Ph. D. | 2020
Title of Thesis "The Digital Turn in Hindi Film Industry: An Analysis of Visual Effects"
Department of Culture & Media Studies, Central University of Rajasthan.
UGC NET-JRF (Dec-2014) in Mass Communication and Journalism
MA in Culture & Media Studies | 2013
Central University of Rajasthan (with Gold Medal)
Final Project (Documentary Film): Bole Banjara, 13 Minute, HD, Hindi.
Master’s Thesis “Effect of modern music on traditional marriage songs among Meena Community.”
Bachelor of Arts | 2006
Government Post Graduate College, Sawai Madhopur, University of Kota.
Teaching Experience
Assistant Professor | 12th Feb 2020 to Continue
Department of Mass Communication & Media Studies
Central University of Punjab
Research Experience
Audio-visual Technician | 10/2018 to 10/2019
American Institute of Indian Studies - Gurugram
British Library Project (Endangered Archive Project) for Padmshree Komal Kothari's Rupayan Sansthan, Jodhpur
Responsible for Digitalisation of Audio Reels period from1960 to 2000
• Sorting and listing the Audio reels
• Creating a logbook for Audio material
• Digitisation of Audio Reel
• Item wise listing and description
Professional Experience
Assistant Director (Freelancer)
Hindi Film and Television Industry (Bollywood)- Mumbai
• Assistant Direction
• Screenplay Writing
• Audio Video Software troubleshooting
• Digital Solution to Studios
Film Studies, Digital Visual Effects, Screen Studies, New Media, Digital Cinema, Documentary Film, Film Preservations and Restoration, Hindi Cinema, World Cinema, Cinema AI, Media Research and Visual Culture, Folklore and Indigenous Studies.
My research is interest in Cinema Studies and Digital Visual Storytelling with the technical aspects of cinema, which include Indian Popular Cinema, how cinematic images are conceived and constructed by the creative cultural industries, and how the digital mode of cinema impacts wider audiences.
I am also interested in examining cultural industries and the role of critical media praxis, which involves both the practice of media production and theoretical engagement with that practice. My work aims to bridge media theory and creative practice to better understand how media can function as a site of cultural expression, critique, and transformation.
Research Seed Money
Amount : 1,50,000
Central University of Punjab
Title of project " Effect of Modern Music on Traditional Marriage Songs Among Meena Community"
Member of the INDIAN FILM & TELEVISION DIRECTORS' ASSOCIATION (IFTDA)
As Assistant Director from 2019 to Continue
Fellow Member of The Screenwriters Association (SWA) from Dec 2022
Member of the Association for Cultural Studies (2023-2025)
1. Gold Medal in MA by Central University of Rajasthan
2. Rajiv Gandhi National Fellowship for ST 2013-14
3. NET JRF (Junior Research Fellowship Dec 2014 by UGC)
1. Women overcoming Marginalisation with the Use of Social Media: An Exploratory Approach
Annapurna Sharma; Mahesh Kumar Meena
Article: IIS University Journal of Arts, Volume 14, Year 2025, Pages 208-222
2. Human and Non-human Co-existence in the Urban Dystopia: Review of the Documentary All that Breathes
Neha Nandani; Mahesh Kumar Meena
Review : Environmental Communication, Year 2024
DOI:10.1080/17524032.2024.2395893
3. Navigating Hope and Resilience: A Narrative Analysis of Post-Apocalyptic Film Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind by Hayao Miyazaki
Neha Nandani; Mahesh Kumar Meena
Book Chapter: Fantasy, Films and Mutiverse, Year 2024, Pages 101
4. Digital is Not the Alternative: Dilemma and Preserving Films in India
Ankit Vaishnav; Mahesh Kumar Meena; Neha Nandani; Annapurna Sharma
Article: Preservation, Digital Technology and Culture, Year 2024
5. Digital Film Restoration Industry in India: Preserving Cinematic Cultural Heritage
Ankit Vaishnav and Mahesh Kumar Meena
Article: Sanshodhak, Volume 1, Year 2023, Pages 232-237
6. Transformations in Traditional Marriage Songs of Meena Adivasis
Mahesh Kumar Meena
Book Chapter Revisiting Tribal Heritage of India and Contemporary Issues, Volume 1, Year 2023, Pages 107
