Ranjani Krishnaswamy: A very good afternoon, Titan, and a very good afternoon, Guneet. Stories have always enthralled us. They made us cry, they made us laugh, and here we are with the biggest and the best at storytelling. Guneet, it's lovely to have you here. Whether it's the unconventional widow of Paglayat or the rawness of gangs of Hasipur or the kind of midlife romance in Lunchbox, I think you've put these stories on the world map for India and we are all so proud. So many, many congratulations right at the outset.
Guneet Monga: Thank you so much.
Ranjani Krishnaswamy: I'll start off. So yours was also a very unconventional story, right? Mass Comm graduate, LIC agent in the making, and here you are making India proud on the world canvas. What have been some of the early stories of your life that have really shaped you?
Guneet Monga: Firstly, thank you for having me here. One of the prized possessions of my mother ever was a gold bangle with Titan watch in it. And I cherish it to date. And it's like, you know, it's like this family heritage for me because it is a proper gold bangle with a Titan watch. So thank you for everything you do and making these beautiful pieces. That's heirloom, at least for me in my life. So, yes, I come from a very, very humble family back in Delhi. I come from a very, very humble family back in Delhi. Little lesser than middle class, but went to a decent school. And life so had that I just was in really epic situations, I think, throughout. And my father being a business person, I think I've just, I think the hustle is somewhere in the blood. And it's not even seen as a hustle. It's just seen as way of life, at least for me. So I think forever I just wanted to make a house for my parents because we lived in a rented house. And that wish of a house. So I did lots of odd jobs. You know I was a DJ as a 16 year old. Then I sold laughing cow cheese on streets of Delhi. I was an anchor.
Lots of little little things but I always wanted to tell stories. I didn't know how to. I studied mass communication. And in that, they teach a lot of journalism. News, radio, TV. And it's nothing close to filmmaking. But really, really wanted to be in filmmaking. So I became an intern in an international film in Delhi. And I was an intern's intern. And just worked my way up, learnt on what the other person, what did I need to do to just get the next job. Just to get my like just to be an official intern you know was once a goal and then just to be a production coordinator, just to be a production manager, just to be a line producer and then what does it take to be a producer? How do you raise money? How do you? So today, of course, I've produced 40 plus films, raised a ton of money per film. And I'm glad some of my work, everybody here has seen, be it Lunchbox, be it Masaan, be it Gangs of Asasapur, beat Elephant Whisperers, period, end of sentence, Kathal Paglet, many of them, Shaitaan, Shahid. So it's been a pretty epic journey. And it's been 17 years since I've been producing. But yeah, I think my first, you touched upon this, I think when I just turned 18, my dad's grand plan for me was, that you become an insurance agent. So I was put into an insurance school. And his grand plan was that he will sell insurance. And I will just get the revenue year on year. So he will sell it. My daughter's future will be secured. So my first job was Tata AIG. Was a visiting card that I had and I thought I've arrived you know and I remember just entering Tata AIG office there were like violins playing behind my head because I was always a storyteller in my head I was like you know this is like so nice and I have this beautiful stationery and this is my space and this is my card the sense of ownership of a 18-year-old, you know, so it was a dada company. So, yes.
Ranjani Krishnaswamy: And from there to now, I know when we were chatting earlier, you said something that what's worked for me is you put me in a box and I will jump right out. And you have picked up some very unconventional ways of functioning in this business, whether it was raising funds on Facebook or going to Netflix when they hadn't even come to India, exploring funding from international shores. How have you gone about even thinking about some of these that the industry might have either looked down upon or said, no, it's not going to work?
Guneet Monga: You know, it's very interesting because I moved to Bombay and shared an apartment with five other girls and a small, you know, two-bedroom in Lokhandwala and I wanted to be a producer. And to be a producer, you either need to come from like construction company or a business family or, you know, having seen a lot of access construction company or a business family or, you know, have insane amount of access to money or a rich uncle or born in the film family, even better. Any of these to actually be a producer. And I just really wanted to tell stories and I wanted to enable more storytelling. I love it. And that is producing. And I wanted to be that. and that just, there were just all I don't think my own industry understands what I do as a producer and what is producing even within the industry they are like, you are a producer how? of course post the Oscar it's helped of course one film after another it's helped but for me it was we will find the story, we will raise the money But of course, post the Oscar it's helped. Of course, one film after another it's helped. But for me it was, we'll find the story, we'll raise the money. And it's fine. If the story is good, the money will come. You know, all I can do is I can find the best story, nurture it properly, the money will always follow. Money was always the least of my worry. I was never limited for the lack of money. Because it was like, my soul will just, you know, in your gut, you know, your instinct, you just know that, you know, I'll find the story, I'll find the money, we'll make a good film, we'll be fine. Of course that process is not very clear but for me always was kind of a, it was not so easy also, it was always innovative for me because I was always like you know open. Also I was open because I didn't have the clear access. I was not like here is a chunk of money for you, go dream you you know, because that was never there. I was always like, how am I finding that? And that led to a lot of innovation in my own sphere, in my own career. So when I produced Peddlers and Haramkot, two of my early films, they were both under one crore and both, you know, experimental. Can you hear me all? is it fine or is it breaking okay sorry okay I think it should be fine maybe I'll hold it closer so when I made those two films I knew I was doing something experimental so firstly being very clear on what we are doing and what is the market size of what we are doing. Of course, I will not expect them to be a Shah Rukh Khan starrer film, right? Because they're both experimental films. So they were both under a certain budget. They were independent in nature. So my first lens has always been who in the world has done this best? How has it happened? So that was always my somehow first point of my own research, my own individual. I never had research agencies or anything. My own individual, who has done this best? How has he done it? How far has he gone? How far has he gone And so that's the end of building a vision For me, going the furthest possible meant being selected at the Cannes Film Festival, winning an award there, and securing global distribution. That was the objective. The film was introspective, and that approach was fine with me. This is irrespective of the mic though. Okay. We will have abundance.
Ranjani Krishnaswamy: You said you will have more mics, more resources than we need.
Guneet Monga: Always. It's all in the mind. So we of course wanted to go to, we saw those dreams and then I figured that there is crowdfunding internationally. It never existed in India. So there was no crowdfunding platform. There was no law or even taxes that one knew around it. So I put it on my Facebook. My own Facebook, my own people. This is 12 years. This is 2010. My own Facebook. I was like, I'm making a film. I'm looking for 10 people to give me 10 lakhs each. And it was in my head, not a big ask. So I never made it thinking like this is a big ask. I mean, it was just, I was like, this is going to be a closed group of people.It's an opportunity. And I put it out on my Facebook. I produced few films there. And of course, a lot of people are fascinated's an opportunity. And I put it out on my Facebook. I produced few films there and of course a lot of people are fascinated by the industry. And some people came up and they said, sure, we'll give you 10 lakhs. And I said, this is going to be experimental. You will get a window into films. And I hope, you know, this film goes far, but it's a good story. Long story short, the film went to Cannes.
