Cousins Shafaat Shahbandari and Tayyab Hassan Ajaib have been travelling across the southern states of India since August 2019, after they launched Thousand Shades of India (TSOI), an online platform that features the country's lesser-known heroes striving to make a difference. For this, their journalism experience came in handy. Bengaluru-based Shahbandari, 38, says, "We are two passionate storytellers who travel across India to find stories that inspire, and strengthen the world's belief in the eternal values of humanity. We use the documentary, short video, features and tiny tales formats."

During one such trip to Rajasthan, they found the story for their latest documentary, Stars Behind Bars. The film, now available for viewing on YouTube, was shot in a day. "In March, we attended the Learning Societies unConference (LSuC) and met the event's host Manish Jain. A chat with him led us to an initiative started by his organisation, Shikshantar," Shahbandari shares.