7. The Meme is the Message: Syntagmatic and Paradigmatic Analysis of Social Media Memes
Ankit Vaishnav; Mahesh Kumar Meena
Article: Satraachee, Volume 38, Year 2023, Pages 40-47
8. Achieving Sustainable Development Goals: An Analysis of Community Radio in India
Annapurna Sharma; Mahesh Kumar Meena
Article : Global Media Journal-Indian Edition, Volume 14, Year 2022, Pages 1-23
9. An Image Without Camera: An Analysis of Digital Visual Effects in Hindi Films
Mahesh Kumar Meena; Dr Nichalas Lakra
Article: Pramana Research Journal, Volume 9, Year 2019, Pages 797-805
DOI:DOI:16.10089.PRJ.2019.V9I4.19.3301
10. The Impact of Facebook on Women Empowerment in Education Institution
Mahesh Kumar Meena
Article: International Journal of Innovative Knowledge Concepts, Volume 6, Year 2018, Pages 170-174
DOI:11.25835/IJIK-94 www.doie.org
11. Impact of Popular Hindi Film Songs on Traditional Marriage Songs Among Meena Community
Mahesh Kumar Meena
Article : Sangharsh/Struggle : e-Journal of Dalit Literary Studies, Volume 4, Year 2015, Pages 84-88
12. Defining the Digitalisation in motion picture and a debate in the media
Mahesh Kumar Meena
Article: Creative Space : International Journal , Volume 3, Year 2015, Pages 170-175
- Ankit Vaishnav (21PHDMAS01) Ongoing
Title of PhD “Moving Image Archiving in India: A Critical Analysis of Digital Preservation, Restoration and Access”
- Neha Nandani (21PHDMAS05) Ongoing
Title of PhD "Exploring Ecocinema in India: A Critical Study on Environmental Hindi Popular Films"
- Annapurna Sharma (21PHDMAS06) Ongoing
Title of PhD "The Digital News Avoidance Phenomenon: Impact on The Socio-Political Landscape for Women in Indian Politics"
National
- Presented a paper titled 'Digital Film Restoration Industry in India: Preserving Cinematic Cultural Heritage' (Author- Ankit Vaishnav, Co-Author- Dr Mahesh Kumar Meena) in Role of Skill India Initiative in Entrepreneurship Development in 75th Anniversary of Independence - Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav, 31 July 2023 organised by Department of Commerce & Management of Smt. Radhadevi Goenka College for Women, Akola, MH
- Changing Paradigms of Mass Communication amidst Digital Age, 25th- 26th Nov 2022, organised by School of Journalism, Films and Creative Arts, Lovely Professional University, Punjab.
1. The paper titled 'Meme is the Message: Syntagmatic and Paradigmatic Analysis of Social Media Memes'
(Author- Ankit Vaishnav, Co-Author- Dr Mahesh Kumar Meena).
2. The paper titled 'Digital media a new avenue for the marginalised sections'
(Author- Annapurna Sharma, Co-Author- Dr Mahesh Kumar Meena).
- Presented paper titled ‘Subaltern Representation in Digital Media in India: A Critical Analysis' in Media and Subalterns in India, 16-17 March 2017, organised by Central University of Rajasthan,
- Presented a paper titled ‘The Present Scenario of Women Empowerment and Media in India: A Case Study on Facebook in Social Transformation towards Inclusive Growth of Marginalised Communities, 3-4 January 2017, organised by Savitribai Phule Pune University, Pune.
- Presented a paper titled ‘The Language of Social Media and Emergence of Virtual Nationalism in India’ in Media: Language and Sensibility, 10-11 November 2016, organised by All India Jat Heroes’ Memorial College, Rohtak.
- Presented Paper titled ‘Mediazation of Right to Information Act 2005: A Scenario in Indian Media’in Governance and Administrative Reforms in India, 6-7 February 2016 organised by Jai Narain Vyas University, Jodhpur.
- Presented a paper titled ‘Many faces: Virtual and Real Identity on Facebook among Central University of Rajasthan students’ in Media: Past, Present and Future, 5-6 December 2014, organised by Babu Shobharam Govt. Arts College, Alwar.
International
- Presented with PhD Scholar Ankit Vaishnav paper titled 'India’s Born-Digital Film Heritage: Challenges and Prospects of Preservation and Access' in Born-Digital Collection, Archives and Memory international conference organised by School of Advanced Study, University of London on 2-4 April 2005.