Guneet Monga: All the investors went to Cannes all the investors came to Cannes we won awards around the world Haramkhor also made its was very high on its ROI got all the money back it still keeps getting licensed and keeps giving us money so that was very early story and somewhere around that I learned about a thing in Cannes, which is like a mentorship, which is producer's breakfast, which is just breakfast, two hours, where mentors just come and talk to you about what is happening around the world. So awareness. That's where I learned on how the whole Europe works. And in Europe, cinema is art and culture and the government funds it. So you basically have to fill forms, submit your script, and there's a process and you get money from the tax. The taxpayers money fuels the industry. It's absolutely different here. This is 100% equity where we sit in. So this is very high pressure. It's ROI. It's, you know, you have to give your profit. You have to give ROI, better ROI, and then a profit share. And then you're in business. You know, you're a producer who's making the money and, you know, you keep getting your, you keep forming your larger circle. But Europe was no stress on recovery. Just make good piece of cinema. Take our culture forward. And I was like, really? How does this happen? You know, it opened a light bulb in my head. I was like, this is even possible? No recovery pressure? Why don't I have this kind of money?
Guneet Monga: Soft money, it's called. And in those breakfast meetings, I asked. So I've always been very. I have no inhibitions of asking, you know. So I freely ask my questions because they lead, you know, they just lead into my, they feed into my curiosity. So I think being curious has really helped. So I then figured that India and France has a co-production treaty, which was signed in 1985. I was the first one to use it in 2011. And that led to Lunchbox. And I was able to make and produce a film with no songs, with a mature love story where we aged our characters up with irfan sir and a first-time actor, Nimrath Kaur. And just make a beautiful love story. And 55% of the raise of that was soft.So suddenly when I went for my equity raise in India, it was like you really just need this much money which is for an Irrfan Khan starrer film easy access easy to ask in the market so then the pressure of the storytelling took away I actually did that again for Masaan went through the same round of funding and was able to do Masaan and I'm still wondering why people are not using it so that kind of led when we did Gangs of Asipur, hume usme bhi bola gaya tha ki 300 actors hain, this is not Omkara.
Guneet Monga: You know, you don't know who's Ajay Devgn's gang and who's Saif's gang and who's who, you know, who's Sultan, who's this, who's that, who will watch this, same with Lunchbox, kaun de this? There is no song. How will you promote it? Same with Gangs of Us. Gangs also I was able to take to Cannes. And it played there as 5 and a half hour film. And exactly what you were saying. We actually managed to license Gangs as an 8 part mini series to US to Netflix in 2012. So the first ever Hindi language. Thank you. So it's always innovation at the heart of an otherwise. You know, like Yeh kaise hoga? We're now in the world of shorts. We are now in the world. You know, if it's a beautiful story, and if your intentions are all right, you will find your people.
Ranjani Krishnaswamy: And it's so relevant for us because more often than not, in our journeys towards what we're doing, we get stumped by some hurdle. And then you've got to think very innovatively with a lot of entrepreneurial drive to say, how do I solve for it? And I like what you said in a very casual way. What's the point of asking? We'll just say no. So I think that not putting the project before you, and we heard Indra Nooyi say that as well, put the company before you. So when you're so passionate about something, you will find doors and windows that will open for you. But it's amazing how you found so many ways of finding a solution to the funding problem, which the industry probably still gapples with.
Guneet Monga: You know, I want to tell you a story. So my first film, I was 21 years old. My neighbor reached out to me and said, I want to invest 50 lakhs and make like a studio where, you know, you'll take cute photos of kids and sell like this movie of it to the parents and you've done mass communication. Why don't you run it? And I was like, it's a terrible idea. Why don't you give me 50 lakhs? I will go to Bombay and make a film. I'd never been to Bombay. I'm a Delhi person. And he's like, okay, let's go make a film. I mean, he said, yes, I went to Bombay and was in food A person made a film in that lane. The Bombay Food Court cost fifty lakh rupees. He literally appointed boys and vendors. You know, I have access to industry equipment suppliers. Do you know any assistant director? Or do you know any director who can tell me a story? दे so that is how it started for me you know like I you don't know anybody so I food court I opened my own business. they were not even cool cafes infinity mall’s food court After opening my own shop I used to just be like I have only 50 lakh rupees. Does anyone have a story? and like this I met a director I met many people I met many people who thoughtWe would take the 50 lakh from them, but I knew their intention was profit, and they were very vocal about it. We won’t do it—the energy doesn’t feel right. I suggest finding my own way. At the age of twenty-one, I made my first film, ‘Vase Salam India’.
Guneet Monga: It is a children’s cricket film. I met a director who also had access to a similar amount of money. I made a, my first film was Say Salaam India. It was a children cricket film.I met a director who also had access to similar amount of money and was looking for the other half. Brilliant story, you know, rich school, poor school and how on the last ball, crescendo goes up, you know, very Jojita Vaisikandar, very like, like a classic sports film. A lot of spirit, a lot of, you know, ambition and a lot of hustle, great lack of privilege, know, ambition and a lot of hustle, great, lack of privilege, you know, so all those beats were there and I was like, and we were operating very smartly, this was 2006, 2007 was World Cup and we were trying to get it ready for the World Cup, I was able to get into marketing, in its release, I thought I'll get so much access from brands, I had Reebok giving us money, I had people giving us their hoardingsThe release was slightly delayed, but that led to massive brand support. Reebok and several others funded the project. Around the World Cup, during the release week, India was eliminated early, and my film released in cinemas at the same time. The period before release was full of controversies and ups and downs. We had stepped away from traditional grassroots marketing, while India spent nearly ₹2,000 crore on campaigns like Pepsi Gold, which eventually failed to make an impact.Pepsi has come out with Pepsi Gold, you know, flat TVs have come up, something has come up. And they are giving Sahara Star, they are giving land, their jacket ceremony has happened. I remember all this, it's a documentary. So, there's, and Set Max has won the rights of telecast, all those conversations are happening. First time ever, your telecast is 75% of the screen because ads are running in 25% throughout. We were completely crushed in the first match, but in the second match, Dev scored around four hundred plus—four hundred and twenty-something runs. That was the highest run ever in a One Day match, against the best team ever. And now it’s the final match. People are going to Tirupati and offering their hair. The entire country is praying, and at the same time, my one-crore film is being released.
