Rajesh R. Turakhia is the Founder Director of Frameboxx which is in Southex. And he is the strategic partner who has successfully launched MAAC in addition to Frameboxx, in the domain of quality Animation Training in India and abroad. The institutes headed by him have trained over 2,00,000 students over a span of the past 22 years. His primary aim is to improve the quality and studio readiness of skilled manpower in the industry. He started his journey with MAAC (Maya Academy of Advanced Cinematics) as a Founder in 2001 and with the help of a strong technical team, MAAC has designed a course which encompasses softwares, required by an Animator. Apart from the education vertical, Rajesh has also handled the state of the art production studio named MEL (Maya Entertainment Limited) as CEO. Under his leadership, the studio worked on various international projects and major clientele list include BBC, Electronic Arts, M TV, Activision, Coke, Rainbow Pvt. Ltd. In 2008, Rajesh launched Frameboxx with a great initiative of ‘Incubation Centre’ where students were trained through live projects. Frameboxx tied up with leading education brands including Seneca College, Canada to and Anglia Ruskin University, UK to give international exposure and certifications to students. Frameboxx is also an authorized Training partner of MESC (Media and Entertainment Skill Council) and has got all curriculum aligned to the QPNOS set standards. (Part of NSDC Skill India Mission project). Working on the notion of continuous development, Rajesh launched Frameboxx in a completely new avatar coined as ‘Frameboxx 2.0’ in 2019, which is a ‘Premier Academy for Media & Creative Arts’ and an amalgamation of various creative and technical skills. Rajesh engaged internationally acclaimed artists such as Steve Wright to design curriculum in new and path breaking software. Rajesh has also been part of several industry bodies and has been a speaker in many international events in India and abroad. He has extensive relationships in the industry and leaders in the industry always come forward to help him in all his ventures. Currently, he is part of the Sub Task Force (Skilling) for formulating and suggesting the policy for the AVGC sector. He is also a member of the CII Sub Committee on AVGC and Immersive Media.
What are your roles and responsibilities towards the students?
"It is to ensure subjects syllabus gets delivered on time and college infrastructure remains upto standards"
Being a Director and Founder of Frameboxx, my prime responsibility is to ensure that curriculum is developed as per industry standards and it gets delivered as per defined schedule. In addition to this, ensuring good research facilities and infrastructure in college for both students and faculties and ensuring lab equipment and machines are upto the latest technologies is also my task.
How do you establish a healthy relationship with the students and your fellow faculty?
"By being a good listener, communicator and support system for them"
For the purpose of establishing a cordial relationship with my students and fellow faculty, I usually organize group based and collaborative learning sessions and activities on a regular basis. We make films together, and organize competitions as well. And we also divide teachers and students into multiple groups so that they can work on projects, give presentations together and learn and grow together. Overall, our role as a faculty is not limited to teaching students, but we also address their queries and issues on time and on an individual basis. That's how a good environment is created by us for everyone to work, learn, relearn and experiment with their ideas.
How do you bring in a practical and industry oriented approach towards subjects?
"By enforcing collaborative learning methods in college among teachers and students"
To enforce the industry driven and practical approach towards subjects, we have collaborated with reputed studios to help our students get amazing real time projects from them. And we also give assignments to students on a regular basis so that they can implement their learning in real time scenarios and design some innovative solutions for real world issues.
What are your views upon the placement and higher education of students from your department?
"We offer rigorous training programs and consulting sessions to students for both the things"
We have established short term learning programs to prepare students to pursue higher education in India and abroad. And with respect to placements, we have dedicated and industry specific training for students. So, overall we are doing good in both areas and provide our full support and assistance to them.
Check Frameboxx, Southex Courses & Fees
Which extracurricular activities are organized by your institute to enhance the skills of students?
"Technical events, competitions and industry interaction sessions are regularly arranged by us"
For the purpose of enhancing students' skills and training them as per expectations of the corporate world, we organize events like technical competitions and annual fests through which we give a platform to students to present their projects and prototype ideas. In addition to this, studio visits are also conducted by us as and when required to educate them about how people and processes work together in an industry. Apart from all this, we encourage them to participate in international competitions and events as well.
With what vision in mind you started the journey of being a founder of Frameboxx?
"My aim was to create a competent workforce in the discipline of Animation and 3D Designing"
I have been working in the Animation industry for the last 20 years now, 20 or so years and basically this industry became very very important only after like 2,000 or so. And I had the passion of establishing something unique in the discipline of 3D Animation, but I would accept it was quite challenging for me in the start. So when I started everything, my aim was to produce highly competent and technically proficient individuals in this field, and it gives me immense pleasure to let you know that till date we have trained more than 2 Lakhs students.
What do you see as the greatest strengths of Frameboxx and how can it be enhanced?
"Our industry partners are our biggest sources of our strength and resilient"
The greatest strength of Framdboxx is definitely the good relationships we have maintained with our industry partners. I have been in this industry for 25 years and all the major Studio heads of our country are friends of mine and whenever I need their suggestions or support, they are only a call away. And they have helped me a lot to develop the curriculum for our institute. Also, we regularly participate in industry get-togethers to stay updated about the developments happening in our field.
Any valuable advice which you would like to give to the students for a prosperous career ahead?
"Draft short term goals for yourself and stay dedicated towards those goals"
I would like to advise my students to design short term but realistic goals for themselves and be passionate about them. Make best use of your time and give your 100% efforts in whatever work you do. Because not only the Animation industry but others fields as well, demands hardwork and perseverance from those who dream big. And I have come a long way in bridging the gap between educators and students by utilizing my own skills and experiences.
