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Living in Australia since 1997, passionate about Movies and Education, fortunate to work in both the industries. Dr. Rajeev Kamineni started his working career in a bookstore three decades ago and then moved onto area sales manager, director, executive director, chief officer, and head of program positions. He has working stints in Australia, Dubai, Japan, India, Singapore and South Africa. Rajeev was actively involved in financing 35 movies and producing 14 movies in the Indian movie industry. With a lifelong passion for cinema, Rajeev has authored a book on Indian cinema published by Routledge, UK. He was also actively involved as an organizer and executive committee member of the Chennai International Film Festival (CIFF). Currently Academic Director, and teaching management for University of Adelaide’s students. Rajeev is an active Rotarian, is a member of Rotary Club of Adelaide, served as its 100th President in 2022-23 and is the Rotary District Governor Elect.
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TMYS: Please tell us about your mother, DR. VASUMATHI KAMINENI, after whom the two annual awards of TMYS REVIEW 2025 and 2026 have been named. We would love to know about her professional presence as well as her role in shaping you as an individual.
(Submission Guidelines for TMYS Review June 2025)
Dr Rajeev Kamineni:
My Mother, Dr Vasumathi Kamineni, completed her MBBS and MD (paediatrics) degrees in the late 60s and early 70s, she practised as a paediatrician for 40 years before retiring in 2014. She was passionate about medicine and dedicated her life to be a good medical practitioner. She was always interested in learning and used to tap into every opportunity to attend conferences and workshops so that she can keep improving as a paediatrician. Those days in India, it was common for female paediatricians to take up obstetrics cases also and hence she ended up delivering several babies (2 generations in many instances and 3 generations in some instances), as a result of this mom became a family member to many families because they treated her as part of their families. Many a time, I bump into someone who says that he/she was born under my mother’s care and this creates a bond. Mom always treated her medical profession as a means to serve people and this was evident in the hundreds of free medical camps that she conducted to help the poor and needy. Her professional presence and her strong belief that education (not just graduation) is critical for us to develop into better individuals motivated me to graduate with a higher qualification and continue my quest to keep learning.
TMYS: What are some of the virtues of Dr. Vasumathi Kamineni which are timeless and should be imbibed by the youth of the era?
Dr Rajeev Kamineni:
Hard work, passionate, commitment to the chosen profession and the virtue of seamlessly blending the roles of a daughter, sister, wife, mother and paediatrician should be imbibed by the youth of this era. Against the backdrop of dwindling attention spans, it is important to keep in mind that a busy person has time for everything they believe in.
TMYS: Research and publishing has been happening across centuries. Please share a brief about your vision in including emerging voices to the existing discourse.
Dr Rajeev Kamineni:
Every discourse grows in strength and vibrancy when new voices add their contribution. Theories and models thrive because of future generations either validating or critiquing. Emerging voices should be encouraged to be inquisitive and critical rather than deferential. To follow a set path or pattern is an easy way out for emerging researchers and can be viewed as a safe path. But, it is important to appreciate that the safe path gets crowded very fast and to stand out and be heard, emerging voices have to think outside the box.
TMYS: How do you think new voices in writing can add to the rethinking of history or digging out the overlooked aspects?
(Submission Guidelines for TMYS Review June 2025)
Dr Rajeev Kamineni:
New voices bring in fresh perspectives and add to the discussion about an aspect of history that is overlooked and under-researched. All of the literary giants that are in our midst today have commenced as a new voice. It is often mentioned that history is narrated from the perspective of a winner and this perspective need not necessarily be the right or whole perspective. When a new voice contributes then the scope of the discussion expands and this ensures that history becomes more representative.
TMYS: How open is the global intelligentsia towards receiving new thoughts, discourse, research and interpretation - especially when the emerging voices challenge the established ones?
Dr Rajeev Kamineni:
This is always a risk because no one wants to give up their position or upset the established order. The global intelligentsia has an agenda to maintain status quo or make very minor changes, against this agenda if emerging voices start challenging the established voices, there is bound to be resistance and fighting from entrenched positions. It will be very challenging to go against the system and make a difference. However, once new voices manage to break into the system, they can use the opportunity to make incremental changes. These changes ensure that the system survives and continues to thrive.
TMYS: It is a distinct skill to look at human habits, behaviour or rituals from non-linear perspectives. It is also a social need to shed the bias towards culture, colour, caste, religion and suchlike. Would you please suggest how the emerging writers can train themselves to liberate from unfair conditionings, which would enhance their impact, productivity and relevance?