Guneet Monga: My director and I both ended up raising 75-75 and we were also like that moment of course India will go from elementary round Five years ago. we were in finals with Australia of course that is going to happen Two thousand crore rupees were spent on India. and what happens? India loses it's third match Then effigies were being burned. How did the Indian team come back after that? Amidst all this chaos, cinema owners called my distributor and requested that the film be taken back. They said cricket had completely taken over, and theatres could even face vandalism. They asked for any other film instead—Namastey London, Bheja Fry, anything but this one cricket right now, our cinemas will get burnt. There's such give us anything. Give us Namaste London. Give us Bheja Fry from two weeks ago. Suddenly Bheja Fry is a hit. Suddenly other older, like one month ago give us a love story. We will put that. But take cricket away. And that, those years used to be of you know, seven large boxes of print. You know, it was not digital. They were prints of our film.The negatives. I was like, I was 22 and I lost 50 lakhs of my neighbor.
Ranjani Krishnaswamy: And you had to go back home.
Guneet Monga: Actually 75. And I was like, what am I going to do? How will I ever be a producer? And it's not my fault. It's actually a very good film. But it never got, it actually But getting distribution is a big deal. I got distribution. And then an external event happened which I had no control over. And it's irrelevant suddenly. So I ended up doing a job as a head of production for a film called Gajni. And as a 22-year- a film called Gajni. And as a 22-year-old, it was also a career high to sit down with an actor like Aamir and discuss how this film will happen. I was the head of the production. I produced this little film and then I joined Gajni and I went up to give my resignation at Gajni. I said, I feel very responsible. My film has not worked. I cannot do this right now. Please hire somebody else. I will go figure out how will I make that 75 back. And they're like, how will you do it? The film is not, I said, I don't know. I'll figure it out. I went to my home back in Delhi. We had a rented apartment in Kailash colony. I had studied in Bluebells. Our identity was opposite LSR. You know, we were called as the school opposite LSR. So I went to my school and I asked my principal, you know, you used to take us to school film shows, 50 rupees per child. Will you please collect 50 rupees per child? I want to show them a film. And my principal was like, sure. I went to Sapna cinema behind my hall. I said, how much money do you make morning 9 to 12 shows? 4,000, 5,000.
Guneet Monga: I said, I'll give you 10,000. 1,000 seater. I got 50 students. I got 50 rupees, 1,000 students, 50,000 rupees a show and 10,000 the cinema guy and 40,000 was mine. This was my grand plan. The kids came, house full, pre-sold the show, house full and on every beat they were cheering and you could hear like you know and that final ball and you know people are dancing and you know that when your thing lands when your content lands when your baby lands and the beats are caught and it becomes you know it was beautiful and all of that the expression was amazing. And I went back to my principal and I said, will you just give me a letter of appreciation? She said, kids really liked it. With that letter, I went straight to DPS RK Puram because I had done lot of competitions there and it was the biggest school in Delhi. 25,000 kids.I did the same deal with Sangam Cinema, right opposite. All the other DPS got activated. Then because I used to sell laughing couches and I knew that these are Lintas, I straight went into Lintas office in Nehru place and I was like, I need to meet your marketing head. I don't even know who I was trying to push for but I said I need to, I used to work for him. And I met them and I said I am doing thousand kids screenings and I will give you an interval, why don't you bring in a brand. HCL came in, Surf Daag Achche Hain came in, just for sampling, just for you know giving out samples to young minds. And I made the interval 15 minutes.
Guneet Monga: That was extra 15,000. Then I asked my audio CD guy. He was out of Punjab. And he said, nobody is buying this audio CD. Film has not worked. So I said, what is your cost price? He said, 10 rupees. I said, how many are there? I said, will you just give it to me? I stood outside the screenings with a counter for 25 rupees. And the audio CDs went flying. Kids had the money to buy because they just heard the music and they had come out. I ended up, and then I went to my college. And I said, we studied mass communication. I graduated five years ago. And for no fault of mine, all of us want to make a film. It's a huge, huge dream to go to Bombay to make a film. I've made one. It's bombed for no fault of mine, all of us want to make a film. It's a huge, huge dream to go to Bombay to make a film. I've made one. It's bombed for no fault of mine. I need volunteers to activate distribution because to activate one school and one hall was like one week of work, one week of coordination, getting kids to collect the money and all of that. So I had 27 boys on bikes. I got them internship letters from our distributor. And there was a day in my life when 15 shows were running together in Delhi. I did 350 shows. And there is literally till date no children film system. Because the distribution is broken. And that's why you need a superstar like Aamir to come and do a children's film. And we all rely on international children film. Because the distribution is same as a Shah Rukh Khan vehicle or a big film cinema. And then children films to have that marketing money and to get out there is always hard and I've always thought that you know there's a system right in front of us and we should be able, I did that for Salaam India and that was my first film as a 22 year old, just trying to distribute it took 6-7 months of my life but I made myself a producer I was like now I'm ready to be a producer I didn't lose the money.
Ranjani Krishnaswamy: What a story at 22 to turn a failure on its head and to be able to go back and live in the same neighborhood with a neighbor who lent you money but what an amazing story so this hustle just to say that I need to solve it, find every possible way to solve it, to, without any inhibition, knock on doors, which people might think, Puchhenge toh kya bolenge?
Guneet Monga: I knocked on Martin Scorsese's door.
Ranjani Krishnaswamy: How does that happen? How have you built that?
Guneet Monga: I knocked on Martin Scorsese's door and I said, we made Gangs of Asipur, you should see it. He's like, okay. East Village, New York, straight to his house. I figured, not like a stalker, but there's a, somebody had called him that I would come, somebody I knew, but it was still a distant dream. And then six months later, he sent us a letter. How does it come? I think it's the passion that drives me. You know, I feel like being in service of the story. I don't, I actually feel very, very grateful that this story has chosen me as the medium to be told and brought out in the universe. So I built, I think there is a thought process of, and I see that a lot of, a lot of that in the industry where a lot of people are like, I made this. You know, and I somehow feel I'm allowed to make this. You know, there is somebody,
Ranjani Krishnaswamy: it was So beautiful
Guneet Monga: Thank you. There is somebody, you know, we all swim in common ideas. You know, we all have competition. There's a common cloud of ideas there. And at the same point of time, we all have common ideas, right? Similar scripts, similar storylines, similar ambition, similar products. You know, but if you at the right point of time can execute it end to end and take it out, it's almost like a miracle, you know, a magic and a miracle that unfolded through you. You cannot plan awards. You cannot plan success. All you can plan is show up yourself with integrity and honesty. And these are some virtues which are very undermined. You know, so just being honest to the craft. What did we decide? What did we decide to do? It takes two years to make a film, two to three years. And can we stay consistent for two to three years, going back to our virtue, going back to our honesty, going back to what did we want to do, despite all pressures, one, you know, horror comedy working and suddenly like, horror comedy kar lete hai, you know, so, you know, you just constantly have to show up with all your honesty one day at a time. And, time. And just done that one day at a time, you know, you feel like I could not achieve anything today or it was a bad day, but you showed up for yourself, for your own honesty. You did your work. And in the service of the story, in the service of the project, there are many projects that don't get made. There are many disappointments that happen.
Ranjani Krishnaswamy: So you were talking about the fact that you work with first-time writers. You pick your team with a lot of precision. So a role of a producer is like a role of a CEO. You know, you're bringing a team together for that two-year project. How do you build your team? How do you look for people? team how do you look for people what traits do you look for people foreign people
Guneet Monga: I think clear communication, clear vision clarity I think is again it's something I pray for you know I pray for clarity of vision because when we get into we are making multiple films, we're making multiple projects. You know, I want to be able to just see a clear vision where to take this. How will this land? I want to see the end goal very clearly. And once I'm able to see it, I'm able to backtrack it. What do I have to do to achieve that? Right? So I have those conversations. I think there is a lot of magic and fuel and passion in first time. Because first time will always be first time, you know. So there is so much innovation with first time. You're not jaded. You're not, you know, you're, I think because I was 21 years old propelled myself to be a producer through the whole journey that I just shared I have faced actually in India not outside India in India I have faced a concept of ageism just because I am not old enough I felt unheard but outside India I have realised that there is a celebration of young oh what do you have to say? Why don't you tell me? How do you see this? You know, and those two worlds have informed me that, you know, I've always been, you know, be like, I have an opinion and I'm young. I'm the youngest in the room, you know, with experience. So that has always led me to kind of work with a lot of first time directors, first time actors, first time writers, because it's pure. It's so beautiful and pure. And with experience, I get to be like, okay, let me nurture this. You know, I also get to play a role that I feel very good about, you know, being opposite who knows it all is always like a recipe for disaster. Because we are not open to innovation at all. We are not open to what our possibilities could be. We set out on a journey of elephant whisperers. We didn't know that it is going to win an Oscar. It will be, in 110 years, it will be India's first production to ever win an Oscar. How did it even start? Thank you. It started by a first-time photographer, not even like a filmmaker. A first-time photographer, a natural history photographer, who on her trip, who lives in Otty, was driving through the Mudumalai jungles and saw like a baby elephant and a mahout and figured that this baby elephant is an orphan. And this is a program run for them to be adopted by humans, for them to feel safe, because they get separated from the herd or their mother dies out of electrocution or something and the babies are not able to survive so mahouts are turning into parents are giving that love to a baby elephant she was fascinated and she actually tells the story that i first made friends with raghu. Raghu is baby elephant. And then just observed and made like a small trailer, like did like a small video. We all have high-end cameras in our hand. Made like a small video, put music behind it. She was always a still photographer. Cold email submission to producers, to me, to Netflix. And that's how I came on board. But here is a first time director that won an Oscar for India. Pretty much post, you know, that's because we were, because there was somebody who was not overthinking the process but doing and following an idea. So there is no shortcut to doing something that you feel passionate about. Just get into it. And the more you do, the better you get.
Ranjani Krishnaswamy: I'm going to ask you a question related to the story that you shared with me. But I just want to play back what you said. Even if you're the youngest in the room, even if you come with very little experience, you have every right to bring yourself to the table. You've earned for yourself a seat at the table. So please, for the young leaders in the audience, I think that's a great story. When you were talking to me about Elephant Whisperers, you spoke to me about how you fought back not to have an Angelina Jolie or somebody's view over it and how you wanted to be raw, native and be as Indian as it can be. So how do you not succumb to these temptations that give you some safety of commercial success?
Guneet Monga: It's always on the corner. All these references are always looming. Iske jaise bano, iske jaise karo, you know, the Sharmaji ka beti complex. It's always in the corner, you know, you're always given reference. In fact, I think it comes down to again, from Lunchbox to all these films. You know, I've been in rooms where people have said, you're a very nice person. But I just want to tell you, nobody will come to see this film. I said, why? Because see Guneet, you've made a film for age group 40 plus. People who come into cinemas at 16 to 20, they sample it, then word of mouth happens. They will not sample it, the word of mouth will not happen and the 40 plus will never come. They come out for a Raju Hirani film on week 3. You have to last 3 weeks to come out. So that's always, that math is alwaysAudience viewership dipped even for a Rajkumar Hirani film by the third week, and those last three weeks are crucial for a movie’s run. In India, cricket always takes precedence—matches dominate attention. Even Gangs of Wasseypur used voice-overs to explain to viewers who belonged to which gang, because with so many new faces, audiences can easily lose track of who’s fighting whom. Without that clarity, it becomes difficult for viewers to stay engaged. You have to have elephant in your title. We want to call it sacred bond. You have to have baby elephant, the orphan elephant. So you have to have elephant in your title for searchability to increase. All these big keywords. And then get like the biggest animal right person as voiceover. You get into marketing, you get into pop culture. But this is an indigenous community.It's also India's first indigenous community film. And they have their own language. It's actually not even Tamil, not even Kannada, not even Malayalam. It's a mix of, it's their own language. And it's, even in India, it can only be experienced through subtitles. So it was always a pushback that let them retain their voice. Let them have their voice. And this was always what we were saying. So we kind of walked our way around and had elephant in the title and retained no voiceover. So it was always a negotiation. But that negotiation only was to keep the honesty of it. At that time, we didn't know where it will go. At that time, we didn't even know if one person will see it. We didn't know if there will be any marketing spends put on it because we fought so hard on no voiceover. You know, and that was the only chance of marketing, you know, getting into viral situations.
Ranjani Krishnaswamy: So you speak of the honesty and the purity of the craft with a lot of passion. And I want to bring up, you know, Paglayat. And I was telling you, it's the movie that hit me really hard because there's a notion of that moment that the girl goes through in her life and movies have played that self out in a very typical way. But this was a movie very close to your heart and you wanted it to be as pure as it can be and I'm sure there would have been naysayers to it. Why don't you take us through how Paglaad came into your life?
Guneet Monga: This is always a personal hard story to share. Puglet is my favorite film. And I say this with just a lot of. Because there is a lot of me there. I was in my early 20s right after Salaam India before making... My next film was Dasvidaniya. Before making Dasvidaniya, I'm the only child of my parents and I lost both of them. And they were my best friends. And I just moved lock, stock, barrel to Bombay and be like, we'll see, we'll figure it out what life has. And as life went on, you see the lights, you see the lows, you, you know, you do a lot for your parents. That's a lot of driving force, all the success you want to share with them, all the joy, all the dreams all the ideas, all the red carpets your validation lies in them for me it did and they were my best friends so we were always like friends, companions so that incident of course impacted me it changed a lot in my decision making it really just focused me on what matters what matters is just good storytelling and everything else follows because that was my passion and i kept kind of um working on my skill on how do i even i i learned a lot i went i'm digressing a little bit but i did a lot of labs to learn how to give feedback on story I'm digressing a little bit, but I did a lot of labs to learn how to give feedback on story, how to be able to, you know, nurture a story to be able to be its best version. So wherever there were international labs, I used to write and get. So somewhere in that journey, the story of Paglet was pitched to me and I found myself in there because here is a 24-year-old girl who doesn't grief like crying. And there is a tragedy that happens. But her process of grief is different.But there is a society that really wants you to cry and shatter and be that damn still that they will want to save. And I didn't cry. I was a very logistical brain where I was like, okay, now this has happened. We have no money. I have no insurance. Nothing. We had nothing. No house, nothing. And I was like, I just need to be able to figure out and work. And I straight went into work. I actually took up a job in Balaji. And I was the supervising producer of Once Upon a Time in Mumbai. And Pagliat is a co-production with Balaji. So it was also like, you know, from working for Ekta to being a partner with Ekta on Pagliat is a co-production with Balaji. So it was also like, you know, from working for Ekta to being a partner with Ekta on Pagliat. Pagliat is a comedy. So it's a dark comedy and it's about a widow and it's about grief. And that is just something that, you know, because there are some inevitable situations that happen. The power lies in the response of it. Our power lies in the response of what life serves us. There are some things and there are some things we can control.
Guneet Monga: There are some things we can't. We're always dealt this hand, you know, we're always dealt these cards. But how we choose to play them is the choice we have. You know, the reaction is our choice to a situation. We can definitely go into self-pity, misery and deal with grief and to each their own. No set of judgment. But for me, it was like, I have to fulfill their dreams. I have to. They saw so many dreams for me. They wanted all this to happen. I wanted to buy them a house. I even did when I was 22. I bought a house. I sold everything, put it back into movies after they both left. The house became meaningless to me. But as a 22 year old, I was able to buy a house in GK1 in Delhi. And I worked so hard for it. And when the script of Paglet came along, there's a little story that when I was organizing the funerals and the families came along and I don't drink chai and coffee. Just never drank chai and coffee. And I'm a producer in my brain so I was always like, cars are here, food is here, everything is for everyone. So it was very easy for me to logistically handle something. And a lot of family was very like, she has like 10 cars because you know you are dealing with vendors all the time. Anyways, you know regular middle class judgement, you expect a 24 year old to behave in a certain way and I was behaving in a certain way. I was like okay I need to get through this. I need to pack up Delhi house, I need to go to Bombay. I need to figure out, I need to work. I need to, you know, and, and I need to do this. So I was very focused on that. And, and I, I was processing it, of course. But I was, there was also, I think, a blessing or a fuel inside me, which was like fueling me what's next you know where do I go from here and how will I write the chapter of my life I don't think all these were so clear but at that moment my grief was not loudly crying and I actually went to my mamaji and said because he was ordering chai coffee biscuit and there were every one hour two hours chai rounds going and I went to my uncle and said because he was ordering chai coffee biscuit and there were every one hour, two hours chai rounds going and I went to my uncle and I said, Aap mere limka mangwad hoge? And he said, Tera dimaak krab ho gaya, teri mummi ke dhatte, limka bhi nahi. I was like, mana hai? It was like, you know, and that has stayed with me. You know, and that actually over the years is comedy. And you can today laugh about it. I mean, it's nonsense. It's like a wedding that happens at that point of time. And people come with opinions and advice. And there's a lot that happens. So when the story of Paglet came and I was like, if anybody has seen it, it was her whole idea of having chips and coke was just her coping mechanism. So not to judge anybody for their coping mechanism, to be able to, you know, address it. I was able to address my grief many years later. I was able to internalize it. I am, you know, and I'm able to help support a lot of conversations around grief. It feels like grief is my best friend. You know, it's always with me. It's hanging out, you know, and is also propelling me into the rooms. It's also making me real. It's also my story. It's also who I am. Because now I look at my parents as my angels. I look at them as my superpower. So rather than my loss, it is my superpower. They are closer to me than anywhere else. And it is so unique to me. So when I enter a room, I'm just like, you make sure that this happens well. You know, and it does. And it is how I build faith. It is how I build any resilience. It's like I look up to them and I'm just like, guide me. And a path unfolds.
Ranjani Krishnaswamy: In my conversations with you, I always felt there's a script writer inside you. Because with GD and all, when we were having that conversation, there were so many beautiful one-liners that you had. And you said once, risk hai toh ishq hai. And then you had a challenge with Kill and there was a risk that you took and a very unconventional solution to the challenge at hand because as a producer you have to manage finances and you run out of finances and that's what happened with Kill and how do you find the naysayer, look beyond the naysayers to find people who sponsor the film. So, how did you pitch Kill and you killed it?
Guneet Monga: So, very recently a film of ours came out which is called Kill. How many of you have seen it? Nobody? It's anyways coming out on 6th of September in on Hotstar in a few days. So, Kill was an extreme action film and it was brand new actors. Again, another challenge of positioning it to India because every time we come out with a film, I think what is common is we also want, we also pitch it to pan-India audiences to be able to come now and make it appointment viewing. So, you know, we do a lot of that. So it was always like how will we sell an extreme action film and I've always been seen as somebody who has done drama, who's done smaller films and for me I was doing this big action film. So I and like I was saying that you know I've always been put into this box. Because the world actually wants to define you. It's their problem that they want to find a definition of you and your scope. And once you understand that, I'm just like, I'm going to do something else. So as a producer, I feel I can do anything. So I went into an action film. Because there are these incredible action films that happen around the world and I produced this epic action film, two hours only in one train. So as an audience you have to see a film which is all set in one location. So there were many challenges and it was hand combat. And once the film got ready, we pitched it to buyers here and we were given like a low ball offer. Because no reference. Because it's never happened before. Because who will come watch it? It's kind of gore. It's kind of difficult. It's not a family film. It's an adult film. Of course, all the negatives, negatives, negatives. But then I was like, it's so cool. It's so new. It's hand combat like never done before. It's not escapist action. The politics of it is so correct. The filmmaking of it is genius. The craft of it is so good. All these were my thoughts. And I was just put out with, oh, nobody's going to watch this yet again. And why will somebody watch it? I said, because there are fans of these films around the world. Why not in India? You know, why can't we groom our audiences here? And I actually took the film to Toronto.I submitted it and I got Toronto Film Festival. And we got a letter from there saying, it's brilliant, we'll invite you, please come. And for me it was just like even though I didn't have much of a choice, I was like, thank you, but we will only come if you give us day one premiere. I was still negotiating and dire needs. I was trying my luck, there's no harm asking, right? And they said yes. They said sure. So we had a day one premiere at Toronto, which is a prestige spot to have and and we I went back to my investors which is Karan Johar and Dharma Entertainment and it was like we need to we need more money on a film which was literally in a bad situation it was like we need more money to then go to Toronto and do Toronto in full guts so in full style I want to hire the best PR in the world to be able to represent us. So he said, OK, why don't you ask who I interviewed? Five companies. And then I hired the John Wick company to be our PR, because it is a very similar to that kind of language of the film. And we built a strategy with them that we will not go to any of the leading newspapers for our review or the reviews that matter. I said I don't want anybody. So no Hollywood Reporter, no Variety, no Deadline. All these matter, all these opinions matter. So we decided to go to Fanboys. We planned to go to all gaming reviewers, you know, a very different, all the genre film experts because this film is a genre like horror, it's an experience. And on the night of the premiere, the first review that came out was, Kill is what Brad Pitt's bullet train should have been, 10 on 10. And then in 24 hours, we were flooded with reviews from genre press. And what happened that night at the screening, it was 1500 people in the show, in the theatre and there was a point in the film where 1500 of them started cheering the name of the film back to the screen. I was literally weeping there because they were like, the stakes got so high that all those things that people were saying, land Neera, land Neera and I was like, this is landing and this is your international audiences who don't because it's first time actors, there is no legacy, there is no calling card, there is all those negatives because it's a well made film, nobody can take away from a well made experience irrespective of who is the actor in it because the story is always, the film is always bigger than all of us.So there were 1500 people who started screaming, kill, kill, kill, back to the cinema. And I was just, I was moved to tears in a crazy, in an epic action film. And next morning, we woke up to seven studios bidding for the film. Sony Picture Classic, Paramount, all your international studios, Warner, and this is a story of last September, we sold it for a much higher value only to Lionsgate, only for US rights.
