Rakesh Kumar has taken a unique and fascinating path to filmmaking. Born a sick and frail infant to young couple in East India, Kumar escaped poverty and caste violence at age 11 through a government scholarship to a prestigious boarding school. An achievement made possible by his grandfather's tutelage. Kumar went on to further his academic career in America, first with a law degree, and then an MBA. Kumar credits his grandfather, who died from Alzheimer's years later, with giving him the keys to success.

Emerging filmmaker, Rakesh Kumar, has completed his first feature, "After Ever After". The film's story centers on Nik Patel, a father and an internist, who struggles with the idea and false promise of Happy Ever After while his daughter lies dying of Leukemia, the same disease that claimed his wife several years before. It takes the intermittent memories of Patel's patient- Donnie J, a long-forgotten Jazz legend suffering with Alzheimer's to teach Nik that, while life is not a fairytale, we can all find our moments of everlasting joy.

Filmmaking and entertainment were always Kumar's first love, and he originally began his career in television with an opportunity to join the writing staff of "Vansh," a TV drama produced by RK Films for India. It was the unfortunate loss of two family members to cancer that lead to him practicing law to support his family. Due to a personal aversion to life as a lawyer, Kumar switched gears again, earning his MBA from USC and working for Apple as Global Supply Manager. After a two-decade gap, he "quit his day job and jumped head first into filmmaking.