(Submission Guidelines for TMYS Review June 2025)
Dr Rajeev Kamineni:
Emerging writers, this is a very positive way of defining new talent, and to classify as emerging means that they offer a fresh thought process that is different to the established writers. However, in many instances emerging writers cannot liberate themselves from unfair conditionings because their thought process is influenced by their conditionings and the context of their upbringing. To liberate from that will be a challenge but it requires a determined effort to start afresh and interact with other writers from diverse backgrounds. There is anecdotal evidence to suggest that from pain and discomfort creativity emerges, emerging writers should be willing to experience discomfort and go out of their comfort zone. This will not only build resilience but also the ability to think from a broader perspective and compare with their own unfair conditionings. There is no one universal unfair setting, there are several and if emerging writers can appreciate and engage with multiple unfair conditionings, they will naturally become more productive and relevant.
TMYS: How can the emerging scholars achieve a flow in academic writing so that it doesn't appear fragmented or choppy? Request your advice.
Dr Rajeev Kamineni:
Practice, one-word advice. Read more and write more. Emerging scholars need to read voraciously to keep up with the literature and trends. Reading an eclectic collection of writings will enhance the critical ability and also ensure that a discerning voice is developed. This discerning voice will help in shaping their personal writing style and definitely improve it. Some writers have a lyrical, creative style whereas some writers have a dry, professional style. It will be ideal for emerging scholars to aspire for both these writing styles because a combination of such styles will enhance their ability to achieve a flow in academic writing. When we trace the journey of our writing, we start by learning the alphabet and then build words, and then create sentences that leads to writing a coherent narrative that includes several sentences. This natural progression is achieved by practice and similarly achieving a flow in academic writing is also through practice.
TMYS: Emerging writers often get confused about the concepts of plagiarism. There is a misconception among many that they need to cite only if they are quoting. Request your advice on how to avoid plagiarism?
(Submission Guidelines for TMYS Review June 2025)
Dr Rajeev Kamineni:
In this day of artificial intelligence, plagiarism is going to be a bigger problem than it was earlier because of the manner in which technology can help make it easier to access content. I will start with the most common mis-conception, using our own work again without referencing under the mistaken notion that it is not plagiarism because it is our work. This is called auto plagiarism or self plagiarism. As soon as our content gets published it means that it is in the public domain and it is now in print therefore making it a source. Though we might feel that it is our content and we do not need to reference it, it is not right because it is published content and it has to be referenced. Yes, it is a misconception that they should cite only when there is a direct quote, even when paraphrasing someone’s work it has to be referenced. When in doubt always err on the side of caution and reference. I will go back to my earlier suggestion of reading more and writing more, the more we read, the more sources we will have to reference from and this will naturally reduce the chances of plagiarism. The problem of plagiarism crops up when we don’t have enough information and we take the short cut to write something that is not our original idea/thought. Therefore, if we develop a strong research ethic, then the chances of plagiarism will come down.
TMYS: Attention deficit is a natural consequence of technology. Research and writing require patience and perseverance. One must understand that rejection is not personal. Please share your advice for new writers.
Dr Rajeev Kamineni:
All the most cited authors that we see today would have faced several rejections and I can say that rejection will feel that it is personal but it is not, it is the process. Unfortunately, attention deficit is a reality today, personally, I have a student who counts the number of days a paper is sitting with the editors and reviewers. I say it is a pointless exercise because the editors and reviewers are providing a service and they have to be appreciated for this service rather than held to task for the delays. If one is expecting to click the submit button and expect a result within 24 hours then research is not their cup of tea. For new writers, my advice is that write with passion and commitment. Write it interesting and be creative then there is definitely a home for such writing. If not one journal, another journal will accept it. However, if it is not original or interesting, the chances of it finding a home diminish. Writing is a habit, the more we practice the better we will get at it and the acceptance rate increases.
TMYS: Please tell us how your research, writing and filmmaking has contributed to your learning. Do you think your personality and attitude towards life has changed for the better under their influence?
Dr Rajeev Kamineni:
About a decade ago, I decided to switch tracks in my career and decided that I will research and write about my passion i.e. filmmaking. This meant that in the past 7 or 8 years, most of my research and writing was about filmmaking. Filmmaking was an entrepreneurial learning journey for me and it shaped my life in the past 15 years, so I felt that if I can research and write about this aspect of my life I will have an authentic voice and lived in experience to share. Yes, my personality and attitude towards life has changed in the past few years because of the credibility I bring into my research and writing. I am not writing as an outsider but as an insider. In the past 27 years, I have been teaching, researching, writing and making movies and all these facets of my working life have impacted and changed my view of life. I have learnt from the successes and failures of all of these facets and I have become better at all these facets because of my learnings.