documentary ‘Point Four - Ethiopia’, offered him a job. Shah worked as the the editor, cinematographer and creative director for the documentary, which highlights the partnership between the American and the Ethiopian government to set up a University for higher education in Ethiopia. The documentary was widely acknowledged, and Shah even received a recognition award for his contribution from a US Senator in Washington DC. After the demise of his mother in November 2015, Shah decided to spend some time in India, with his father in his hometown of Surat and with his maternal side of the family in Mumbai. It was then that he was asked to join the crew of ‘Sameer’ as the Editor. The film had its premiere at the New York Indian Film Festival in 2017 and was also screened at the Charlotte Asian Film Festival. It is currently streaming on Netflix. Shah recently finished working on ‘Soldier Saints’, a documentary based on Sikhism, also recipient of the Audience Award at the NIFF Houston International Film Festival.
“Editing is something that I taught myself to do,” says Shah, adding, “I love it! I love how raw footage with no known outcome can be transformed into something meaningful and cinematic. As an Editor, I choose not to read the scripts of the films I’m editing, because I feel like reading the script would put me in the shoes of the director of the film; I like to interpret the footage with a different perspective. I also feel that film direction and editing go hand in hand. Many great contemporary Directors like Rakjumar Hirani, David Dhawan, James Cameron started off as editors. For me, it has worked the other way round; my directing skills have made me a better editor. In my honest opinion, film editors don’t entirely get the credit they ought to. It is usually the actors that get really famous, followed by directors and producers.” Recounting his journey he said at 21, he moved to Bombay to pursue his creative side; the Bachelor’s degree he held in Commerce from Surat didn’t appease him enough to hold him back. He worked as an Assistant Director for theatres, television series, commercials and Bollywood films - `Sa Re Ga Ma Pa,’ `Dus Kahaniyaan,’ `Rock On!’, to name a few. Alongside, he studied for a Diploma in film making. His first short film ‘Aur Phir’ earned recognition in a few film festivals, one of which was attended by the Hiring Manager of Balaji Telefilms. “They were looking to hire people outside of the ambit of nepotism,” he recalls. They hired him as Chief Assistant Director. His directorial debut was a show called ‘Pavitra Rishta’, an award-winning Indian soap opera.
Soon after, Shah had managed to establish himself as an Independent Director, working 100 hours a week or longer. “I started neglecting my health,” he says. One such shoot schedule ended with him in the hospital, diagnosed with dengue. “We were working 18-20 hours a day at Film City in a forest location,” he shares. Nonetheless, the time he took to recuperate from his illness was also utilized by him to re-evaluate his priorities. “I was always interested in American films and would keep talking about wanting to study them, but never really got around to doing it. I was having a great time working as a Director with Balaji, but I realized that it wasn’t giving me the time to do anything else for myself,” he says. Soon his life took a turn.
In the Fall of 2009, Shah was admitted to the Master’s of Fine Arts course at the Los Angeles campus of New York Film Academy. “I landed at LAX on January 4, 2010; that was the day that marked a new chapter in my life. It will always be a memorable one, as it is also my mum’s birthday,” he says. He loved each and every minute of his student life. “I had a great instructor who worked in Hollywood. I got to study directors, even observe them in real time,” he shares. Interestingly, as a child, Shah hated education. “I think it’s because I was dyslexic, and maybe I still am” he says. “It’s not like I didn’t want to study, I just couldn’t. But I absolutely loved film school because there, studying meant having to make films. I passed with really good grades.”
After working as a Teacher’s Assistant while at school, Shah was promoted to being a Film Directing Instructor and Post-Production Supervisor for the Academy’s summer school program. There, 53-year-old Mel Tewahade, who was working on the documentary ‘Point Four - Ethiopia’, offered him a job. Shah worked as the the editor, cinematographer and creative director for the documentary, which highlights the partnership between the American and the Ethiopian government to set up a University for higher education in Ethiopia. The documentary was widely acknowledged, and Shah even received a recognition award for his contribution from a US Senator in Washington DC. After the demise of his mother in November 2015, Shah decided to spend some time in India, with his father in his hometown of Surat and with his maternal side of the family in Mumbai. It was then that he was asked to join the crew of ‘Sameer’ as the Editor. The film had its premiere at the New York Indian Film Festival in 2017 and was also screened at the Charlotte Asian Film Festival. It is currently streaming on Netflix. Shah recently finished working on ‘Soldier Saints’, a documentary based on Sikhism, also recipient of the Audience Award at the NIFF Houston International Film Festival.