Guneet Monga: So the number that I was getting for India, which was a very, very low ball offer, higher than that, we sold only US. Much higher than that, we sold only US. Much higher than that. We sold only US. And if I can... This is a closed room conversation. We sold US for 2 million as like minimum guarantee.First time ever for an Indian film. Then I went on to sell the whole world minus India for another 2 million. And we sold Ajay Bhai for 1 crore. And this is a genre film, this is an action film with not a big star but it was also innovating distribution. It innovated distribution in its own way. I did that with Lunchbox.I did the similar thing with Lunchbox. Nobody here wanted to touch Lunchbox. Sony Picture Classic came on Lunchbox but kill was 10x the numbers of lunchbox and was much higher in stakes. It's also 10 years after. And then to be able to do this with an institute like Dharma Productions spread a very big message, Pan India, that we can actually innovate. We can actually think beyond our diaspora distribution, beyond the existing structures because there is a whole world. If I just think about my business, how are Korean films traveling? How is Iranian film traveling? Why are we just limited to the diaspora? When those questions start coming up, you start finding those answers.And then you start feeling like, okay. And then I'm referencing to international. I'm just like, that person in Indonesia made a film called Raid and that had this much of box office. Why can't we do it? You know, and how can we do it? So it's again, clarity, vision, mapping out. And if it's not happened here, it's not a problem. It's a opportunity, you know. So most of the challenges are actually opportunities to like open floodgates. But it's about a perspective into that.
Ranjani Krishnaswamy: And that's very true and relevant for us as we build our brands for the world, not just for the Indian audience here or the Indian diaspora. And you talk about how this paradigm shift came in a very unique way with the Disney CEO. It's a very interesting story and also evidence of your hustle, if I can call it.
Guneet Monga: Yes, 2012 I was given an award in US post the Gangs deal. A lot of my work is actually mapped out by producers in US. I feel like I have a peer group there, which is kind of very funny. And I was given an award for a young producer to watch out for and I was given that by the President of Disney, Andy Burt. And while taking the award on the stage, I was like, can I have coffee with you? He is like, sure, sure. You know, he could not say no to me. I was like, I will speak to your assistant. Thank you so much. I'm so honored. You know, so I totally used that moment to have like 30 minutes of a chat. And I think conversations, you know, open horizons of imagination. And conversations are the start of a change, right? And his assistant, of course, got in touch. And the next day, I was having coffee with him in his office. And I went there with a lot of angst. And I went there with like, you know, why do Iran is so small? They make small budget films. They have so many regulations. They have so many, you know, like, how are their films like global phenomena? They're winning awards. you know, how are American films all over the world, how is like Batman, Superman, So Big in India, you know, why are we not doing that? So I had all these questions. And I was 2012, you know, much younger. And he just looked at me and he said, he looked at me and then he just said, hmm. And I was asking him a lot of India problems, you know, like why, why, why we don't do it. And or how can we do it? Because those were my questions. And he said, India is 2% of my market, is less than 2% of my market. And that kind of blew my mind. I was just like, whoa, how? We are so big, you know, because when I speak to a producer or an actor or anybody here, they're just like so larger than life. You know, they're so, you know, because we are catering to Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, you know, and Maharashtra and Delhi territory and all of that. And here is somebody sitting out of LA who's catering to China, whole of Europe, UK. And their box office is so different. And that led me to have a lot of thought process that how can I be part of that 98%, you know. Can I participate in that 98%? How do I allow myself and my stories to participate in a bit of that 98%? We land somewhere, you know. And yet have my India. Of course, the India share over the years have increased for them also and they've tapped into languages. But this was 2012. And it really gave me so much perspective because we live in our worlds and informed with our reality. But the minute we are able to zone out, zone out, zone out, the opportunity is just the whole world.
Ranjani Krishnaswamy: How the perspective changes on how large the market itself is.
Guneet Monga: Exactly. And that's when I was like, I want to be producing a movie which the whole world watches. And if you travel to a remote part of a Europe or a remote part of a country, and if you ask them, have you seen an Indian film? I want them to say my film.
Ranjani Krishnaswamy: And that happened in Russia for you?
Guneet Monga: That happened in Lunchbox, a remote village in Russia. I've seen one Indian film called Lunchbox. You know, it's so. Because of distribution, because we were able to change distribution. It's going to happen now with Kill Again. But all these are just attempts. I mean, not that we've cracked it open. It's going to excited at post the Oscars.I was asked a question. Now that you've won an Oscar, what's next? Are you going to work? Are you going to make a 100 crore film? Because we have kind of set our limit to 100 crores. You know, we put it in newspaper front page. We are 100 crores, 200 crores, 400 crores. Okay, now that limit has come to 500, but 100 is the usual lingo that you are a success if you are 100 crores. And I have always internalized it as an independent producer because I am working, because those 100 crore films are actually made in 80 crores. I'm making my films under 20 crores. And still giving a higher ROI. But I've never had a 100 crore film. And this was a huge summit with, you know, the Home Minister and a lot of other ministers right after the Oscars. And on that stage, I was asked, so is your dream now to do a 100 crore film? I said, no, actually. My dream is to do a $2 billion movie, which is Black Panther. I want to do a Brown Panther. I never saw a $12 million dream, you know, or a $10 million dream. $12 million, 100 crores. I want to do $2 billion and I will one day.
