Avelo Roy (Ajita Das) is an entrepreneur having built eight businesses in the US with multi-million dollars worth of products and services ranging from consumer electronics, Artificial Intelligence systems, healthcare process automation, food science, wireless communications, wearable technology and graphical password applications.

Ajita’s spiritual foundation plays a key role in his life choices and he embeds the timeless teachings of Bhagavad Gita in his business decision making and mentorship that he has provided to thousands of young men and women in US & India. 

On July 1st, a new short film has been released about his inspiring journey, produced by Karuna Productions, in collaboration with the New York Film Academy, directed by Krisztina Danka, Ph.D. (Krishna Lila Dasi).

ISKCON News interviewed the film’s director about the documentary: 

IN: – What inspired you to make this film?  

KL: – I had heard about Ajita prabhu some years ago from my ISKCON Communications friends in Europe, and finally had the chance to meet him in person this February in Mayapur, when I was filming with an international crew at the ISKCON Leadership Sanga. He saw and liked some of my documentaries, and I respected him for his amazing work with the youth. We talked, became friendly and once I learned more about his interesting journey, I decided to make a film about him. Some day.  

Then I flew back to America, and two days later everything shot down due to the pandemic. I felt trapped and isolated, just like everybody else. One of my ways of coping with difficulties is creating. For a while, I have been transitioning from being a mostly feature-length documentary filmmaker to producing “micro docs” – which is a new, hot, short format film genre, with much wider audience range than the longer films, – and was taking courses at and working with my mentors and friends at the New York Film Academy. I thought, why not make my first micro documentary about Ajita? Luckily, he agreed, and we made the film entitled as “Avelo Roy: A Spiritual Millionaire’s Journey from Victim to Victor”.  

IN: – What did you find inspiring about Ajita’s story?

KL: For me, filmmaking is a “treasure hunt”. Wherever I travel in the world, I always on the lookout for inspiring people and stories that have the potential to give hope, joy and to uplift the spirit of millions of people. That’s why I named my filmmaking company Karuna Productions. I want to serve as an agent of spreading compassion and kindness in the world, not only among people, but towards every living beings, including animals and Mother Nature. 

I fully believe that this young entrepreneur’s story, too, is such a treasure that is worth sharing with not only Indians, where he is quite famous, but with the rest of the world, too. What I personally find the most inspiring about him is his humility and service attitude. He is a great businessman whose success did not turn him into a “shark”. He brings spiritual values into circles that have been devoid of sensitivity towards other human beings. He brings heart and kindness to a field that was historically built on exploitation. He proves us loud and clear that we don’t need to corrupt our souls just to get ahead in life. With his shining example, I believe, he leads the way to a more just, kind, and better future.  

IN: – What could you capture in a short format documentary? 

KL: – The micro doc format doesn’t allow us to get into too much details, but I’d like to think that we managed to capture the major milestones and influences, ups and downs of Ajita’s journey from his childhood to who he is today. This is a film about a shy, often bullied, introvert boy from Kolkata, who moves to Chicago at the age of 19, and convinces major corporate CEOs to invest in his startup. He makes his first million dollars at 22, and now, ten plus years later is heading six businesses in three countries, including East India’s biggest incubators, while through his public speeches and social media channels inspires thousands of people to use their skills and passion to find their purpose in life.  People would rightly wonder: what’s the secret of his success?

IN: – How did you manage to make the film during lockdown? 

KL: – Due to the pandemic we were not able to travel and film him in person, so the interview was conducted online via Zoom sitting in our home offices — Ajita in Kolkata, and myself in Florida. Consequently, the video and sound quality is not as good as I personally would have desired, or, used to work with, but given the circumstances, we hope the audience will understand it and will like the content regardless. For a better visual quality, we could have waited until the pandemic was over, but we felt that it was now when people needed some inspiration in their lives — more than ever. 

Click here to watch the film: