Deepak Vishwakarma is a faculty member at Parul Institute of Design whose own artistic work was displayed at the 2026 festival.
His piece, titled Rhythms Beneath the Surface, is executed in glazed stoneware. The work captures the dynamic flow of organic movement within a confined form.
- Its layered folds resemble the currents of wind and water, or the shifting surfaces of the earth itself.
- The surface treatment is finished in a warm bronze tone that accentuates light and shadow across the undulating textures.
- The piece suggests the continuous, restless transformation that shapes all natural landscapes.
What matters beyond the visual quality of the piece is its exhibition history. Rhythms Beneath the Surface has been presented at a national platform in Delhi.
A faculty member who continues to exhibit original work at national platforms brings a different quality of engagement to student critique than one who does not. The student’s work is being reviewed by someone who is themselves still producing and being reviewed. That parity changes the conversation.
Professor Rutu Bhatt: The Mentor Behind Anvi Chanodia's Livspace Placement
Professor Ms. Rutu Bhatt teaches in the Faculty of Architecture and Interior Design at Parul Institute of Design.
She mentored Anvi Chanodia through the therapy centre project during semesters four and five of the B.Design programme. During a review of that project, Professor Bhatt paused and said a sentence that Anvi has publicly credited as the most influential piece of mentorship she received during her degree.
“I know you can do better and you have the potential.”
The sentence is brief. The impact is three years long. Anvi carried those words through the remainder of her degree and into the two-round Livspace interview on the eleventh of March, 2026.
Mentorship that lands permanently does not require length. It requires the teacher to have invested enough time in the student’s work to know what they are capable of, and then to say so.
Read more: Anvi Chanodia’s complete placement story: Professor Bhatt’s influence
Mr. Nishant Trivedi: Mentor of Award-Nominated Animation
Mr. Nishant Trivedi teaches in the Animation and VFX programme at Parul Institute of Design.
He mentored the team behind Akhabar Ek Baar Baar Baar, the experimental stop-motion and 2D animation film that was nominated at the 24FPS International Animation Awards 2025 in the Experimental Category. He also mentored the team behind Sailing to Unknown, a 3D animated short film that received the same recognition.
Two 24FPS nominations in a single academic year, both under the same mentor, are not accidental. They reflect a faculty member who is willing to push first-year student teams through the multi-month effort required to produce festival-submission work.
Read More: Pan Nalin Visited Parul University
Five Mentors, One Cannes Selection
The Fire Kept Its Promise is the short film by Rohan Rajput that was selected for the Short Film Corner at the Festival de Cannes in the Rendez-Vous Industry section.
The team behind the film worked under five mentors.
- Rakesh Patra
- Pritish Nayak
- Sourav Panda
- Sudhakar Vajjha
- Chaitanya Joshi
Five faculty members committing time to a single student film is not ordinary. The ratio reflects a faculty culture where investment in festival-standard student work is systemic rather than exceptional.
The film itself is courageous in its subject matter. A caste-bound village. An upper-caste girl who dies by suicide. Her cremation delayed because of her menstruation. A single sentence of logline that confronts two of the most deeply entrenched realities of Indian society. A student film taking on that material requires mentors who are willing to support the work through the inevitable resistance. Five of them did.
Read more: B.Sc Film and TV Production at Parul Institute of Design
Workshop Faculty and Visiting Practitioners
Workshop-based teaching extends the faculty network beyond full-time staff.
- The Button Masala workshop led by Anuj Sharma taught students the no-cut no-stitch construction philosophy that produced Saloni’s zero-waste dress at the 2026 exhibition.
- Visiting artisan Manaben, an elderly woman from a village background, conducts eco-printing and traditional stitching sessions with fashion students seated on the floor.
- Gela ma’am conducted a workshop attended by semester two visual communication students, compressing months of typography learning into days.
The format is unusual in a design school. The quality of knowledge being transferred is not. Manaben carries decades of refined craft knowledge that cannot be reproduced through lectures or textbooks. Her sessions give students direct access to the source material of Indian textile tradition.
This is the same tradition that NIFT graduate Suket Dhir drew on when he won the International Woolmark Prize. A mother’s red thread on a broken button. A detail that changed a philosophy.
Read more: International Woolmark Prize: reference for Indian textile achievement
Faculty in the Film and TV Production Programme
The Film and TV Production programme at Parul Institute of Design has its own faculty culture visible at VFDF 4.0.
One of the most unusual items on display was a Navrasa film, screened in a space created with black curtains and dedicated seating. The film depicts the eight rasas of Indian classical aesthetics. What makes the film memorable is that a PID professor is the sole actor performing all eight rasas on screen. A faculty member willing to appear in a student-accessible educational film, embodying the full emotional range of the rasa tradition, is teaching by example in the most direct possible way.
Professor Bhaskar Mitra, Dean of Parul Institute of Design, appeared during the 2026 AI panel discussion and during the closing ceremony of the Handmade Over Hype session. His framing at the AI panel was instructive.
“Every major AI tool, software, and social platform involving AI is owned by American companies. India has become a massive market consuming what the United States produces.”
His challenge to the students was to stop being purely consumers and to begin producing original technology. That kind of geopolitical context setting from a dean is the rarer form of faculty engagement.
Read More: VFDF Event at PID Attended by The Esteemed Guests.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who are the faculty members at Parul Institute of Design?
Faculty include Professor Ms. Rutu Bhatt in Interior and Furniture Design, Mr. Nishant Trivedi in Animation and VFX, Mr. Rakesh Patra, Mr. Pritish Nayak, Mr. Sourav Panda, Mr. Sudhakar Vajjha, and Mr. Chaitanya Joshi in the Film and TV Production programme, Mr. Deepak Vishwakarma whose artistic practice operates at the national level, and Professor Bhaskar Mitra as Dean of the institute. Visiting practitioners include Anuj Sharma for the Button Masala workshop and artisan Manaben for traditional textile work.
Are PID faculty actively engaged with students?
The documented evidence from the 2026 festival points to yes. Five mentors supporting one student film into the Festival de Cannes. Two 24FPS nominations under a single mentor. Professor Bhatt's three-year-carried mentorship of Anvi Chanodia. A faculty member exhibiting original work in Delhi while teaching at PID. Visiting artisans conducting floor-level sessions with students.
Does the criticism that PID teachers do not teach with enthusiasm hold up?
The criticism applies an engineering-classroom standard to a design-studio discipline. Design teachers do not deliver content lectures. They create conditions for student practice, evaluate work through juries, and provide targeted feedback. Professor Rutu Bhatt's single-sentence feedback to Anvi Chanodia is an example of the form. Measured against the correct standard for design education, PID faculty engagement is documented through student outcomes: Cannes selection, 24FPS nominations, Livspace placement, and active exhibition of faculty work.
What is the role of visiting artisans in PID's fashion and textile training?
Visiting artisans including Manaben carry craft knowledge that cannot be replicated through classroom teaching. They demonstrate techniques developed over decades, often rooted in regional traditions. Their presence on campus gives students direct access to the source material of Indian textile and craft traditions.
How do I evaluate faculty quality at a design school?
Four measures. The faculty member's own creative or professional practice. The external recognition received by their students at festivals, competitions, and juries. The range and quality of workshops and visiting practitioners brought onto campus. The specificity of feedback delivered during student reviews. All four measures are publicly visible and can be checked through student work, faculty portfolios, and festival outcomes.
