Terwadkar Rajiv

Terwadkar Rajiv Sitaram was born in Miraj, Maharashtra, India. His father Sitaram Anant Terwadkar was in State Bank of India as a Branch Manager & mother Anjali Sitaram Terwadkar is home maker. Rajiv's initial life is greatly influenced by his uncles (Kaka & Mama) who injected Self Confidence & Risk Taking ability in him. He has acted & participated in many stage shows / drama during his college days. Rajiv received Bachelors degree in Mechanical Engineering from Shivaji University in 1996. He then worked for 2 years at Walchandnagar Industries in Special Product Division in QA & Design; where he got experience on Satellite Launching Vehicles, Missiles & other Special Products. He completed Post Graduate Diploma in Advanced Computing in 1999 which changed his career to become as IT Expert. During his IT career he worked in Singapore, Germany & South Africa besides India. He became Sun Certified Enterprise Architect in 2003 South Africa. Rajiv had a dream of producing a truly cross cultural & cross border film on which many of his friends used to laugh! He started bringing Marathi Films into South Africa to begin interactions with Actors, Directors & Producers from Indian film Industry and screened those movies in South Africa, he also invited South African Actors, Directors & Producers for the screenings. He then went on to arrange first Utkarsh Marathi Film Festival in Africa where more than 20 movies were screened. He brought 16+ Bollywood & Marathi Film Celebrities to a beautiful place South Africa for Film Festival. This turned into Indian International Film Festival of South Africa (IIFFSA) where great Indian films across the globe were screened in South Africa & African films were screened in India. After spending millions of Rands on Film Festivals and entertaining celebrities, he decided to pursue his dream of Producing a truly Cross Cultural & Cross Border Film "Free State" by partnering with Sallas de Jager who won Best Director award at his IIFFSA. Free State won 4 international awards and was official selection of more than 20 International Film Festivals. Rajiv's passion for films encouraged him to learn more about film making. This lead to arranging many Acting & Direction workshops for Previously Disadvantaged Individuals in South Africa. He also arranged a Scholarship for 3 South Africans to go and study in one of the best Film Institution in the world "Whistling Woods International" promoted by Mr. Subhash Ghai in Mumbai, India. His films Free State, The Wall & The Last Victims had a world Premiere in Los Angeles at Pan African Film Festival. The films have travelled across many countries in multiple International Film Festivals. The Last Victims has so far won 19 awards and 10 nominations world wide.