Ranjani Krishnaswamy: Absolutely. The world is your oyster
Guneet Monga: Absolutely
Ranjani Krishnaswamy: so you came into an industry which has cartelization if i can call it i know you you told me over lunch every profession has that Lawyer ka bachcha aksar lawyer banta hai, aur doctor ka bachcha doctor banta hai so the practice does have a chiefdom or a kingdom attached to it
Guneet Monga: But it is perceived to be that if you are born into the industry, you have it easy.
Ranjani Krishnaswamy: So I'm sure there are times when you felt like an outsider. You mentioned the Marrakech Film Festival. How do you deal with a place where you don't have friends already by what you're growing up with them or being part of their lives and you have to make new friends?
Guneet Monga: A couple of things, actually. Yes, penetration in the industry is definitely, you know, they all went to school together. You know, all kids went to school together and you're like school friends and you know that camaraderie. And as a complete outsider, I actually did what I could and celebrated who wanted to work with me. So I was very busy building my own tribe and celebrating my little corner. Today, my corner is shiny enough that everybody wants a piece of it. It's been a decade and a half of building that. So definitely, you know, to find my niche, to be able to celebrate our niche, to be able to take pride in making under 20 crore films and then slowly graduating and not being like a me too of, you know, I also want to do that. To constantly innovating, to constantly, you know, finding how to be authentic and doing what we know best and kind of being the champion in one aspect. Whatever I was allowed to do or could do, I wanted to do it best in the world, not best in the country. So my ambition always was like, this should be the best in the world and that's why Cannes Film Festival. So I'm pretty much the only producer in the country. I've had 9 films at Cannes, 19 at Toronto, 4 at Venice, 7 at Sundance and all these are epic stats for my industry for independent films to travel. So that was definitely one aspect of just being the best of whatever I can do. And slowly taking the next step one after another. I kind of missed the second half of the question.
Ranjani Krishnaswamy: You were talking about the Marrakech Festival.
Guneet Monga: Oh yeah. So one day, because of Lunchbox, because of Lunchbox, I got invited to, it was also 100 years of Indian cinema. We won Audience Choice Award at Cannes for Lunchbox. We found global distribution. There was bidding war for it. And there was a phenomena. The whole Cannes was buzzing about this film. It was a breakout. Out of 50 films that played there, Lunchbox was an absolute breakout and we won an award. So what happened from there was that the Marrakesh Film Festival was celebrating 100 years of Indian cinema. And that year was 100 years of Indian cinema, 2013. And they chose to invite me because I had produced Lunchbox and they chose to invite me. And I was like, okay. I get invited by various film festivals and I happily went. Cut to, I have this habit of saying cut to, next shot. Cut to, I'm in a plane with like Hrithik Roshan, Amitabh Bachchan, Shah Rukh Khan and I'm, you know, Rishi Kapoor, Shri Devi, Boney Kapoor, Karan Johar, and I am so, also, you know, you're always guessing yourself, you're always living with an imposter syndrome. Post-lunchbox, I actually had a very hard time because my own peer group actually thought that it is a fluke. So I could not even, you know, live with that success that we can repeat it. Ki ek par ho gaya, dubara thurna hoga. You know, so it was that kind of conversation. So that imposter syndrome was huge. And now I'm in this, and I've never met these people. I've never met them in my business. Because I'm making films with first-time actors, first-time. And I'm in my corner, finding distribution, figuring it time. And I'm in my corner. Finding distribution. Figuring it out. And I'm in a flight with them. And then we are welcomed. And then we have to do a rehearsal. Because next day is the. And they all are talking to each other. They're all A-list directors. All of them. And I think they had flown 50 of us. Which I didn't know about. And their presentation was like a semi-circle of a stage and everybody is going to stand on the semi-circle and I was standing on the last step here and in the center it was Amitabh Bachchan and upar was Shah Rukh Khan so that was their presentation and they were celebrating 100 years of Indian cinema and they had brought out everyone there was Bahida Rehman, there was Sharmula Tagore there was everyone Sohali Khan, there was, you know, everyone. Sohali Khan, just as many people as I can remember. It's just like, whoa. And during the rehearsal, dress rehearsal, I sat in one corner because I didn't know anybody. I was in awe of everybody. And they all knew each other. They were also looking at me. I think they must be speaking, who is it? Of course. they were also looking at me and okay i think they must be speaking yeah of course and i in that own self-doubt went to the director of the marrakech film festival and i said why did you invite me you know these are legends this is so she was she was french and and of course went on to become my mentor in life. And she said, darling, if India is 100 years of Indian cinema, you are writing the last chapter of it. I was so blown away. I was like, really? I was so blown away. I was like, really? You know, and that, moments like these give you that power, give you that accelerator, you know. So, championing someone's good work or just having that perspective empowered me so much, you know. And then I was like, hi, I'm Guneepoong. I'm a producer. I made a film called Lunchbox. I went and introduced everybody. I made friends with Sridevi. And I was so happy that I got to speak to her, you know. And then when we were on a flight back, I was so happy that I got away from my inhibition and was just like, you know, I'm a producer of Lunchbox. And you should know me. I am the last chapter of Indian cinema.
Ranjani Krishnaswamy: Let me segue that into mentoring and you've been very passionate about being mentored and also mentoring people. You speak about Yash Chopra, Anurag Kashyap. How does mentoring work in your industry? How much of it is not becoming your mentor, but being your own self and being centered about who you are?
