On Your Radar: Anooya Swamy

On Your Radar is a Grad Film News segment that features a current student. We asked Anooya Swamy a few questions and this is what she said.

DESCRIBE YOUR EARLIEST CINEMATIC MEMORY.

Probably watching my mother watch Kabhi Khushi Kabhi Gham. I wasn’t as focused on the film as I was on her—completely lost in it, wiping her tears like she didn’t want anyone to notice. I didn’t fully understand why, but I knew the film had reached her in a way that felt private.

The film made her feel things she didn’t plan to, and brought out something she might not even have had words for. It moved her without asking for permission. And I liked that.

WHAT IS YOUR CURRENT STATE OF MIND?

Somewhere between restless and resolute. I feel like I’m standing in the middle of ideas unfinished—work that needs doing, lots of emotions that haven’t settled, stories that are still forming. There’s a pull to move forward, to keep making. But there’s also a part of me that wants to live and observe life in 2025. I want to get back to performing. I'm currently navigating that feeling of feeling everything too much, of wanting answers about the world that aren’t ready to reveal themselves yet.

Still, I know this feeling well. It’s the space before something clicks. So I’m holding on, pushing through, trusting that the work will carry me forward.

WHAT DO YOU VALUE MOST IN YOUR FILM CREW?

I come from dancing and to me movement isn’t just about execution, it's also about adaptation. A choreographer watches, listens, and adjusts, shaping the routine, and in return the dancers commit until the choreography becomes second nature. 

That’s how I see film crews that I've enjoyed being a part of. A set is like the stage and everyone moves in sync and in perfect awareness. The best crews, like the best dancers, know when to follow the rhythm and when to break it. When a crew moves together, the work becomes effortless. The film breathes on its own.

@anooyaswamy (instagram)