An Interview with Riya Verma, B.Sc Student at AAFT Film City Noida

Careers360 presents you with an interview with Riya Verma, a B.Sc in Cinema, specialising in Direction, student at AAFT Noida. Riya shares details about the admission process, placements and internships, campus life, and facilities on campus. To get more insights into AAFT Noida, go through the interview below.

Careers360: Tell us something about yourself.

Riya Verma: My name is Riya Verma, and I am currently in my second year of the B.Sc. in Cinema, specialising in Direction, here at AAFT, Noida Film City. I come from Lucknow. I had always been that person in school who was more excited about the annual drama production than any exam, so choosing AAFT felt like finally being understood. Being inside Film City every day still feels surreal — in a good way.

Also See: AAFT Noida Admissions 2026

Careers360: What were the factors that made you choose AAFT?

Riya Verma: Honestly, the location was the first thing that caught my attention — a film school inside an actual, functioning film city. That felt different. But when I dug deeper, what convinced me was the legacy. AAFT has been around for over 33 years, has more than 30,000 alumni globally, and the names that have come through here — Luv Ranjan, Gurmeet Singh who directed Mirzapur, Ajay Behl who wrote Section 375 — these are real working professionals. That kind of alumni proof is hard to argue with.

The fact that we have Industry Deans like Faye D'Souza and Swara Bhaskar leading actual schools here, combined with the scale of the placement record, made the decision easy for my family and for me.

Careers360: What was the first thing that you noticed about the campus and life at AAFT?

Riya Verma: The energy. The first day I walked through campus, I passed a film shoot happening on one of the floors, heard someone rehearsing dialogue in a corridor, and saw a fashion student doing a sketch outside the library. Everything is always happening simultaneously here. It does not feel like a college — it feels like an industry ecosystem that happens to have classrooms in it.

And the students. People from so many different states, so many different countries. I had a conversation with someone from Nigeria in my first week. That diversity is something I had never experienced in Lucknow.

Careers360: What were the initial challenges faced by you at the campus?

Riya Verma: The pace, initially. Coming from a conventional schooling background, the shift to such a practical, project-heavy environment takes a few weeks to adjust to. You are expected to be on set, in a lab, in a workshop — not just sitting and listening. The workload is real and the deadlines are creative deadlines, which are somehow more stressful than academic ones.

Also, Noida Film City is a very specific world. Getting comfortable navigating a campus where professional productions are happening around you — learning when to observe, when to ask, when to participate — that has its own learning curve.

Careers360: What do you think are unique facilities that are offered at AAFT?

Riya Verma: Several things stand out. First, the production floors — we get to use actual film shooting studios for our projects. Second, the in-house Radio 107.4 FM, which is the first radio station in Noida and is available to journalism and mass communication students for live practice. Third, the AAFT Learnzilla platform — AI-backed digital classrooms that make hybrid learning seamless.

The Industry Masterclass program is genuinely unique — over 1,000 such interactions are held, and it is not just photo opportunities. These are workshops, critique sessions, and real conversations with working brand professionals. For a cinema student, sitting in a session with a director who has made a film you have watched is deeply motivating.

The Art and Design Central campus for Fashion and Animation students has state-of-the-art fashion studios, pattern labs, and 3D animation suites that are genuinely at par with what you would find in the industry.

Careers360: Give us a glimpse of the daily routine followed by you at the AAFT Campus.

Riya Verma: Classes usually begin at 9 AM. The first half of the day tends to be more structured — theory classes, screenings, seminars. Post lunch, it shifts to practical sessions — lab work, studio time, workshop hours. By late afternoon, my batch is often working on our short film project or in the editing suite. There is always something going on.

In the evenings, if there is no assignment deadline pressing, some of us head to the common spaces to just talk, watch each other's work, give feedback. The social learning that happens outside class hours is almost as valuable as what happens inside.

Careers360: If you were to rate one favorite thing at the AAFT Campus, what would it be?

Riya Verma: Without a doubt — the film shooting floors. Walking onto a professional studio floor to shoot my own project, with real lighting equipment and production-grade cameras, knowing that films I have watched were made in places exactly like this — there is nothing that replicates that feeling. It makes you believe the work you are doing is real, not practice.

Careers360: How would you rate the campus facilities?

Riya Verma: I would rate them 8 out of 10. The infrastructure, particularly for cinema and the creative arts, is genuinely impressive. The post-production labs, the recording studios, the fashion and design facilities — these are not dressed-up classrooms. They are functional, professional-grade spaces. College ensures tools like Adobe, Apple, Canon, and AWS are current. There is always room for more, but what we have is more than adequate to train a working professional.

Careers360: Which areas do you think can do with some improvement?

Riya Verma: I think the hostel facilities could be expanded — the demand is high and not everyone gets a spot easily. Also, some of the newer schools like Data Science and AI are still building out their lab infrastructure to match the maturity of the cinema and fashion schools. More dedicated mentorship hours and one-on-one faculty time would also be a welcome addition as the student population grows.

Careers360: What is your opinion on the peer groups at AAFT?