Guneet Monga: You know, there's a lot of mentoring internationally, not so much in India.In India, for me, it's been observing, working with Anurag, observing, working with Karan and Ekta. And these are market leaders in our industry with, you know know sustaining years of cinema success after success in their own way finding their own language for me having worked with them and watching them asking questions you know being in a room being in decision making rooms to be able to have your voice well for me, I've been mentored a lot internationally. And for me, it's been about also being very grateful. Somebody is taking time to be able to spend that time with me. And for me, to be able to research enough to ask the right question. Because then that unlocks a paradigm you know that on how did you do this on what were your challenges and how and to be able to articulate my challenges to be able to do my homework I'm very very passionate about mentoring because that's the only way you can share life lessons more than anything else it's life lessons you, work happens and transactions happen. But it is the people and the life lessons that stay. You know, I just want to be able to. Like, when I was trying to make an English language film, I wrote to the producer of Tarantino because I love Tarantino's films. And I asked her for a coffee and we actually met and I've had an opportunity to meet a lot of amazing people and she of course went on to become a mentor and I have this email access of it's not something formal but definitely exists because I was able to ask her very pertinent questions on legal, on co-production, doubts, you know, as you enter that and I think that's important to reach out and just on the basis of reach out, I just want to share a little story. 2010, I was nominated for an Oscar and for a film called Kavi and And 2019, we actually won for Period, End of Sentence and 2023 for Elephant Whisperers. But 2010 was a film called Kavi. And I had just gone through my huge personal tragedy in 2008 and 2009. And in Bombay, working at Balaji, all I just wanted to do was go attend the Academy Awards. There was nothing bigger in my life than going and attending the Academy Awards. And I didn't have a visa, I didn't have any money, I didn't have any resources and I had a short film being nominated. And I started writing emails and started reaching out to like textbook rich people that you read in your book and to all the airline partners and I got complete no, no, no from everybody. A lot of them of course went unanswered and my time was running out and I only had a couple of weeks to generate everything and land in LA to be able to attend the Oscars and I didn't have $100 to even dream so much. And in my just of ideas, I wrote an email to the President of India. In that email, I said, I am the pride of India, self-assumed. And you should watch my film. And you know, of course, I wrote it very nicely and I said, I'm the pride of India and I'd like you to know that my film. And you know, of course, I wrote it very nicely. And I said, I'm the pride of India. And I'd like you to know that my film is nominated for an Oscar. And I'd love to get in touch with you. And I'd love to reach out. And I got a call back from the president's house. And they said, okay, what do you need? I said, I don't need anything. I just need to show you the film. And I'd also reached out to Vijay Mallya's EA at that point, Tushita Patel. I just remember her clearly because she actually got on to a call with me. And she at that point Tushita Patel. I just remember her clearly because she actually got onto a call with me and she said we don't have international flights if you ever need domestic flights you can reach out to us and that chapter got over and then I convinced the Rashtrapati Bhavan office to send me an invitation letter even though I was asking them to help me. I was like why don't you invite me because I need to apply for an off to be able to come show you the film. I got a fax of an invitation and then that invitation I sent to, at that point of time, Kingfisher to be able to get a flight to Delhi first to go to Rashtrapati Bhavan. Then I got onto a call with Kingfisher team and they said, sure. I said, I've been invited to Rashtrapati Bhavan. You said you will help me for India flights and when they said yes, they said how many? So I said see, we will, all of the whole crew that has made it will not be able to make it to the Oscars. Oscars will be like two people, three people maximum. We are 24 of us. Can you give me 24 tickets? They said, no. And I was like, what can you give us? So they were like, okay, 12. I said, why don't you give us 24 one way, we will come back on a train. But at least we will all get to see Rashtrapati Bhavan. I took my location manager and sound designer and you know, everybody costed to Rashtrapati Bhavan. There I met our science and technology minister and I was able to ask. And there is actually a bit of data story also here. I'll take a couple of minutes. I know, I think the time is running.
Guneet Monga: So I met Mr. Prithviraj Chauhan there at Rashtrapati Bhavan and he said, why don't you show us the film? I went to his house. He'd called the INB minister there. And we showed the film. And to him, I said, sir, you know, it's a dream to be able to attend. And he's like, I'll call Air India. And I said, I did write to them. They said no. And he said, no, it's okay. We'll speak to Mr. Arvind Jadhav. And he made a call. And on that phone call, he was he was saying you know two business class tickets and I said sir I don't need to waste the nation's resources I just need economy and you only fly to New York you'll have to get me a partner airline to LA LA and back is $600 and I can't afford it so he's like okay so we got tickets and we went to US but in midst of that there's a little detour of his story the young boy who was in the film was a slum child. I was living in slums and I was like, he should also go. And I reached out to his parents. They didn't have passport. And they said, we can't make a passport. We don't have a permanent address. I again reached out to Mr. Prithviraj Chauhan's office. And he said, why don't you meet my wife? She's in the education ministry. I went to her house. She said, why don't you meet my brother who's in the transport ministry I went to meet the transport minister and there was a person sitting in front of me nice suited booted two hours we were waiting for the transport minister because he's going to help me with a passport there was some conversation that was going on Sagar's passport and I just reached out to him and he said we are from I'm the head of Jaguar India I would have that card somewhere. And we are here to get the permission for it to get on the roads, a clearance or a license. And I said, do you know I'm the pride of India? My film is nominated for an Oscar. And now that it's an Indian company, do you think we can get a Jaguar for the red carpet? And he said, of course. You know, so hustled my way. Of course, got into, got the visa also. Like, of course, Mr. Prithviraj Chauhan's office, I said, we don't even have visa. And the next day I got a call from the American Embassy, please come. My name with my Guneet plus two was written like a red carpet welcome. Our photos were clicked there, our forms were filled by them. And we were stamped Visa saying congratulations, go attend the Oscars. You know, and I did a newspaper article and Cox and Kings reached out and then they gave me the stay.So it was just the It was the hustle. So the power of asking, asking freely. Don't judge the process because there is so much out there that will reach out the minute you get started.
Ranjani Krishnaswamy: So in the interest of time, Guneet, one can keep going on and on. I have just one incident I want you to talk to us about because it's such a powerful one when you were trying to complete Tigers and then we'll open the house for two questions.
Guneet Monga: Yes, sure. So there was a, you know, life is not only full of highs, there are incredible lows, there are incredible challenges, money runs out, films become irrelevant, market changes, like Salam India, I shared one story. So this was a film called Tigers. And the investor was an independent person, not like the industry person, decided to not fund the film anymore. And I ran into a huge problem trying to finish the film. And I was in US, my passport got stolen, I was stuck there for 6 weeks and I just started meeting people there and I just started meeting new people people that I didn't know just like exploring, having conversation and I really really wanted to finish the film and to be able to finish the film to have an opportunity to sell and then to return the money I need to finish the film we didn't have money to finish the film in India. So I thought why don't I try finishing it in US? And the best lab that does your sound and post and everything was Technicolor. They've done Avatar and everything. So I reached out to Technicolor, wrote an email. And the head of Technicolor met me. And she was a woman. It was a big conference room. And that incident changed my life. And I'm sharing that here today. And I told her my story. I told her what had happened, what the film was about. The film was about promoting mother's milk and how everything else is synthetic. Very, very important film of our times, called Tigers, directed by an Oscar-winning director from Bosnia, making a Hindi language film. I was constantly innovating. And I I had huge situation with my investor and it was unexplainable what was going on and I said I just want to finish the film and the film was set in Pakistan and Pakistan at artists were being sent out of India so the situation was really difficult wherever I was as an independent producer and the loan ran up on me around six crores and it was too much for me to handle and I told her my story I said I'm very happy to show you the film and she just looked at me and said we'll do the entire finishing that means a commitment of at least a couple of crores so I said what does that mean she said your entire sound post picture post color correction and your deliverables to go to a festival, to get an opportunity to then sell. We'll do it. And I said, thank you, but why? And she just looked at me and said, because I can. And it changed my world. It changed my life. And that is the person I want to be from that day onwards because I can and I will
Ranjani Krishnaswamy: And I think and everyone in this room has the power to say I can so when ideas come to you please say yes because you can.