- Presented a paper titled 'Exploring the Role of Computer-generated Imagery in Shaping Modern Storytelling in Hindi Film', in international Academic Conference: Storytelling in Times of Technological Changes and Challenges organised by Prague City University, Czech Republic on 5 November 2024
- Presented a paper titled 'Digital, Dilemma and Preserving Cinema: Analysis of Moving Image Archiving in India' (Author- Ankit Vaishnav, Co-Author- Dr Mahesh Kumar Meena), in Media Spaces. Cultural Narratives and Creative Industries: (Post) Pandemic Reconfigurations, 28-30 September 2023 organised by Symbiosis Institute of Media and Communication, Pune.
- Presented a paper titled ‘Use of DVFX in Hindi Films: Construction of Tourism Spaces' in Tourism: Social and Cultural Perspective, 16-17 March 2017 organised by Maniben Nanwati Women College, Mumbai.
- Presented a paper titled ‘Digitalisation of Traditional Meena’s Song: A Case study of YouTube’ in Aadiwasi Tribes of India: Challenges & Possibilities, 9-10 August 2016 organised by Jai Narain Vyas University, Jodhpur.
- Presented a paper titled ‘The Changing Economic and Livelihood Status in Modernisation among Rebari Nomadic Tribes’ in Ethnicity and Development in South Asia: Issues and Challenges, 21-22 January 2016 organised by Indra Gandhi National Open University, New Delhi.
- Presented the paper titled ‘Understanding the relationship between verbal and visual art: A tale of Phad painting' in Semiotic Encryption of Global Conflict and Idea of Modernity in Folk Theatre: India and the World, 14-17 January 2015 organised by Indian Society for Theatre Research at University of Mumbai.
- Presented a paper titled ‘Defining the Digital Visual Effect in Hindi Cinema’ in Indian Cinema and Social Reality, 5-6 January 2015, organised by Maniben Nanawati Woman College, Mumbai.
- Presented a paper titled ‘Performance and Subversion of Gendered spaces: A Case Study of Tutya (Dramatic) Practice in Meena Community' in Interdisciplinary Negotiations in Performing Arts: Indo-Global Praxis, 8-11 January 2014 organised by Indian Society for Theatre Research at Central University of Rajasthan.
Workshops
- 5 Day Storytelling and Script Writing workshop, HIDA, Shimla, May 14-18 May 2018.
- 7 Days Film Preservation and Restoration School of India, Oct 07 – 14 Oct 2017 at Prasad Lab, Chennai.
- 10 Days Film Preservation and Restoration School of India, February 26 – 06 March 2016 at NFAI, Pune.
- 10 Days Research Methodology Workshop, Sept. 2015, Jai Narain Vyas University, Jodhpur.
- 7 Days Film Preservation and Restoration School of India, February 22 – 28, 2015 at Films Division, Mumbai.
PATENT FILED
PATENT PUBLISHED
Short Films
1. Ek Pyar Ki Kahani (Editor and Cinematography)
2. Only Friend (Writer, Cinematography and Editor)
3. SAMVAD and Making in Samvad (Cameraman & Editor)
4. Promo of Central University of Rajasthan (Cameraman & Editor)
Documentaries
1. ‘CURAJ Job Fair 2012’ (Won First Prize in Maru-Kriti at Central University of Rajasthan - April 2012) Director, Editor and Cameraman
2. ‘CHOKA’ (Won First Prize in Maru-Kriti at Central University of Rajasthan – May 2013) Director, Editor and Cameraman
3. ‘Apanapan’ a documentary about an orphan house in Jaipur (Director, Editor and Cameraman)
4. ‘Disavar’ A success story of NABARDs’ SHG program in Rajasthan (Camera and Editor) 5. “Bridging the Gap” Editor under Bob Gliner (San Jose State University, California, USA) on a community college work of Central University of Rajasthan.
6. ‘Bole Banjara’ Documentary about construction workers (Banjara Community of Western Rajasthan) Director, Editor and Cameraman
7. ‘Peeliya- Home Remedies’ A documentary about traditional treatments to heal Jaundice. Cameraman and Editor
YouTube Channel
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCS_29Aqho5VosK1APslC47A/videos