Riya Verma: Peer groups at AAFT are one of the strongest aspects of studying here. Because we come from such diverse backgrounds — different cities, different countries, different creative disciplines — every conversation you have with a classmate teaches you something. The person sitting next to you in a workshop may be from Lagos or Kathmandu or Guwahati. That breadth of perspective shapes how you see the world and how you approach your own work.

Many of my closest friendships here are with people I would never have met otherwise. And professionally, I already know that these are the people I will be collaborating with and calling on for years to come.

Careers360: "All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy." What are the regular fun activities at AAFT?

Riya Verma: AAFT takes this seriously. Beyond academics, the institute organizes an enormous number of activities throughout the year. The Asian Premier League — a three-day sports fest where students and faculty from all schools compete together — is one of the most anticipated events. There are music fests, cultural nights, and informal hangouts that happen organically.

The area around campus also helps. The Noida Film City vicinity has entertainment options, malls like Mall of India, World of Wonder, and cinemas nearby. After a week of intense shoots and edits, there is always somewhere to decompress.

Careers360: Name some of the prominent clubs at AAFT. Which ones are you part of? Do you think they are important?

Riya Verma: There are clubs across disciplines — the Film Club, the Journalism Club, the Fashion Society, the Music Club, the Photography Circle, and several others. I am part of the Film Club and the Photography Circle. Both give me a space to pursue interests slightly adjacent to my main course and to collaborate with students from other schools.

Clubs are important not because of what you learn in them, but because of who you meet and the initiative you are forced to take. Running an event, curating a screening, organizing a photo exhibition — these are soft skills that classrooms do not fully teach you.

Careers360: Name some extracurricular activities that you participate in.

Riya Verma: Apart from the clubs, I participate in the short film festivals organized on campus, inter-school competitions, and the annual Convocation event planning activities. Some students participate in the Global Fashion and Design Week even if they are not from the fashion school — because the exposure is useful for anyone working in the creative space. I have also participated in debate sessions organized through the Journalism school.

Careers360: Stress busters are important, especially with intense programmes of study. What are yours?

Riya Verma: Honest answer — photography walks around Film City. There is so much visual material here. Something about picking up a camera outside of my coursework and shooting purely for myself completely resets my mind.

Also, the food court. Food and long conversations with batchmates about films we love and hate is genuinely therapeutic. When things get really intense before a deadline, some of us also watch a film together in the screening theatre — which, on campus, is always accessible.

Careers360: Name some activities that are related and focused on the Design programs.

Riya Verma: The fashion and design students have in-house exhibitions, fashion shows, and styling showcases throughout the year. The Global Fashion and Design Week is a major annual highlight — a three-day event where students get to network with renowned global fashion designers and industry experts. The draping workshops, pattern labs, and live styling critiques are regular features of the design program calendar.

For animation students, there are portfolio reviews, 3D animation competitions, and regular industry visits to leading production studios and VFX houses. The Unreal Engine lab that the Animation school has set up recently has generated a lot of excitement.

Careers360: If you were to rate your academic infrastructure, what would be your opinion on a score of 1 to 10?

Riya Verma: I would give it an 8. The infrastructure for the core creative programs — cinema, journalism, fashion, animation, music — is genuinely among the best you will find in India for these disciplines. We are not using borrowed or dated equipment; we are working with professional-grade tools in professional-grade spaces. There is constant investment in upgrading, and new technology partnerships get added regularly.

Careers360: In your opinion, how do campus life and interactions shape a student's life?

Riya Verma: Campus life here does something that cannot be replicated in a purely academic setting. It builds your professional identity. When you are constantly surrounded by people who are working toward careers in creative fields, you absorb a certain ambition and a certain standard of quality. You start self-editing and self-improving without even realizing it.

The interactions — whether with faculty, celebrities, visiting professionals, or just your batchmates — cumulatively build your communication skills, your confidence, and your network. By the time you graduate, you are not starting from scratch. You already have relationships in the industry.

Careers360: What are the regular events that are held at the AAFT campus?

Riya Verma: There is a full calendar throughout the year. The Global Fashion and Design Week, the Global Journalism Week, the Asian Premier League sports fest, and the Alumni Meet are the marquee annual events. Beyond these, there are regular celebrity interactions — we have had over 1,000 on record — industry visits, short film screenings and competitions, photography exhibitions, music performances, and school-specific events like open houses for prospective students.

The Convocation ceremony is also a significant annual milestone — a formal celebration of students transitioning into professionals, which feels very fitting given the institute's identity.

Careers360: If you had to describe your campus in a nutshell, what would that be?

Riya Verma: A professional ecosystem disguised as a college. You enter as a student and leave as a practitioner.

Careers360: What would you miss most about the campus and life here after you leave?

Riya Verma: The immediacy of it. Right now, if I have an idea, I can walk to a studio and try to execute it. I can call a batchmate and shoot something. I can walk up to a faculty member and get feedback on the spot. That kind of creative access and proximity — I know I will miss it deeply once I am out in the industry, working on someone else's schedule and timeline. The freedom to experiment here, without real consequences, is something I am trying to make the most of every single day.

Disclaimer: This content was distributed by AAFT Noida and has been published as part of Careers360’s marketing initiative.