Vikas Punjabi is bringing the community together through a series of pop-up film screenings

Meet Vikas Punjabi, the Dubai-based founder of pop-up screening drive Loco'Motion, intent on changing the world one film at a time.

Vikas Punjabi, founder of the community film initiative Loco’Motion. Antonie Robertson / The National

I encounter Vikas Punjabi, fittingly, surrounded by bright colours and happy faces.

We meet in thejamjar, a gallery and studio space in Dubai’s Al Quoz district where he keeps an upstairs office. While we sip green tea, a children’s art class takes place around us. There’s a spirit of creativity, youth, idealism and elation in the air – all qualities Punjabi hopes to inspire in the community with ­Loco’Motion, a series of inspirational pop-up film screenings he hosts in the city.

This studio space is effectively the lobby he passes through each day on the way to his desk. It’s hard to imagine a more appropriate start to the day, I point out.

“The community here is very money-focused – people don’t really realise there’s so much more to life,” says Punjabi. “People get so wrapped up in what they’re doing – they need to take a step back.” It was one such step back that set Punjabi on his path. After nine years working in corporate roles for Emirates Airline, in 2008 he resigned and set off travelling for three months – only the trip ended up lasting 30 months.

“I went to all six continents, back and forth twice,” he says with a laugh.

He settled in São Paulo, Brazil, for a spell before returning to the UAE in late 2012. Upon his return, he was determined to pass on some of the life lessons he had learnt to the country of his birth.

“I came back and decided I wanted to start my own thing – I wanted to get people to think more about life than making money,” says the 36-year-old Indian national.

“I had so many messages to get across – but if it was just me standing on a stage speaking, who is going to hear them all? I realised the best way to get a message through is the medium of film.” And so was born the idea for Loco’Motion, a series of pop-up screenings that has reached thousands of viewers during the past two years. While ad hoc public movie screenings have become increasingly popular in that time, Punjabi’s focus has remained on movies with a message.

“Cinema is a language to get across ideas, a way to see the world,” he says. “You could resolve a lot of issues in the world with film, communicating the right messages to people.”

Loco'Motion began in October 2013 with screenings at Vox Cinemas in Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Sharjah to mark Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Punjabi chose to screen Five, a 2011 anthology of short films exploring the impact of breast cancer on people's lives.

Initially, he was left despondent by half-full cinemas.

“The audience was good – but not that good,” he says. “I found people don’t care about social causes unless they face them – that killed me. I was so sad.”

Undeterred, he set to work on his next project – the Inspire Life series.

In January last year, Loco’Motion hosted its first open-air screening at Safa Park, beginning an ongoing series that has attracted audiences of more than 200 each night to watch films under the stars.

Films that have screened include I'm Fine Thanks, an American documentary about people overcoming internal inertia, the 1931 Charlie Chaplain silent comedy City Lights, Vincent van Gogh biopic Lust for Life, and Japanese master filmmaker Akira Kurosawa's Dreams.

When the weather gets too hot, the screenings move indoors to thejamjar, where a second season began last year, and a third season is set to launch next month. There have also been one-off screenings at other locations, often timed to mark global awareness drives, such as World Health Day and World Environment Day.

Punjabi attracts sponsors for events when he can, but much of the costs – renting a projector, obtaining a screening permit and paying the filmmakers or studio for the rights – still come from his own pocket.

“It costs money,” says Punjabi, “but if you want to make a change, if you want to make a difference – it’s everyone’s responsibility to try to make a better life, to follow what you believe in.”

To help support the initiative, he founded Urban Bedou, an arts and culture event business he runs out of thejamjar.

Punjabi’s good work was recently recognised by Injoy Giving, a gift-giving website and social enterprise that named him an Injoy Hero. It is a fitting honour – Punjabi’s idealism is infectious. With a long beard and ponytail, and sporting a pink shirt when we meet, he speaks softly but surely, confident in his measure and his methods. After just a few minutes in his calming presence, the world feels warmer, and it’s problems feel easier to tackle.

“Everybody has good in them and if you really believe something, you need to follow it. If you don’t, you’re killing your soul,” he says. “That is what Loco’Motion is all about – inspiring people to follow what they believe in. If everyone was inspired by life to follow their passion, we wouldn’t have any problems in the world.”