‘Films that live beyond their Friday release interest me’

Guneet Monga is a noted Indian film producer. She is also the co-founder of Sikhya Entertainment, a film production company. As a producer, she has created her niche in this competitive world of cinema by producing films like Gangs of Wasseypur – Part 1, Peddlers and The Lunch Box. Now, the producer is all geared up for her next release Haraamkhor, which stars Nawazuddin Siddiqui and Shweta Triptahi in lead roles.

In a conversation with Guardian 20, Monga talks about the struggles a producer has to bear in the Indian film industry.

Q. You have produced some of the strongest content-driven films in recent past. What kind of films interest you?

A. Thought-provoking, real and something that would live beyond Friday. I feel responsible about the two hours which people spend in watching that cinema.

Q. Sikhya is now ready for its next release, Haraamkhor, which was earlier banned completely by the censor board. What is your view on this upsurge of the “ban” phenomenon?

A. I don’t understand why we were told that you won’t get a censor certificate. And then we went to the revising committee. They said cut something too flashy and we’ll give an A-certificate. We challenged the revising committee and then it took us another six months, which is when they heard our film. It is a very innocent film.  Actually, Haraamkhor is a very important film that has been made from the viewpoint of a kid. And when we won silver at Miami, this is what they said: that it is a very important film which has been told very innocently. And that is the beauty, that the craft is appreciated by the people. It is the story of two children who believe that if a girl and a boy see each other naked, then you are married to each other. That is the outer crux of the story and the inner crux is that it is an exploratory love story between a 14-year-old girl and a 35-year-old teacher.

Q. Also, do you think Indian audiences are ready for such stories?

A. Indian audiences are ready for anything. Indian audiences are as global as it gets.  They watch all kinds of global shows. They are updated, educated and great audiences. Indian audiences are growing and if you give them good content, they’ll watch it.

Q. Your productions usually succeed in winning critical acclaim but are not commercial successes…

A. My films actually make money. The Lunchbox was the highest profit-making film I got, and Haraamkhor, even before its release, is in profits. I don’t know what a commercial film is, but it’s certainly crazy that India is not like France where we get a government to finance. But in my films, you will get the money back. Haraamkhor was made out of very tight budget and it’s been so long that we are fighting the battle.

Q. You are also taking regional cinema to foreign platforms. Do you think regional cinema is being ignored in India, although its content is so powerful that it needs to be highlighted globally?

A. Absolutely! The most phenomenal work is being done down south, in the Malayalam and Tamil film industries and even in the Marathi film industry. Some good work is being done in Punjabi and Bengali film industries, too. And we are so scattered as a country that we only see films from our part of the country, that is, Hindi films. It is very sad actually. Films like Kaaka Muttai and Visaranai are very successful and beautiful films. A film is a film, right! We see films around the world but we are deprived of some films of our own country. Visaranai was India’s official Oscar entry this year, directed by Vetrimaaran, and I got to work with this phenomenal director. I feel proud to speak about it around the world. It is part of India and we should collectively represent it. Regional films are far ahead in storytelling and craft than Bollywood films. And they are far more liberated. Hindi language has structure complications and money complications. Tamil cinema is ahead of us.

“There are challenges as a producer first. Ours is a very actor- and director-friendly market. People like me really don’t exist. I don’t come from a film family or a rich family. I come from a humble family and studied producing.”

Q. There are a lot of independent films that are being made now. What are the problems you think independent filmmakers are facing today?

A. It is very expensive to release a film. As independent filmmakers, we are dreamers, we are lovers and passionate to tell a story. We think our film will get sold and that is the rude awakening for me also. We decided to make Haraamkhor three years ago but it took us two years to make the film and get it ready. It is not just enough to make a good film. You have to figure out its release also and you have to do it yourself, which is not very easy. It is so expensive that you cannot put half-a-million dollar just to release the film. Avenues and media are expensive. This was not so in 2007-8. I remember in 2008, my film Dasvidaniya came out. It was not very expensive to release a film at that time. Now you have to make a film out of a small budget with good content, shoot indie and after all that, you are struck in a bottleneck system where you are in a queue and competing with all the other bigger releases. A film like The Lunch Box released in the US on two screens in one day. And then it grew. I hope the same happens with this film. At least the film is releasing now and we are not crazily spending money on promotions. We are spending only what we can afford.

Q. As a producer, what do you think are the challenges in today’s entertainment scenario?

A. There are challenges as a producer first. It is a very actor- and director-friendly market. People like me really don’t exist. I don’t come from a film family or a rich family. I come from a humble family and studied producing. And there are a few more like me now. But there are a handful independent producers who are trying to really do good stories, raising money from different sources, combining financing — like The Lunch Box was financed by Germany and France combined. The mentality here is that a producer looks after the film and not just that but also where the film would go, how this will happen and taking it to different studios. From day one, I knew Haraamkhor is a new-age story, so we raised money on Facebook. I have learnt through all these processes.

Q. Do you think online forums like YouTube will one day replace movie theatres and provide filmmakers with an alternative distribution chain?

A. I think that we have very few theatres in India. We probably have the least number of theatres in the world. I think more big films which are 3D and action films with big actors in them will go to theatres but a lot of indie filmmakers will try to reach digital users. This is how it would go.