Filmmaker Junayed Alavi's journey from Bengal’s Rampurhat to Hollywood

The first camera filmmaker Junayed Alavi remembers carrying was his father’s Nikon Coolpix. He was 13, in ninth grade, growing up in Rampurhat, West Bengal. He used to take it to school and film his surroundings, drawn to the possibilities of the moving image.

Around that time, Jurassic Park had just been released and left its imprint on his imagination. The world of cinema, with its strange creatures and impossible landscapes, had opened up before him.And now, a conversation with a producer associated with Paranormal Activity signed NDA SO CANT NAME, a collaboration with Ken Ochiai, and a science-fiction project with Peter Cameron have set the stage for Junayed's next phase. With Deathbed expected in January 2027 and Sapiens around June 2027, Junayed has two films lined up for release.

https://www.thehindu.com/infographics/2026-10-30/20-best-horror-films-of-the-21st-century/index.html#intro “I had an inclination towards filmmaking right from my school days. I would take my father’s camera to school and shoot videos.