Ahmedabad: This 71-year-old air-conditioning technician from Bhuj has quietly built one of Indian cinema‘s most unlikely resumes. Nayan Rana has production credits on three films that found pride of place in the Oscar race: “The Good Road” (2013), “Jal” (2014), and “Chhello Show” (2022), which even made it to the Oscar shortlist. Despite his contributions to cinema, Rana continues to work as an AC mechanic in his hometown, servicing units in the sweltering Kutch heat, a striking contrast to the red-carpet world his films have inhabited.He has added another accolade to his creative journey. His skit Ishwar ni Amanat (God’s Treasure), written and directed for Shree Muktajeevan Swamibapa Mahila College, won the first prize at the Kutch University Youth Festival 2025-26. The play traces the history of human warfare and the toll it takes on ordinary people caught in global conflict.Rana’s broader filmography includes “Parched” (2016), “Dhaad” (2018), and “Khape” (2021), with early technical work on Ram Gopal Varma’s “Satya” (1998) and Mahesh Bhatt’s “Mouthful of Sky” (1995). “I fix air-conditioners to make ends meet,” Rana told TOI. “Theatre does not offer steady income. We keep it alive purely out of passion.” That passion began at the age of 10, when theatre veteran Rasnidhi Antani cast Rana in a Navratri play in Nagarvandi. Rana went on to stage school productions, including a high school adaptation of the classic film “Anand”, drawing inspiration from Bhuj theatre figures Markand Vora, Bhaskar Buch and Jayant Makwana. After moving to Mumbai in 1982, Rana spent 11 years balancing his AC business with work in film and television. His first break came as an assistant under cinematographer Darshan Dave on “Mouthful of Sky”. Over the decades, he has worked across nearly every film discipline — acting, scriptwriting, production, sound, camera, dubbing and casting. Theatre, however, remains his primary calling. He has directed works by Badal Sarkar and Mohan Rakesh, and recently completed the script for “Taat ne Taap”, a play about the suffering and resilience of Indian farmers. “As a writer, Nayan Rana explores his subject in depth and provokes serious reflection,” said Pankaj Jhala, actor and Secretary of Sanskar Bharati Gujarat Prant. “His rehearsals are like a complete theatre workshop.” Cinematographer Ravji Sondarva, who has collaborated with Rana, called him “a flow of pure energy who strives for absolute perfection and never rests until a task is completed”.RANA’S CREATIVE JOURNEYTheatre: Wrote and directed a stage adaptation of Saadat Hasan Manto’s Toba Tek Singh. The production was developed over about seven months of rehearsals and featured a cast of 35 actors, 30 of whom were newly trained.Technical assistant: The Devadasi (1997, Pan Nalin) — camera assistance with DOP Piyush Shah and production support. Dance of the Wind (1997, Rajan Khosa) — sound. The Memsahib (2006, Kruti Mazumdar) — casting.
