We had the good fortune of connecting with Ajinkya Hukerikar and we’ve shared our conversation below.
Hi Ajinkya, what do you want people to remember about you?
Have you ever been so lost in a story that reality felt like the interruption? I was eleven when it first happened to me, watching Wall-E in a darkened theater. When the credits rolled and the lights returned, I sat there blinking, genuinely disoriented as if I’d just returned from another planet instead of another film. That experience stuck with me because it showed me how powerful it can be when someone builds a world so meticulous and honest that you forget you’re experiencing fiction. That’s what I’ve been chasing in my work ever since. I’m focused on creating work that feels meaningful in the present, pushing myself to honor that eleven-year-old’s sense of wonder and trusting that this authentic approach will create something worthwhile that resonates with others. Whether it’s a film like “Dulo” or whatever comes next, I want to be remembered as someone who took world-building seriously, not pretentiously, but with a genuine commitment to making every aspect of storytelling compelling and authentic.
Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
My path to becoming a creator and film producer wasn’t linear. Growing up in Mumbai, I was surrounded by stories of the kind that spilled out of overcrowded trains, bustling markets, and cramped apartments where generations lived together. When I moved to the U.S., I carried those stories with me, but I also began noticing something profound: human beings have an extraordinary capacity for adaptation. A refugee describing daily life after fleeing a war zone sounded just as matter-of-fact as someone talking about a suburban commute. A street vendor in Mumbai approached business with the same normalcy as a Silicon Valley founder chasing their startup dream. These observations found their way into my storytelling. One of my early films explored a young boy adapting to life with a bully and overcoming fear. This theme of adaptation reached its fullest expression in my latest film, “Dulo,” which tells the story of children born in a war zone, forced to adapt to unimaginable circumstances yet still finding ways to entertain themselves.
Four years ago, my co-creator Mehkansh Kathuria and I kept returning to one concept during our brainstorming sessions: children in conflict zones who turn violence into play, their games reflecting the world adults have created around them. We could imagine this world, and we felt compelled to find the mediums and language to communicate it. We recognized the urgency and importance of the questions we wanted to raise. However, we also knew that these questions needed to be free of context and place. We knew we were asking uncomfortable questions that wouldn’t provide easy answers, and we wanted to create a world that allowed that—without any borders, biases, or preconceptions. The result is something quiet and unflinching that trusts audiences to sit with difficult questions rather than offering comfortable conclusions.
The journey of making this film was anything but straightforward. What started with a $7,000 budget for a five-minute short evolved into something much more ambitious as we discovered the story we really wanted to tell. We invested heavily in pre-production, spending six months rehearsing with the kids because authentic performances were crucial.When Mehkansh and I found ourselves struggling with budget constraints, we launched a crowdfunding campaign that covered our initial shoot. When we needed an extra day for essential scenes, taking loans from our families felt like the right investment. The biggest challenge came when our first visual effects (VFX) team’s work failed to capture our vision. We made the painful decision to start over with artists who truly understood what we were building, even though our VFX budget was already exhausted. We fueled the new VFX work through savings built over these years, but every choice was made in service of the story. In the end, seeing our vision finally realized through the visual effects validated every difficult decision.
The lesson I learned was not to fear change or challenges, but to embrace that same extraordinary capacity for adaptation I’d witnessed in people throughout my life, to adapt not just to circumstances, but to what serves your vision and make it happen. That’s the message I want the world to embrace because it reflects my brand and my story. It took me four years to complete my latest project, but every struggle was worth it.
Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
When friends visit LA, my go-to spots are the Huntington Botanical Gardens and Laguna Beach. These places capture two sides of what draws me to Southern California. Huntington has this incredible blend of art, literature, and stunning gardens. It’s the kind of place where you can spend hours taking in how culture and nature intersect. Then there’s Laguna Beach, where the natural beauty reminds you why artists have been drawn to this coastline for generations. Moving between these spaces, one carefully constructed, one naturally stunning, keeps me grounded in both my creative work and the larger world that inspires it.
The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
I have to give huge credit to my wife, Saloni Hukerikar, a content creator who has been instrumental in everything I do. She lives with a growth mindset that’s truly inspiring, and naturally uses every platform available to her, whether through social media, book clubs, or conversations with friends to help others thrive. Watching her taught me that real impact comes from understanding your audience’s deepest struggles, not just their surface desires. She showed me that whether you’re helping someone reorganize their morning routine or reimagine their worldview through film, the principle is the same: meet people where they are, then give them tools to get where they want to be.Saloni keeps me focused on what matters and has been my biggest supporter throughout the four-year journey of making “Dulo.” None of this would be possible without her insight, encouragement, and the reality checks that keep my artistic ambitions grounded in human impact.
AS FEATURED IN SHOUTOUT LA
https://shoutoutla.com/meet-ajinkya-hukerikar-creator-producer
