Sid Naidu
Fashion Producer & Director
From drawing a paltry salary of Rs 250 a month, to becoming the country’s youngest Fashion Producer and Director he has risen to become a successful and most sought after Fashion Producer in Bengaluru. This isn’t any filmy story. It is a career sketch of this entreprenuer from South India.
Sid Naidu lost his father when he was just 10 years old, while in the 6th Standard and had to take up odd jobs like distribution of milk packets and as a newspaper delivery boy due to huge financial burden of the family consisting of his mother, himself and his younger brother.
“After finishing my 10th Standard, I joined a C.A. firm as an office attendee and then went on to work a Retail Cafe chain in Bengaluru followed by a job in Mantri Square Mall where I worked his way up from Customer Service Executive to Cashier to a Store Manager and then as a Operations Executive in that shopping mall,” Sid begins.
The turning point in his life came in 2012 when Sid made contacts in the Fashion Industry after joining Square 1 Experimental Marketing which had top label fashion clients where he rose to become an Operations Manager – an executive Producer for shoots, fashion shows, events and corporate events.
“Realizing that I have worked enough for others, I incorporated my own outfit christianed Sid Productions in 2017 which in its first year of operations had billings of almost 2 crores,” he revealed. Thats an achievement for a lad fetching just Rs 250 a month some 11 years back.
So, what exactly does a Fashion Producer & Director do?
To understand what exactly is his work profile, “As a fashion producer my job begins with getting a brief from the client, conceptualising with my team, bringing in stylists, makeup artists, choreographers and photographers on board leading to execution involving producing the final video or photo shoot,” he revealed.
Sid has worked with several international supermodels, while his Indian assignments included that of supermodels with the likes Varthika Singh, Jantee Hazarika and Parvathy Nair.
Generally believed to be a profession of fun and hanging around with glamour dolls, Sid reveals, “Post the conceptualization, our work demands a lot of co-ordination and getting the team of over 2 dozen people into the right mood. The technicians as well as the models have to get into the right frame of mind on the same levels. In case of outdoor shoots, it involves tackling weather conditions too. If you consider the pre and post production, it takes a lot more than just that.”
Among his notable assignments includes the fashion shoot for ace designers Shantanu & Nikhil for the July 2017 issue of Vogue Magazine. Just recently he completed fashion shoot of the Brazilian actress Bruna Abdullah in Mumbai. His other works include that of campaigns of Myntra, Zivane, Lifestyle, Flying Machine, MAX, Future Group and US Polo.
“I would say that my biggest achievement was when my work was published in the November 2017 issue of ELEMENTS magazine (USA), a fashion shoot for Pina Colada, though I had directed the cover pic for Vogue magazine,” exclaimed Sid.
Execution of work as a Fashion Producer & Director is quite similar to the work of a producer and director of a feature film. Though feature film takes 6 months to 1 year to complete, Sid’s assignments span a week or two and then jump to the next project. “I desire to do a feature film one day, and my inspiration is Sanjay Leela Bhansali. I am his ardent fan, he is like my God. I am just fascinated by his films and would not mind at all to work as his assistant even if it means breaking away from my regular work for a couple of years,” he confesses.
“Say 5 years or so down the line, I see myself into feature films and that is my passion which I shall definitely fulfill. One more thing I have noticed is that even nowadays, newcomer female aspirants are subject to exploitation by a few elements in the industry. But I am so glad that the set-up in Mumbai is more professional. There are more genuine people in the filmy town as compared to the situation a decade ago and I am positive that very soon the acting profession shall be regarded as a respected profession atleast on par with jobs in other corporate sectors,” Sid observed.
What is his success mantra? “Hard work, being honest, sticking to ethics and more importantly having a fire in the belly. I have gone through such bad times in my youth. surviving with one meal a day at times and that is the reason that I give opportunities to those suffering from financial crisis and yet aim to achieve something in life,” ends Sid Naidu, the Fashion Producer & Director who is looking up to an innings in Bollywood anytime now.
