The Year She Said No: How an 18-Year-Old Kerala Student Chose Filmmaking Over Engineering
92% in Boards, But No Clarity on What's Next
Rithu Nanda had done everything right. She scored 92% in her 12th grade board exams — straight A-plus grades, the kind of academic record that opens doors to engineering colleges and medical schools across India. By every conventional measure, she was exactly where an 18-year-old from Kerala was supposed to be: on the launchpad, ready to be fired into the trajectory that society had planned for her.
Why She Took a Gap Year Despite Family Pressure
Instead, she did something that took more courage than any exam: she took a gap year. A full twelve months to figure out who she actually was, separate from the expectations that had been shaping her since childhood. It was, by her own account, "pretty tough" to convince her parents. Her friends were shipping off to colleges. Her relatives were watching. The social pressure in Indian families around career choices after 12th grade is immense. But Rithu chose self-discovery over the safe path.
Finding Direction at the LevelUp Filmmaking Workshop
Rithu found herself at a crossroads between fine arts and filmmaking. She needed to know if filmmaking was something she could actually pursue — not just as a hobby, but as a life. The LevelUp Filmmaking Workshop became her testing ground. For the first time, she wasn't learning because a curriculum demanded it. She was learning because she genuinely wanted to.
A Gap Year That Became a Foundation
What makes Rithu's story remarkable is the self-awareness behind it. At eighteen, in a culture that rewards conformity, she recognized that rushing into engineering or medicine without understanding herself would be a far greater risk than pausing to explore creative careers. She chose exploration over expectation. Rithu's gap year isn't a gap at all — it's a foundation. The first real one she's building for herself, on her own terms. And somewhere in Kerala, an eighteen-year-old with a camera and a story to tell is proving that sometimes the bravest thing you can do is take the path that no one planned for you.
If you're a student trying to figure out whether filmmaking is right for you — whether after 12th grade, during a gap year, or alongside college — the LevelUp Filmmaking Workshop is built for exactly that moment of exploration. No prior experience needed. Just curiosity.
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